Incense Sticks by Ajay Vishwanathan is actually an example of a story which I shouldn’t have published in Niteblade, but I couldn’t help myself. I have a soft spot for stories set in exotic locations, whether they be real or fictional. If they can transport me somewhere else, I tend to fall in love with them. That was the case with this story, and I had to have it. Even though the fantasy/horror element was very faint, if it was present at all. No, in retrospect I really shouldn’t have accepted Incense Sticks for Niteblade, but I’m not sorry that I did 😉

Another fine example of a transportive story is Women of Straw by Kyle Hemmings. Not only did I fall in love with this story, but it’s much more appropriate for the pages of Niteblade. Or Infectious by Lilah Wild. Hungry by Tai Dong Huai. I could go on and on. But I won’t. Because if I post too many links here you won’t visit any of them, and you really should. At least one or two. You won’t regret it.

~*~

This post has been written as a part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is ‘Niteblade‘, which is 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 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
D: December 2011 (Giveaway open until April 30th)
E: Evil Bird
F: First Loves for the First Time
G: The Gnome’s Spectacles
H: Happy Halloween, It’s a Bloody Puppet Show
I: Incense Sticks