We lose three good men our first hour on Siren. Not to air tank malfunctions or sledge accidents. Not to the frigid cold that freezes our gauges and locks up our drills the moment the sun falls behind the horizon. We lose them to the damn music. The creaking, grinding, strumming noise that echoes through […]
“Upon the Waves,” by Bethany Kano. This story was included in an anthology you bought on our fifth date, when we hit up Chicago’s FantastiCon. You laid our day’s haul (enough books to fill a suitcase or four) on the hotel bed and immediately began reading. “Holy. Crap,” you said after a while. “You need […]
Corbalk: The conflicting emotions created by First Contact (used especially in reference to a homeworld-centric species). I learned corbalk in the basement pantry, seven years old. The smell of leather and gun oil, my father’s skin, pungent with bitter sweat. Sammy crying, his fear contagious as any virus, Mom shushing him, rocking him in […]
I’m thrilled that people are digging HEX-RATED, the first novel in the Brimstone Files series I’m writing for Night Shade Books. But the whole reason for the Gutters to exist is to crash your idea about overnight success and smack the myth that we can all be living off our writing (and that such […]
At night, the monsters come. Niko lies awake and watches them circle, long spider legs black-on-black, fangs somehow gleaming without a hint of light. He pulls Daria closer, buries his face in her wispy blonde hair and breathes in, breathes out. They keep their distance while he holds her, but when he closes his eyes, […]
Perfect for Halloween, because Halloween is all about monsters, and I love Halloween. Halloween for my family is a long-anticipated yearly event. Only Christmas is more anticipated—and just barely. Each year we fry donuts. Dozens of donuts. Nearly 200 last year. Half the neighborhood hangs out at our house Halloween night. No wonder, eh? No, […]