Category: fiction
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The Forest
They came in the night hours, prowling at the edge of the forest. A flash of eyes, the curl of a lip, then darkness once more. They had been in the forest since the beginning. They were the blood the ran through its veins, their wild drums the beat of its heart, their lavender smoke…
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Southern Trees Bear Strange Fruit
Trees can bear scars too. Dark, puckered with sap and pitch, botched attempts by an axe or the vaguely violent will of a summer thunderstorm. These trees have borne witness to our worst moments, here, beneath the sweltering sky, among the blackberry-laden bushes. Every slurred word dripped from our lips coat their leaves like nectar,…
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Nowadays
Most folks don’t remember the witches anymore. My grandbaby ain’t never heard a witchsong, ain’t never seen a ring of mushrooms in the field she plays in. I think this land is too much noise and not enough space for witches to be out and about nowadays. The corner store where I bought penny candy…
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Wild Things
Wild things grow like mad in my town. Ivy winds its way round every porch, spreading its leaves out, thirsty, soaking up the sun with greedy feelers. Blackberry bushes choke out the shrubs that grow in the middle of hayfields, growing berries as big as baby Maybelle’s fist. My mama says it’s unnatural. Then again,…
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Have We Hit Peak Superhero Cinema?
Today for Myths, Legends, Folklore and Tall Tales, I’m posting a recording of a panel I joined for Heliosphere 2019 that asked the question Have We Reached Peak Superhero Cinema? The panel featured the fabulous Charlie Jane Anders, Kathleen O’Shea David, and Mercy Van Vlack. All of them asked engaging, heartfelt questions from a combined…
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Magic Reveals the Author’s Metaphysics
Today for BOTH Legends, Folklore and Tall Tales, I’m posting a recording of a panel I was on at Heliosphere 2019 on how Magic Reveals the Metaphysics of the Author within fantasy and science fiction novels. The panel featured Carole Ann Moleti, Alex Shvartsman, Ken Altabef, Lorrain Schein. We ventured into philosophy, religion, politics, and…
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What I do is me: the sonnet
I recently attended a Jeffersonian dinner where we all brought sonnets and read them aloud in turn. We had a lovely time with Shakespeare, Keats, and a crowd-sourced cento. I might or might not have asked the class—er, table of adults—what the two types of sonnets are. I’m incorrigible. To wit: the sonnet is a…
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Black Mirror’s Bandersnatch is as Bad as Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone Reboot Will Be
The highly anticipated, recently released full-length interactive film from the makers of the provocative and disturbing British sci-fi television series Black Mirror, Bandersnatch, is a failure in many ways. It’s a confusingly, convolutedly, frustratingly, and unnecessarily complicated plot wrapped up in an innovative but disappointing format, where viewers have to make random and only occasionally…
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Who, if I cried out—
Greetings, Lanciverse! I’m Merrill Lee Girardeau, and I’m a writer. [Writers Anonymous, together: Hi, Merrill Lee.] Lance asked me to write about poetry for the site, and here I am. Psyched to be here and connect with y’all. These posts will document my attempts to stick to a writing regimen this year. The plan…
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Creative Disciplines : One Resolution for Artists
As I work with artists, innovators, and makers I find that creative disciplines are lacking both among this sector of society AND in the rest of society as well. Both creatives and non-creatives seem to think creative disciplines do not exist. Which is unfortunate because making a habit – a discipline – of creativity is…
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Old Man Chris by Matt Otey
This short story Old Man Chris is a guest post by my friend Matt Otey. I’ve hassled Matt for years to start making things for the joy of them and he happened to write a winter solstice story the night my grandpa Jerry died. Right on winter solstice. I couldn’t not post this as the…
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Frankenstein: The Intersection of Literature and Science — with Kathleen Ann Goonan at the World Fantasy Convention
On Thursday I gave a talk on Frankenstein: The Intersection of Literature and Science here at the World Fantasy Convention with the fabulous and brilliant Kathy Goonan, (unfortunately Ted Chaing’s train delayed him). Kathy offered a deep drink from her vast experience and knowledge and I think you’ll find it instructive as we continue reading…