C.S.E. Cooney's Blog, page 8

All In Among the Briars: A Memorial Anthology

An image of berry, leaf, and bone: the cover of “All in Among the Briars,” art by Oliver Hunter, edited by Julia Rios.

Dear friends,

This post is a collaboration between yours truly C. S. E. Cooney, Amal El-Mohtar, Carlos Hernandez, and Julia Rios, on the behalf of our beloved friend, Jessica P. Wick, who recently lost her mother.

Jess is an author, editor, reviewer, artist, and bookseller. She adds light and beauty and nuance to the world. Her brother, Jeremy, has been caretaking for their mother, Karen, this past half year. Karen herself, a gentle soul and a devoted reader, was a teacher all her life, with a profound love for cats, her children, and literature.

Right now, Jess and her brother are under an incredible financial strain in the wake of their mother’s death. Some of the expenses are:

the death certificatecremation feesthe urnflight to California from Rhode Island for the funeralgetting the family car back east across the United States two months rent on the apartment her mother and brother shared

Some of these expenses are already coming due or are past due. This list does not include the thousands of dollars of moving and storage, or any funds for Jeremy after he moves across the country and starts over.

Please check out the GoFund Me page we have created for them.

Jess and her brother need both time and space to grieve their loss. Instead, they are beset with financial stress and a series of tough decisions that are taking their toll.

We are hoping that, together, we can help ease the burden a little, and give them some breathing room to rest and to grieve in peace.

Jess’s work in the speculative fiction field has inspired and delighted so many of us. As a heartfelt thank you, we are offering an anthology to all who donate to this fundraiser. This ebook full of mythic wonder includes stories, poems, and art by some of Jess’s friends, including:

Mike AllenErik AmundsenErzebet BartholdChrista CarmenZig Zag ClaybourneSara CletoTina ConnollyC. S. E. CooneyAmal El-MohtarFrancesca ForrestTrip GaleyTheodora GossCarlos HernandezOllie HunterRebecca HustonNicole Kornher-StaceEllen KushnerCerece Rennie MurphyPaula Arwen OwenDominik ParisienCaitlyn PaxsonJulia RiosDelia ShermanElissa SweetSonya TaaffeTiffany TrentBrittany WarmanJessica P. WickTerri Windling

We are also including a poem by Karen Wick, whom we honor.

Thank you kindly,

Amal El-Mohtar, Carlos Hernandez, Julia Rios, and C. S. E. Cooney

Just a Few Updates

When I find myself writing really long Facebook or Instagram posts, I know it’s time to sort of scoot them over into a bloggish setting, because things are happening.

What I’m Reading

I’ve been listening to Stephen King’s YOU LIKE IT DARKER in between listening to Andy Serkis read me LOTR like I’ve never imagined it before. I generally like King, especially later-King, and particularly his short form work, and PARTICULARLY his novellas.

I was drawn to this collection because A.) my father is listening and recommended it, and the narrator, and B.) the title recalls Leonard Cohen’s final album, YOU WANT IT DARKER, which gives me a strange feeling like King is trying to tell us something. Or at least honor Cohen. Either way. I’m attracted.

The collection starts with a novella: “Two Clever Bastards,” which I adored. I woke up too early this morning, and was using it to lull myself to sleep, but it finished before I drifted off again, and it went into the second story, which totally Shirley Jacksoned me there at the end (I’m thinking “The Witch” short story in particular), and I was treated with a heart-pounded jolt of adrenalin and the certainty I was up for the day.

So, thanks for that, Mr. King. LOL. SO MANY MORE GAMES OF SLAY THE SPIRE before my writing day begins.

So far, of the 3.5 stories I’ve heard so far, the first is the most stunning and philosophical and immersive and perfect. The others are really damn great horror. I’m finding the fourth story harder to get into; I’m going to start it again and give it more than sleepy attention. Also thinking about getting the ebook from the library and reading that one. It made need more on-page attention.

Some Newsletters I Love:

Ann Leckie She’s just full of news and insights. Today’s link is to her latest newsletter. I love especially the part about reading conventions and emotional response, as well as the part about reading Moby Dick like an SFF novel. And I love, love, love TRANSLATION STATE, so I’m super glad it’s in paperback. I HAVE THE HARDCOVER HOWEVER TEE HEE!

Louise Penny I may not be the ULTIMATE Inspector Gamache fan, but I’m a BIG Inspector Gamache fan. Not the sort who remembers all the details, and can tell you the name of every character, but the sort who read at least the first 11 books (and I think more) of the series, and who went to see her speak in DC, and who reads and enjoys her newsletters. This link is to her June newsletter, full of beautiful puppers and book and charity news. She always has great quotes.

Ilona Andrews I’m a huge Ilona Andrews fan, both for the physical books and the audiobooks. But their blogs are endlessly insightful, entertaining, productive, and inspiring. The blog/newsletter I’m linking to is their take on the Romance Writers of America bankruptcy, which I found a fascinating read.

MV Media “Afrofuturism, Sword and Soul, Steamfunk and more!” This is a link to their blog, but you can scroll to the bottom and sign up for their newsletter if you like.

Penny Reid In usual Penny Reid fashion, she claims hers as the world’s greatest newsletter. That makes me laugh, but then, so does she! I’m SUCH a Penny Reid fan-girl, Carlos made me a shirt with an armadillo on it that says “Cletus Ex Machina” on the front, and “Team Winston” on the back. Those reference my favorite of her series, “The Winston Brothers.” But my favorite brother is Cletus. He and Jen even have their own spin-off mystery series. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve read those books and listened to the audiobooks. The narrators are out of this world, and I love the newsletter in generally.

What I’m Writing (or have just finished)

The STORYTELLER Tanith Lee tribute anthology funded fully on Kickstarter, thanks to the tireless and charming efforts of editor and publisher Julie Day, of Essential Dreams Press. They reached their SECOND STRETCH GOAL. YAY! That means all the writers get paid, not only pro-rates, but 10 cents a word. And the anthology will also open up to two additional submissions next month.

That link up there links you to a page where you can sign up to be notified for PRE-ORDERS!

After turning in SAINT DEATH’S HERALD, I had three short stories due, right after another. I just finished the third of these three stories–for the STORYTELLER anthology–and submitted it to Julie yesterday. It’s in homage to Tanith’s demon story-fairytales from the Flat Earth series, though it isn’t one of those. I’m calling it “Moons Over Sea,” which is a joke you won’t get till the end. You’ll even forget I gave you this little hint.

I’m a little breathless at having finishing three things in two months, after not finishing a novel for a year and a half. But now I’ve finished a novel AND THREE THINGS.

Or… well, I’ve finished the novel till I get the edits back…

*panicky heartbeat*

In the meantime, a lot of potential projects to work on, but nothing with an immediate deadline. I have a sort of “second chance” romance novel I’d like to set in Gloriana, the world of NEGOCIOS INFERNALES.

Carlos and I have written a few short stories set there already, namely: “Catharsis,” “A Minnow or Perhaps a Colossal Squid,” and most recently “On Wings of Crystal,” which is set in Espada itself, the same country that the game takes place in.

I might start that novel out long-hand. With a fountain pen. For my pleasure.

My friend Caitlyn Paxson… *begin interlude* I’ve mentioned Caitlyn’s newsletter a MILLION TIMES, but seriously, friends. SERIOUSLY. She lives on PEI, she interprets for historical houses, she runs AND debunks seances, she makes clothes out of old sheets and tablecloths, and she writes absolutely always the best books I want and need to read, and she grows HERITAGE FLOWERS… *pants* AND MORE!!!… *end interlude* has requested and required my “Espadan romance,” and I can’t bear to disappoint her, though I have A THOUSAND OTHER THINGS TO WRITE.

The idea stems from characters born in “On Wings of Crystal.” They were the parents of the main character–a professor and a balladeer, long-divorced from each other, but devoted to their poet daughter–and they kept wanting it to be THEIR story. Most of their AWESOME PARTS I had to cut, because it was, in fact, their DAUGHTER THE POET’S story.

“On Wings of Crystal” was the first of my three stories that came in the last few months, and it will soon appear in this year’s Origins Game Fair anthology. That’s limited to people who attend Origins, but I think I get the rights back soon, or I already have them as it’s non-exclusive. I’ll check my contract and get back to you.

“Catharsis,” also set in Gloriana, can be found in the “Rogue Artists” anthology, and “A Minnow, or Perhaps a Colossal Squid,” which Carlos I wrote together, is free to read online, from Mermaids Monthly.

Excitement for

Zig Zag Claybourne has released the first of his Khumalo Trilogy: BREATH, WARMTH & DREAM. Get thee hence! BASK IN THIS RADIANT TENDERNESS.

Charities

The world continues, in otherwise, awful. In addition to voting, and agitating for change with one’s representatives, here are just some of the hard-working organizations straining to stem “the blood-dimm’d tide” that’s been loosed.

Women for Women International: This particular link goes directly to Gaza relief. The organization also invests in women across the world.

International Rescue Committee This link goes directly to Gaza relief. The organization “works in over 40 countries to help people impacted by crises survive, recover and rebuild their lives.”

World Central Kitchen They feed people who need to be fed. This link leads to a donation responding to “response to “the recent escalation of violence in the Middle East, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is providing crucial aid to affected communities. Partnering with local organizations in Gaza and working on the ground in Egypt, Cyprus, and Lebanon, WCK is committed to offering support to Palestinians and anyone else in need.”

Other

The world has lost a light in MaryAnn Harris, mythic, musician, and wife of Charles de Lint.

The world has a lost a light in Karen Wick, mother to my friend Jessica P. Wick, one of the founders of Goblin Fruit Magazine.

Everywhere, our friends and strangers are hurting. Nothing I do is enough. It’s not ever enough. So. I just do some things, as I can. And it’s not enough. I’m full of a restlessness. I want to walk only at night. I want to listen to Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (that’s the YouTube link, here’s the Spotify link, with the version I grew up with, and an excellent Guardian article on the work), and write poetry that means something. Anything.

How many food chains can I get on? How much can I donate? Where do I put my mind and body to work where it may best be used? Where do I start?

Anyway. As my mother once wrote, in the years following her divorce, “I am 10 women.” There is so much joy in my life, too. Joy and sorrow and utter weirdness all mixed in. Like all lives.

I got to see my dad and stepmom last week, as well as the youngest of my brothers. We were in Chicago for five days, and they passed like a butterfly. We also saw butterflies in the Chicago Botanic Garden.

[image error]Peonies too big for their branch, Black Princess Lilies, Bonsais…

Anyway, I write this with love, dear reader, whoever you are. Thank you for reading, and taking the time all the way to the end.

– C. S. E. Cooney

NEGOCIOS INFERNALES: The Unboxing!

Carlos and I ARE SO EXCITED TO SEE THE GALLEY PROOFS OF OUR TABLETOP ROLE-PLAYING GAME NEGOCIOS INFERNALES!!!! UNBOXING VIDEO FTW! 

Thank you, Jeremy Mohler, Alana Joli Abbott, Shannon Potratz, Anton Kromoff, Bek Huston, Will Sobel, and the whole Outland Entertainment team for making this possible!

We will be going through the proofs with a magnifying glass and a deal of enthusiasm and getting feedback back to our publishers so we can get this game to you STAT!!! 

We are so happy!!!

The Ghazal

It’s Sitzfleisch Poetry Night tonight, and I wasn’t feeling it. But since I only dedicate one hour a month to poetry on purpose (it ends up being slightly more, which I’m really very grateful for), I thought I’d give it a go.

Since I wasn’t feeling any free-form verse coming on, I thought I’d take a look at a form I’ve never attempted before: the ghazal. (Or, if I DID ever attempt it, I have justly forgotten!)

Last week I dreamed for five nights in a row that someone I knew and loved died, sometimes on a grand scale, sometimes on a very close and personal scale. The repetition of the ghazal, and the loop back to the same word the ends the first two lines of the first couplet, and then all subsequent even lines, indicated to me a kind of haunting.

A wonderful write-up for the ghazal is here, with the example being the incredible “Hip-Hop Ghazal” by Patricia Smith, and further gorgeous examples linked below the explanation. I love learning about the radeef and the kaafiya, and what a long history this form has.

Oof. Just the beauty and the provenance hit my chest just so.

Here’s my attempt, first draft, such as it is.

Ghazal for Dreaming Death

by C. S. E. Cooney

at night I dream unbroken lonely death
sleep long, awake and yawn, “phony death.”

joy is local, daylight dimming doubt
each good day I say, “disown me, Death.”

what sacrifice make to stay alive?
take of my flesh and clone me, Death.

I read Earth’s woeful daily news
staring from the headlines, stony death

in all wrinkles, age spots, gray-gilt hair
I behold my kindly crony, Death

breathing slow at night, self-soothe to sleep
down dreams, begone ye: it’s only death

Radical Evolution and West Bank’s Freedom Theatre

We went out for dim sum yesterday with new friends Beto O’Byrne and Meropi Peponides of Radical Evolution Theatre, and the discussion flew between theatre, games, writing, activism, and more.

Radical Evolution Theatre, founded in 2011, “is a producing collective committed to creating artistic events that seek to understand the complexities of our multicultural existence in the 21st Century…: that uses “an ensemble-based approach to create aesthetically and formally rigorous events that bring together people from disparate backgrounds, to break down barriers between cultures and creative practices.”

Their “About page” goes on to say that they “collaborate with people from many different identities with whom we build capacity to relate to each other across difference, with a focus on people of color, to seed the field of performance with practitioners that celebrate the intersectionality of perspectives and aesthetics of the city around us. Through this approach, we work to assert a vision for cultural and social equity in our field, city, and nation.”

One of the theatres that Radical Evolution has been collaborating with for an upcoming podcast project, now in its research stages, is called “The Freedom Theatre,” based in the West Bank. Their website says:
“The Theatre programme contains activities that introduce particularly the young generation to theatre and drama, providing them with important tools for dealing with the hardships of daily life under occupation.” They stage “original theatre productions that reflect, comment upon and challenge the realities of contemporary Palestinian society.”

I’m writing this partly to tell YOU all about this, because I love that the Freedom Theatre exists–it’s important work, and dangerous work (past directors have been assassinated or imprisoned)–and I want to support it in any way I can. Their mission statement is fierce. Their donation page is here.

Home

I also want to support Radical Evolution Theatre in all its upcoming projects. One that I know about, because Carlos and I attended the launch party for it, is called “Little Known Legends.”

It’s available for free on Spotify and Apple: “a limited series podcast adapted from Beto O’Byrne’s play, “The Corrido of the San Patricios”. It tells the story of the St. Patrick’s Battalion (Los San Patricios)–a group of mostly Irish immigrants who defect from the US Army to fight for Mexico during the Mexican American War. An epic tale taking us across oceans, deserts and into the heart of one of the most unjust wars in US History, Little Known Legends uses this epic story to ask pressing questions around immigration, citizenship, and what happens when people follow their conscience to actively disrupt political systems.”

Because we went to the launch, we know that the actors are exquisite, the soundscape awe-inspiring, the international collaboration that went into the piece dazzling, and this quiet piece of history profoundly moving. So… I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A LISTENING PARTY FOR IT!

Apparently there are whole folksongs written about these events, mostly Irish and Mexican, though the U. S. history books consider the defection an act of treachery. What a piece of theatre!

HELIOsphere set list

My discography of Brimstone Rhine songs on Bandcamp. None of these include songs from BALLADS FROM A DISTANT STAR, but someday, I hope! SOMEDAY!

I am about to go through my Discography for a fun a cappella song list to bring with me to HELIOsphere for our little 30-minute concert.

Songs should be:

Fun to sing with audience participationFun to sing a cappella or with light ukulele accompanimentSongs I’m already pretty familiar with, that require just a little rehearsal polish

All my songs are short-ish, but with patter between, the minutes add up quickly. Let’s see. I was thinking something like:

Apex Predators (Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir) – always good to START with this one, because it’s FUNNY, and it’s cute, and it’s a good story about Carlos and me.Fox Girl Song Cycle 1: Carnivora (Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir) – it’s damn fun to sing, though a tongue-tangler in spots!The Lysistrata Strut (Alecto! Alecto!) – this one can be practically CHANTED, but it’s more fun with some kind of drum or percussion; we’ll see if Carlos wants to bring his cajon. Scylla on the Rocks (Alecto! Alecto!) – this is REALLY fun with the audience singing the “blub-blubs” on the refrain. A STANDARD!Lady Knight/Pale Lady (Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir) – I’m still debating this, because it’s long and slow, and it’s hard to sell a ballad to just ANY audience, but THIS MIGHT BE THE AUDIENCE FOR IT! Anyway, I love it.Sisters Lionheart (Ballads from a Distant Star) – a good chorus to sing along to! Also, I get to talk about the project!The Jub-Jub (Corbeau Blanc, Corbeau Noir) – always good to END with this one: ROUSING FUN for the WHOLE ROOM!

If Faye Ringel or Mary Crowell or my brother Jeremy (he sings with me on the album) were with me, I’d sing Black Widow’s Waltz and Headless Bride from Headless Bride, or Little Man Jamie from Ballads from a Distant Star. They’re far better as duets! (Or, in the case of “Jamie” as a triplet!)

You know, I love all of these songs. Now that I’m taking voice lessons with the wonderful Kiara Duran, wouldn’t I love, in another three years, to re-record ALL OF THEM with my new, stronger, more trained voice.

Speaking of Kiara, she does voice lessons OVER ZOOM. I’ll write more about her (and the lessons) sometime, but I couldn’t recommend her more highly, for those of you who live in different states or time zones, or don’t have time/spoons for lessons out in the world.

HELIOsphere 2024

Hallo! I don’t know how many of you are local to New York/New Jersey, but both Carlos Hernandez and I are Guests of Honor at HELIOsphere this year, along with Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld Magazine and David Gerrold. It’s coming up in two weeks!

There’ll be a masquerade, and Carlos and I will tell fortunes at the ice cream social using our Negocios Infernales cards! We’ll even have a half hour Brimstone Rhine concert with some of my songs! (Mostly a cappella, because you’ll forgive my lack of a guitarist or pianist, though Carlos might bring his ukulele for a few of them!)

There will be readings and panels galore, and Carlos and I even get to interview each other!!! I think you can even commute there pretty easily from NYC on the New Jersey Transit!

I hope to see you there!
https://heliosphereny.org/

Three Short Stories in the Making

Since turning in my draft of Saint Death’s Herald to my editor, I’ve knocked out TWO of my THREE impending short story deadlines, and am working on the third.

You know, there’s that age-old question, “Where do your stories come from?”

The answer, of course, varies from person to person (a sliding scale starting at a table flip and moving all the way to a 200-page thesis or perhaps a memoir), but since I know the answer THIS TIME, and there are THREE DIFFERENT ONES, I thought I’d share them.

Story Seed I: Thank you, Negocios Infernales! Also, fellow players. Also, Carlos.

The first story was the hardest. I already wrote to our Kickstarter backers about it, so here, have that exerpt uncut:

As we’ve been playing Negocios Infernales games with you, our ADORABLE backers, I’ve sometimes stepped in as a player. And one of these times—back in February—I created a character I sort of adored.

TL;DR, the game was great, but ALSO! I had a deadline for a short story that was WAY OVERDUE, due to my novel ALSO being overdue! Thankfully, I finished BOTH of these deadlines within the last two weeks and turned everything in. 

Having just finished my draft of Saint Death’s Herald, I was pretty burnt out on ideas for short stories. Carlos suggested that, since I loved my character “Dorado”—the poet in the birdcage—from our backers’ game, I use her as a seed for my short story.

It was such a RELIEF to have a place to start! And even MORE of a relief to finish! 

“With Wings of Crystal” will appear in this year’s Origins anthology, with the theme of “Legacy.” Here’s a sneak peak of the first few paragraphs:

The birdcage on top of Dorada’s head itched, and a headache was starting. All told, that elaborate wire filigree was probably as heavy as the queen’s own diadem which had two swords jutting up from the sides like horns, one silver, one gold the royal blades of Espada and a pearl of so great a size that just to imagine the oyster of origin was to walk in fear of it.

Espada was a nation that loved its swords.

Thankfully, it was currently politically expedient that
Espada also love its poets. Which was good, because being Espada’s court poet kept Almenara Sastre-Escribano (AKA “El Canario Dorado de la Reina de Espada”) (or just plain “Dorada,”
really) in work.

Story Seed II: Thank you, Enchant Oracle Deck of The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic… Also, Shakespeare. Also, Liz Duffy Adams. Also, Carlos.Image borrowed from The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic’s website

My second story is for an Air and Nothingness Press anthology that I’m not one-hundo percent sure I can talk about yet, but suffice to say that it is one of the coolest CONCEPTS I’ve ever been invited to contribute to. AND I WILL SPEAK MORE ON THIS LATER!!!

ONE of the SEVERAL enfolded ideas in this anthology’s guidelines is to use archetypes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. We were provided a list of archetypes to choose from (and a variety of other choices to make as well, but I’ll get more into that the closer we get to publication).

I chose “Maiden/Familiar/Monster.”

Partly, I did so because Carlos and I have a very active imaginary home life, full peppered with a fantastic menagerie of characters. And ONE of our sets of characters is a sorcerer sort of person named “Master,” and a familiar sort of person “Famulus.”

A BRIEF HISTORY OF MASTER AND FAMULUS:

Master wants all the magical (and possibly demonic) powers that Famulus possesses. Famulus just wants to please Master. Or possibly eat Master. Or possibly BE Master. Famulus is very loving, and very dangerous. Master adores Famulus, and also will not hesitate to atomize Famulus if Famulus gets out of hand—if Master can catch Famulus at Famulus’s shenanigans in time.

I thought I’d do something with these character seeds. You can see how they might overlap with “Maiden” (Master?) and “Familiar” (Famulus). The thought was very appealing—especially considering the third idea—“Monster”—as a trait shared between them.

Which one, after all, is more monstrous: Master of Famulus?

Answer: THEY BOTH DESERVE EACH OTHER. Or perhaps: TOGETHER, they are the monster.

All of this fun stuff was reeling around in my head, but I had no STORY—at least none that would fit in 1500 words or less.

So I hied me away from that idea and went off to consult The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic’s Enchant oracle deck.

This was a special, limited-release deck of fairy tale cards that the good Doctors of Carterhaugh, Doctor Cleto and Doctor Warman (I’m totally friends with them and can say their name, but I REALLY LIKE CALLING THEM DOCTORS, OKAY???) put together for their Enchanted workshop. They hope to re-release them one day, if they can find a vendor that does not leave the two of THEM with all the overhead of organizing and shipping. But that’s for another day.

For today: I HAVE MY DECK, YAY!

They’re very simple cards. They each have an archetypal fairy tale character right at the top, and a brief, shall we say, breakdown of some of the more psychological elements of the story. The card ends with a question to reflect on, usually pertaining to how a certain element of the given fairy tale might apply in your daily life.

Reader, I pulled—and I kid you not—“Rumpelstiltskin” and “The Milk Maid” (of “Rumpelstiltskin” fame), as well as “Rapunzel.”

So I sat awhile in this perfumed cloud of thought: “Milk Maid” (“Maiden”), and “Rumpelstiltskin” (“Familiar”), together with that interesting extra note of “Rapunzel”—after all, is not Shakespeare’s Miranda a kind of Rapunzel: the island her tower, a powerful sorcerer for a parent, and a prince coming upon her in all his wreckage?).

A story began to form.

I began by doing a little noodling research into Naples of the 16th century. I found out ALL SORTS OF INTERESTING THINGS about eggs and castles and linens and demons!!!

And then I took a good long look at the “Monster” in “Maiden, Familiar, Monster,” and thought a while about what I could possibly say about Caliban. There is a very long and difficult conversation surrounding The Tempest, racism, colonialism, and the silencing and abuse of many of the characters therein. I don’t have any answers, only a sliver of contribution to the discussion.

I had in my head, too, the whole while I was writing, a marvelous 10-minute play by Liz Duffy Adams, dealing with a post-Tempest post-Maiden Miranda unleashed upon the world. She’s a marvelous, sexy, darling creature, liberated and adorable, and I feel like my Miranda would be friends with Duffy’s Miranda. It’s a first-person voice, so it’s always surprising how that comes out each time. ONE CONTAINS MULTITUDES!

Anyway. I like the little thing. And it is a little thing at 1500 words. But it’s mine.

And what’s more, it’s DONE. TWO MONTH’S EARLY, BABY!

Story Seed 3: Again, thank you, Enchant Oracle Deck. And thank you, Tanith Lee, gosh darn it.Image borrowed from The Carterhaugh School of Folklore and the Fantastic’s website

My third story is another invited submission for the forthcoming Tanith Lee tribute anthology, Storyteller, edited by Julie Day.

Some of the inspiration has been trickling in (feeding the boys in the basement, as Stephen King might say) through reading and, in some cases re-reading, a bunch of Tanith Lee stories and novels.

I restarted Silver Metal Lover (I know it’s not everyone’s jam; I know. I still love it!), and I bought a few old Daw paperbacks I’d never read before. I started reading Night’s Sorceress, a story collection from the “Flat Earth” world, where demons and gods still walk the land, and I gotta say…

I LOVE TANITH LEE’S DEMONS!

In fact, I’m over at Delia Sherman’s house today on a writing date, and she lent me two more Flat Earth books: Delusion’s Master and Death’s Master, which I think take place before Night’s Sorceress. But I’ve never gotten the sense, reading the former, that I need anything other than what the author provides me. But I’m into it!

The stories in Night’s Sorceress are very much in a fairy tale style, and eminently LICKABLE down on a sentence level.

I have many other thoughts, but none of them are fully matured yet, and possibly are only of interest to me, so I’ll leave them off this already elaborate blog.

Anyway, since I was full of a Tanithesque “fairy tale feeling” (as my mentor Gene Wolfe used to say), I pulled out my fairy tale cards again to see if they could jumpstart any creative ideas on this, the third short story I need to write before June. And, preferably, before I get edits back on Saint Death’s Herald.

I pulled the cards for “Sea Witch” and “The Girl Who Transformed into Fire” and “Puss in Puts.”

Ha! What a hodgepodge!

The story is still forming, but here’s what I know:

I know that the “Sea Witch” is my central demon. And I have a whole spark for the protagonist based on “The Girl Who Transformed Into Fire.” There’s something in this idea that I think is based on my one-and-a-half-decade-old memory of reading Tanith Lee’s Saint Fire. But I’m not sure! I’m just rolling with it.

I started researching the origins of whatever story “The Girl Who Transformed into the Fire” might come from, since it wasn’t one I was familiar with, and the best I could come up with is this VERY MACABRE German nursery rhyme that Mark Twain did a VERY BAD translation of.

This Paris review article about it CRACKED ME UP!!!

I have no idea if this is the fairy tale the Doctors of Carterhaugh were taking as their inspiration for their card, or if theirs is maybe a take on the Russian Vasilisa, or maybe a Cinderella reference?

But if it’s the German rhyme (see article), then I have to say, the Doctors of Carterhaugh have taken the most generous and helpful and MODERN reading of a DREADFUL story of a child burning herself to death. They’ve, in fact, transformed it into a card all about TRANSFORMATION.

Well, that’s a good place for any story to start, eh?

Where Puss in Boots (mistyped, just now “Puss in Butts”) comes—archetypally or otherwise—into my story, I do not know.

…Although, now that I have written that, I am starting to get an inkling of an idea.

And now that I have blogged all that, I must write!

Baldur’s Gate 3 Fan Poems: She-Devil Dances

The last Baldur’s Gate 3 fan poem I wrote was “The Emperor,” shown at the link. Well, tonight’s another Sitzfleisch Poetry Hour, where some poet friends and I sit in a silent zoom and don’t talk to each other while we write our own poetry.

“Anyone can write poetry for ONE HOUR A MONTH!” quoth we!

She-Devil Dances

by C. S. E. Cooney

(for the BG3 creators at Larian–particularly the artists, writers, and voice behind Karlach)

as the wise mother tells her wide-eyed child,
so I tell you now:

“look for the piercings, look for the ink.
watch for the curling horns, smell that sulfur stink.
it’s not what you think, my darling; it’s not what you think.

the betrayed and stolen who’ve reclaimed their skin?
those who’ve crawled through hell and back up again?
when you’re in trouble, go to them.

run not to the guardsmen, cruel with authority–
but seek out the urchin, grown cunning, gone hunting
for the very devils others take her for.”

I see her, radiant creature
standing on a hill, alone.
her heart, a candle made of liquid nickel
her heart, a pulsar, unarmored

friend-hungry and eager, that flame-bright flower!
flesh and metal, restlest, ardent.
she fidgets unceasing, her foot filled with longing,
humming… something.

I sing along.

who can help but love her, who know her?
how a hope-star smolders in the stifling dim?
that’s her grin.
how a child, bladder-full and irrepressible, dances?
that’s how she dances.

April 1, 2024

And since Carlos and I finished our TWO-HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO HOUR play-through of Baldur’s Gate 3 last night, I thought I’d commemorate the occasion by writing a few of those other poems I had in mind on my previous list. I did them long-hand in my journal: “Open Box, Close Box” and “She-Devil Dances” and “Rite of the Wild Priest.” I’d like to do more, and maybe I will…

…NOW THAT I’VE STARTED TO PLAY AGAIN, THIS TIME BY MYSELF! It won’t be AS FUN as with Carlos but… MORE LOOTING! MORE SHOPPING! MORE KISSING! And also, I want to get at good at Combat and Puzzles as he is.

The Carterhaugh Writers Society

So, the Good Doctoras of Carterhaugh, Doctor Sara Cleto and Doctor Brittany Warman, have invited my beloved Hernandez and me to do an awesome thing.

But first, this is the awesome thing Carterhaugh is about to do in Aprirl: The Carterhaugh Writers Society!

Part of this awesomeness, then, is that with BOTH tier levels, the writers who have signed up for this month of solidarity in writing (so much awesome stuff! Seriously, check out their calendar of April literary events) will be able to avail themselves of our INFERNAL SALON–which Carlos and I will be running!

What is an Infernal Salon? 

It’s a fun, low-stakes writing workshop, high on community, ix-nay on the essure-pray. Each participant is given a prompt of one or more cards from the very spooky deck that C. S. E. Cooney, Carlos Hernandez, and artist Rebecca Huston invented for their TTRPG “Negocios Infernales.” Once every writer has their prompt, we’ll set a timer for 25 minutes. When the timer dings, the writers who want to will share their infernally-inspired works with all of us. The dynamic “Casa Hernandooney” team has run Infernal Salons at cons, charity events, and libraries, and without fail, much revelry and fun is had by all! If you’re looking for your next story idea or a way to shatter writer’s block, have we got a salon for you!

You can learn more about the game Negocios Infernales here, via a very goofy short home video we made for our Kickstarter, and look at some of the pretty cards and nice things people have said. If you’re just dying to have your own deck, pre-orders for the game are available on Outland Entertainment’s website here.

When is this happening?

The Carterhaugh Infernal Salon will take place on April 13 at 1PM ET!

Check out their website for FAQs and tiers you can join at, and ALL THE LINKS!