ELEMENTS of Me in “Muffy and the Belfry”

Below, dear reader, please find bonus content for Suzanne’s book: ELEMENTS: A Collection of Speculative Fiction. This series of posts provides stories-behind-the-stories for each tale in ELEMENTS. Sitting in the 20th slot in the Table of Contents is: Muffy and the Belfry I’ve written several stories about ghosts. Probably because I believe in ghosts. Most writers include ELEMENTS  of themselves in their stories. It’s part of how we speak our truths. How fitting that this story, new to the collection,…

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Exploring Gender Issues in “The Flower Gathering”

Below, dear reader, please find bonus content for Suzanne’s book: ELEMENTS: A Collection of Speculative Fiction. This series of posts provides stories-behind-the-stories for each tale in ELEMENTS. Sitting in the 19th slot in the Table of Contents is: The Flower Gathering As a woman writing genre fiction, I’ve heard the “equality” debates and “gender” discussions enough to understand my position in the mix. I’m a woman. (go figure) I write Fantasy (so do plenty of other women). I also write…

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Interview: Mark T. Barnes

Mark Barnes was born in Sydney, Australia, in September of 1966. A strong athlete, he was also drawn to the arts at a young age, penning his first short story as a seven-year-old. He worked in finance and advertising before establishing himself in IT services management. Currently he owns and operates a freelance organizational change consultancy. In 2005, when Mark was selected to attend the Clarion South residential short story workshop, he began to write with the intention of making…

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