Myths, Mothers, and Mystics: A Short Story Collection

by Rumer Haven

A goddess brings a statue to life
so it can become the sculptor’s wife.

A mirror reflects more than what should appear
as a holiday toy spreads less cheer than fear.

New tech revolutionizes reproductive rights
while ghost hunters fill an innkeeper’s night with frights.

And just when she falls out of love’s blinding spell,
a tattoo artist checks into a haunted hotel.

In this speculative fiction collection, feminism meets folklore, fantasy, and science fiction as Rumer Haven shares some of the more random yarns she’s spun over the past decade. From ancient Cyprus to modern Sedona, Myths, Mothers, and Mystics tells the tales of women who must find—if not fight—their way against the natural and supernatural.

144 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2020

About the author

Rumer Haven is probably the most social recluse you could ever meet. When she’s not babbling her fool head off among friends and family, she’s pacified with a good story that she’s reading, writing, or revising—or binge-watching Buffy. A writer/editor hailing from Chicago, she presently lives in London with her husband and probably a ghost or two. Rumer has always had a penchant for the past and paranormal, which inspires her writing to explore dimensions of time, love, and the soul. Her award-winning work includes Coattails and Cocktails (First Prize Winner, 2018 Red City Review Book Awards) and What the Clocks Know (First Place Winner in General Fiction, 2017 Red City Review Book Awards).

Reviews

[Nicki Elson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so happy to have these stories by Rumer Haven pulled together into one volume. They're all quite different from each other, but what they have in common is that they are UNcommon tales that will make you think and examine life from a perspective you might not have viewed it from before. And the writing is gorgeous. All in all, an elegant collection.

For writers and aspiring authors, there's a real treat at the end in the form of a key note address transcript with excellent insights into Rumer's personal writing journey.

[Nancee Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to begin? This collection of short stories was both entertaining and thought-provoking with a touch of OMG, where did that come from thrown in the mix. One story set in the future was quite disturbing, whereas the creepy Helf on the shelf ended up being my favorite story of all of them. I highly recommend this interesting compilation with a little something for everyone.

[Karen Komarinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I want to apologize to Rumer Haven for forgetting to publish my review, so I reread this brilliant collection of short stories over again and I enjoyed it just as much or maybe even more then I did the first time. Rumer is brilliant at spinning tales of folklore, ghosts, Myths and you find yourself pulled into the stories with the characters. You definitely will find yourself wigged out at times but you can’t put her stories down. This collection has something for everyone.

[Claire-Louise Armstrong-Brealey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delightful cornucopia of tales from this most excellent of story tellers.