February
12
February
12
One more note
Here’s a list of my own credits that feature a GLBT character and who did/is publishing them. Just in case you’re taking notes or something.
That’s six of thirteen from a relative beginner, all but one horror. There are horror people out there buying good fiction that includes GLBT characters. Please don’t forget that.
February
11
The Haunting of Sam Cabot by Mark Edward Hall
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Damnation Books, 2009
ISBN: 9781615720316
Available: New, print and digital
Sam, his wife and son have just bought a dilapidated monster of house in the countryside, determined to see the old hulk rehabilitated and livable for the first time in over forty years. But things aren’t adding up. The previous owner keeps visiting, despite having already replaced the bits he agreed to, and there is a creepy old heater in the basement. Then one of the roofers tells Sam about the strange murders that took place in the basement long ago, and hints about ghostly visions and occurrences that have scared off the town folk since. Not even these disturbing tales touch the surface of what really lives in Farnham House.
The Haunting of Sam Cabot holds reader attention very well. It’s a classic haunted house tale with a heavy dose of foreshadowing and an abbreviated length to keep eyes glued to the pages. Some of the events will be familiar to the well-read. Also, this books uses a method of storytelling wherein the author withholds information from the reader to aid in the final reveal, which will aggravate some readers. However, the book is solid and readable and in this age of so many ghost investigation and haunted house shows, deserves a place in public collections. Private collectors should adjust their buying decision to their own taste. Recommended for public library collections.
February
9
Silver Veins
My SF short story, Silver Veins, featuring my first attempts at writing an autistic main character, is now live over at Expanded Horizons. Teaser below, but you really should click through for the whole thing since it’s free to read…
* * *
Years, Trista thought. She stared out, through the foot-by-foot square window in her wall, and wanted to scream. She wanted to pluck the lamp from the table beside her and bash in the window, the only window in her quarters. She wanted to punish it until either her emotions bled out in sticky red on the walls, or the window gave way and the stars bled into her chambers.
She’d spent years on starships or space stations or off planet condos. For years, the same small square of technology and blankness had held her hostage. Her quarters were shaped to fit the people who lived in rooms like these. It was nothing, empty in its natural state, and there was not much more than that around her.
February
8
Elphame’s Choice by PC Cast
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Harlequin Teen, 2004
ISBN: 9780373210152
Available: New and used
Elphame, the Chosen of the Goddess Epona, is half-centaur and half-human. She leaves the luxury of home, and her mother, the Goddess Incarnate, to travel to a crumbling castle. Elphame is determined to revive the site, once the scene of slaughter, and find her place in the world. When she arrives, she finds the half-breed descendants of the Fomorians, the demons who destroyed the castle in the first place, recognizes one of them as her soulmate.
Elphame’s Choice is not horror, or even dark fantasy, but will still reach some readers in those audiences, particularly those who enjoy the kind of fantasy found in the Twilight books. Some readers, however, will find the pace slow and repetitive, the prose purple and the characters too perfect. There’s little tension here, little question that all will end well, and little action that explains why the characters deserve the adoration and love they seem to get. But there’s also no question that this kind of fantasy has an audience among teens and adults alike. As for the place this novel deserves in a public library collection–there are certainly worse books already to be found on the shelves, but there are more enchanting choices as well.
Contains: Explicit sex, masturbation
Review by Michele Lee
MonsterLibrarian.com Editor’s note: Elphame’s Choice was initially published for an adult audience. P.C Cast is also the co-author of the popular young adult vampire series The House of Night, so readers of those books may pick this up due to its location on the shelf. When considering reader’s advisory, librarians should be aware that the level of mature sexual content in the book has caused some controversy.