Werewolves, writing, and the first half of 2014

Wait, what? It’s July already? Not sure how the first half of 2014 burned up like that.  Oh wait, yes I am: I’ve been writing, editing and submitting like a fool. Well, a circumspect fool.

The year has been full of werewolves so far.

Writing

I meant to announce this earlier, but a brand-new werewolf story of mine, “Caged,” was accepted into Guns and Romances, a new anthology from Dark Continents Publishing. I’ve wanted to send them something for a while, so when the submission call went out, I thought hard about how I could come up with a story that would fit DC’srequirements for the antho. If possible, I wanted it to fit into the cycle of stories I’ve been working on for the last year and a half, and meet most of the criteria for Long Hidden, which is something I’ve been trying to do with new stories since submitting to that anthology last year.

Marginalization, speculative fiction and writing for Long Hidden, part 3: the where

Red Sucker Lake (ca. 1920s) - Print #253 Red Sucker Lake 1 - See more at: http://www.eastsideroadauthority.mb.ca/community-redsuckerlake.html#sthash.aBEB8dFu.dpuf
Red Sucker Lake, ca. 1920s. See more at: http://www.eastsideroadauthority.mb.ca

I’ve written in previous posts about why I wanted to write for Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction From the Margins of History and how I went about it. This post will be a bit shorter, as it is mainly about other details that you don’t need to know to enjoy the story, but that you might enjoy knowing anyway. Plus: maps!

(Also, did you know, that Long Hidden is available as of May 9?)

What the hell I’ve been up to in 2013

Well, you can’t do everything at once, and I’m not good at New Year’s Resolutions, but I’m proud to say it’s been a good six months of writing for me — which was my goal for this year. And, oddly enough, all of it was werewolf-related…

Werewolf Wednesday: Rhiannon Held on the modern werewolf

It’s my pleasure today to host urban fantasy author Rhiannon Held, writer of werewolf novels Silver (2011) and its sequel Tarnished, which is out now. I asked her about a possible writing soundtrack, but also about what she thought of the werewolf’s place in culture today. As befits a writer whose werewolves’ social dynamics are rich and complex, she had some fascinating thoughts to share. Take it away, Rhiannon!

Rhiannon HeldWhen David invited me to do this post, he asked for my thoughts on an interesting topic: What does the werewolf mean as a monster in today’s fiction? I don’t know the answer myself — but while we’re overrun with vampires and zombies, the werewolf seems stuck — at least in the popular consciousness — in old tropes, and doesn’t seem to have the same impact on pop culture.

I think at least part of the answer lies in an idea that I’ve held for a while: we seem to use or discard our monsters based on what kind of metaphors they’re good for. What do I mean by that? Let’s take vampires as an example. Back in history, when they were hairy-palmed ugly monsters, they seemed like more of a metaphor for the unknowable evil that jumps out at you from the dark.

Werewolf Wednesday: Allison Moon’s Hungry Ghost

Hungry GhostIn case you haven’t been keeping up with current events, some of the best werewolf stories are coming from women these days. None more so than Allison Moon, who began her Tales of the Pack series with Lunatic Fringe in 2011, and launched the second book in the series, Hungry Ghost, on April 9. (You can find more information on both at her website.)

In Lunatic Fringe, Allison introduces us to Lexie, a first-year university student from Wolf Creek, Ore., who moves to nearby Milton to attend school. Not only does she fall in with a strong-minded group of women known as the Pack, she also falls in love with a woman for the first time. In addition to navigating the sometimes tense sexual politics on campus, Lexie is dismayed to discover that she, as well as some others in Milton, are werewolves.

Werewolf shirts you need to own

productimage-picture-the-slaughtered-lamb-58Do you like werewolves? Are you tired of vampires stealing all the sartorial elegance? Never fear. What you need are a few snazzy, sharp, fangs-and-fur t-shirts to liven up your wardrobe. There are many lycanthropic tees out there, but here, for a start, are my choices for werewolf shirts you need to own…