Story spotlight: “The Ballad of Molly McGee” by DeAnna Knippling

Witches weave curses out of words; the less you use ‘em, the more powerful they are. Blessings are weaker—but you can use them more often, wear them in like shoes. Judith’s red-headed granddaughter Molly, also a witch, curses her way through life, and now look at her—pregnant, a widow, and an adulteress with the spirit…

Story spotlight: “Freshly Ghost” by Chuck Heintzelman

  Being dead was unlike anything Chance Phillips had expected. For one thing, he’s forced to change his name. For another, he discovers he can move through time.   When Chance learns a friend, an alive friend, is in danger will he and his ghost friend Jeremy be able to save her in time?  …

Story spotlight: “We, the Ocean” by Alexandra Brandt

When Thalassa’s Children—the mer-like, genderless protectors of the ocean—experience the trapped and suffocating death of one of their own, a single member chooses to take action. Against the wishes of the collective mind. But can a lone mer ever hope to convince the humans of what they have done to the ocean, in a language…

Story spotlight: “Beneath the Knowe” by Anthea Sharp

From USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp, a magical faerie tale featuring an ancient Celtic setting, music, and the ageless denizens of the Bright Court. Can music overcome fey magic? When the chieftain’s infant son is stolen away by the fey folk of the Bright Court, Maeve Donnelly journeys beneath the faerie hill to save…

Interview: Anthea Sharp on “Once Upon a Quest”

Meet Anthea! Anthea Sharp writes fairy tale retellings, Victorian steampunk, fantasy romance, and has combined the Realm of Faerie with immersive gaming in her Feyland series. Once Upon a Quest is the third volume in the Once Upon anthology series. Once Upon a Quest Once Upon a Quest is a collection of fifteen tales of…

Story spotlight: “Cauldron Bubble” by Rebecca M. Senese

Mathilde Blackmore needs to move out of her mother’s house pronto, but her new home has to meet some specific requirements in order Young witch Malinda Hazelthorn excels with the wand but sucks at potions work. So naturally her project for the Witches and Warlocks Special Exhibit demands both. As if that isn’t enough, a…

Story spotlight: “The Scottish Play” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Portia uses her magic to solve problems—theatrical problems. She prefers to work alone, even though her two sisters possess magic, too. But her latest job, in London’s West End, poses problems not only because of the play being performed—the cursed Scottish Play (aka Macbeth)—but because she must deal with a magic she has never seen…