As sent out to the backers of the Schoolbooks & Sorcery Kickstarter (which, if you haven’t heard of, where have you been?)

Dear Friends and Backers –

As I type this, we’re less than $200 away from our goal, and 6 days away from the end of the campaign period. That has us sitting at an amazing 96%–so close, yet not quite there. I have full faith in our ability to make it, which is why I’m posting this update to let you all in on some of our plans.

1) I’ve added a new reward level at $45, for those who wish to get the ebook and trade paperback bundle, but also a little something else specifically created for this project. This set of 5 watercolor buttons, handcrafted by an amazing artist I personally lured in with cookies, celebrates both our theme and our LGBTQ-inclusive, pride-centric, mission statement. I could only get her to commit to a few sets to begin, which is why it’s a limited edition. And because of add-on logistics, I thought it best to stick to the one level. Should anyone who’s selected a different pledge level wish a set, please feel free to adjust your current pledge by $20, and message me so we can figure something out. A few sample images below, to give you an idea of what to expect:

2) Stretch goals! I’ve added some of our stretch goals to the page, but in short, if we hit $6500, we’ll add a new Magic University story by Circlet Press founder and author extraordinaire, Cecilia Tan. Suitable for a YA audience, it stars fan-favorite character Frost… or so I’m told.

If we hit $7000, we’ll be able to add 2 more stories, to further our representation and diversity. I, for one, want to include several more stories giving voice to non-binary, trans, and asexual protagonists. I’ll open up submissions for a limited time to seek out those voices, and look forward to seeing what I get.

After that… the sky’s the limit. Interior art, or pay bonuses to the contributors, or catnip for my cats… (just kidding!)

3) I’d like to give a quick shout-out to our friends over at the 2018 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide, who are also running a lovely-looking Kickstarter for the latest volume in their fantastic anthology series. Check them out after you’re done here!

And now… an excerpt from the wonderfully entertaining “The Grimoire Girls,” by E.C. Myers. What happens when an evil-fighting teenager transfers to a new school? Is it business as usual, or will Lexi finally run into something she can’t defeat?

———

“Oh my God!” Mom says.

“What?” I pull my nail file from my kneesock and look for danger.

“I just realized my Paul Anka CD was in your car.”

“So there’s the silver lining.” I slide the nail file back into my sock. “Mom, I have to get to class.”

She closes her car door. “You’ll tell me if you have any cute teachers?”

“No. Remember what happened with Mr. Logan?”

“I knew he was an incubus,” she says. “No English teacher is that hot and charming.”

“Uh huh. Then why did I have to save you?”

“I had him exactly where he wanted me.”

“And I can never unsee that. Good-bye.”

I open my door and hop out. I sling my bag over my shoulder and walk down the cobbled path to the entrance, concentrating on not tripping while everyone is watching. The truck roars to life and gravel crunches behind me as mom drives away.

I feel naked without my Winchester rifle–and did I mention this skirt?–but they frown on students carrying that sort of thing around, even if you’re trying to kill an urban wendigo that’s masquerading as the high school’s QB1 and eating cheerleaders.

In fact, the only weapons I can sneak into schools these days are the crucifix around my neck, which is only any good because it’s made of iron; a wicked sharp nail file boiled in the blood of a dead man; a mini-crossbow, some assembly required, that fires really pointy pencils; a pencil sharpener; a water bottle filled with holy water (the good stuff, not just lake water); a steel garrote rolled into the waistband of my skirt; a lunch bag filled with salt; a bracelet with an unspecified protection spell on it, which I worry is only going to protect my wrist from harm; and the Grahame family Grimoire–which is worth more than everything else combined.

I don’t carry the actual thing around of course. The tome is like, 800 pounds, and moldy and falling apart. But I had scanned it in as an eBook.

And then, of course, there’s me. As long as I can speak the spells I need and I keep my eReader charged, I’m the best weapon of all. I always keep the eReader charged; Mom still won’t let me forget the time it died during an incantation. Instead of being banished, the demon imploded, and my skin was green for a week. Fortunately, it was Halloween. So things worked out.

—

Curious about what Lexi encounters at the mysterious Doheny Preparatory Academy? Find out in Schoolbooks & Sorcery…

Well folks, we’re closing in on the final days of the Schoolbooks & Sorcery Kickstarter, and I’m rather excited. Why? Because thanks to hundreds of backers, and the generous support of everyone who’s spread the word, boosted the signal, or showed interest, we’ve funded. We hit our base goal, and are steaming towards our first stretch goal. Woohoo!

With only a few days left, there’s still plenty of time for procrastinators and latecomers to get on board, though. We’ve added an amazing new reward level, where you can get a set of fantastic handmade buttons, and I think they’re spectacular. I’ve just informed the artist that I need several bags for publicity reasons…

Check them out! Aren’t they gorgeous?

My other big news is that, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve got ourselves a brand new Magic University story by Cecilia Tan, one which no fan of hers is going to want to miss. I’ve told her to start writing, so we don’t disappoint anyone. After that, if we hit our next goal at $7000, I can open up submissions for a limited period to seek out more awesomely, unapologetically, unabashedly, proudly queer stories. I won’t lie, I really want these stories. I need to read them…

In closing, I’d like to leave you with an excerpt from Eric Esser’s spooky “Fishing for the Dead.” I think it speaks for itself.

——-

You have to get three things right to catch a ghost: the lure, the pole, and the spell. Tonight Carlo was trying for a dog. Most kids use a tennis ball or dried pig’s ear for the lure, but Carlo tied a stuffed squirrel with a fluffy tail to the end of his line. They’d been his dog Loki’s favorite. Every night for almost a year after Loki’d died, Carlo had sat beneath the stars on nights of the waxing moon, waving his pole over the corner of the backyard where they’d buried Loki beneath the acacias. He’d spend hours hypnotizing himself by swaying his line though the moonlight before he felt it brush Loki’s soul.

Four years later he was the best ghost fisher at Monte Vista High, and had dibs on the prime spot on the lowest level of the fire escape in the alley behind the SPCA. He shared it with his best friend Lyssa, their spider silk lines glistening side by side in the moonlight. Most kids preferred the strength of tarantula, but he favored the greater sensitivity of black widow; he could sense a guinea pig three months gone with that.

“Sorry about your boyfriend’s dad,” Carlo said to Lyssa so low no one else could hear. A half dozen other kids sat above or below in other fire escapes or on dumpsters. No one was down on the ground; elevating the line helps when you’re fishing, especially if the remains haven’t been buried but burned to ash and smoke like that which rose from the wide steel pipe at the back of this building. The spirits of dead dogs and cats and rabbits and most any animal you could think of suffused the air of this alley, at one time or another.

“Walter’s not my boyfriend. We just hang out sometimes,” Lyssa said.

“I think the phrase is ‘hook up.'”

“Asshole.” Lyssa swung her pig bone lure into Carlo’s shin. Lyssa had an edge to her with her powder blue hair and half a dozen piercings that Carlo found irresistible, but she went for the burly types, like Walter Resnik: varsity outside linebacker and only a Junior. Carlo was fit but slender and pale and his cheeks were almost as smooth as hers.

“So how’s he doing? Walter?”

“Hasn’t really talked about it. Tough guy.” She paused. “Fucking moron.”

Carlo nodded because he agreed. “I hear they can’t afford a fisher,” he said, trying to sound casual.

“Yeah, no insurance.”

“I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Catch a human soul? With that little pole of yours?”

She glanced toward his crotch. Carlo tried to look uncomfortable but it pleased him. He had crafted his fishing pole from the bough of a dying ash tree, then inlaid the handle with bone he fished out of dinner scraps, mostly cow he had sawn into slivers and polished down. He’d fitted it with a Shimano high speed spinning reel engraved with an invocation to Ereshkigal in cuneiform; he’d worked all last summer bagging groceries to afford it.

—–

What does Carlo fish up? I think you know how to find out… Read it in Schoolbooks & Sorcery!

As I write this, we have just under 36 hours to go in the Kickstarter for Schoolbooks & Sorcery, and I am excited beyond measure. Not only have we hit our funding goal and first stretch goal, but we’ve reached several other milestones in the past few days. Folks, we get to add an all-new Magic University story by Cecilia Tan. And what excites me even more is that we’re going to be able to open up submissions for a few more stories to help enhance our table of contents. Watch this space for details, coming very soon…

Don’t forget, we still have the option to add a set of gorgeous watercolor buttons, either as a specific pledge, or as an add-on. (i.e. if you want them, add $20 to your existing pledge and message me to make sure I know what it’s for.)

Additionally, if you decide you want multiple copies for whatever reason, message me and we can work something out.

Because I’m so happy, I’m going to share another excerpt, this one from “The Chosen One,” by Katrina Nicholson. Despite the rather straight-forward title, this story is anything but obvious… and I think it’s pretty darn cool.

—–

“Sulfur Hexafluoride is six times heavier than air and has been known to suffocate people who play with it by displacing the air in their lungs,” René’s teacher warned. “As a mage, one of the ways you could save them would be to change the molecular weight of the gas and make it lighter than air. This is the principle upon which mage-built airships work.”

René stared at the tank of sulfur hexafluoride. He imagined himself strutting down the hall as classes let out for the day. Tall. Handsome. Rugged whiskers. Skin like dark chocolate. He’d toss back his corkscrew curls, cock a finger, and say ‘hey baby’ in the voice of James Earl Jones. The girls would swoon. Probably half the boys, too. René wasn’t picky. He drew the line at teachers, though.

There was nothing he could do about his big ears, buzz cut, baby face, or the fact that he had a fair amount of milk in his chocolate, but the voice? That’s what sulfur hexafluoride was for.

Monsieur Jean-Baptiste turned away from writing the chemical composition on the white board. He was trendy and dark, with a shaved head and a close-cropped goatee. He was young, but his sharp eyes zeroed in on René like he could mind read dumb ideas. René folded his hands on the lab bench and pretended to pay attention.

Monsieur Jean-Baptiste turned back to the board and began to rearrange the elements on the periodic table as he explained the unintentional havoc a mage could unleash if he failed to pay attention in chemistry class. René scanned the classroom. The other students all had their mage-built remembersheets out, dutifully taking notes with their fingernails.

René grabbed the tank of gas. He wasn’t a mage yet – he still had two more years before his eighteenth birthday – and his chemistry teacher would never be, but he wasn’t worried. Magic chose people from magical families. Nobody really agreed on how. Catholics said it was angels. Muslims thought it was the will of Allah acting through prophets. Scientists argued over whether mages’ different DNA made them mutants or aliens. However it happened, the rule was one mage parent, one kid chosen by magic. That’s why the ordinaires, or regular Haitians, called mages l’élu – the chosen ones. Because a lot of mageborn got passed over and ended up teaching pre-mage classes or doing boring regular jobs.

René was sure that wouldn’t happen to him. Both his parents were mages and he only had one brother. The magic had to choose him. And if he put his life in danger now, it would Break early and save him. His classmate Nicola had skipped straight from second year prépas to Port-au-Prince’s Grande École de Magie after her house fell on her in the big earthquake.

One puff of sulfur hexafluoride and it’d be just like his dad described. Suddenly he would feel like anything was possible – because it was. He stuck the nozzle in his mouth and cranked the valve open.

—–

A heck of a place to leave off, right? You know where to find the rest…

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

SCHOOLBOOKS & SORCERY: A QUEER-INCLUSIVE YA URBAN FANTASY ANTHOLOGY

Take high school. It’s weird, confusing, complicated, and frustrating. It’s a time of growth and change, when teens start discovering what they’re made of and who they want to be. Now throw in magic. What happens? That’s the premise of this new YA anthology. Schoolbooks & Sorcery is what happens when you take all the normal ups and downs of high school, inject a healthy dose of magic, shake, stir, and serve.

Editor Michael M. Jones (Scheherazade’s Façade) is looking for YA urban fantasy stories which incorporate the themes of sorcery, magic, and enchantment. The magic can come from within, as an intrinsic ability or a family trait, or from without, in the form of talismans, training, or teaching. Protagonists can be wizards, witches, sorcerers, magicians, shamans, apprentices, or practitioners of more esoteric traditions. Whether they pick it up on their own (accidentally or on purpose), learn from a master, or go to school for institutionalized training, they’ll be involved with magic to some degree. Or, of course, the protagonist could be without magic, and stumble into a world beyond their immediate knowledge. If authors wish to set something in a magical school of their own devising, or in a previously-established setting, that’s perfectly fine. But it doesn’t necessarily need to be set at a school, magical or otherwise, so long as the main characters are of the right age set.

Just about every culture has some sort of tradition involving people who dabble in the supernatural to one end or another, and there’s a vast amount of potential left to be tapped in this genre, especially with teenage protagonists. Whether they’re wizards-in-training, voodoo princesses, the last descendant of an infamous historical figure, the newest apprentice in the family business, or just someone in the wrong place at the right time, the stories are endless.

Schoolbooks & Sorcery is also designed to be a queer-friendly YA anthology, embracing the full spectrum of sexuality and gender identification, while offering a wide selection of satisfying, entertaining, fascinating, powerful stories in which the mundane and the magical overlap and interact. Stories are encouraged to take place in the overlapping area between urban fantasy, high school, and LGBTQ issues and themes. Stories should send the message that it’s not just okay to be gay, it’s okay to be gay and to have the same crazy, wicked, scary, seductive, exciting, magical, strange, funny, romantic, dark adventures as everyone else. We’re looking for stories which are all-inclusive, with the characters writers have been dying to write and readers clearly want to see, diverse and interesting, with an underlying current of tolerance and acceptance. Obviously, we’re looking for a wide range of themes, tones, and voices.

IN ADDITION TO THE BELOW, I AM SPECIFICALLY LOOKING FOR THE FOLLOWING:

1) Stories with gay, trans, non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, and/or asexual characters… or other facets of the LGBTQ+ spectrum not specifically mentioned. Because I am trying to achieve a certain balance of representation, I am not looking for lesbian stories at this time

2) I also heavily encourage characters of color, neurodiverse characters, disabled characters, characters from outside the United States, and stories which reflect under-represented voices or experiences. The same goes for the authors! 

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

All stories should be between 2000-6000 words.

All stories must involve magic, and those who practice magic. This covers wizards, witches, sorcerers, magicians, shamans, and other traditions not specifically mentioned. This covers self-taught characters, those whose power is intrinsic or passed down through a family, those who find objects of power or books of spells, those who study with a teacher, those who go to school for magic, and so on. Other paranormal elements, such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, or fairies, are welcome, as long as they don’t overshadow the primary theme.

Paranormal romance elements are also welcome, but this is not specifically intended as a romance anthology. Romance is good, but not necessary.

All stories must be considered YA.

Stories should be set in modern times/on Earth, but authors are encouraged to use a variety of settings, cultures, and influences to flesh out their characters and world building. Again, one of the primary goals here is to explore diversity.

While LGBTQ elements are not required, they are highly encouraged, as are protagonists who defy traditional roles and labels. (As in “girls doing boy things” and “boys doing girl things”.) More importantly: no story will be turned away for containing LGBTQ characters or elements, unless it violates the other guidelines.

Stories will not be censored for language, drinking, drugs or sexual situations; however, such things must be in moderation, appropriate to the circumstances, and tastefully handled. In movie rating terms, stories would thus fall into the PG-13 range. (To be handled as necessary. We’re not afraid of some bad words now and again…)

All stories will maintain a positive atmosphere concerning sexuality, gender, race, religion, and so on. While individual characters (most likely antagonists) may express biased, prejudiced, or phobic sentiments, or characters may deal with negative situations, the ultimate goal is to promote tolerance, acceptance, and positivity.

PLEASE NOTE: I have already seen a number of stories which address bullying. While I’m still open to considering stories incorporating this theme, I’d like to see some more variety to help round things out.

DEADLINE: August 31, 2017

SUBMISSION ADDRESS: All submissions may be sent to Facadeantho@gmail.com. Please address any questions or queries to that address as well.Submissions should be sent as an attachment, as .rtf or .doc.

PAYMENT: Payment will be 6 cents a word, plus electronic and print contributor copies.

FORMATS: Schoolbooks & Sorcery will be released simultaneously as a trade paperback and an ebook, by Ultra Violet Press, an imprint of Circlet Press.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Michael M. Jones was the YA reviewer for Science Fiction Chronicle and Realms of Fantasy. These days, he reviews YA for Publishers Weekly and Tor.com. He is also the editor of Scheherazade’s Façade: Fantastical Tales of Gender Bending, Cross-Dressing, and Transformation (Gressive Press, 2012). His fiction has appeared in anthologies from DAW, Baen, Raven Electrick Ink, Norilana, Circlet, and Cleis Press. He can be found online at www.michaelmjones.com

Hello, everyone! I just wanted to let you all know where we stand with the Schoolbooks & Sorcery anthology.

Following our wonderfully successful Kickstarter campaign, we enjoyed a several month open submission period, so we could add several more stories to the already-established Table of Contents. And let me just say, I’ve gotten some amazing stuff, and I have some very hard decisions ahead of me. After weeding out a great many inappropriate submissions, I’m still left with some 50 or so, all competing for a mere handful of spots. So in the next few weeks, I’ll be reading through what’s left as I attempt to winnow them down even further to the final contenders.

For those who are curious, I will, of course, be looking to find stories which balance and complement what I already have, which hit certain aspects of diversity and representation, which grab me and make me think or laugh or feel. I may or may not have to enlist the aid of trusted advisers and secondary readers to help me make informed judgments. So I’ll be doing this as quickly as possible while still giving every story its due consideration. After all, they wouldn’t still be in the running if they didn’t have potential…

Meanwhile, I’ll be in touch with other folks as needed to ensure the production of our backer rewards, and I’ll be working on the manuscript itself. I don’t have a specific timeline for that, but I’ll do my very best to keep things moving right along.  Believe me, I want to see this done and published as much as anyone else!

Thanks for your patience, everyone, and I appreciate you all for being part of this.

Now that we’ve gotten the editorial stuff out of the way, I’d like to talk for a moment about myself as a writer. It so happens that I’ve had several absolutely fantastic stories come out in magazines and anthologies since my last update, and I’m woefully behind on shamelessly begging you to check them out.

First up, we have “The High Cost of Answers,” appearing in Utter Fabrication: Historical Accounts of Unusual Buildings and Structures, produced by Mad Scientist Journal. In this sequel to “The Strange Case of Rebecca Rice,” private detective Nat MacDonald is once again on the case. This time, she’s looking for a number of people who’ve gone missing in Puxhill’s mysterious Gaslight District. With some help from her ghostly girlfriend Rebecca, and some costly advice from the capricious Jay Willoughby, Nat has to venture deep into the heart of Puxhill to confront an ancient evil…

Next, we have “An Afternoon in the Park with the Coyote Brothers,” which appears in Dark Luminous Wings, by Pole to Pole Publishing. In this YA-aimed story, 17-year-old Suzume’s afternoon is disrupted when the unpredictable Coyote Brothers wander into her after-school place of employment. But when they sense something weird about her, their efforts to bring out her hidden supernatural side turn both comic and philosophical… I happen to love this story: it’s one of the first pieces I wrote in class at Hollins, and the Coyote Brothers are personal favorites of mine, just because they provide so much room for mischief and mayhem.

After that, there’s my short piece, “Saint Urban and the Peril of the Predatory Pontiff” – Crimson Streets Magazine, currently available for free online. It’s one of the strangest, most literal interpretations of “urban fantasy” you’ll see all week. As the world waits for a new Pope to be announced, a supernatural battle between good and evil rages under the Vatican, between its secret defender and its great shame. I wrote this as a response to a double dog dare, and I’m still amazed I got away with it. And that my Catholic in-laws, bless their hearts, are still talking to me…

But wait! There’s more! There’s also “The Mermaid’s Knife” in Distressing Damsels out of Fantasia Divinity Magazine. Also written for one of my Hollins classes, this YA piece is an unofficial sequel to the Little Mermaid fairy tale. What happens if the nameless mermaid in question falls out of myth and becomes a real girl in modern-day Puxhill? And what if the sea witch’s knife, thought lost forever, turns up one day… and demands that she use it to fulfill its purpose. It wants blood, and she can’t resist forever. I owe the existence of this story to the fabulous Delia Sherman and the rest of my Genre Fantasy class for making it awesome and weird.

Finally, if you’re in the mood for one of my erotic stories, there’s “The Hateful Chime” in Like a Spell: Earth, from Circlet Press. This was my reaction to dealing with grad school, by writing about the stresses and challenges of dealing with -magical- grad school. Come see what it’s like in the secret Arcane Arts department at Puxhill’s Tuesday University, and find out how one young woman specializing in dance and movement magic helps an alchemist overcome certain scholastic hangups…

Whew! That’s about it. Please, go pick these anthologies up, or check my stories out. Every purchase, and especially every review, is greatly appreciated. More so if you mention me specifically.

It is with great pleasure that I announce the final lineup for the Schoolbooks & Sorcery Table of Contents.

After sorting through a great many wonderful submissions, thanks to our open reading period following the Kickstarter, I was able to winnow them down to a mere handful and make my final choices. It wasn’t easy, mind you. Thanks to budget contraints and other limitations, I could only take a few to expand upon our ideals of representation and diversity. Hopefully, these new additions to the lineup will entertain and satisfy readers…

First up, the established stories, in no particular order.

“Finals” by Seanan McGuire
“Protection” by Cheryl Rainfield
“The Grimoire Girls” by E.C. Myers
“Where We Come From” by David Sklar
“Bad Roommates” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
“Dirty Deeds” by Kelly Swails
“Heart of a Fox” by Aaron Canton
“The Delicate Work of Bees” by Emily Horner
“Awaken” by Rain Fletcher
“All That Matters” by Elizabeth Shack
“The Chosen One” by Katrina Nicholson
“Fishing for the Dead” by Eric Esser

And joining them are…
“The Two Cities” by Rajan Khanna
“Honest Tea” by Sara Fox
“The Man of the Mist” by Evelyn Deshane
“The Cost of Being Caelan” by Scarlett Ward
“Quick-Change Pupa” by Vrai Kaiser
“Puppies and Piglets and Tricksters, Oh My!” by C.M. Smith
“The Magical Miseducation of Kyle and Frost” by Cecilia Tan (Title not finalized…)

Later on, I figure I’ll start sharing blurbs about the various stories, but I wanted to let everyone know about these fantastic newcomers to the project, and assure you all that progress is being made. This has been a long time in the works, but that light at the end of the tunnel is almost certainly not a train…

Much belatedly, I’d like to officially introduce the most recent member of the Feline Supervisory Committee… Blaze.

Like her brother Gremlin, Blaze came to us at the tender age of 5 days old, as part of a foster program which also included her mother and siblings. This promising young tortie was opinionated, forceful, vocal and personable right from the start, but we had to evaluate whether or not there was room for yet another member of the FSC, so when we adopted Gremlin as a permanent member, we allowed Blaze and her sister Roxie to return to the shelter for the time being.

One month later, we went back for Blaze, and haven’t regretted it in the least. Since she joined us, she has indeed become a valued and active member of the FSC. Although her time in “juvie” taught her bad habits and bad language, she’s nevertheless a delicate lady who will kick anyone’s rear should they insist otherwise. So please welcome Blaze to the family as she hits her six month birthday…

My latest story has been released!

In the newest installment of Rhonda Parrish’s Alphabet Anthology series, E is for Evil, 26 authors examine and explore the many ways in which the nature and theme of evil manifest. For this anthology, I was given the letter “Z” and told to do my best. And so, in “Z is for Zaltu,” Masuma, a teenage Muslim girl living in the city of Puxhill, is forced to deal with a very real evil: racism and hatred in today’s America. One of her classmates, a vicious bully, has targeted Masuma for particular persecution… but is there something beyond simple ignorance and bigotry at play?

Yeah. I was really nervous about tackling this topic for a number of reasons, as it’s both timely and complicated. There are no easy answers, and no easy solutions. But when I read the news every day, it terrifies me that we live in such chaotic, troubled, tumultuous times. I believe in tolerance and acceptance, and I dream of a world where we don’t have to fight for such things on a daily–hell, an hourly–basis. And so I decided to take a chance and tell a story of a young woman of faith, who must confront this kind of evil lest it destroy both her -and- her tormentor.

Maybe I did okay with this story. Maybe I got it all wrong. I honestly don’t know. But I’d dearly love it if people actually read “Z is for Zaltu” and let me know, one way or another, how it turned out. Maybe we’ll get to see Masuma again. After all, Puxhill is a strange and wonderful city, and there’s always room for more adventures…

Hello, everyone! It’s time for another roundup of my latest fiction releases. Since my last post, I’ve actually seen a few things escape into the wild, so let’s get caught up, shall we?

First up, I have not one, but two pieces available at Enchanted Conversation, the online fairy tale magazine.

“Happily Never After” is a flash piece I wrote about fairy godmothers. Where do they come from? What do they get out of the whole deal? And what’s the hidden cost in accepting their aid?

“The Midnight Market” is a YA piece set in the Gaslight District of Puxhill. On the nights of the full moon, the Midnight Market, where you can find just about anything for sale, appears. Herein is the tale of one of its many mysterious merchants. What is the story of the girl on the blanket, and what’s her secret?

Meanwhile, if you pop over to check out the first issue of the new online magazine Constellary Tales, you can find “The Tears of Bourbon Street.” It’s an urban fantasy set in New Orleans, and it’s about love, loss, grief, Mardi Gras, ghosts, and the spirit of the Big Easy’s most famous street. Come, join Gideon Grace as he investigates the reason why Bourbon Street is infested by ghosts… I’m truly excited to see this story published, and I hope you like it also. Tangent Online says, “Jones creates an interesting world and leaves enough elements to explore to merit a return to it.”

Maybe you want something a little weirder and wickeder? I also have a pair of erotic flash pieces available over at Circlet.com.

In “The Muse’s Music,” Diana, who once upon a time was Euterpe, the Muse of music, now spends her time mentoring and seducing mortal musicians. Witness one such encounter…

In “The Children of the Forest,” we travel to the Brambles, that part of Faerie which perpetually exists in a state of autumn glory (last seen in “Who Killed the Pumpkin King?” This time around, we discover the erotic revels which take place when the last leaf drops from the Skeleton Tree, and the Wicker King comes out to pay his respects.

In the mood for non-fiction? I also have a pair of Q&As with authors available over at Publishers Weekly! That’s right, they let me talk with people far more interesting than myself… and I had a blast.

First, I spoke with Daniel Jose Older about his newest release, the delightful MG alternate history, Dactyl Hill Squad. Orphans of color riding dinosaurs in Civil War-era New York City!

Second, I spoke with Brandon Sanderson about his YA science fiction adventure, Skyward. A teenage girl dreams of becoming a pilot, to help defend her colony from alien attackers, but she must overcome her father’s legacy as a coward…

In my next update, I promise to put on my editor hat and touch base on my other outstanding projects. But hopefully, you’ll go check out the stuff linked above. If you like it, let me know! Feel free to leave comments, write reviews, or visit me on Facebook or Twitter...