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"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
~K. Richardson
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WIP: Doctor Fantastik Part II
“Twin daughters,” Doctor Fantastik said. “That’s very sad. A friend of yours?”
“I bring him spices from the Southern Isles when I come up from there. Saves him on the merchanting mark-up.”
“And the duty, no doubt,” Doctor Fantastik said.
The sailor shrugged. “I’ll give you the address, and you tell ’em Cyril sent ya. They’ll see to my fee. They’re right desperate.”
“How so?”
“At least one of the girls been turned poltergeist,” Cyril said.
“Not both?”
“I wouldn’t believe it of Ellie, she was sweet as punch,” Cyril said. “But that Kim, she was a handful and half of hellion. If the poltergeist’s one of them ““ and the timing’s right as rain for that ““ my money’s on Kim.”
“I’ve extracted poltergeists before,” the doctor said reflectively. He fingered the pin on his lapel.
The girl leaned close. “You detach them,” she said.
He nodded.
“You put them in bottles.” Her breathing quickened and she licked her smile wider.
“Parts of them, certainly,” the doctor said. “I capture certain effluences that are useful in some experiments.”
He looked at the sailor, who was taking quick gulps of his fish tea. Dots of green seaweed clung to his moustache.
The girl pursed her lips as the doctor turned back to her, ignoring the man. His tone when he addressed her was as firm as though he were instructing a dimwitted and unruly child. “Go and find us a place to sleep tonight, Charlotte. Make sure that the rooms are clean and that the fees are under a silver apiece.”
She slid from her seat with an attitude of resignation, ignoring the newspaper, which the man was currently folding into a new shape as though to catch her notice. Her silk skirts rustled, nigh-inaudible ““ or perhaps that was her sigh? ““ as she moved back to the door.
The man gave up on folding his newspaper and laid it down on the counter in front of him, extracting his cup of fish tea from among the folds. “She your apprentice?” he asked.
Doctor Fantastik shook his head, indicating with a delicate shudder the impracticality of such a notion.
“Your daughter?”
“Charlotte is a patient who I am treating for a pronounced and malignant affliction,” the doctor said mournfully.
“A ghost affliction?”
“Indeed.”
What are the documents of Tabat? In an early version of the book, I had a number of interstitial pieces, each a document produced by the city: playbills, advertisements, guide book entries. They had to be cut but I kept them for this purpose. Careful readers will find clues to some aspects of Beasts of Tabat in them.As you may have noticed last week, we kicked off two months of interesting guest blog posts on this blog, which is part of the promotion for Beasts of Tabat, the novel I have coming out next month.
Last week, the guest posts were Kim Mainord with “Your Mileage May Vary”, Sandra M. Odell on fantasy podcasts, Ken Altabef on using Inuit mythology in his work, Rhonda Eudaly with “Writing is Only Glamourous Until This Face Appears,” and Raven Oak talked about “Linguistics in Fantasy — To Thee or Not to Thee”.
This week, we have John Johnston III musing on Fictional Characters, Pete Sutton will talk about succesffully crowdfunding an anthology, Jamie Mason will wax philosophical about Candadian zombies, Mercedes M. Yardley will discuss finding your literary voice, and to wrap up the week, J.T. Gill will tell you why reading fantasy makes you smarter. I’ll also be posting snippets from the sequel to Beasts of Tabat, which I’m working on right now, keeping you informed of any recent SFWA developments, and talking about point of view and being inside a character’s head. And finally — for online writing class news, either sign up for my mailing list at the bottom of this post, or keep checking this site.
What else is coming up in March and April? There’ll be some giveaways, including audio copies of my collection Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight, both hard and e-copies of my collections and the new novel, and some cool surprises. 🙂 You’ll also see “Documents of Tabat,” a number of small pieces of fiction, each of which ties into the book (they’re interstitial pieces from an earlier version of the novel), starting March 24 and continuing on weeks through April 21st. I’ll point you to the GoodReads giveaways when they come up, and at the end of the week, I’ll include a wrap-up of the various places I’ve guest posted and any places reviews or other mentions have occurred.
Some of you reading this have been with me since I first started writing stories set in this world; others are new to my words. Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy the novel that I’m finally getting the chance to lay before you, and I hope you’ll share some of the fun of the next couple of months.
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It’s the last week of the Clarion West Write-a-thon! Donate now and you’ll get the donors reward, a file in the format of your choice containing all the writing I’ve done over the course of the Write-a-thon plus a couple of bonuses.
6 Responses
Uh, Cat? A link would make this easier…
ugh, thought I’d added one! Doing so right now, thank you for pointing that out!
Done!