Katherine Mankiller

I’ve been sitting on this one for awhile, and it’s time to release it into the wild. It’s called “The Will of Venus.”

It was a day that all young girls both dreamed about and feared. Mostly feared. Aelia Prima had done all the traditional spells to see the face of your future husband, but they’d never worked. Which was odd, because she had a knack for spells–finding lost objects and the like. She asked the household Gods, the Lares, for help, but got the distinct impression that things were being managed by something higher than them.

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Thanks to my sister for suggesting the title “In Sickness and in Health.”

Robbie didn’t sleep, but if he did he would have been awakened by the sound of Lydia vomiting. It echoed all up and down the house through the plumbing.

He padded downstairs, watching his feet. They looked indistinguishable from human feet, if perhaps a bit less veiny. He went into the guest bedroom downstairs, where Lydia had moved because her bones were getting brittle, and moved into the bathroom.

Go. Read!

You can either read or listen here.

Have an excerpt:

Karen rolled her wheelchair off the elevator on the basement level, her laundry basket in her lap. Charlie, the cute guy from across the hall, was coming out of the laundry room. He was so beautiful that her heart skipped a beat as he held the door for her. He was a bit on the skinny side, but his hair was a luminous chestnut brown, his eyes were startling robin-egg blue, and his skin was so perfect that it almost glowed.

I sat on this one for a long time, but I think it’s ready.

This brings me up to nine stories in circulation, by the way.

From “Saving Alan Idle:”

In the beginning, there was darkness. And in the darkness were the words. And the words were, AI process starting.

I just realized that I never posted excerpts of my latest. This is from “Ondine’s Curse.”

She knew the signs of drowning; she’d seen it many times. Mouth below the water line, arms pressing the body up out of the water for a breath. He didn’t cry out for help, but they never did. Breathing took precedence. He didn’t kick, didn’t thrash. He didn’t have the energy to waste.

She always felt sorry for mortals. So vulnerable, especially in the water. The poor things just couldn’t manage.

I’m a little freaked out, but in a good way. As bizarre as it feels for me to write this, I’m apparently Nebula-eligible and John Klima of Electric Velocipede is providing my story “Grandfather Paradox” among the issues he’s giving to SFWA members to read.
http://blog.electricvelocipede.com/2009/12/attention-sfwa-members.html

If you want to buy the copy of Electric Velocipede that has me in it, its available here.