A lot has changed since 2009 when I first read and accepted The Pacifier by Beth Cato for Niteblade. Though I consider her a good friend now I barely knew her then. She was a member of NaNoLJers like I was but that was about as far as our connection went. So that’s changed. What hasn’t changed is how much I love this story. Everyone I talk to loves this story. It’s a post-apocalyptic tale that will leave you holding your breath.

When Beth eventually wrote two sequels to it (The Empty Crib at the End of the World and The Teething Ring), I was honored to accept them for Niteblade as well, and later to nominate the trilogy for a Pushcart Prize. Though I love all three stories, it is The Pacifier that has a special place in my heart and the bookshelf in my brain. I mentally take it out, dust it off and relive it regularly.

Off topic a little bit? If you pop over to read The Pacifier (and you should) it’s also very much worth checking out Following Rabbits by Gregg Winkler which appeared in the same issue. I wanted to include Following Rabbits in my month of Niteblade blogs, but I couldn’t fit it into the alphabet on its own.

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This post has been written as a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is ‘Niteblade‘, that being the magazine I publish. I chose this theme to help draw attention to the magazine during this, it’s 2nd annual fundraiser.

My first post in this series was about choosing stories and poems to nominate for awards and, on a related note, I’ve gone through a similar process in deciding what to write about for these posts. Not only did I have to choose stories and poems I loved, but they also had to fit with the A-Z theme. Tricky!

Blogging from A to Z 2013:

A: Award Nominations
B: Brenda Stokes Barron
C: Cato, Beth – The Pacifier