Free Short Story! (A Veiled Magic Short)

In case you didn't get the last newsletter, this is part of what was in it:

As I’m sure you all know, my next book, VEILED MAGIC is coming out on November 17^th. (EEK!) This one isn’t part of the Baba Yaga series, although it does feature a witch. In fact, it is one of my favorites of all the books I’ve written and the one that got me my agent. Since the next Baba Yaga book, WICKEDLY POWERFUL, isn’t coming out until February, Berkley decided to buy VEILED MAGIC and put it out as an eBook to tide people over. If it does well enough, they might put it out and print and continue the series. We’ll have to wait and see. But in the meanwhile, I have a surprise for you. You see, there is a short story.

In fact, the short story, Dead and (Mostly) Gone is where the idea for VEILED MAGIC came from in the first place. The story was published in THE PAGAN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT FICTION: 13 PRIZE WINNING TALES back in 2008, and many of the folks who read it said, “You should write a novel about that character.” So I did.  Sadly, the Anthology is out of print (although I have a few copies I’ll be giving away soon), so you can’t read the short story that started it all. Or CAN YOU????

In fact, you can. As a gift to my lovely readers, I am going to put it up on my website for free. (It’s not a very long short story—I just didn’t feel right charging for it. Besides, y’all have been so wonderful. You deserve a reward!) If you want a first look at Donata, the protagonist from VEILED MAGIC, you can go read the story HERE. Enjoy!

VEILED MAGIC: Barnes & Noble |Amazon |Penguin

I’m going to be doing all sorts of giveaways leading up to the publication day of VEILED MAGIC (and then the next Baba Yaga novella in January and the novel in February) so you might want to follow the blog by email so you can be sure you don’t miss a thing. There’s a place to sign up at the left side of the blog. 



In fact, I'm going to be doing giveaways every week until the book comes out. Are you excited NOW?

Book Giveaway and News About a Short Story

As many of you know, I have a novel coming out in mid-November called VEILED MAGIC. This one's not part of the Baba Yaga series, although it does feature a completely different kind of witch... Veiled Magic is coming out as an eBook only for now, to tide y'all over until WICKEDLY POWERFUL comes out in February.  In fact, Veiled Magic has a very special place in my heart, because it was the book that finally got me my wonderful agent, Elaine Spencer.

What you may NOT know is that the idea for Veiled Magic came from a short story I wrote for The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction, which came out back in 2008 as a combined effort from Llewellyn and BBI Media (which puts out the Witches & Pagans Magazine, where I now have a regular column, although back then they didn't know me from Adam). Sadly, the book didn't do as well as they'd hoped, and is now out of print. But I happen to have a couple of copies stashed away, and I thought that it would be great to give one away so that one lucky winner would be able to read the short story that started it all. [There are also some very cool stories from my friends Alex Bledsoe and C.S.MacCath, both of whom I met through that project.]

In truth, Veiled Magic would never have been written at all, if so many people hadn't read my short story, Dead and (Mostly) Gone and said, "Hey! You should write a book about that character!" I still love that title (grin). Thankfully, I have the rights to the story, so I will be putting it up online soon at a whopping .99 cents in case anyone else wants to read it. But for now, I'll be giving away a copy of the anthology, plus a couple of little extras. (The cat stays, I'm afraid.)

The book, a broom pen, and a cool postcard.

A rare copy of The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction

 As always, it is easy to enter by using the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open to everyone. No purchase is necessary (although if you want to preorder the book, I will certainly allow it). Good luck!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

Guest Blogger: C.S. MacCath

I have been dealing with the Zombie Apocalypse since Saturday night (okay, it is just a really bad summer cold, but since it has eaten my brains, I feel that I can call it a Zombie Apocalypse with reasonable accuracy). I meant to put up a "Weedy Wednesday" post with pictures of the flowers from my yard, but it just didn't happen.

Luckily, I had a secret weapon waiting in the wings...a guest blog post by my author pal C.S. MacCath, who has just put out an amazing collection of Pagan poems and tales. Months ago, as she was preparing it for publication, she asked me if I would consider writing the introduction, and I was delighted to do so. Here is what I said:

I first met C. S. MacCath when we both took part in a Pagan short story contest put on by Llewellyn Worldwide and BBI Media. The winning entries, including ours, became part of a first-ever collection called The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales. The book was filled with Pagan-centric stories of every style imaginable; contemporary, fantasy, science fiction, even a western. Some of the authors went on to become successful multi-published authors. Others, no doubt, are still stirring their cauldrons of creativity, somewhere out there. 

But none of the writers I met impressed me so much as one: C. S. MacCath. Not only did I love her story, but I found the woman herself to be charming; warm and clever, witty and wise, earthy and larger-than-life. In the years that passed since that chance meeting at Pantheacon, where the awards were presented, I have followed her career with great interest.

My first impressions proved to be true, as both her real-life adventures and her writing endeavors continued to impress and amaze me. A Pagan who truly walks her talk, C. S. spends her time working for the betterment of our natural world, rescuing orphaned and injured wildlife, learning and advocating for the Scottish Gaelic language and of course, writing. Unceasingly supportive of other writers and Pagans, she walks her path with courage and conviction I have seen in few people and writes with a gift that is even rarer.

That anthology where our stories came together was intended to be the first of many. But alas, that particular dream did not come true. Sadly, there is very little out there in the way of fiction specifically written by Pagans for a Pagan audience or for those who are interested in learning more about us and catching a glimpse into our hidden ways. There are many nonfiction books on modern Witchcraft (some of which I’ve written), but until now, the lyrical, magical, spiritual voice of the Pagan author has gone largely unheard.

Thankfully, this collection changes all that. With C. S. MacCath’s vivid poetry and evocative, sometimes heartrendingly beautiful tales, Pagan fiction finally has a shining star to guide us to new worlds and give us a clearer look at the world in which we live. And that’s what I call magic.

Below, you will find her guest post; I hope that you will give her the usual warm welcome I have come to depend on from my fabulous readers. As a reward, I will give away a copy of The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction (where you will be able to read the short story that won me 3rd place, and which led to the novel, PENTACLES & PENTIMENTOS, that eventually got me signed with my lovely agent, Elaine Spencer) to one random commenter.

Hit it, Ceallaigh--

Thank you Deborah, for your flattering introduction of my collection and for inviting me into your blog space! I’m delighted to be here.

Before The Ruin of Beltany Ring, there was The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction and the purpose for its publication, the first and only Pagan Fiction Award. They sparked a conversation about literature by and for Pagans, and the term ‘Pagan fiction’ was coined. But even the anthology editors weren’t entirely certain what it meant, if Diana Paxson’s introduction is any indication, and those of us who write it continue to wonder whether or not our work can or should be classified as such. However, we do seem to agree that storytelling is integral to the preservation of a culture, and so the part of our writing that might be classified as Pagan fiction is an effort to tell stories that resonate with Pagan readers.

I write speculative fiction and poetry, which draws upon fantastical motifs to do its job. However, my Pagan writing takes its faith seriously; there are no cliché witches in my work. So while I might write a Pagan science fiction story like From Our Minds to Yours, the characters’ approach to the central conflict of the tale is not fantastical. Rather, it’s the sort of approach any Pagan might take, and the story invites the reader to have respect for it. Even when the bumbling Pieter Heinle brings the good word of the eddas to a new world in my alliterative poem Bringing Woden to the Little Green Men, the transformation that results does not diminish the value of Heathen belief and practice (though I confess to a bit of good-natured poking at Heathen lore hounds in the piece). Ultimately, whether a story or poem in my collection is speculative, its references to Pagan Gods, rituals and beliefs are not. They’re spiritual, and they speak to a part of the Pagan ethos that is not at all fictional.

Of course, not every poem and tale in The Ruin of Beltany Ring is specifically religious. All of the stories were written with Pagans in mind, and each of them first appeared in Witches & Pagans, PanGaia, newWitch and similar publications. The poems range a little farther afield; from the spiritual disconnection of Fetters to the divine melancholy of Hephaistos in my poem by the same name (Ηφαιστος), and most of them were published in speculative poetry journals. Still, wherever I’ve handled the cultural artifacts of my faith, I’ve endeavored to do so with care, even when I’m offering a critique. It’s a commitment I’m carrying forward into Petals of the Twenty Thousand Blossom, my novel series in progress, where Wiccans and Heathens alike will come to redefine their faith among an alien species and a powerful artificial intelligence on a new world.

And perhaps that’s the definition of Pagan fiction after all, that whatever the genre of the piece, the Paganism it presents is authentic and true to its own nature. At least, it’s the definition I work under, anyway. Thank you all so much for your time. I hope you enjoy The Ruin of Beltany Ring: A Collection of Pagan Poems and Tales, and I hope it prompts you to seek out other Pagan fiction.

Blessed be.

The Ruin of Beltany Ring may be purchased at: www.amazon.com/The-Ruin-Beltany-Ring-Collection/dp/1482535181/csma-20

C.S. MacCath may be found online at: csmaccath.com

Writing Class Update

I am pleased to report that the online writing class I'm teaching all month is still going REALLY well. I have 40 students, when all is said and done, and they are a great bunch of folks. Everyone is cooperative and helpful (they give each other tips on research, and everything). And everyone is being very nice and complementary to me, even though I'm not giving out actual grades :-)

I wasn't sure what to expect from the experience, since this is the first online class I've given [I've taken a bunch of classes online, and taught in person--but that isn't the same thing]. I am pleasantly surprised, and having a great time. Also working my butt off, of course. It is amazing how much time it takes to keep up with posting the lessons, responding to the students' homework, and answering all the misc. questions that everyone has come up with.

But I like it.

Some of the students even suggested that I make the class up into a booklet and sell it on LULU. I'm thinking about it, although I can't imagine there is enough interest to make it worth the effort.

I'll be writing a guest blog at Texting Between the Sheets about teaching and taking online classes--it should be out this Saturday. I'll try to remember to post a link.

In other news--I'm making pretty good progress on the outline for the next novel, Pentacles and Pentimentos, an Urban Fantasy based on my short story that was published in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction (Llewellyn, 2008). I'm up to 21 pages, and not even close to the end, as far as I can tell. And I signed up for NaNoWriMo for the first time. I blame Shannon and Elysia :-)

Back to answering emails from my students,
Many bright blessings,
Deborah

Interview with C. S. MacCath

Here is my interview with the wonderful C. S. MacCath, my co-writer in The Pagan Fiction Anthology:


You were a finalist in the Pagan Fiction Award contest. How did you come to write a pagan-based short story, and is much of you other work pagan as well?
I've been writing short stories with Pagan elements throughout my writing career. For me, Pagan fiction isn't so much a genre like speculative fiction, horror or mystery as it is an application of our particular world-view to storytelling. Having said that, all of the fiction I've written has been Pagan-themed, either explicitly, as in the case of "From Our Minds to Yours," or implicitly, as in the case of "The Longest Road in the Universe," which is forthcoming in Murky Depths next March.
I think it's healthy for the literary community to be exposed to Pagan themes in what it publishes and reads. They allow a safe place of entry into Paganism that can be accessed from the private relationship between the reader and the text. From there, tolerance might follow. So though I try not to be didactic about the inclusion of my faith in my work, it's usually always on my mind when I write, and I hope it reads well for Pagans and non-Pagans alike.
How long have you been writing, and where can people find your work other than the Anthology?
I've been writing since I could pick up a pen, but I've only been publishing my work with regularity in paying markets since 2004. My bibliography can be found at: www.csmaccath.com/view/csmbiblio and from there, folks can look for what they want to read in the appropriate places. A recently published story that might be of interest to Pagan readers is "Akhila, Divided," which can be found in Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness, edited by Mike Allen. It's a science fantasy war story set in the far future at a monastery where various denominations of Paganism are practiced in combination with other faiths.
Your short story, "From Our Minds to Yours," is a disturbing look at a possible near-future scenario. How did you get the idea, and do you really think it could happen?
My husband brought the idea home to me one afternoon while he was in college a few years ago. He had been taking a course called "Computers, Ethics and Society" and was reading a book entitled Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century, by Simson Garfinkel. I believe he asked me, "What do you think would happen if people could become physically addicted to products?" After the long philosophical conversation that followed, I read the book as well, and then I did some research into current applications of nanotechnology. "From Our Minds to Yours" was the natural outgrowth of those things.
I wrote the story with the feasibility of the plot in mind. Right now, nanotechnology is used in everything from water reclamation to clothing manufacture. Given the current interpretation of Moore's Law, that the size and/or speed and/or functionality of a piece of technology doubles every eighteen months, and given a modest effort on the part of corporate lobbyists to legalize the relationship between nanotechnology and advertising, yeah, I think it's an absolutely realistic scenario in the next 25-50 years.
What would readers be surprised to learn about you?
I was born and raised a Jehovah's Witness.
You were able to go to Pantheacon for the presentation of the awards. What was your favorite aspect of the convention? [For readers who don't know, Panthecon is a huge pagan gathering held every February is San Jose, CA]
I very much enjoyed the oracular seidh hosted by Diana Paxson on Saturday night. I've been practicing various forms of divination for twenty-three years but have never encountered that particular configuration of group journey work and team divination before. I told Ms. Paxson afterward that it was interesting to see the weave between Michael Harner-esque shamanic practice and Northern European lore. And the seidh-workers themselves were remarkable, both in their stamina and in their accuracy.
Aside from your own, what was your favorite story in the Anthology and why?
I loved April's "A Valkyrie Among Jews," which placed first in the contest. I thought she juxtaposed Judaism with Paganism effectively, addressed some serious questions about the relationships between Pagans and non-Pagans and spoke to the transition between life and death both mythically and mundanely. It was a kick-ass story that was relevant to modern people of all faiths, and I hope it finds its way into the hands of folks who might need that safe place of entry into Paganism I mentioned before.
What are you working on these days and where can people contact you if they have more questions?
I'm currently working on a novel entitled Twilight of the World Sea People. It's the first novel in a trilogy entitled World Sea Legacy, which is itself part of a three trilogy/nine-novel space opera entitled Petals of the Twenty Thousand Blossom. I've pretty much ceased production at present on any short stories for the sake of the novels, but I'm hoping to write a few by the end of next year for a collection I'm piecing together entitled Spirit Boat. We'll see how that goes, though. Folks can contact me by using the contact form at www.csmaccath.com/contact, which drops messages into my primary e-mail account.

An Interview with Author Alex Bledsoe

I was lucky enough to be able to interview my fellow-author, Alex Bledsoe, who also has a story in The Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. An interview with C. S. MacCath will follow next week!

DB: How long have you been writing short stories and is this your first pagan story?
AB: I've been seriously writing since 1996; and my first published story, "The Chill in the Air Wakes the Ghosts Off the Ground," was actually a pagan-themed story, although that wasn't a primary consideration at the time. In the nineties I had several pagan stories published in PanGaia magazine, and have also been published in The Wheel, Five Feathers (South Africa) and Dragonswood (UK).

DB: What draws you to write about pagans and how did you get the idea for the story in the anthology?
AB: I found the pagan view of the world to be amenable to my own, and it allowed me to deal with issues and topics that fascinate me in a way that might surprise the reader. Respect for nature, balance between men and women, and a direct relationship with a higher power free of institutionalized dogma are all things I believed in *before* I knew about paganism, and within these ideas are plenty of places for conflict with traditional society's values. That's usually where my stories come from.
When I heard about the anthology I knew I wanted to submit something, and I asked myself, "What's the *least* likely genre to have a pagan-themed story?" I decided the answer was a Western, so I challenged myself to write one that was both a traditional "oater" with a sheriff, a gunslinger and a showdown on main street, and that also brought in pagan ideas to generate the conflict.

DB: Your story takes place in the Old West, but in a very nontraditional way. You tend to write work that combines genres in an unconventional way, like your novel The Sword-Edged Blonde, which mixes sword and sorcery fantasy with the noir detective novel (quite successfully, I might add). How do you pull off such unusual pairings and what draws you to this approach?
AB: Usually it's a variant of the question I mentioned above: What's the least likely way to tell a particular story? The Sword-Edged Blonde started out as a straight epic fantasy, but it was too traditional, too average if you will, to come alive that way. So I thought, what's the most unusual way to tell this story, and decided to write it as a forties pulp detective novel, keeping the high fantasy setting. (The sequel, Burn Me Deadly, continues that approach). When I wrote my vampire novel Blood Groove, I had a story that technically could've worked in a contemporary setting, but had no real spark to it. So I backed it up to 1975, which put it before Anne Rice revolutionized the public idea of the vampire and allowed me to work with the vampire archetypes that spoke to me (Stoker, Hammer, etc.) free of any post-Rice irony.

DB: What can people expect from you next?
AB: Blood Groove will be released by Tor in the spring of 2009. The following fall, Burn Me Deadly (also from Tor) hits shelves. And a couple of other projects are making the rounds.