Lughnasadh 2014 Newsletter

Welcome to Issue #12 of my quarterly newsletter, posted to csmaccath.com and e-mailed to subscribers on Lughnasadh 2014. This is a jam-packed issue in a brand-new format complete with text and audio story teasers. I hope you enjoy it!

In Print: Those Astropoetica poems I've been telling you about are now available in the final issue of the magazine. "Sol Prayer" is among my favorites and a Mythic Delirium reprint. "The Cradle" is new. I hope you enjoy them!

Forthcoming in Portugese: I'm delighted to announce that my short, epistolary story "The Longest Road in the Universe" will appear in Hyperpulp, where it will be published in both Portugese and English. This story originally appeared in Murky Depths Issue #7 alongside Nancy Farmer's phenomenal illustrations. Hyperpulp editor Alexandre Mandarino is planning to publish the tale in September. I'll keep you posted.

To celebrate, I'm releasing a sequel to the story entitled "Grandmother Mælkevejen's Belly" via Triskele Media Press. This novelette takes place five hundred years after the events of "The Longest Road in the Universe" and will be available in both ebook and audio formats. That's right! I'm recording an audio version of the tale, a first for me and for Triskele Media. I look forward to sharing the whole thing with you, but in the meantime, you can access a downloadable MP3 audio teaser here.

A is for Apocalypse News: I had the A is for Apocalypse cover in my possession when I sent the Beltane newsletter, but alas, I was not permitted to share it yet. You can find it over in the sidebar. Pretty sweet, no? Now release day is nigh, and our fearless leader has a pile of cool things planned. On August 19th, we'll be blogging as though the apocalypse were upon us. You can catch my blog entry in the usual place, where I'll be writing from the perspective of a minor character in "N is for Nanomachine". We'll also be attending a Facebook launch party, where you can drop in and chat about all things apocalyptic throughout the day. I'm really looking forward to this anthology and to its successor, B is for Broken. Which brings me to...

B is for Broken News: As promised at Beltane, I do indeed have a story teaser to share with you from my contribution to the B is for Broken anthology. This piece, entitled "C is for Cloister", is a high fantasy tale that takes place on a mountaintop cloister threatened by an army that never eats, never sleeps and is almost impossible to defeat. Here you go:

"Three nights, maybe less," I told the man; a grandchild clinging to his neck, another clutching a trouser leg and watched his mouth fall slack with fear. "And we can only make ten trips up the mountain a day, for people and supplies, both. So the Kandunar Warmaster wants you to run, if you can." The terrified silence of the crowd broke like window glass, and a torrent of questions began to pour through. I gripped the folds of my robe, novitiate blue, and wished for the authority of white. "There's a ferry at the river mouth that can take you across to the islands..."

"The Vele can swim!" This from the pot-bellied farmer who supplied our potatoes. Andu...Ando... I had only met the man a few weeks ago. Nervous hands twisted the reins of the gelding beneath him.

"Yes, but the Muto Vele cannot," I assured him. "They forget everything but violence when the Muto Qeyunar fix them into mounts. Andro, take your horse and go. Don't leave him to wander in the place this valley is about to become."

A middle-aged woman stepped onto the lip of the lift, and it rocked into the cliffside with a crunch. A speckled chicken clucked from the crook of her arm. She kissed the crimson comb of its head and declared, "Henny hates to see people fight." Her tunic and trousers, too fine for the fetor of her flesh and the cluster of lice in her bushy red hair, were streaked with greasy bird droppings. "Something happens inside, and she can't control it."

"Why does she get to go up first?" A pregnant woman pointed her belly at the lift as if to assert her claim to a place aboard. "We've got little ones and old peo..."

"How would a twiggy boy like you know what the Muto Vele can do?" Andro interrupted again, his voice cracking over the question. The gelding whinnied and shied.

This was authority - and shame - I possessed in abundance, and they could only be wielded together. With a shrug, the heavy sleeves of my robe fell to the sash at my waist. Andro stammered a prayer, and a few in the crowd cried out, but the middle-aged woman spread her fingers and traced the trenches of blackened scar across my chest from shoulder to hip.

"The claws," she murmured, her touch warm and unflinching. "They cut through everything, like a folded blade." Her eyes followed the sheer face of the mountain into the low-hanging clouds. "We might not be safe up there."

I'll be sending a special notice to subscribers when the book is released, and I'll also be posting a note to my blog.

Reviews: Jodie (Bookgazing) of the Lady Business feminist blog has written a review of ""The Daemons of Tairdean Town" that leaves me a little speechless and makes me want to work harder at storytelling. In it, she writes:

"The Daemons of Tairdean Town" is a cracking story – compact and emotively written. You’re going to fall for the characters in super quick time and then hate me for telling you about this story because there isn’t any more of this world for you to read about.

My heartfelt thanks for her kind words. They mean a lot to me.You can read the whole review here, and you can buy the Scheherazade's Facade anthology by clicking on the sidebar link to the right.

Vegan Recipe of the Quarter: I honestly can't believe I've never shared this recipe with you. We eat so much banana sorbet around here that I actively seek out discounted bananas at the grocery store for freezing. I'm going to share vegan chef Colynn O's recipe for the dessert, but I want to preface it with a few pointers. First, you must have a powerful blender/food processor for this recipe. If you don't you'll let the smoke out of it, and everybody knows that once you let the smoke out of a kitchen appliance, it stops working. Second, for the love of your fingers, chop your bananas before freezing them. Third, you can substitute frozen strawberries or raspberries for the peanut butter or pretty much anything else you think might go in a treat of this kind.

That said, here's Colynn O's recipe for Vegan Peanut Butter & Banana Sorbet. Enjoy!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back at Samhain with more news and nomz.

All the best,
C.S. MacCath

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