G is for Ghost releases today. It has 26 stories, one for each letter of the alphabet. There are 26 days ’til Halloween. Coincidence?
A teenage girl’s classmates begin disappearing only to haunt her dreams, ships full of ghostly passengers in need of release test those who are tasked to give them peace, psychopomps whose job is guiding the spirits of the dead to the other side meet in a support group, and more fill these pages.
G is for Ghost
Join me today for a shiny new cover, this time for The Windward King.
The Windward King has tree-dragons, platonic relationships, sibling drama, self-doubt, so much sweet fried dough, and a sweet, cute, shapeshifter protagonist who totally does not know the fangirling he’s about to get.
But we came here to talk about the cover, so:
Cover Reveal: The Windward King!
With the equinox, we’re officially heading into autumn here on the northern half of the world, and it’s time to break out those seasonal stories! If you want to go light on the spooky and heavy on the fun, you’ll probably enjoy a collection of stories about magic… Forgot to grab a seasonal read? SonOfAWitch!
It’s heeeeere!
I’ve got the shiny new cover for Kin & Kind, book #4 in the The Shard of Elan series, and let’s cut the walking-on-the-beach-memories recipe blog filler and get right to it:
Cover Reveal: Kin & Kind!Hey, there are a few more videos on my channel which I haven’t given their own posts over here, because they weren’t really “featured episodes” on my show or because they were part of a conference. But in case you’re interested:
More Videos for Creators
Or, “how equine influenza made your newfangled electric sewing machine run.”
Did you know the United States had a complex and efficient, electric train system that serviced most of the population? Did you know this train system brought electric power to rural communities? Let’s talk about the interurban, and about how transportation affects your worldbuilding. With guest Alena Van Arendonk.
The Lost Era of Electric Train Travel (To Write and Have Written)
Today I’m happy to announce the re-release of a story you might not have seen before.
This story was originally published in C is for Chimera, a 2016 anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish. I’m proud of this story for several reasons. First, I actually do like the story itself, its imagery and its theme. Second, I’m proud of how it happened.
I wasn’t supposed to be in this anthology. I was just ending a vacation in Denmark with my husband when I got the message from Rhonda. One of her anthology authors was not able to turn in a story, and because it was an alphabet anthology it needed a full 26 stories, one per letter, and would I be able to write a story to theme in the two weeks before it went to layout? Oh, and for the letter N?
Of course, I said, without the faintest idea of what that would be.
I started a story on the flight home, about medical chimeras and genetic engineering, but it had, like, two decent lines and I trashed it. Then I started another story, about a prince and the original Greek Khimaira and its dark foretelling, and this one started to come together.
(By the way, that’s where the Ivory Throne came from! I had just seen Denmark’s throne made of unicorn horns narwhal tusks.)
I had a lot of fun researching this piece, which I did a fair amount of despite its short turnaround. I drew on some unorthodox ideas of Atlantis and a lot of earthquake and volcano research, from a frighteningly fast geological crack in Africa to toxic gasses that kill in seconds.
The first bull mentioned in the story is a red roan, and of course that is a reference to the famous bull-leaping fresco from the palace of Knossos. If you’re going to borrow from history, at least make it obvious!
The chimera itself I kept very close to Greek legend, and I used a well-known Etruscan statue for visual inspiration.
I’m happy to have this story out again. It has a new title for independent reading and two shiny new formats.
I’ve just added short story benefits to my Fae Tier on Patreon, so supporters at Fae and above will get it this month, in both ebook and audio, or you can pick it up separately here on my website.
A Chimera Story
And a TOC!
The next installment of punk’d up fairy tales is coming, and here’s what it looks like:
Cover Reveal: Trenchcoats, Towers and Trolls
Ermigersh! It’s an Ask Me Anything! Everything from marketing to ebook pricing to what I think people do wrong. (Don’t worry, we have a time limit!)
Patreon: http://patreon.com/lauravab
The Poet’s Eye on Vella: https://amzn.to/3i6F9ZV
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I give a painfully honest accounting of the first week live with Kindle Vella and my new Patreon. We also talk about planning and prioritizing ideas.
Patreon: http://patreon.com/lauravab
The Poet’s Eye on Vella: https://amzn.to/3i6F9ZV
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
