Guest Post by K. Bird Lincoln

Hold on to your hats, folks,  I’m about to get political.

In high school and college I was politically active. But as I grew older, and had to, you know, live next to people and volunteer at school with people and basically maintain friendships outside of college I stopped talking about my beliefs.

Discretion was the better part of valor. Far better to maintain cordiality than risk upsetting my carefully woven web of interdependence with other parents, co-workers, and friends.

But then the last couple years happened in the U.S. and I realized that my very silence, my reticence to discuss difficult topics, contributed to the current political climate where immigration and international policies have become problematic.

But how is a white, middle class fantasy-obsessed female nerd supposed to write about global relations when her brain is full of trickster Kitsune, romance, ancient dragons, and artisanal chocolate?

Dream Eater, the first in the Portland Hafu series, was an attempt to bring multi-culturalism in the form of Japanese and First People’s myths into Urban Fantasy. I wanted my own daughters to see more multi-racial heroines like themselves in the genre I loved best. Crazy, Rich Asians and To All the Boys I Loved Before highlighted multi-cultural Asians in mainstream romance and YA. They made me ecstatic, to my daughters’ embarrassment.

 In Black Pearl Dreaming, my trio of main characters go to Tokyo to find answers about Koi’s Baku heritage and her father’s dementia.  Instead of answers, Koi gets tangled up in the lingering hurts and aftereffects of World War II. Both Japan’s colonialism and the U.S.’s ignorant use of the Atomic Bomb figure into the plot. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931. America dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. The soldiers and civilians who were alive to experience, and thus remember those atrocities, are nearing the end of their natural lifespan.

We, as a global community, must not forget the lessons we learned about the value of human life from Auschwitz nor Minidoka.

I purposefully wrote in references to Japan’s treatment of Koreans and Chinese as well as a graphic description of the aftermath of the Hiroshima Bombing from the perspective of an eyewitness.
And in the third book of the Portland Hafu:  The Last Dream of Her Mortal Soul, which I am editing now, Koi and her boys return home to Portland to face political conflict containing echoes of World War II racism.

Don’t get me wrong. There is chocolate, coffee, and more magical creatures from Japanese mythology in Black Pearl Dreaming. Its entertainment. But I no longer feel I can create stories for the world that don’t include overt reference to the undeniable interwoven interdependence of our globalizing world. For better or for worse, technology means we are bound to each other, even across oceans.

And in Black Pearl Dreaming, Koi finds out how much hate and racism in the past still hurt those she loves today.

K. Bird Lincoln is an ESL professional and writer living on the windswept Minnesota Prairie with family and a huge addiction to frou-frou coffee. Also dark chocolate-- without which, the world is a howling void. Originally from Cleveland, she has spent more years living on the edges of the Pacific Ocean than in the Midwest. Her speculative short stories are published in various online & paper publications such as Strange Horizons. Her medieval Japanese fantasy series, Tiger Lily, is available from Amazon. World Weaver Press released Dream Eater, the first novel in an exciting, multi-cultural Urban Fantasy trilogy set in Portland and Japan, in 2017. She also writes tasty speculative fiction reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Check her out on Facebook, join her newsletter for chocolate and free stories, or stalk her online at kblincoln.com

In the second Portland Hafu novel, half-baku Koi Pierce visits Japan looking for answers to her father’s mental decline and encounters kidnappings, dark secrets, an imprisoned dragon, and an impossible choice. If you want diverse and quick-paced urban fantasy that explores the supernatural creatures of Japanese and Native American folklore, you'll love the Portland Hafu series. BLACK PEARL DREAMING is out in ebook and paperback today, October 16, 2018.

With the help of powerful new friends Koi defeated her dragon enemy in Portland. Now, no longer able to deny her dream-eating powers or the real reason for her father’s mental decline, she flies to Tokyo with her new Kitsune love, Ken, and the trickster Kwaskwi, seeking answers. But secrets from Ken’s past and Kind politics threaten to unravel their newfound trust and someone in Tokyo is desperate to kidnap a Baku. Koi must untangle a long history of pain and deceit in order to save her father, an imprisoned dragon, and herself.

K. Bird Lincoln is an ESL professional and writer living on the windswept Minnesota Prairie with family and a huge addiction to frou-frou coffee. Also dark chocolate-- without which, the world is a howling void. Originally from Cleveland, she has spent more years living on the edges of the Pacific Ocean than in the Midwest. Her speculative short stories are published in various online & paper publications such as Strange Horizons. Her medieval Japanese fantasy series, Tiger Lily, is available from Amazon. World Weaver Press released Dream Eater, the first novel in an exciting, multi-cultural Urban Fantasy trilogy set in Portland and Japan, in 2017. She also writes tasty speculative fiction reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. Check her out on Facebook, join her newsletter for chocolate and free stories, or stalk her online at kblincoln.com

We're giving away an advance review copy of JACK JETSTARK'S INTERGALACTIC FREAKSHOW, plus a beautiful cross stitch handmade by the author!

Pitched as Heroes meets Firefly, this delightful science fiction novel by Jennifer Lee Rossman is about the genetically engineered "freaks" of a traveling space carnival who find themselves at the front lines of a universe at war. It will be available to purchase in trade paperback and ebook Tuesday, December 4, 2018. See below to read an excerpt, and enter to win your early copy!

The crowd grew restless in the renovated cargo bay of my carnival ship, muttering amongst themselves and drifting toward the exit. But they wouldn’t leave; they never left, not before the show started. The draw was too strong, their thirst for the bizarre and grotesque too unquenchable. They would stand in that dim alcove of the Rubeno Mardo’s cargo bay for hours if I let them, just for the briefest glimpse of the exotic performers promised by the advertisements posted throughout town.

Across the tapestry of the universe and all its vast and varied cultures, there ran a single, unifying thread: no one could resist the allure of the words “not for the faint of heart” written in a scandalous, jagged font and followed by four exclamation points. Good marketing knew no bounds.
From my post in the shadows, I looked out over the audience with satisfaction. Used to be I couldn’t see the floor between the people, the way they crowded in. Now it seemed I saw more of it every show, but I couldn’t complain about the turnout on this night, nor about the revenue they brought in.

There was something to be said for docking on the less affluent moons and planets. Sure, the rich people floating around on their space stations and on the hoity toity worlds that governed their solar systems had coin enough to melt down into disposable flatware, but they spent it on electronic gadgets that numbed their brains, not on the kind of quality entertainment we offered.

On the farming and mining colonies, where the only forms of entertainment were swatting mosquitoes and throwing rocks at neighbors, the arrival of a carnival ship made for a major event. They saved up all year for a night’s diversion from their hard lives.

And I was all too glad to provide it for them.

“We made a killing tonight,” my pilot Lily whispered in my ear, her bright smile evident in her voice. “Might even be able to afford the fuel to get us to the next gig.”

“We’ll be fine,” I said, not really listening as a person in the crowd drew my attention. “I think we found another one.”

“Who?”

I pointed to the girl, dressed in her best flannel shirt and black slacks, with most of the hay brushed out of her coppery hair. She was a teenager, but the electric fascination in her eyes as she waited for the show to begin wasn’t the excitement of a mere child. Something about our world spoke to her. Maybe the opportunity to travel the galaxies, maybe the camaraderie of a carnival family, or maybe just the chance for something more than the lot life had given her.

Whatever the case, she’d be part of the crew before we departed the next day. I was sure of it.

“She could just be excited for the show,” Lily argued, crossing her arms. “It doesn’t mean she’s one of us.”

I nudged her with my elbow, grinning. “Why do you doubt me?”

“Because you refuse to.” She pointed a long, manicured nail at the crowd. “They’re waiting,” she said, disappearing into the darkness as she went back to her mark.

“Can’t rush the music,” I said, yet even as the words left my mouth, the old receiver crackled to life beside me, singing the first notes of my intro.

Adrenaline surged to my heart at the sound of the slowly rising tones of the eerie, wordless song, and I hurried to my post on the catwalk. Her voice sounded more like a warbling violin than it did a singing woman, which only added to the ethereal ambiance. A murmur went through the crowd as I emerged from the shadows high above the stage. I felt alive, fire burning through my veins.

“Ladies and gentlemen and nonbinary gentlefolk,” I boomed, the music growing high and tense, “consider this your last warning. You are about to bear witness to creatures and abominations from the farthest reaches of the known universe, horrors the human eye was never meant to see. I cannot be held responsible for the effects these sights have on your psyche. Some people never recover from the shock, so I encourage those with sensitive dispositions or weak hearts to leave now.”

No one left; no one ever left.

Jennifer Lee Rossman is a disabled and autistic freak, and proudly so. Her work has been featured in many anthologies and her debut novella, Anachronism, was published by Kristell Ink in 2018. She blogs at http://jenniferleerossman.blogspot.com/ and tweets @JenLRossman.

She can be the enemy of your nightmares or the spirit guide to your dreams. Her hair is wild and gray. Her teeth are made of iron, and she travels using a giant mortar and pestle and lives in a shack on chicken feet surrounded by a fence of skulls and bones. She is Baba Yaga, a crone who ruthlessly uses the needy and greedy for her own devices. And in this anthology of new stories starring Baba Yaga, she lands in some spectacular scenarios.
 
A Jewish resistance fighter in World War II Poland must gain the help of Baba Yaga to vanquish three supernatural men and avenge the loss of her comrades. A young mother leaves her family to serve the witch in penance for committing a terrible wrong. One story delves into Baba Yaga’s tragic origins, while another re-examines the classic tale of Vasilisa, following the young girl who comes to Baba Yaga for fire on her own journey from maiden to mother to crone. One tale transports the witch from the forests of Russia to the swamplands of the American South, expertly weaving together Slavic and African-American folklore, and another brings her right into the modern day, as a young boy goes looking for a witch to put a spell on a school bully and gets more than he bargained for.

SKULL AND PESTLE: NEW TALES OF BABA YAGA, an anthology edited by Kate Wolford, will be available in ebook and paperback on January 22, 2019. Pre-orders will be available soon. Many thanks to artist Russell Thornton for his wonderful original cover art!

Skull and Pestle: New Tales of Baba Yaga
an anthology compiled by Kate Wolford
Coming January 2019

Table of Contents
Introduction by Amanda Bergloff
“Vasilisa the Wise” by Kate Forsyth
“A Tale Soon Told” by Lissa Sloan
“Baba Yaga: Her Story” by Jill Marie Ross
“The Partisan and the Witch” by Charlotte Honigman
“The Swamp Hag’s Apprentice” by Szmeralda Shanel
“Boy Meets Witch” by Rebecca A. Coates
“Teeth” by Jessamy Corob Cook

Amanda Bergloff is an editor and author who writes modern fairy tales and speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in various anthologies, including Stories from the World of Tomorrow, Frozen Fairy Tales, After the Happily Ever After, and Uncommon Pet Tales.  She is also editor-in-chief of Enchanted Conversation: Fairy Tales, Folktales, and Myths at fairytalemagazine.com.

Kate Forsyth has written forty books, ranging from picture books to poetry, children’s fantasy to historical novels for adults, and collections of essays and short stories. She has sold more than a million copies worldwide, been published in 17 languages, and won many awards including the 2015 American Library Association Award for Best Historical Fiction, the 2017 Aurealis Award for Best Collection, and the 2017 William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism. She is also an acclaimed speaker, performance storyteller and creative writing teacher, with a BA (Literature), a MA (Writing) and a Doctorate of Creative Arts.
 
Lissa Sloan’s poems and short stories are published in Enchanted Conversation, Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, and Frozen Fairy Tales. “Death in Winter,” Lissa’s contribution to Frozen Fairy Tales, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Visit her at her website, lissasloan.com, or on Twitter: @LissaSloan.
 
Jill Marie Ross lives in rural Pennsylvania beside a lovely pond with her husband, four children, three cats, and a sweet little dog. She is surrounded by books as a librarian, and she most enjoys reading and writing fantasy, paranormal, and historical fiction. She loves camping, hiking, and avoiding housework by curling up with a good book.
 
Charlotte Honigman was raised on Russian fairy tales and World War II legends; the inevitable result of growing up surrounded by veterans of the Soviet Army with stories of the Great Patriotic War to tell. She is a history teacher, wife, mom, and rabbinic school dropout, as well as a writer who weaves Jewish myth and history into fantasy and science fiction. As C.G. Griffin, she is the author of Last Mass, a mystery novel set in Renaissance Florence.
 
Szmeralda Shanel is an expressive arts therapist and educator from Chicago, IL. She loves folklore and especially enjoys writing fairy tales that reflect the rich cultural traditions, practices and folk beliefs of African Americans.
 
Rebecca A. Coates is a writer and editor whose work has been published in skirt quarterly and emerge 15. She blogs about grammar and writing (and UFOs and werewolves and mermaids) at Grammarlandia.com. A graduate of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, she lives in Vancouver because she loves trees and hates sun. Baba Yaga has long been her favorite witch.
 
Jessamy Corob Cook is an actress, writer and Londoner. She recently won first place in Writing Magazine’s adult fairy tale competition and second place in Caterpillar Magazine’s children’s story competition.

Kate Wolford is a writer, editor, and blogger living in the Midwest. Fairy tales are her specialty. Previous books include Beyond the Glass Slipper: Ten Neglected Fairy Tales to Fall in Love With, Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus, and Frozen Fairy Tales, all published by World Weaver Press. She was the founder of Enchanted Conversation: A Fairy Tale Magazine, at fairytalemagazine.com.