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Story spotlight: “Fairy Traps” by Leah R. Cutter, in Stolen by the Fae

“Fairy Traps,” by Leah R. Cutter, appears in Stolen by the Fae, the 6th volume in the anthology series A Procession of Faeries.

Excerpt

With a determined flit, Terrance flew over the tops of the lilacs and into Old Fairy Smithers’ yard.

Instantly, the odd shaped box in the center of the yard was clear.

It was a baby! A human baby! In one of those carriers they had to protect their young. Terrance thought it might be called a car seat, but he wasn’t sure. Fairies didn’t drive cars, didn’t need them—they could just fly or use magic to get wherever they needed to go.

Terrance flew over to the baby. Stupid thing grabbed at him with its chubby hands. He probably just appeared as a shiny golden light to it.

It had rosy cheeks and pale white skin. It tracked his movements with wide, blue-gray eyes. Soft wisps of red-gold hair covered its head. Black belts kept it strapped into the carrier, probably so it wouldn’t get into any mischief. It smelled of sweet milk and some sort of perfume that the humans used.

It kicked with its fat legs and waved its arms, then giggled again.

At least it was a happy baby and not screaming at the top of its lungs, unlike the babies he’d read about in the latest Encounters magazine, which was filled with fictional accounts of human-fairy interactions, many of them lurid or impossible.

But what was a baby doing here? Why did Old Fairy Smithers have a child, a human child, in the middle of her pristine backyard? Nestled neatly between the purple hyacinths and the creeping red sedum?

—from “Fairy Traps,” by Leah R. Cutter, in Stolen by the Fae

About Leah

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

She writes literary, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, 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.

Find Leah

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Find Stolen by the Fae

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A Procession of Faeries

Learn more about the series, and follow A Procession of Faeries on Facebook and Goodreads!

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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.

Find Leah

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Interview: Leah R. Cutter on “Dreams of Saffron and Lace”

“Dreams of Saffron and Lace” by Leah R. Cutter

Regina Victoria Edmondson rules as Queen over the nursery she shares with her twin brother Tobias.

Except when she allows him to direct their play as Raj.

However, on the rambling country estate where they live, neither of them control the gardens, where time moves in an unorderly, disquieting fashion.

Secrets hide there.

Deadly secrets.

“Dreams of Saffron and Lace” is one of the 15 tales in the Magicks & Enchantments anthology, which is available for a limited time in the Wild Magic bundle.

There’s the real world…
…and then there are our worlds, secret, wild, and free.

The Wild Magic bundle holds ten volumes of the magic. Ten books about what we find after we have passed through the illusion that we can live without wonder in the world, and come out the other side.

Pack your bags, put on your good walking shoes, and make sure you bring plenty of water. We’re going out into the wilderness, and who knows when we’ll be back?

The Wild Magic bundle is available through July 14th, 2021.

Excerpt

Tobias crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. “I want to play something else.”

“Like what?” Regina asked. As Queen, she could afford to be magnanimous. That was a word she’d only just learned the week before. On the day before the funeral. When the Vicar had been talking about Mum and what a kind, giving person she’d been.

He’d been right. Their mum had been the best. When she’d been around, of course, and not off working on one of her charities or lunching with Someone Important.

“We could pretend we live at Misselthwaite Manor,” Tobias suggested. “Go searching for the secret garden.”

Regina couldn’t hide her shudder. “The gardens have their own secrets,” she whispered, afraid to speak out loud about the strange things she’d seen.

Particularly the back garden. The one far behind the house, at the edge of the estate property.

A fountain that never had any water in it, filled with a green-bronze statue of turtles, sat at the back of that garden. Old fieldstone walls separated it from the other gardens. Sharp white rocks made up the pathways. They gleamed like bones in the dim winter daylight. Nothing grew there, though maybe that was just the season and they’d see green shoots poking above the earth soon.

Time moved there, but not in an orderly fashion. Instead, it flowed against the current, then seemed to turn and overflow the banks, pushing both backwards and forwards.
An icy silence passed between Regina and Tobias.

Tobias liked that garden, giggled at the things he saw.

Regina…didn’t. And knew she never would.

—from “Dreams of Saffron and Lace” by Leah R. Cutter

The Interview

“Dreams of Saffron and Lace” takes place at an estate in England, after World War II. Where did you get the idea to set the story in this time and place?

The inspiration for the garden came from “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, which I had re-read bits of the week before I wrote the story. Something about that haunted, hidden place, with the sick boy, spoke to my writer brain. It all got twisted around, though, and I came up with a very different story as a result.

Regina, the protagonist in “Dreams of Saffron and Lace,” is a complicated character. We want to root for her, even though she’s often cruel to her twin brother. What did you enjoy about creating her, and about writing the story from her point of view?

She was inspired by the main character in “The Secret Garden,” Mary Lennox. Mary was a sour and spoiled child at the start of the book. Eventually, the garden and the estate taught her to be a better person.

In this story, Regina doesn’t have a chance to learn. The potential is there. But fate works against her. So she’s left with trying to figure it all out on her own, without her brother. And failing.

Why do you think so many people are drawn to reading stories about magic?

Magic gives you an edge, to help set the world aright. Fantasy stories tend not to be noir. Things get set to right eventually. And magic helps you do that.

In addition, there’s frequently a sense of wonder with the magic. It isn’t mundane or everyday. There are always things to learn about the magic, how it works, what the limits are.

In addition, in the good stories, the magic always has limits. It’s nice to see balance that way.

Tell us about Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem!

Mystery, Crime, and Mayhem (MCM) is a quarterly mystery magazine that I publish. I have a syndicate of writers who submit stories based on the chosen theme for that quarter. It’s a year and a half old, and going splendidly! You can pick up copies at all reputable, and some not so reputable vendors.

Each new project you work on has to pass “the giggle test.” What does this mean, and why is this important to you.

Like many writers, I have *so many* ideas, so many things that I can write about. As I tend to write quickly, I get to chose projects frequently.

However, I don’t let marketing decisions drive the decision about what I get to write next. I am a full time writer. I need to enjoy what I’m writing. If I didn’t, that would be the quickest way to burnout that you can imagine.

So when I’m about to choose a new project, I think about whether or not writing it would delight me. Will writing this story about a serial killer makes giggle while I’m writing it (or even cackle maniacally?) Or instead, do I need to write this story about how a cute cat saves the world? Whichever project is guaranteed to make me giggle while I’m writing is the one that I choose.

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

I just finished a writing marathon, where I wrote a novel in a week. I’m actually taking tomorrow off from writing fiction and writing some non-fiction. Then, I have two “short” stories that I need to write. They are both Rabbit mysteries, that is, mysteries written from the point of view of Rabbit, a law clerk in a small town in China. The stories are set during the Tang Dynasty. I have a collection of these stories (The Rabbit Mysteries) already published, and am working on the stories for the second collection.

The second of the two “short” stories that I’m currently writing is for MCM. The theme is “The Contract.” What better to write about than Rabbit’s wedding contract?

These stories make me giggle so hard. Rabbit is a silly, light character with a tremendous amount of voice.

The only problem is that they really aren’t short. A short story tends to be less than 10,000 words. Rabbit stories tend to be between 15-18,000 words. So they’re long stories. And I need to finish both of them before the end of the month. Ack! Good thing I like writing.

About Leah

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

She writes literary, fantasy, mystery, science fiction, 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.

Find Leah

Website ~ Facebook ~ BookBub ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

Find the Wild Magic bundle!

The Wild Magic bundle is available for a limited time at StoryBundle.com/Fantasy.

Bundle buyers have a chance to donate a portion of the purchase price to the charities Mighty Writers and Girls Write Now.