The time has come ...

Speculative fiction has been a literary orphan since the genre first sprang from the fertile brains of writers like H.G. Wells. This thoughtful article from the Guardian analyzes the chances this year will be the year the prestigious Booker Prize will go to a novel in that genre.

Soul Food Done Soulfully

My roots are in the south, culinarily speaking, and I get all the newsletters out there purporting to celebrate Southern food. Some of them take a very (extremely) broad view of what constitutes "Southern" but to each his own. One newsletter that never ever disappoints is Willie Crawford's Soulful recipes, which comes once a day (sometimes more). You can sign up for the newsletter at his site. You can thank me later, when you're full of collard greens with neckbones, red velvet cake and macaroni and cheese that has nothing to do with Velveeta.

A lot of the recipes show up pretty regularly (like a pound cake made with 7-Up) but this is the real deal y'all.

Tigerbone Wine

In honor of the Year of the Rabbit, I've posted my story "Tigerbone Wine" over at Dark Valentine Magazine. Here's the link.

Here's a sample:

When Bailey returned to camp he saw the monkeys had been at the food caches again. Supplies were flung helter-skelter across the clearing where he’d set up his tent. The shiny sealed packages of freeze-dried stew and soup and pasta had been ripped open and shredded, strewn around the area like ticker tape after a parade. The canned goods had been looted but left behind. It was a good thing he liked fruit cocktail. He wondered how it would taste with barbecued monkey meat. He looked forward to finding out … soon.
Bailey freaking hated monkeys. He loathed their wrinkled little faces.
He despised their spidery little hands. He abhorred the whole simian reality of their existence.
The last time they’d been on a trip together, Lina had made a pet of a golden-furred macaque, cooing over it like a child. She’d named it “Bobo,” and told Bailey he was good company when she was left alone while he was out hunting. He let her keep the thing as a pet because it kept her from nagging him about having a baby. As if they could afford another mouth to feed. And besides, Bailey hadn’t had much of a father and he sure as hell didn’t have the father gene in him. Lina hadn’t understood, had kept after him, the way women will, and sometimes he had to get mean to shut her up. Bailey loved Lina, so if keeping the damn thing made her happy, he was happy enough to live and let live.

Read the rest at Dark Valentine Maqazine.

The tiger photo is by Israeli photographer Slavik Gormah.

They write urban fantasy in Oz too...

Here's a link to an article that first appeared in the RWA newsletter "Heart's Talk." It's a fairly standard-issue overview of Urban Fantasy but it lists a number of Aussie UF writers I wasn't familiar with. Since I gobble up the genre like chocolate-covered raisins, I was delighted by this. If you are looking for some new books while Jim Butcher writes his next novel, check out the post.

Oops

Thanks to Paul Brazill for pointing out the story in Powder Burn Flash was posted by MysteryDawg but written by Jane Hammons. Sorry Jane.

Stories for Sunday

A Twist of Noir is back up and running with great new twisted tales here. I have story #668, coming in early February. That's art by Walter Conley, who has provided an illustration for Dark Valentine Magazine's upcoming spring issue.

MysteryDawg has a story up at Powder Burn Flash. Check it out.

If you're looking for something to read and you're not sure what, check out Fresh Fiction, with its lists of new works in all mystery genres, reviews, blogs, interviews and more.

When characters surprise you

The first time a character did something I wasn't suspecting, it kind of scared me. It wasn't quite on a par with a divine message to put on a suit of armor and go save France but it was freaky nonetheless. It's happened enough now that it's not quite a complete surprise but it can still be unnerving.

Take this week's episode of NoHo Noir. In this episode, homophobic cop Ethan's girlfriend gives birth to his baby after she takes a bad fall. I had a story all worked out where Ethan, who is contemptuous of a particular neighbor, finds out that he's gay after he saves the baby and the mother's life. And he may still find that out about the character, who is currently named "Guy from 108." As I was typing, though, Ethan decided to do something different and the story has a very different outcome.

So for the record, if you read the story and HATE what happens, blame Ethan. I was just the one at the keyboard. Read the story here. The illustration is by Mark Satchwill.