Craig Laurance Gidney's Blog

Happy Book Birthday to “Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology”

Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, which I co-edited with Julie C Day (publisher and main editor), Carina Bissett, and Julia DeRidder (who did lots of editorial work even though she’s not on the cover) released this week. It features work by Martha Wells, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Andy Duncan, and Nisi Shawl among other authors. It’s a diverse group in several ways. Science fiction, horror, fantasy (contemporary, humorous and dark)  stories are in the book, as well as authors from a variety of genders, ethnic/racial backgrounds and geographical locations. Rather than speak about the stories, which are uniformly excellent and award-worthy) I will focus why Tanith Lee was so important to me.

I first became aware of Lee’s work when the Washington Post Book World section did an article on her mid-career retrospective Dreams of Dark and Light. The critic, author Michael Swanwick, spoke of “the marvelous joinery of her sentences” and described her Neo-decadence themes of Death and Sex that wove through her work like veins of silver. I couldn’t find that book, so I picked up Delirium’s Mistress instead. The lush fairytale language and blatant homoeroticism stunned me. Then, my obsession with finding everything she published began. I still haven’t finished reading all of her enormous oeuvre. 

Tanith ignored the dictates of the market, and wrote things that defied easy categorization—often creating new genres. Her 1990 novel A Heroine of the World, for instance, is Romantasy, written years before the portmanteau term was coined. Her secondary world vampire novels, Vivia and The Blood of Roses, would probably be marketed as grim-dark today. Much of her short fiction fits in the Weird tale microgenre; she published many pieces in Weird Tales Magazine in the 90s. As a result, Tanith became a touchstone author for many authors of genre fiction. She even wrote a historical novel (The Gods are Thirsty is about the French Revolution), mystery (Death of the Day) and a zombie novella (Zircons May Be Mistaken).

Tanith wrote books that publishers determined were difficult to sell. Her sequence of epic fantasy called Tales of the Flat Earth was one of the first to feature queer characters in the late 70s. (In fact, many mall chainstores refused to carry the titles for their frank sexual themes. The Flat Earth sequence took its cues from Eastern mythology, a change from the Tolkein-derived medieval fantasy that dominated the fantasy boom). The novels and stories in the sequence are part Arabian Nights, part Anais Nin with a dash of Oscar Wilde. The Village Voice dubbed her as “the goddess empress of the hot read.” As a result, she became a bit of a cult author—though one with impressive sales records here and there. 

My friendship with Tanith Lee began when she released her book of channeled lesbian fiction, written under the name Esther Garber. It was a small press book, and the publisher sent a copy of the book to me because I suppose because I was a Superfan. Fatal Women is the title of the book, and it collected the novellas written by French Jewish woman Tanith sent to her via spiritual means. Tanith was adamant that this channeling was real, but she had sense of humor about it, understanding that there were skeptics. The fiction was Gothic with a capital G, often historical with some surreal aspects. Imagine the work of Sarah Waters (Tipping the Velvet) crossed with the fiction of surreal artist Leonora Carrington. Lush, bizarre, erotic, and beautiful. 

I met her in person in 2008 at Eastercon in London, where she was guest of honor (along with Charlie Stross, China Mieville and Neil Gaiman). She told me the plots of stories and novels that were percolating in her head—novels and stories that she never got around to writing. She told me that the world of publishing had changed, became more market-driven, which frustrated her. Our friendship lasted until her passing in 2015, mostly in epistolary form though there was one international phone call (I remember my cat interrupted the conversation by demanding attention, and I tried to express that it was Tanith Lee on the phone but he didn’t care).  She sent me her small press books — she eventually began to be published by the late Storm Constantine’s Immanion Press and I received many Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) of the books, which included her thematically-connected Colouring Book series. I even wrote an introduction for a collection of her dragon stories, entitled Love In A Time of Dragons. At one point, she even sent me a package of books when I was recovering from a minor surgery. I ended up acquiring a second Esther Garber manuscript called Disturbed By Her Song, which featured work from Garber’s queer brother, Judas for Lethe Press. Judas’ work is even more magical realist, focusing on gay male desire. She blurbed two of my own books, and once sent me a care package when I was recovering from minor surgery. Her husband John sent me an unpublished story by Judas Garber, a lovely vignette of queer desire set in 1920s Paris, when she was seriously ill.  

Tanith won the World Fantasy Award twice, was nominated for a Nebula, and Lambda Literary Award. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award. She also won life time achievement awards—the Bram Stoker and the posthumous Infinity Award from SFWA. It is my hope that Storyteller will introduce and reignite interest in Tanith’s work. She was a groundbreaker in many ways, and it is my belief that she is one of the finest stylists ever to work in genre fiction.

Victoria Brownworth, In Memoriam

I didn’t know the trailblazing lesbian Victoria Brownworth, but I remember her as a fighter. She was always on Twitter (when it was still usable), pointing out injustice. She wasn’t afraid to get into arguments with people — I remember her warning me to not engage with her critics. She was made of tough stuff.

She, through her micropress Tiny Satchel, published my YA novel, Bereft. Bereft started out as a short story, included in an anthology called From Where We Sit, a collection of young adult fiction from writers from marginalized groups. She asked me to expand the story into a short novel. I remember her giving me edits from her hospital bed—she believed in the story just that much. She never let her health conditions stop her. The book went on to win two awards — a Silver and Bronze Independent Publisher Book (IPPY) awards.

Condolences to all who knew Brownworth.

Podcast appearance/Tanith Lee tribute anthology

Surfacing for some quick news…..

Last month, I was interviewed by Scott Edelman for his podcast Eating the Fantastic. We conducted the interview at the Unconventional Dinner in the Mt Vernon section of DC. I had brulee’d French Toast. 

Eating the Fantastic Interview

Next month Storyteller  the Tanith Lee Tribute anthology helped edit with Julie C. Day and Carina Bissett, is released. The anthology features stories by Theodora Goss, Martha Wells, Andy Duncan among other Lee fans. It’s already gotten some good reviews.

Sixteen new stories from some of today’s most renowned authors. Storyteller is a celebration of Tanith Lee’s legacy—and an object lesson in the breadth of authors she influenced.

Drowning cities and unicorns. Burning deserts and forgotten gods. Golems, elf warriors, and inner-Earthers. Alien lifeforms and museum workers. Ancient plagues and the future of humanity. Much like Tanith Lee’s catalog, each story in this anthology is both unique and compelling: from fairy-tale retellings to romance-tinged high fantasy, from nihilistic horror to gripping science fiction. Immersive, wide-ranging, and sublime, Storyteller features worlds and characters that are sure to travel with you long after the last page has been read.

A.C. Wise’s review

Launch Day for the Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology!

The Kickstarter Campaign for STORYTELLER: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology, launched today! To celebrate, my co-editors and I read from Tanith’s work for a live event. You can watch it here. Carina Bissett read from the novel White as Snow, Julie C Day read from The Silver Metal Lover, and I read from “The Persecution Machine,” Lee’s loving homage to Edward Gorey.

Check out and support the campaign here!

Tanith Lee Tribute Kickstarter about to launch!

The Kickstarter for Storyteller, the Tanith Lee tribute anthology is launching soon! There are amazing authors contributing to the book, many authors who were either influenced by her and fans of her work. We’ve amassed a diverse crowd (both in terms of genre and gender, ethnicity and sexuality–like Tanith’s fiction) and there are 6 open spots for other authors when the project gets funded. Tanith was not only an influence, she was very supportive of my own work and I consider her a mentor. (We had a robust correspondence in the 2000s).

Sign up to be notified of the launch!

Interview about Tanith Lee

I spoke with Julia DeRidder about the influence Tanith Lee has had upon my fiction. You can watch it below! This is part of the build up for the Tanith Lee Kickstarter that will fund a tribute anthology called Storyteller.

Tanith Lee Roundtable

The roundtable discussion, entitled Storyteller: The Legacy and Work of Tanith Lee panel discussion is now available for your viewing pleasure on YouTube. The Outer Dark hosted the panel, which will be on the OD podcast sometime in the future. I had a blast talking with and listening to fellow panelists editor/author Terri Windling, scholars Lisa Kröger, and Melanie R Anderson. The panel was moderated by Julie C. Day, with whom myself and Carina Bissett will be editing a tribute anthology called Storyteller. You can check out the soon to be live Kickstarter here.

UPCOMING EVENT: Storyteller: A Roundtable celebrating the legacy of Tanith Lee!

BOOK REVIEW: The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie by M. Rickert. Tragicomic magical realism.

M. Ricket’s novel The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie is almost uncategorizable. It’s a magical realist character study/slice of life smalltown drama. The magic in the novel is more in the vibe than it is in concrete acts of wonder. There are hints of fabulism in the stories the characters tell one another, and when ghosts do appear, they are as natural as the sea air that drenches the small New England town of Bellefairie. The novel is the story of Quark, a gentle giant of a man who returns to his hometown to take care of his ornery sea captain father. Quark left town and never looked back, finding solace in his job as a taxidermist. The relationship between Quark and his father is contentious and complicated; Quark has gaps in his memory due to his traumatic upbringing, which is shrouded in tantalizing bits of mystery.

“Grief is a ship without a captain.”

Rickert tells the tale in the close third person point of view of Quark, who is a fascinating and occasionally infuriating person. His clumsiness and inability to read social cues is what drives the plot, as the grief-stricken man stumbles from one misunderstanding to another, as he pieces together the missing places in his memory. The odd taciturn locals call him ‘Frankenquark,’ first as a joke that then becomes sinister later in the plot. Rickert subtly suggests that Quark might be neurodivergent—adding another layer to his trauma. “Tragi-comic” comes to mind when thinking about the novel’s mood whiplash. Themes of generational trauma, isolation, and grief play across the pages. Rickert’s prose is lovely and crisp, full of seaside imagery and allusions to folktales and myths. The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie weds the quirky fabulism of Kelly Link with the dark whimsy of the best of Shirley Jackson.

The darkly beautiful dreampop of the new Autumn’s Grey Solace album “Cease to Exist”

An outgrowth from the Gothic underground, the microgenre sometimes called etherealwave (Heavenly Voices and dreampop are also used interchangably) has a timeless quality. Built of layers of textural, effects-laden guitar and intricately woven, almost operatic vocals, the music has an otherworldly quality that’s addictive as it is unearthly. AGS has been perfecting their craft for over 20 years, and while the new ‘Cease to Exist’ doesn’t stray too far from the formula, it shows how they’ve refined their work. Erin Welton’s sweet soprano is as distinctive as the singers she’s been compared to—-imagine a cross between the late Julee Cruse and Elizabeth Fraser—but Welton has her own serene style. The music, written and performed by Scott Ferrell, is as catchy as it is atmospheric. It’s like Brill Building, “sun-shine” pop structures  were produced by Brian Eno, with driving rhythms in counterpoint to the exotic guitar sorcery. 

“Cease to Exist” lyrical clues hint at heavier subjects. The song “Seekers Keep the Light” suggests a romantic clash, while “A World Outside” captures the feeling of COVID-era solitude, and the title track is as bleak as any in their oeuvre. A sheen of brightness comes from the songs “Fallen Rain” and “In Silence” to offset the gloom.