Back in the summer of 2011 I wrote a story called “The Flying Rock.” It’s one of my favorite things I’ve written.
It’s part pure fantasy, drawing on classic faerie lore and legend, on Ariel, the faerie queen of the winds, and her dark counterpart, the queen of storms. And it’s part portrait of a father struggling to help his children grow up while his family crumbles around him. And on a another level, it’s deeply personal story about the beauty of childhood and the price we all pay to grow up. I’ve been eager to see in print since I first sent it off to my editor almost three years ago.
Well, the wheels of publishing sometime move at a crawl, but move they do, and Bad-Ass Faeries: It’s Elemental, the fourth volume in the BAF series, will be published this May. I’m thrilled to be in another BAF book and grateful to my editors–Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeff Lyman, L. Jagi Lamplighter, and Lee C. Hillman–for keeping the series going and letting me be a regular part of it. Dark Quest Books will be launching it this in May, with a fantastic line-up of stories from many talented authors. I hope to have an excerpt from “The Flying Rock” to post soon. In the meantime, here’s the cover and the final table of contents.
Earth Elementals
Kimberley Long-Ewing — Spin, Weave, and Measure
Jagi Lamplighter — On Rocky Ground
Judi Fleming — Friends in Dark Places
Air Elementals
James Chambers — The Flying Rock
Danny Birt — To Thy Sylph Be True
Danielle Ackley-McPhail — Ride Like the Wind
Fire
DL Thurston — The Face of the Serpent
James Daniel Ross — The Legend of Buck Cooper and the Child of Fire
James R. Stratton — Ties That Bind
Water Elementals
Patrick Thomas — Looking a Gift Horse
NR Brown — Melia’s Best Wave
Bethany Herron — Fairyland Local 2413
Spirit Elementals
Jody Lynn Nye — Fifteen Percent
Keith R. A. DeCandido — Undine the Boardwalk
Lee C. Hillman — Bad Blood