Fae Contributor Interview: Adria Laycraft

December 12, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

I met Adria Laycraft through her Fae story which is really quite remarkable when you consider that she lives in Calgary (I live in Edmonton) and the Alberta speculative writing community is not ginormous. The thing is, though, until recently I’d pretty much exclusively stuck to the online writers community. I’m *so* glad that has changed, though, because Adria is one of my favourite people and without Fae I might not have met her, which is just one of the many, many reasons this book has a special place in my heart.

But enough about me. This week for Fae-tastic Friday it’s all about Adria. Enjoy her interview and an excerpt from her story, Water Sense:

~*~

Adria Laycraft’s Interview

What was the inspiration for your Fae story?

I wanted to write about the lesser-known native people of the American southwest, and the Kawaiisu gave me the perfect history and setting for the story I had in mind (desert, water shortages, stories of the Otherworld, and belief in spirits).

Was this your first foray into writing fairy stories?

No.

What is it about them that appeals to you?

Stories of magic, fae, and all things Otherworld have fascinated me my entire life. What appeals to me is that sense of more going on than we are aware of. I always want to remind myself to look beyond my assumptions and limited vision.

Can you tell us a bit about the specific type of fairy creature in your story?

The Inipi are ghost spirits walking the Otherworld that can lure people to their death or make them crazy and sick. My research on the Kawaiisu revealed many stories about Inipi, along with some interesting ways to keep them away (some of which are used in the story).

Is that your favourite type of fae?

No, not my favourite because they were new to me. I only learned about them through my research for the story. Pixies are probably my favourite because they’re small and usually friendly.

Outside of your own writing, who is your favourite fairy character? (ie: Tinkerbell, Puck, etc.)

Oh, Legolas would have to top the list. I first read Lord of the Rings at age 8, and have reread it some fifteen times since.

What is it about them that makes them special?

Well, duh, it’s Legolas! What’s not to love? =D

Do you believe in fairies?

While I have no personal experience seeing the Little Folk, some very close and trustworthy people in my life have seen both fairies and ghosts, so who am I to disbelieve?

Excerpt from Water Sense by Adria Laycraft (333 words):

The handle slipped out of his sweaty hand. Everything went into slow motion as the bucket hit the ground and tipped. Tom reached for it, willing the water to stay put just like he’d seen Marie do. A useless effort, as always. He could not stop the dark stain spreading through the sand. In his frustration, he didn’t even hear Charlie coming.

The first blow knocked him off his feet. He scrambled up, not wanting to give Charlie a chance to get the boots to him, but the second punch took him down again. The kick followed fast, and Tom groaned as it hit a tender spot only just healing.

Tom’s hands curled into fists, catching up sand and rock from the dry valley floor. He hunched his shoulders, closing his eyes against the sight of the wasted water and the next blow.

It never came.

Tom opened one eye to risk a look. Charlie stared at something beyond, and Tom swiveled his head, fearing a wild cat come down out of the mountains. Instead, an old man dressed in rabbit furs stood staring back. At him.

“To find your value, you must understand who you really are.”

What? Tom looked back at Charlie, whose face had paled to a sickly shade. When Tom turned back to ask the old man what he meant, the hillside was empty.

Climbing cautiously to his feet, Tom eyed Charlie for clues as to what just happened. His guardian only grunted, pulled his smokes out of his jeans pocket, and lit one with shaking fingers. He puffed, drew, coughed a bit, and drew again.

“Next time you spill the water, you can go thirsty for the rest of the day.” His words seemed to hang on the air like the smoke he exhaled with them.

Tom licked his cracked lips. “I’ll get more,” he said. His throat burned, wanting to ask Charlie what he’d seen, what he’d heard, but he didn’t dare. One beating today was enough.

~*~

Available direct from the publisher:

Paperback $11.95
Ebook $6.99

Or find it online:

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
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Guest Blogger, Personal

Yuletide, Goth Music and Biscotti

December 11, 2014 R. Parrish 1 Comment

Yuletide, Goth Music and Biscotti

by C.S. MacCath

I love Yuletide; the presents, the homemade things, the parties. My husband Sean and I buy or make an ornament for each other every year, and I bake things of various complexity (I make a mean vegan biscotti – recipe below). This year, we’re also hosting an all night Yule party on the winter solstice, which I hope will become an annual tradition now that we’re settled in Cape Breton.

I also love Yuletide Carols, the more fantastical-sounding the better. In addition to my library of traditional songs sung by masters like Bing Crosby, I have albums by artists like Enya, Loreena McKennitt, Blackmore’s Night, Jethro Tull, and Nox Arcana. This last band put out an album called Winter’s Knight several years ago, which sounds like it ought to be played at full volume in a crumbling, gothic church in Transylvania. It’s beautimous, and if my husband should ever tell you it makes him want to plod around the Yuletide tree in a self-flagellating ennui, you should definitely ignore him.

Seriously, the band’s Veni, Veni and Carol of the Bells are not to be missed, so I’ve linked them for you below:

Veni, Veni Emannuel
Carol of the Bells

Now for that biscotti recipe!

—

Vegan Cranberry Almond Biscotti

2 ¾ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
5 Tbs. orange juice plus ½ cup
4 Tbs. cornstarch
1 cup sugar plus 2 Tbs.
2 Tbs. canola oil
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl.

2. Whisk together 5 Tbs. orange juice and cornstarch in bowl; set aside. Beat 1 cup sugar, remaining 1/2 cup orange juice, oil and extracts until fluffy. Beat in cornstarch mixture, then flour mixture. Fold in cranberries and almonds.

3. Shape into 2 logs on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake 35 minutes, or until light brown. Cool 15 minutes on baking sheet. Slice into 1/2-inch thick slices. Return slices to baking sheet, and bake 15 minutes more. Turn the cookies, then bake them a final 5-15 minutes, or until they’re golden brown.

—

That’s all I haz, except to wish everyone who reads this the merriest of holidays! May the Yuletide season bring you joy, and light, and love.

From a Grey and Chilly Cape Breton,
Ceallaigh (C.S. MacCath)

~*~

This month on my blog I’m sharing holiday traditions, mine and other people’s as well. This is one of those posts, you can find the first, entitled Giftmas Cards (and subsequent ones) by visiting the main page, here. Happy Ho Ho!

Guest Blogger, Personal

Holiday Traditions

December 10, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

This month on my blog I’m sharing holiday traditions, mine and other people’s as well. This is the second of those posts, you can find the first, entitled Giftmas Cards (and subsequent ones) by visiting the main page, here. Happy Ho Ho!

Holiday Traditions

by Reb Kreyling

I’m in a unique situation with my family; I take blended to a whole new level. Not only am I a child of divorced parents but my mother remarried when I was a child and I have siblings from another country so we’ve adopted their traditions as well.

Little Christmas
When my mother was a child, her uncle lived in Japan so they began receiving packages long before Christmas. Her parents placed the presents under the tree and my mother and her siblings would see those packages every day. So my grandparents thought of “Little Christmas”. On the 23rd of December, my aunts, uncle, and mom were allowed to open one present. Then on Christmas Eve, they were allowed to open another present. The present they picked needed to be one from someone who lived far away, but other than that, they could open any present.

My mother started this tradition with me when I was a child since many of our family members lived far from us while I was growing up. As I was a child, I looked forward to Little Christmas Eve, not just because I got to open a present, but because my mom would let me choose a present for her and my step-mom to also open.

Christmas Trees
When my step-mom was a kid, her mom often baked all of their bread since there were eight of them. For Christmas, she made a special bread. It was a Norwegian sweet bread that I believe her mother made. As a special treat, she shaped it as Christmas trees. The bread was then frosted and decorated with candied fruit, sprinkles, and other sweets (gumdrops and the like). After opening presents on Christmas morning, we’d have a big breakfast with the bread as part of it.

Holiday Decorations
Special events—births, marriages, someone joining the family—is almost always commemorated with an ornament in my family. The weekend after Thanksgiving (unless something interferes like a move or something else), we begin decorating for the Christmas season. Our decorations are not taken down until after January 10th which was my grandfather’s birthday.

TET
My youngest siblings are Vietnamese so as a family we celebrate TET or Vietnamese New Year. We don’t do anything huge, but we do make Pho. We played games when the kids were younger and the youngest child (my little sister) got good luck money for the New Year.

Bio: Reb Kreyling is a life time writer. She’s been writing for as long as she can remember and always has a notebook with her for that next idea. In her free time, she enjoys listening to Irish music and also uses her writing skills to let soldiers overseas know people back home are thinking of them as part of Soldiers’ Angels. She’s just recently begun blogging at http://rebkreyling.wordpress.com/and is looking forward to self-publishing in the future.

Guest Blogger, Personal

The Magick of Yule

December 8, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

The Magick of Yule

By Jessica Marie Baumgartner

“What do you mean you don’t celebrate Christmas? Christmas is an American holiday for everyone.”

I get this a lot. No I don’t hate Christmas. It’s just not part of my faith. I know plenty of Atheists, Hindus, and Jewish people who go along with their own customs and the majority’s holiday in addition, but that’s not for me. Honestly, I support whatever makes people happiest this time of year. As a Wiccan I love honoring Yule.

“Yule? What’s that? That’s Christmas right?” …Wrong. Yule is the Solstice Celebration to honor the Gods. It has historic links to Christmas being that people have honored the changing of the seasons for thousands of years. Christmas took on a lot of customs to celebrate winter as it evolved through the ages. Yes these two holidays are similar, but not the same.

My husband and I are raising two little witches who are budding with respect for nature and love of the human race. Every year on the Winter Solstice we cast a circle around our Alter and perform a ritual in appreciation of the turning of the year, along with all of the gifts that the new season brings. We don’t often do spellwork because it is not to be taken lightly and we want our daughters to understand that using your personal energies to create change has serious effects. I cook a typical holiday feast: ham, potatoes, veggie casserole, rolls, corn, pie and cookies. Being a bit of a kitchen witch myself, I love making everything from scratch. To me there is no better compliment than my family enjoying my food and I often can’t help but pour my positive, loving energies into the dishes that I create.

We have a tree that we decorate in the backyard, much like a Christmas tree, but ours gets to keep its roots and continue to grow throughout the years. The four of us circle around it and sing. My oldest loves “Jingle Bells.” We actually have a playlist that I call my wintery mix. It has the 10 most popular songs that are typically considered “Christmas Songs” but don’t mention any of the specific religious aspects and are really just about winter and togetherness. We play that when we come inside all cold and ready to open a few gifts. My husband and I limit presents to try and keep the focus on the meaning of our holiday. No more than 3 gifts per person.

The extended family celebration is a bit different. My mom is Catholic, my sister is Atheist, and my dad was raised Lutheran. My parents are divorced and remarried so get togethers are always interesting. I usually host an all day event where one set of parents comes for lunch and the other for dinner so my sis and our families can stay in one place and not drag the kids all over. It is Christmas and Yule. If my sister or I had married a Jewish man it would be Hanukah too because we love and respect each other. In truth semantics don’t matter much because we just want to enjoy our holidays together and have a good time. That is not to say that we don’t have issues.

I have had to have many talks with my girls about different religions and customs. They are beginning to understand. It’s not always easy. My eldest is actually concerned about the fact that her friends’ parents lie to them and teach these unsuspecting children that Santa Claus is a real being. My husband and I have had to explain that St. Nicholas was a real person, that his spirit can be considered the spirit of giving, and that some parents wish to keep this spirit alive by pretending that he is still a physical presence. Teaching a young mind to respect that others have different beliefs and that we each have our own path to walk can be difficult.

This concept inspired me to write my first children’s book. “My Family Is Different,” is the story of a young Wiccan girl who realizes that her family celebrates a different faith than most. She questions her friends about their beliefs and learns that they all have their own religions. This teaches her that we are all different and that makes her feel good. My illustrator Laura Winship-Fanaei brought this tale to life with her colorful, imaginative, pictures and THG StarDragon Publishing released our story of acceptance and diversity this past September. It is available through amazon and can be ordered in any bookstore.

I’m just happy to have another teaching tool that gives my children, and maybe others, a simplified idea of how wonderful it is to be connected with a variety of ideas. Our society prides itself on our diverse culture, and this is the best time of year to really let it shine. Happy Holidays!

***

Bio: Jessica is addicted to the written word. She has previously published stories on Quantummuse, Hellfire Crossroads, and is to have a tale in issue #61 of Blood Moon Rising Magazine. In addition to fiction, Ms. Baumgartner’s articles and essays have been featured by The Witches’ Voice, Circle Magazine, the St. Louis Examiner, and Spirit One Magazine. Her children’s book about religious diversity and acceptance, “My Family Is Different,” was released by THG StarDragon Publishing this past September and has received much enthusiasm. You can find her blog here: jessicamariebaumgartner.wordpress.com

Guest Blogger, Personal

No Time Like December 6 To Polish Your Boots

December 6, 2014 R. Parrish 1 Comment

~*~

No Time Like December 6 To Polish Your Boots–Nikolaustag in Germany

By Alexandra Seidel

You know how the Christmas season always creeps up on you and is suddenly just here, real unexpectedly? Yeah, happened again this year, and now it’s just a little over three weeks to Giftmas.

But perhaps sharing a little culture and tradition with everyone can make the time seem longer, or at least make one take notice of it more. So here goes.

I want to share a German tradition with you (no, there are no pickled tree ornaments, like, at all over here). I’m talking about “Nikolaustag” (St. Nick’s Day) which is celebrated on December 6. And how do you celebrate? Well, I suppose there are a lot of older customs, but really the bones of it are these: the night before December 6, you have to clean your boots, get them all shiny and tidy, put them just outside your door, and then the next morning, St. Nick will have left something in those boots, most traditionally oranges and nuts, but nowadays it’s more likely toys and chocolate.

I do suppose it’s a little bit like a test run for Christmas. Being a kid, it sure is nice to be given gifts twice in December.

St. Nick’s Day is more widely celebrated in this part of Europe, but also in Denmark, and I think Sweden, too. As with Christmas, it might go back to a much older pagan festival, but I cannot provide any specific information. What I can provide is a regional quirk within Germany of which not even many Germans are aware.

I grew up in the north of Hesse, which is the state pretty much in the center of Germany. Here, we actually did celebrate December 6 in a special way. Kids will put on masks (those used to be predominantly Santa Claus masks, but really anything will do nowadays) and costumes and go from door to door on the evening of December 6, reciting poems or little rhymes to then collect candy (or in some cases a few coins) for their troubles. There is even a special name for that evening: “Glowesnacht” or “Glowesabend” (or also “Klobes-” or “Clobes-” instead of the “Glowes-” used here.) According to the internet, “Glowes-” and its alternate forms are all vernacular forms of the name ‘Klaus,’ as in Nikolaus, the notorious gift-giver whose cultural roots may go back to pagan times for all I know. After asking a few relatives and some more internet research, it seems that this tradition is also known in the Hamelin area (home of the Grimms’ pied piper fairy tale) as well as the Bremen area (which we also know from the Grimms’ The Town Musicians of Bremen.)

Glowesabend is pretty much like Halloween actually, but again, where that tradition comes from exactly and why it is only observed in part of the country while everyone else doesn’t even seem to know about it, I cannot tell you. I do know that it was also common, at least until a generation ago, that older teens would go from door to door and get schnapps instead of candy, at least in smaller villages. I suspect–again, with no proof–that this can be connected to Krampus, a darker and more rowdy expression of the saintly gift-giver, most certainly with pagan roots.

Wherever those traditions come from, what they all have in common is an emphasis on community and on bringing some more light and good spirits into an otherwise dark and cold season. And there is nothing wrong with that, especially if you can combine it all with some mulled wine, laughter, and friends.

—

Alexa Seidel edits poetry for Niteblade. She also writes things that get published every now and then in such places as Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, Lackington’s Magazine, and elsewhere. Alexa has a great fondness for the cold and dark season because it makes you find the warmest and brightest places (where there is mulled wine.) If you are so inclined, have a look at her blog www.tigerinthematchstickbox.blogspot.com or follow her on Twitter @Alexa_Seidel.

Fae, Interview

Fae Contributor Interview: Amanda Block

December 5, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

It’s Friday, and you know what that means! Fae-tastic Fridays continue. This week I’m stoked to share contributor Amanda Block’s interview and an excerpt from her story, Antlers.

~*~

Amanda Block’s Interview

What was the inspiration for your Fae story?

For some time, I had been mulling over three separate ideas: an original tale influenced by English folklore (I had ‘featuring stag?’ written in my notes), a story about someone being imprisoned in a garden, and an environmental fairy tale. When I realised they would fit together very neatly, the rest of Antlers quickly followed.

Was this your first foray into writing fairy stories? If no, why do you write fairy stories? What is it about them that appeals to you?

I would actually say that most of my writing is influenced by fairy tales. There are many, many reasons I like using them, at least as a starting point, but perhaps the principle one is this: I believe fairy tales are stories stripped down their purest and most basic form. Generally, there is no room for psychology or backstory, lengthy descriptions or character development – only plot. Philip Pullman, who recently reworked some of the world’s most famous stories in Grimm Tales for Young and Old, has said that a fairy tale is ‘made out of events’.*

As such, I find them a very useful writing tool. There are so many directions in which to take them: Snow White, for example, could be told from the mirror’s perspective, could be set in space, could evolve into an entirely different yarn about poison… But even if the fairy tale is turned upside down, or forgotten entirely in the development of the new fiction, I think at least beginning with a story structure that has been passed down hundreds of years, and that has survived countless retellings, can only serve to enhance and strengthen an original piece of writing.

Outside of your own writing, who is your favourite fairy character? What is it about them that makes them special?

I have always been fascinated by the eponymous hero of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. First of all, and most obviously, he’s completely impossible: ‘the boy who wouldn’t grow up.’ But even aside from that, he’s a complex riddle of a character, who veers from heroic and carefree (‘I’m youth, I’m joy, I’m a little bird broken out of the egg!’) to tragic and morbid (‘to die would be an awfully big adventure’). I’m always surprised that Barrie’s play is only just over a century old – there is such a mythical quality to the idea of a boy blessed (and doomed?) with eternal youth.

Excerpt from Antlers by Amanda Block (445 Words):

(Death)

The garden is a crypt. Vines grasp at the walls, pulling themselves upwards, right towards the throats of the tallest trees, which bow forward to meet one another, branches clasping branches.

Inside, there is no breeze, and the air is thick with the musk of pollen and damp, dark earth. The birds that remain stand still in the shrubs, their songs low and mournful.

At the centre, lies the Lady. Under the netting of shadows, her skin seems to shine and shift, like moonlight upon water. The only colour is at her breast, opening up like a red flower thrust forward through time, blossoming around the arrow that has pierced her heart.

(Birth)

She was pulled from the dying Queen, strong and squalling, and they quickly shushed and rocked and coddled her. Her mother, quiet at last, gazed only once upon her girl, before her eyes rolled back in her head.

There was no time to be respectful, to even check, before they cut into the Queen’s belly and dug around for the other child. It was a small, sinewy creature slipping like entrails through their fingers; the wrong colour, too quiet. They stood back while the midwife snipped at the cord and then, at the sound of the rasping, rattling breaths, surged forward once more. The healthy girl child was snatched from the wet nurse and replaced by her brother. Her screams filled the chamber, but no one heard her.

(Growth)

The twins were both pale, raven-haired, he and she versions of the same doll, though everyone could tell them apart. The girl was her mother’s daughter, tumbling outside at dawn and only returning at dusk, covered in grass stains and chattering about the lark’s nest above the gatehouse or the frogspawn in the moat. The boy was weaker, more wary, preferring to play his own games with his own rules. Sometimes he watched his sister through the arrowslits in the castle walls. He knew of the moments that had passed between the beginning of her life and his, when she had tried to steal his birthright by pushing herself first from their mother’s womb. It angered him, as it angered him to see the servants slip her cake, or their father gift her with the private garden within the castle grounds, which had once belonged to their mother.

As the old King faded, his daughter bloomed, and his son wavered somewhere in between. The Prince hated that the people loved her, the rosy almost-queen, and by the time his father died, and the crown sat heavy upon his brow, there was nothing in the kingdom he loathed more than his own sister.

~*~

Available direct from the publisher:

Paperback $11.95
Ebook $6.99

Or find it online:

Goodreads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)
Kobo
Books-a-Million

*http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/23/philip-pullman-dark-materials-children

A is for Apocalypse, Just Stuff

G is for Giftmas

December 4, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

It’s the season of giving, so I’m marking down A is for Apocalypse (because books make good gifts, yo!)

“In A is for Apocalypse, the world ends in both fire and ice-and by asteroid, flood, virus, symphony, immortality, the hands of our vampire overlords, and crowdfunding. A stellar group of authors explores over two dozen of the bangs and whispers that might someday take us all out. Often bleak, sometimes hopeful, always thoughtful, if A is for Apocalypse is as prescient as it is entertaining, we’re in for quite a ride.”

– Amanda C. Davis, author of The Lair of the Twelve Princesses

On sale now at:

CreateSpace (paperback) –> ~~$17.99~~ $14.99
[Use promo code TY6D2CWD for a further 10% off]

Smashwords (electronic copies) –> $6.99
[Use promo code FC62Z to take $2 off]

Amazon (paperback) –> ~~$17.99~~ $14.99

Kobo (electronic copies) –> $4.99
[on sale until January 4th]

Amazon and Kobo are being a little slow in updating, so if they aren’t showing the sale price refresh the page. If they still aren’t showing it, I apologize. They should soon.

Guest Blogger, Personal

Christmas in South Africa

December 3, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

~*~

Christmas in South Africa

by Suzanne van Rooyen

Sitting in dark and snowy Helsinki about to move to equally dark though slightly less snowy Stockholm, it’s hard to believe that as a kid I spent my Christmases trying to avoid sunburn, playing garden cricket and swimming in the pool!

To be honest, as a kid, Christmas was a strange and somewhat disappointing time of the year. All the Christmas songs we sang at school were about reindeer and sleighs, chestnuts roasting on open fires, and this mysterious white stuff called snow. Despite asking Father Christmas (never Santa Claus) for snow several years in a row and waiting anxiously for it to arrive, it never did. It wasn’t until I was 18 and spent December in Switzerland that I experienced a white Christmas and saw proper snow for the first time. Now I’m not quite sick of snow at Christmas time, but the novelty has certainly started to wear off.

In South Africa, the Christmas season kicked off for my family on December 16th – a public holiday in South Africa and the day the Christmas tree goes up. We had a real tree once or twice, but they inevitably died in the sweltering December heat so we stuck with a plastic tree after that, replete with balls of cotton wool in imitation of the ever elusive snow. After a while even that seemed silly so my brother, father, and I built a tree out of wire and wrapped it in tinsel. This happened about ten years ago and that same tree is still in use today back in my parents’ home in South Africa. Despite now living in the land of pine trees, the wire Christmas tree tradition has persisted so that my husband and I have a touch of ‘Africa’ up here in the north with our wire and tinsel construction.

Some of my fondest childhood Christmas memories involve my large, extended family hanging out in the garden and playing Marco Polo in the pool while Christmas dinner cooked on the braai (the South African version of a grill or barbecue). The best gifts were pool noodles and inflatable lilos. Christmas for me was never a stuffed turkey and vegetable casserole, but rather boerewors and salad. My mom attempted a traditional Christmas roast a few times but eventually gave up when the mercury climbed into the thirties (that’s well into the eighties, Fahrenheit) and no one wanted to eat a hot meal anyway.

In South Africa, Christmas Eve usually involved a light supper and laying out the presents. For a while, I left milk and cookies for Father Christmas but that eventually became beer and biltong – that was a year or two before I realised my dad was the one sneaking into the lounge to leave the last of the gifts. Our family, like most in SA, opened presents on Christmas morning before the big day of family and feasting commenced, which actually didn’t stop until after December 26th. It has taken me a while to get used to the more typical Finnish tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve. Eating too much this time of year seems to be an international phenomenon though.

While I do sometimes miss the sun and warmth of a summery festive season, I’ve got to say that there is something extremely special about a snowy, cold, dark December. And at least all the Christmas songs now make sense!

About the Author:

Suzanne is a tattooed story-teller and peanut-butter addict from South Africa. She currently lives in Finland and finds the cold, dark forests nothing if not inspiring. Although she has a Master’s degree in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When not writing you can find her teaching dance and music to middle-schoolers or playing in the snow with her shiba inu. She is rep’d by Jordy Albert of the Booker Albert Agency.

Author Links: Website – http://suzannevanrooyen.com

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Suzanne_Writer

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Suzanne-van-Rooyen/304965232847874

Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/SuzanneAuthor/

Personal, Pictures

Giftmas Advent

December 2, 2014 R. Parrish 1 Comment

Some people purchase advent calendars to count down the days toward Christmas but for us Advent is an event, not an object.

December 1st we set out 25 candles (usually on our fireplace mantel as you can see from the picture above of last year’s display). Some time after dinner the three of us (Jo, Danica and myself) will turn out the lights and turn on the music. In all the time we’ve been celebrating Giftmas together I don’t think the musical selection has changed. The CDs sitting beside the Advent display invariably are:

Salva Nos – Mediaeval Baebes
A Medieval Christmas – The Boston Camerata
Christmas Through the Ages – Various
Meowy Christmas – Jingle Cats
A Sesame Street Christmas – Sesame Street
Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors – Original Cast
The Bells of Dublin – The Chieftains

With the music playing, one of us will light the appropriate number of candles (one on the 1st of December, two on the 2nd, three on the 3rd…) while another hands round a box of chocolates or other such goodies.

Some years we just stand and watch the candle flicker and talk a while before blowing the candles out but my favourites have been the years when Jo would read to us. Usually it’s Dickens. One year it was The Cricket on the Hearth and I’m pretty sure we’ve done A Christmas Carol a couple times. My favourite year was one of the Christmas Carol ones. Dani and I sat on the loveseat while Jo read and I crocheted an afghan in the candlelight (which grows brighter and warmer every day of the month and more and more candles are lit).

It felt very homey, very snuggly.

Do you countdown the days to your holiday celebration in any special way?

I saw a wine advent calendar the other day that really got me thinkin’… Perhaps that’s a new thing we could incorporate into our existing traditions. It sure would make the season merry!

~*~

Books, Fae, Niteblade, Published

Niteblade and Fae

December 1, 2014 R. Parrish Leave a comment

Normally I don’t post two blog posts on the same day, and I usually wouldn’t make a single post that included details about FAE being on sale and also the latest issue of Niteblade. But today isn’t just another day, so I’m doing exactly that.

First of all, if you didn’t see it, my other post for today is about Giftmas cards. Basically I’d like to send you one, so if you’d like to receive one you ought to sign up using this form right here.

Now, about Fae and Niteblade…

Fae is on sale, and it’s a good one. From now until the end of the year you can get a paperback copy of both Fae and of Far Orbit for only $19.95. That’s two great anthologies from World Weaver Press for less than twenty bucks. If you’ve already bought one or the other of them, well, what can I say? Books make fantastic gifts, right? LOL Unfortunately these books can only be shipped within the United States, but I happen to know a lot of my friends and readers live there — it’s a pretty big place 😉

Annnnd, last but most assuredly not least — the latest issue of Niteblade came out today.

Issue #30 (holy freaking hell, 30 issues!) is called Vampyrics and features a fang-tastically festive cover by Marge Simon. Our table of contents looks like this:

Abominable Snowman by Ada Hoffmann
Cold by Thomas Wood
Nameday by Anne Carly Abad
A Million Miles Away by Christian Riley
Vampyrics by John Philip Johnson
Bindings by Jamie Killen
The Art by Sandi Leibowitz
Three Little Words by Sealey Andrews
Ghost Engine Updates an Ad for Angry Spirits by Anne Carly Abad
Date of Death by Stone Showers

We’ve got monsters (traditional and otherwise), subtle horror, kinky fae-like critters, living nightmares and modernized hauntings. This is truly one of our strongest issues yet and with more ways to enjoy it than ever before.

You can check it out at the Niteblade Website. From there you’ll be able to read previews of every single piece we’re offering you, as we try to tempt you into purchasing a downloadable copy (.pdf, .ePub or .mobi) or sending us a donation. As soon as we reach $50 in sales and donations combined we will release the full issue on the website for everyone to read for free (but our downloadable copies are still the best way to experience Niteblade. No lie.)

You can also check out this issue over at Smashwords. There, they will give you the first 20% of the issue for free, to make sure you like what you see before you take the $2.99 plunge and buy a copy –> Vampyrics at Smashwords. From Smashwords you can pick up copies of this issue in every freaking format conceivable. And yes. Your purchases still count toward eventually releasing the web version for free.

But wait! There’s more!

This issue of Niteblade is also available from Amazon and Kobo.

*Catches breath*

So. There’s that.

🙂

Thoughts

Giftmas Cards

December 1, 2014 R. Parrish 2 Comments

This month I’m hoping to be able to help share people’s winter holiday stories and traditions. To that end I asked people to send me guest blogs. Today was the deadline (and I’m pre-scheduling this LoL) so I don’t actually know how many have come in. By this evening I will, though, and that will make me able to spread however many there are (*fingers crossed for lots*) over the month.

In the meantime, I wanted to start the month off in the holiday spirit 🙂

I have cards.

Around here we celebrate a secular version of Christmas I like to call Giftmas… but maybe I should call these Christmas cards, because some of them say ‘Christmas’ in them. Mostly, though, they are secular wintery, cute animaly cards. Would you like one?

I’d love to add you to my Giftmas card list, so if you send me your snail mail address by filling out the form below (which I really, really hope is working) I will send you a Giftmas card. Also, right after the envelope containing your card is addressed I promise to delete/purge/forget your address ever existed and not use it again without your permission. The exception here is if we’re already snail mail pen pals LOL

Also, it goes without saying that I won’t give your address away or sell it to anyone, right? Right.

[contact-form subject=’Giftmas Cards’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Snail Mail Address’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

Rhonda Parrish

Fae Contributor Interview: Adria Laycraft

Adria Laycraft’s Interview

Excerpt from Water Sense by Adria Laycraft (333 words):

Available direct from the publisher:

Or find it online:

Yuletide, Goth Music and Biscotti

Yuletide, Goth Music and Biscotti

by C.S. MacCath

Holiday Traditions

Holiday Traditions

by Reb Kreyling

The Magick of Yule

The Magick of Yule

By Jessica Marie Baumgartner

No Time Like December 6 To Polish Your Boots

No Time Like December 6 To Polish Your Boots–Nikolaustag in Germany

By Alexandra Seidel

Fae Contributor Interview: Amanda Block

Amanda Block’s Interview

Excerpt from Antlers by Amanda Block (445 Words):

Available direct from the publisher:

Or find it online:

G is for Giftmas

On sale now at:

Christmas in South Africa

Christmas in South Africa

by Suzanne van Rooyen

Giftmas Advent

Niteblade and Fae

Giftmas Cards

I write, I edit and I take a lot of naps.