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Interview: DeAnna Knippling, author of “Estimated Value” in Stolen by the Fae

“Estimated Value,” by DeAnna Knippling, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

The Interview

Why do you think the mythology of the changeling, in which the Fae steal a human and replace it with one of their own kind, is so intriguing to people?

I think the stories about changelings are generally intriguing for some dark reasons.

On the one hand, people have been looking for explanations about why their kids aren’t like them for a long, long time. We put a lot of our hopes, rather unfairly, on children, expecting them to be and do better than their own parents! The story of the changeling helps put words to those taboo feelings of “this wasn’t the baby I was promised.” The story also serves as a cautionary tale: if you don’t love and watch over your child, the fae will take them away, usually both the human child and (eventually) the fae one, which either dies or disappears, leaving the parents with nothing.

—And yet on the other hand, a lot of us have a sneaking suspicion that we don’t belong with our families of birth. We don’t fit in; we make each other uncomfortable; we are treated in ways that aren’t acceptable. I think a lot of stories about “secretly, the main character was adopted” touch on this, too.

Changeling stories hit a nerve about feeling like we don’t belong. Sometimes that nerve gets too ugly to talk about directly. Fortunately, we can tell stories to help release or process those feelings.

Is there a recurring theme that appears in your writing? If so, what is it, and why do you think it keeps appearing?

I write a lot about bullies and about systems that bully. I usually don’t set out to write about that theme; it just comes up. My story in Stolen by the Fae, “Estimated Value,” isn’t really about that theme, but about a new theme that’s been coming up lately, about faith.

Not religious faith, but believing that you have to do the right thing, whether you think it’s going to work or not. Never looking directly at one’s hopes, but following them out of the corner of your eye, as it were.

Is there a fairy tale that you really enjoy, or which has stuck with you? If so, which one—and what do you find compelling about this particular story?

Today the one that sticks in my mind is “The Seven Swans,” about the girl who has to be silent for six years while sewing shirts for her brothers, who have been changed into swans by a witch. While alone in the forest sewing her brothers’s shirts, the girl is claimed by a king and has two children by him, who are whisked away by the king’s mother. The mother pretends that the new queen has eaten the children; the new queen refuses to defend herself and keeps sewing.

Finally the shirts are almost done; the swans appear just as the new queen is about to be burned at the stake. She throws the shirts over her brothers, who change back into humans, and then defends herself against the evil mother.

I like the story, but it sticks with me for a couple of reasons:

–How did she choose between her brothers and her children?

–Why didn’t she find a way to cheat?

A lot of fairy tales feature protagonists who are clever, tricky enough to find a way around a problem instead of trying to stubborn their way through it. This story, though, is about pure, bloody-minded determination. The virtue of stubbornness and holding to one’s purpose, even when other people use it against you. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side, though.

What aspect do you like most about your story in Stolen by the Fae, and why?

I’m used to writing darker stories where the characters have to give their all, whether they succeed or fail. For all that the main character is this direct, blunt kind of guy, he also has a subtle delicacy about him that I really liked. I feel like he was saying, “Follow your instincts, but follow them quietly, so you don’t get caught and stopped.”

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

I’m working on a massive drama/romance/spy thriller episodic series called Blind Date with Death. It’s about bullies and faith, I suppose. The really fun part is going, “I can’t write that!” and the characters going, “You wi-illll.” I feel like the characters are in charge, not me. Which is good; they’re smarter than I am.

While there aren’t any truly supernatural elements to the story, I’m working on a section now that’s full of girls who have become changelings or “lost girls” of a sort, separated from their birth families but refusing to return home again. They hoped to find a better life, or at least a less restrictive one, got sucked into a horrific system, and kind of feel like it would be pointless to go back. They no longer fit. I’m not sure how things will work out for them (I’m not plotting ahead of time), but they’re both poignant and a lot of fun to write about.

About DeAnna

DeAnna Knippling is always tempted to lie on her bios. Her favorite musician is Tom Waits, and her favorite author is Lewis Carroll. Her favorite monster is zombies. Her life goal is to remake her house in the image of the House on the Rock, or at least Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. You should buy her books. She promises that she’ll use the money wisely on bookshelves and secret doors. She lives in Florida and is the author of The House Without a Summer: A Gothic Novel, and other books like The Clockwork Alice, A Murder of Crows: Seventeen Tales of Monsters & the Macabre, and more.

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A Procession of Faeries

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Interview: Thea Hutcheson, author of “Two Pies out of One Pan” in Stolen by the Fae

“Two Pies out of One Pan,” by Thea Hutcheson, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

The Interview

Why do you think the mythology of the changeling, in which the Fae steal a human and replace it with one of their own kind, is so intriguing to people?

I think clearly it relates to kids who have problems. It’s an answer to the why things happen situation. I hate to say it, but we were brutish back then, in the face of ignorance of illness and physiological issues and superstition and fear of the unknown or different. Saying that these kids were not people, opened the door to all the terrible things they did to those “changelings”. “We had to get rid of it,” was the common refrain. “It wasn’t a human baby (It was a fae baby or an ancient fae wanting to be cared for in their sunset years). They stole our baby. We will make this fake one pay.”

Is there a recurring theme that appears in your writing? If so, what is it, and why do you think it keeps appearing?

I blank on these kinds of questions because I am not consciously aware of themes when I write. I just write the story. I let readers find themes in what I write. I will say I am against hatred, ignorance, and violence, so I was very happy when I found the tale that formed the basis for this story and I was able to utilize it to reflect my personal arc toward love, acceptance, and inclusivity.

Is there a fairy tale that you really enjoy, or which has stuck with you? If so, which one—and what do you find compelling about this particular story?

I love Puss in Boots. He is such a scammer and he uses the miller’s son to get what he wants, getting the miller’s son a pretty good deal in the bargain. No body really gets hurt and the Miller’s son, who was pretty smart, but just needed some direction, got a leg up.

What aspect do you like most about your story in Stolen by the Fae, and why?

I have touched on it above. Carol wanted a baby and she stepped outside of her society’s conventions to get it. She protected her child fiercely, even against her own husband. She didn’t do it for a reward or anything. She did it because he was her child and that is what mothers do. Or should do. She is a strong woman who had desires and worked to get them, but didn’t compromise her ethics or morals to do it. I suppose, when I think about it, if I have a theme, it’s women working toward what they want and need and suffering through the epiphanies and the costs those wants and needs entail.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

I am writing a series of urban fairy tales. There are six novels set in Denver starting just after World War II. They have rich world building and wide ranging magical practices. Each fairy tale has a spicy romantic subtheme and features straight, menage a trois, gay, and lesbian characters. I love working out how the fairy tale fits into the general arc of the community and how the characters deal with the tropes they discover they are working through. Each novel has a follow on bonus short story that showcases a character. These are fun to do because they won’t always behave and be short stories. I end up with extra novels and still have to write the follow on short story. The next one, I am pretty sure, is going to be another novel given the story kernel, which means, I will still have to write a short story in that super fun magical community after I finish it. Darn it!

About Thea

Thea Hutcheson’s story in Realms of Fantasy’s 100th issue prompted Lois Tilton of Locus to say her work “is sensual, fertile, with seed quickening on every page. Well done…” She has appeared in such publications as Hot Blood XI, Fatal Attractions, Baen’s Universe Issue 4, Vol. 1, Amazing Monster Tales: It Came From Outer Space, Nuns with Guns, Water Faeries, and several of the critically acclaimed Fiction River anthologies.

She lives in an unscenic, nearly historic small city in Colorado with a thousand books, four rescued cats and one understanding housemate. When she’s not working diligently as a Planning Commissioner to change that, she writes, and fills the time between bouts at the computer as a factotum and an event planner.

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A Procession of Faeries

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Interview: Ron Collins, author of “The Replacement” in Stolen by the Fae

“The Replacement,” by Ron Collins, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

The Interview

Why do you think the mythology of the changeling, in which the Fae steal a human and replace it with one of their own kind, is so intriguing to people?

There’s a lot tied into that question, not the least is that the answer has probably changed of the centuries. Today, I think people can get trapped in the routine of their daily grind, and that sense of claustrophobia can make us yearning for something extraordinary to exist. The idea of the changeling says something bigger exists. It carries a sense of adventure and hidden realms that I kind of like. To be selected in that world means something, too.

I don’t know, really. Humans are weird, right?

The idea of being essentially kidnapped, but then taken to a place of wonder, magic, and beauty that exists kind of under the skin of our lived existence has this amazing dichotomy to it. There is something dangerous to fae magic. But we are drawn to danger, too.

Is there a recurring theme that appears in your writing? If so, what is it, and why do you think it keeps appearing?

Looking at my work, I think it often revolves around the idea of ordinary, working level people who live in complex worlds that they don’t have any real power to change, but who still strive to do what they can. Not every story, of course. But a scan of my titles says that this idea comes embedded in a lot of them. “The Replacements” has that feel to it, too. Bron, the protagonist, understands a lot of his life—but not all of it. He’s not in control of a lot of it. But he’s found purpose in his own way. And then, of course, things happen.

Is there a fairy tale that you really enjoy, or which has stuck with you? If so, which one—and what do you find compelling about this particular story?

I didn’t grow up with fairy tales deeply ingrained in my life, so I can’t say that I latched onto a single tale at any particular time. I really came to them more fully when my daughter was born and I would read them with her, or see her absorbing them. At that point, my writer-brain kicked in and I started trying to understand them better. So, I think for me the idea of full existence and purpose of fairy tales as a whole is more important than any specific one.

I like thinking about what fairy tales mean inside cultures, and how that meaning has changed over time. I “like” seeing the Disneyfication of stories—if “like” is the right word. I like overlaying modern retellings with the darker undertones of fairy tales centuries past. I find modern day retellings interesting because of what those retellings are able to say about our world today. Our culture’s reactions to them—everything from story choices to casting decisions (of movies) says something about us.

And mashups, too.

Disney’s Enchanted is a mind-bending mix of sampling in a self-referential parody of everything that is commercial telling of fairy tales over the past hundred years or so. I don’t know if that’s good, bad, or indifferent, but I liked it—both because in the moment it was fun, and because when you look at it more deeply you can walk away thinking about a lot of the influences of fairy tales on how we live today. Again, for better or for worse.

So, yeah. Right. What was the question? (grin)

What aspect do you like most about your story in Stolen by the Fae, and why?

“The Replacement” was one of those stories that came to me as it came. Meaning I wrote the first sentence, then the second, and just let the stream play out. I knew a few things about Bron, but I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen or why he was where he was.

Sometimes I do that and the story never resolves for me, which is really frustrating. But in his case, things came together, and when it did it came to me with a tide of emotions about life and love, and what it means to be part of a community, and a few other undertones that made me happy.

I love it when that happens.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

Oh, my. I’m working on too many things right now! I’m collaborating with my brother on a fun series of mooks that will mash his music in with my prose. That’s a lot of fun, though the work is slow due to our geographic separation and the need to come together sometimes.

Probably more appropriate for this audience is the Fairies and Fastballs series I’m working on with my daughter, Brigid. The first book, Home Run Enchanted, is already out, and the second, Curve Ball Cursed, is nearing completion. They are stories that I know I would never have come up with on my own, and it’s a lot of fun to write with Brigid. It’s a lot of work, too, of course. We’re very different writers, so seeing things so directly from her view is a real learning experience.

Folks can find links to Home Run Enchanted on my website.

We’re hoping to have Curve Ball Cursed out by MLB’s mid-July All-Star break, but we’ll see what happens!

About Ron

Ron Collins is a best-selling Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy author who writes across the spectrum of speculative fiction. With his daughter, Brigid, he edited the anthology Face the Strange.

His short fiction has received a Writers of the Future prize. His short story “The White Game” was nominated for the Short Mystery Fiction Society’s 2016 Derringer Award.

He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering and has worked to develop avionics systems, electronics, and information technology before chucking it all to write full-time.

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A Procession of Faeries

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Interview: Olivia Wylie, author of “Hybrid Vigor” in Stolen by the Fae

“Hybrid Vigor,” by Olivia Wylie, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

The Interview

Why do you think the mythology of the changeling, in which the Fae steal a human and replace it with one of their own kind, is so intriguing to people?

From what I understand based on my studies into mythology, the changeling story began as an emotional and societal coping mechanism. When a child became sick unexpectedly, parents could tell themselves that they hadn’t done anything wrong; the faeries had been at work. And when a child died without warning, the self-recrimination that’s so agonizing for a parent could be eased by the idea that their real, living child was having a wonderful life in fairyland. They weren’t dead; they just weren’t here.

We want to believe that there are reasons for things. And even more, we want to believe that we are not the reason bad things happen. Those two emotional impulses are, to me, the root of the stories that tell of children taken away to fairyland.

This myth had a particular poignance for me as a young person. I am biracial, and I am also a technical contractor’s kid who moved a great deal in my childhood. No matter where I was, I was out of place. I felt unfit, alien and out of sorts. One of the books that gave me something to hold onto in those raw and tender years was ‘The Moorchild’, a story about a little girl with a fairy mother and a human father who didn’t fit anywhere. She called herself a changeling, and she ended up finding a way to live a good life. From the age of ten to the age of fourteen, I told myself I was a changeling. When other kids or adults made me feel bad, I told myself it wasn’t because of who I was, but what I was: it wasn’t that I was bad, or that other kids didn’t like me. I was lonely because I didn’t belong among them, and one day I’d find my way to somewhere I did.

This sounds like a silly thing for a kid to believe, but I can tell you that it saved my self-esteem at that age. Now I’m in my thirties, and I have found that place where I belong. Believing in my changeling story as a child let me find my way to a good adulthood. Believing the story got me through.

Is there a recurring theme that appears in your writing? If so, what is it, and why do you think it keeps appearing?

There are three through-lines in my work: the importance of working together regardless of our differences, the power of good music, and the truth that we are all worth something. As Liveantreach says in the story, ‘we are nothing without each other’. Whether I’m writing science fiction, steampunk, urban fantasy or nonfiction, these are the themes my stories revolve around.

Is there a fairy tale that you really enjoy, or which has stuck with you? If so, which one—and what do you find compelling about this particular story?

For me there are three great stories. The first is the Irish story of the Hazel Pool, which is a personal touchstone of a story telling us how all the joys of knowledge and storytelling came to be through one being’s refusal to be miserly. I’m tattooed for this story, that’s how much it means to me!

The second has to be Tam Lin, the story of a young woman who broke every rule to save the boy she loved. And right in line behind them is the book ‘The Moorchild’.

What aspect do you like most about your story in Stolen by the Fae, and why?

I loved writing a character who bridged worlds between the fae and the human; we need more cultural bridges in the world. I particularly liked the idea of a character whose power is the emotion brought out through music finding rock and roll to be an absolutely excellent tool for her craft!

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

Right now I am working on a couple things:

  • A music-themed anthology for Club Q called We Came To Dance. We’re Kickstarting it to raise money for Club Q over at We Came to Dance: Stories of Queer Joy in Support of Club Q
  • I’m working on the eighth and final book of the hopeful queer sci-fi series I co-author under the name O.E. Tearmann. This one is sex,drones, and rock’n’roll against a future-Colorado backdrop. Check the series out at oetearmann.com
  • And I’m finally beginning work on a full-length series starring Liveantreach! This one is due out in early 2025. Check out a sneak peek at the cover!

About Olivia

Olivia Wylie is a professional horticulturist, business owner, and bard who specializes in the restoration of neglected gardens. When the weather keeps her indoors, she enjoys exploring the plant world and the complexities of being human in writing. Under her shared pen-name of O.E. Tearmann, she writes the hopeful queer cyberpunk series Aces High, Jokers Wild. Her solo work focuses on illustrated works of ethnobotany, intended to make the intersection of human history, storytelling, and plant evolution accessible to a wider audience. She lives in Colorado with a very patient husband and a rather impatient cat.

Find Olivia

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A Procession of Faeries

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Small Gods Interview with Jason A. Adams on “The End of the Rainbow”

Jason A. Adams’ “The End of the Rainbow” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

When the world stopped spinning, Andrew pulled his britches up over his still-sodden tush, face flaming as dozens of strange…people…stared at him. Most were vaguely human, in that the right number of limbs were in the right places, but none looked exactly normal.

“Welcome to your new home, my boy,” Leary said. “Luchorpán Limited. Purveyor of the finest entertainments.”

Andrew gawped around. The room looked exactly like his old duty officer’s building back in Camp Lejeune. Industrial tile on the floor, bland white walls, lumpy chairs and couches.

The occupants, though…

Tiny girl-shaped things with dragonfly wings buzzed around, most carrying folders or stacks of papers. Taller beings with wizened old faces like shrunken apple heads stood around a water cooler drinking brownish liquid. A strange thing with one leg and one arm came hopping up and gave Leary what looked like a pile of invoices. Along the far wall, a row of offices marched. Through their glass walls, Andrew could see other bearded leprechauns like Leary. Things he couldn’t describe skipped by, the only recognizable bit the red caps that looked like some sort of uniform.

“What…who…” He gave up and tried again. “Are you people for real?”

“Real as rain,” Leary said. He marched Andrew to the largest office in the corner, signaling to a huge man-shaped brute with the right number of eyes in the wrong places. One was nearly in the center of the low forehead; the other, larger eye drifted close to a drooping ear. Its mouth hung open, flabby lips almost touching the hairy chest. Teeth filled its mouth. Big teeth.

—from “The End of the Rainbow” by Jason A. Adams

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

For my story “Under the Rainbow,” I wrote more about demi-gods. The mythological beings from a few different cultures. Leprechauns, yakshini, djinn, and so on. I chose these because they’re fun to play around with. If you look at such beings (and capital-g Gods) through the lens of the cultures that came up with them, they always reflect exaggerated aspects of that particular society. So what would they be like in the modern day and age? That’s the sort of what-if I love to dig into.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

My most recent story was a fun one about astronomers a few years down the road hunting for a certain space sedan that went missing. I’m not writing anything at the moment, and can’t say what I’ll write next. I never really know until I sit down and get started.

You’ve recently become a member of the Uncollected Anthology, a writing collective. Can you give us a sneak peak at what you’re writing for the next issue?

It’ll be something in the historical urban fantasy arena. I’m thinking I might play with a Western for this one.

Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

We’ll be seeing more of Andrew, Leary, Seema, and the others in the near future. Grab a shot of the Water of Life, get your dancing shoes on, and stay tuned for more!

About Jason A. Adams

Jason, a recovering Air Force brat who grew up all over the US and Japan, now perches in the mountains of Southwest Virginia with his beautiful wife Kari Kilgore, a few spoiled rotten house critters, and assorted wild visitors from the nearby forest. He writes across the spectrum. His stories include science fiction, fantasy, horror, Appalachian folk tales, romance, and other genres. Often blended together.

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Small Gods Interview with Leah R. Cutter on “A Stitch in Time”

Leah R. Cutter’s “A Stitch in Time” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

As Viviane was merely a minor goddess of sewing machines, she didn’t have a real temple to inhabit. She didn’t have a set location either, in the living world, where worshipers came to her.

Instead, she lived in a huge warehouse full of sewing machines that was located in one of those between places, outside of life and time. When someone had need, Viviane went to them, not the other way around.

She didn’t really remember when she’d been alive and traveled through time sequentially as the living did, though she supposed she had, at one point. Possibly from a much earlier time, as the treadle and hand-cranked machines were her favorites.

Even though it was just a warehouse, because it housed a minor goddess, Viviane still called it her temple. It wasn’t much of a temple, though the high peaked ceiling did lend a certain wonderful stillness to the air.

As the warehouse wasn’t set in a single location, the windows that filled all four walls from floor to ceiling showed different landscapes every day, frequently reflecting whatever Vivian was feeling. Sometimes the view was a forest, rich and verdant, with happy birds singing and shy creatures peering out from under the trees. Sometimes the view was a desert, broad and empty, with impossibly blue skies. Mountains occasionally appeared, or lakes fed by burbling streams.

Never cities, or ruins, or people. No one came to see her. Viviane still did the best she could, despite being lonely now and again.

When the dawn came, Viviane woke from dreamless sleep on her four poster bed tucked into a corner and covered with magnificent quilts, then flowed over to where the machines stood waiting.

—from “A Stitch in Time” by Leah R. Cutter

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

I originally wrote this story for the Maze & Labyrinths issue of Uncollected Anthology. I couldn’t figure out how to write about a maze. Mazes have to be built.

Then I was looking at one of my machine-stitched quilts one day, and realized that the stitching pattern produced quite a lovely maze.

Which lead to my goddess of sewing machines, who would trap her enemy in a quilted maze. I also used the quote, “A stitch in time saves nine” which is talking about that last stitch that a shroud maker did, stitching the shroud to the dead body, and the nine pound weight at the bottom of the shroud that would sink the body into the depths.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

I just started a new novel in the last couple of days. It’s a new SF universe series, all new characters, new tech, etc. The books will have multiple points of view. I just finished the first chapter with the main character. Part of the fun, at least for me, is discovering how voicy the character is. She has so many opinions, and quite frankly, much more of an edge to her than I’d realized when I was initially thinking about her.

And that’s a big part of the fun for me, making things up and discovering new things along the way.

Your author tag line is “Come someplace new.” Why did you choose this, and why is it important to you?

Years ago, someone at a workshop asked me why I wrote, and how I would describe myself.

Many of the writers in that workshop responded that they viewed themselves as entertainers. That never fit me. Instead, I described myself as your tour guide. I have experienced some weird things in my time, seen some strange sights. I also have some pretty strange things in my head. “Come someplace new” implies that you’re not going alone, I’m coming with you. I’m going to be exploring just as much as my reader it. It really encapsulates what I feel is my relationship with my readers.


Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

I have a new SF series, The Long Run series, starting with Project Nemesis. All of the books are available for preorder. I describe it as Leverage versus Star Trek. It’s all about the capers, and getting away with some of the best cons in the universe. While sticking it to the man.

About Leah

Leah Cutter writes page-turning, wildly imaginative fiction set in exotic locations, such as a magical New Orleans, the ancient Orient, rural Kentucky, Seattle, Minneapolis, and many others.

She writes fantasy, science fiction, mystery, literary, and horror fiction. Her short fiction has been published in magazines like “Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine” and “Talebones”, anthologies like Fiction River, and on the web. Her long fiction has been published both by New York publishers as well as small presses.

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Small Gods Interview with Johanna Rothman on “When Harry Really Met Aggy”

Johanna Rothman’s “When Harry Really Met Aggy” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

Satisfied, Aggy Pink leaned back in her black ergonomic chair, checking her left and right large monitors.

She picked her hands up off her black ergonomic keyboard. She, the Security God, had struck again! Her script found that pesky hacker and cut him off at the proverbial knees. She picked her white mug with the words, Security Guard God, and took a sip of her now-tepid tea. She shuddered. Hot tea was good. Hot or iced coffee was good. Tepid tea was not just not good—it was downright bad.

Definitely nothing that a Security God would drink.

—from “When Harry Really Met Aggy” by Johanna Rothman

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

I wrote about “Security Gods” as in the technical people who keep corporate folks safe from external and bad-guy hackers.

From my perspective, there’s not much difference between the “good” hackers and the “bad” hackers—except for their choice of employers. I don’t even mean that in a cynical way. But, I continue to explore what makes people decide to work with the system and against the system.

People are just so interesting!

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

For fiction, I’m working on some capers, a form of a fun heist mystery. I wrote several stories for a workshop and they weren’t quite right. Now that I learned the form of this kind of story, I plan to redraft them this week. Maybe into next week.

For nonfiction, I’m finishing the Successful Independent Consulting book.

But here’s what’s fun. Since I want to keep writing fiction along with my nonfiction, I have a challenge that works for me: How many days this week can I write 1000 words each of fiction and nonfiction? I’m good at choosing one or the other. I want to be able to choose both. And I think differently with fiction vs. nonfiction, so that’s fun!

How do you integrate storytelling into your non-fiction books, and why?

I use a ton of stories in my nonfiction. First, because people like to read about other people. Second, because the story creates the context. People can read about that context and ask themselves what’s different and what’s similar? What can I, as a reader, do with this information?

But even more important, writing these stories tells me what I learned. Nonfiction writers think and learn as they write. In my fiction, I cycle back in the story to place a piece of equipment or a person where I need it. In nonfiction, I cycle on the ideas so I clarify what I learned to me first, and then to my reader.


Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

I have a short nonfiction book coming out soon: Free Your Inner Nonfiction Writer. That’s a book about how to write nonfiction so you edit last, not as you go. I’m working on the cover, so “soon.”

About Johanna Rothman

Johanna Rothman writes about smart people. Sometimes, those people seek out trouble. Sometimes, trouble finds them. Regardless of how trouble arrives, these characters find solutions. In addition to her short story collections, she has published short stories in Blaze Ward Presents, Pulphouse Fiction Magazine, Fiction River, and Heart’s Kiss.

Johanna has published nineteen nonfiction books about many forms of management. Because managers need a sense of humor, Johanna incorporates humor—not just practicality—into her nonfiction.

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Small Gods Interview with Mary Jo Rabe on “The Gods of the Black Forest”

Mary Jo Rabe’s “The Gods of the Black Forest” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

Dobel, the disgruntled god of the Hohfelsendobelbach brook had had enough. He might only be a minor god, but he didn’t have to endure every unpleasantness his environment had to offer. The water in his brookbed splashed angrily over its banks.

Without giving it another thought, he gurgled a lament to his colleagues. All of them were minor gods residing in the streams flowing down from the steep mountains of the southern Black Forest into the Dreisam River in Freiburg and from there onward to the Rhine River.

They existed as individual gods in the brooks but also occasionally joined together in a meditation cloud above the brooks to increase their combined powers. Here tired gods could absorb the extra energy the others had available. In this meditative cloud state they were sheltered from the distractions of the mortal world.

They all took their individual power from the energy in the moving water, the fragrant air blowing around the trees, and the pressure the rocks and boulders exerted on each other on both sides of the narrow gorge called the “Höllental”.

However, today even the bright sun sending down welcome, sharp shadows into the narrow gorge couldn’t improve Dobel’s mood. He was mad.

—from “The Gods of the Black Forest” by Mary Jo Rabe

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

I live in Neustadt, right in the middle of the Black Forest of Germany. Freiburg, a university town with many similarities to Madison, Wisconsin, its sister city, is on the western edge. To get from Freiburg to Neustadt up through the narrow Höllental (Hell Valley) with high mountains on each side, you can either take the Höllental train or drive through the crowded, mostly two-lane, occasionally three-lane, B31 federal highway, also infamous/notorious as the “Madrid-Moscow Express” due to its intense truck traffic. My “gods” are the minor deities living in the many brooks and streams that flow down the mountains of the Black Forest through the Höllental along the B31 to the Dreisam River in Freiburg.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

I’m still writing mostly short stories with occasional poems. What’s fun is seeing a crazy idea in some science report and then wondering if I could make a story out of it.

You grew up in the U.S., and have lived in Germany for a very long time. How has this impacted your writing?

I grew up on a farm in eastern Iowa and went to school in a small town (then 450 inhabitants, now about 200) where the 1960’s for all practical purposes didn’t take place. There was a smooth transition from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. The firm belief there was that things weren’t great, but would always stay the same. School was infuriating. Girls had to wear dresses/skirts with blouses, and were only allowed to wear slacks under their dresses during cold winter days but had to remove them as soon as they got into the building. The home ec teacher constantly warned that girls who wore tops with polka-dots along with striped skirts would be considered low class, etc. The superintendent of a neighboring school proudly proclaimed that if he had to eliminate chemistry or basketball due to financial constraints, he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate chemistry because the whole community benefited from basketball games while chemistry was only of interest to a few eggheads who would go off to college and never return.

I fled to college at Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan, and participated in their Junior Year in Freiburg program (at the age of 20, back in 1971) where I met Franz. I returned to MSU to finish my degree in German and math, then, thanks to the kindness of strangers (a long story), managed to get a job in the chancery office archives for a year while Franz completed enough courses to apply for and receive a Fulbright scholarship to the U.S. We got married in Sabula, Iowa, in 1974 and went to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where I got my library science degree and Franz a masters in geography.

We returned to Freiburg in 1976. In the meantime, my old boss in the archives, who turned out to be the greatest boss ever, was charged with starting a library there, and he got me a job (another long story). I stayed at this library, first called the chancery office library and then the archdiocesan library, until December of 2016 when I retired, overjoyed that I could hand over my users to my extremely capable and conscientious successor who had been my student help in the library for the previous six years.

In 1980 we moved to Neustadt when Franz completed his degree in English and geography at the University of Freiburg and got a teaching job in Donaueschingen. Neustadt was exactly halfway between Freiburg and Donaueschingen. “Donau” is the German name for the Danube, and Donaueschingen claims to be where the Danube begins. (It is actually the location of the confluence of two rivers, the Brigach and the Breg which then flow together to form the Danube).

I discovered my love of science fiction in Milwaukee but didn’t really start writing until 2001. Fortunately, I started reading the blogs of Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith around 2009 which helped me deal with my (still strong) imposter syndrome.

Naturally, people often ask me to compare living in the U.S. and in Germany. The only honest answer continues to be “On the one hand, on the other hand …” My experience has been that living for a long time in a foreign country makes you skeptical about the way things “have to be”. Actually, there are always options, other possibilities. Successful societies where people live good lives tend to be flexible. Both Germany and the United States could use more flexibility, though in varying areas.

What impacted and impacts my writing the most are the people I have met and the settings I have experienced in the past 71 years. I have had the privilege of getting to know so many good and kind people throughout the years. Their numbers make the assholes easier to endure.


Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

Kate Wilhelm’s book, Storyteller, musings about the Clarion workshops, was comforting for me. She wrote that there were two kinds of writers, storytellers and wordsmiths, and that Clarion tried to help both. I realize that it is better to be a storyteller, but deep down, at the level of unconscious instinct, I tend to be a wordsmith. So, I keep working on my storytelling skills.

I tend to write mostly science fiction, since that’s what I love to read, with occasional fantasy and historical fiction. So far I have let other people (kind editors of magazines, anthologies) do the hard work of publishing my stories, which are generally, but not always, feel-good, with happy endings. My feeling is that if you want to think about depressing things, you can watch the news. I happen to like fiction that is upbeat and entertaining, but of course everyone else’s preferences will vary.

About Mary Jo Rabe

Mary Jo Rabe grew up on a farm in eastern Iowa, got degrees from Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she became a science fiction writer and fan. She worked in the library of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany, for 41 years and retired to Titisee-Neustadt, Germany.

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Small Gods Interview with Blaze Ward on “Power”

Blaze Ward’s “Power” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

“What’s the catch?” he asked.

There was always a catch. Every hint of magic or power he’d ever encountered had suggested that the limits were often hard and rude. Even for gods, which just suggested to Gunderson from time to time more powerful pantheons, even more remote.

Maybe you eventually got to the Christian God. Or Thoth. Odin. Somebody up there in charge.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t bother with a little guy like him.

“The power is bound into an item, Gunderson,” she said in a dark tone now. “It gives the holder power over me.”

He couldn’t help the eyebrow that went up at that.

“And we’re going to bring that back into the world?” he asked raggedly.

—from “Power” by Blaze Ward

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

Anacapa, a Goddess of the Chumash Tribe that lived in the Los Angeles basin before the colonists came. It’s a Gunderson Case File (#8) so a Hardboiled PI set in 1955 where all things are possible, from historic fantasy to aliens. If you have cash, Gunderson can solve your case.

In this case, I wanted to explore the history of Los Angeles, and how the Spanish colonized Alto California. Unfortunately, it involved getting about as close to a genocide as you could, because the Mission system was set up to destroy all native culture and any natives that refused to convert. One of the stats I saw suggested that by the dawn of the 20th Century, the Chumash had been reduced to less than a few hundred survivors, with a lot of folks that had crossed over. I have wondered if losing the Mexican-American War allowed some of these tribes to survive.

In Gunderson’s case, he has to deal with a dead necromancer (not a typo) in order to help a woman from the tribe who wants to save it. And gets tangled up with the goddess herself, quietly helping on the sides because Gunderson will save or destroy her.

All the awesome messiness of a Gunderson case, with him and his take on ethics, which is a recurring theme in my writing.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

Working on a Space Western series that will come out early next year. Just finished Novella #5 today, with all of them written like episodes of a television show. I drew inspiration from a couple of places, but that’s Episode One, then I went off on new tangents. First Readers have had great things to say about it, and I get to write some light and fun stuff, after finishing an epic space opera in the second book in Kincaide’s War: Vehicles of Epiphany.

Also working on some thriller/action-adventure stuff for a project next year. Not starting a new pen name, but I’ve been doing a lot of stuff in that genre and intend to drop it all in Feb 2023.

Tell us about Blaze Ward Presents! How did you come up with the idea of this series, and what do you most enjoy about it?

BWP started out with the above diagram. Moles. I was teasing some folks and one of them suggested we do an anthology based entirely around the idea of moles. He was kidding. I wasn’t. Even reminded him a few times, but he chose not to submit (was in a later issue).

And we were off. The goal here is that by doing royalty share, I can pay everybody equally, and accept all manner of stuff instead of just manuscripts. We’ve had graphic novels. A couple of folks have written musical scores. Art. Poetry.

Whatever can convey the theme.

Originally, they were twice a year, but right now I am doing them in the spring. Submissions will open April 1. Stories due April 30. Published on June 1. Not a lot of time for folks to screw around, but I’m working with pros that think having a whole month to write a story is utter decadence.

We have also started doing occasional special editions in the fall, with an open call for “After The Fall” running right now. (Deadline June 30. Pub Oct 1 so I have more time and folks have had several months to work with. Different cast, usually.)

For me, the best part has been that at least four people have told me that I was their first “professional” publication (in quotes because we’re not paying pro rates, but I treat them like professionals and hopefully train them how to act like it with the next editor.

And there have been some utterly amazing stories. I got three in Small Gods that would be contenders for awards, except that fantasy requires pro rates to quality. Grant, Jones, and Broughton all knocked it out of the park.


Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

Blaze Ward Presents – Weird
Boundary Shock Quarterly – Science Fiction
Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem – Mystery
Cutter’s Final Cut – Themed

About Blaze Ward

Blaze Ward writes science fiction in the Alexandria Station universe (Jessica Keller, The Science Officer, The Story Road, etc.) as well as several other science fiction universes, such as Star Dragon, the Dominion, and more. He occasionally writes odd bits of high fantasy with swords and orcs. In addition, he is the Editor and Publisher of Boundary Shock Quarterly Magazine. You can find out more at his website www.blazeward.com, as well as Facebook, Goodreads, and other places.

Blaze’s works are available as ebooks, paper, and audio, and can be found at a variety of online vendors (Kobo, Amazon, and others). His newsletter comes out twice a month (Publishing newsletter and Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter), and you can also follow his blog on his website. He really enjoys interacting with fans, and looks forward to any and all questions—even ones about his books!

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Small Gods Interview with Richard Quarry on “Devolution Day: A Saga of Fire and Mice”

Richard Quarry’s “Devolution Day: A Saga of Fire and Mice” appears in Small Gods, book 6 in the Blaze Ward Presents anthology series.

Excerpt

The library had grown too hot to study pre-calc.

The ultramodern building, with light pouring through its five stories of glass panels honeycombed around white steel triangles, was prone to warmth. But never before enough to make Darcy Mayfield see drops of sweat splatter on the open pages of her book (just a dumb bunch of squiggles anyway) and feel scratchy moisture trickling down from the armpits of the sweatshirt she’d unwisely worn.

So seeking relief, Darcy went up to the fifth floor for something more, like, real world. She was paging through Seven Days to an OMG Bod! — she’d sweat her way there if they didn’t get the air-conditioning back on line — when she heard a stuttering snort from the end of the stack. Like a horse, only deeper.

She looked up. And gave a start.

Chill, she warned herself. Just some stupid prank. Don’t give the idiots the satisfaction of knowing your heart just did a triple backflip.

“Looking for something?” Darcy said icily.

A long face, equine but not a horse, stared at her with hang-dog melancholy. Behind it a slab-sided neck rose to humped shoulders, sloping down to where they were hidden beyond the row. Its fur was dun, with one jagged white stripe that she could see. It appeared taller than a horse, but thinner. She knew it had to be some kind of African antelope, but had no idea which.

An antelope, in the Public Library?

—from “Devolution Day: A Saga of Fire and Mice” by Richard Quarry

The Interview

Which god(s) did you write about in your story, and why?

In A Saga Of Fire and Mice the “small gods” we see are a race of extinct giant gerbils, a full eight inches tall, intelligent, and armed with slingshots and the ability to devolve humans back into ancient animals. Clearly a singularity, the question remains, have they acquired god-like powers, or are they fronting for some other Entity? The idea of proto-gerbils causing the extinction of the dinosaurs was a side note in my sf novel Geneslide.

What are you working on now, and what’s fun about what you’re writing?

I am currently writing what is projected to be a six-volume epic fantasy tentatively titled The Dance of Sword and Heron. I like to work in different genres and different backgrounds, so part of the fun for any project is studying and portraying these various worlds, from the medieval setting of my current project through to the distant future, with stops at such sites as the Golden Age of Piracy, the early 20th century revival movement, and the Vietnam era in between.

Tell us about the Evolved!

I just put up the seventh and last volume of The Evolved in July. It begins as near-future science fiction then progresses several centuries into the future. The series asks a central question of science fiction: when humanity can shape its own evolution, who’s to say what’s human? When we achieve a form of Group Mind and even conditional immortality, will we finally be able to jettison our traditional greed and savagery, or just play them out on a larger theater?


Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?

To the ever-growing legion of ebook readers supporting indie-published authors, thanks. I am so gratified you are finding your dreams here.

About Richard Quarry

Like many writers, I’ve knocked around a bit. Caseworker, drywall hanger, and Juvenile Corrections Officer have been my most notable jobs, along with a stint as semi-professional jazz trombonist (incredible fun, laughable money.) I currently live in Seattle with my wife Claire, a Nurse Practitioner in Oncology. Hobbies? An indie-writer? I take some time out here and there for my Rogue exercise bike, tai chi, and reading. Because if you don’t love reading fiction, why write it?

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