Strong Female Characters, a New Halloween Story, and More About Swords!

Gods, I’ve been busy!

Baby Got Backbone

Recently, a number of genre magazines decided to dedicate an issue to all female authors with the title “Women Destroy <Genre>!”  Nightmare Magazine hosted a Women Destroy Horror! issue for October 2014, Issue 25. Ellen Datlow edited the fiction section, which includes stories by Tanith Lee, Joyce Carol Oates and Pat Cadigan.

When the nonfiction editor, Lisa Morton, asked me to write something as a sort of follow up to my women with swords article, I jumped at the chance. I’ve been thinking a lot about the trend to create “strong” female characters by giving them fighting abilities. “Baby Got Backbone: What Makes Strong Women ‘Kick’ in Horror Films and TV Shows” is the result. I’m pleased to say it’s available in the exclusive paid content section of this issue. You’ll have to buy the issue (ebook or trade paperback) to read the article, but given all the great authors who’ve contributed, it’s worth it!

We’ve already had a request from a professor at a major university on the East Coast to possibly use my article in a class next semester, 2015. I’ll post if we get confirmation.

“Harvest of Flames”

Wow! It’s been a while since I wrote a new short story, especially horror. “Harvest of Flames” is a Halloween story for dog lovers, but pet owners in general will relate powerfully to the protagonist who has lost her dog. When she discovers dogs are disappearing all over Los Angeles two weeks before Halloween, even more horrors befall her as she is hellbent on finding out why.

The story appears in the new anthology Halloween Tales published by Omnium Gatherum and edited by the wonderful Kate Jonez. Amazon carries both Kindle and paperback versions of the anthology. Proceeds go to the HWA Hardship Fund.

I’m also working on putting out the story as an Amazon Single in the next couple of days so that anyone can pick it up. Stay tuned!

ETA: HERE IT IS! A Samhain treat for you at $0.99.

“Four of the Dumbest Things Done with Swords in Film and Fiction”

It’s on! My SF Signal guest blog post is generating some terrific responses all over the Twittersphere. I’m thrilled that people are learning about swords and that they’ll be applying it in their own writing. Huzzah! Thanks to everyone for their shares and comments. You guys are awesome.