Magick 4 Terri

This amazing auction came to my attention earlier this week after I saw Neil Gaiman tweet about it.  One of my favourite writers, editors and artists, Terri Windling is going through a genuinely tough patch at the moment, both health-wise and privately due to some on-going personal troubles.  Friends and colleagues of Terri have all banded together to try and help Terri and her family out.

Root Tribe, artwork by Terri Windling

I wish I had money to put up for some of the auctions on the Magick4Terri website.  Sadly, I do not.  What I do have is some great blog followers and twitter readers who may be able to do so.  What I can do is tell you guys about the auction, but also tell you to go out and buy the books edited and written by Terri as every bit of earnings will help her and her family. 

This is Terri's blog.  If you are an old MFB reader you will know how mad we are about magical writing and wonderful bits of art.  Terri does both, and she is an inspiration to us on a great many levels.  She does a series called "On your Desk" and it is one of my favourite features on her blog, featuring artists, creatives, writers writing in from all over the world, showcasing what is on their desk and their creative areas.  Incredibly inspirational.

Also, if you are interested in buying one of Terri's books, I highly recommend The Wood Wife.  Simply one of my all time favourite books and a comfort read I go back to time and again.

Find the Magic4Terri website here and have a look at what you can bid on:

A signed watercolour by Brian Froud!
Neil Gaiman / Charles Vess signed editions of Instructions!
A signed chapbook by Charles de Lint!
A signed copy of Emma Bull's seminal urban fantasy novel: War for the Oaks!!
And a vast amount of more stuff that geeky readers and writers would love.

There is artwork, jewellery, critque services, books, bags...too many pretty things for my shiny eyes to absorb all at once. The way the community has come together to support Terri is so heartwarming and I hope they make enough to help her and her family through this difficult time.  I'm off to go and see what item I can bid on and realistically afford! Where did I put that credit card again....

The Coyote Road - Trickster Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling

Coyote. Anansi. Brer Rabbit. Trickster characters have long been a staple of folk literature—and are a natural choice for the overarching subject of acclaimed editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s third “mythic” anthology. The Coyote Road features a remarkable range of authors, each with his or her fictional look at a trickster character. These authors include Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Charles de Lint (The Blue Girl), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Patricia A. McKillip (Old Magic), and Jane Yolen. Terri Windling provides a comprehensive introduction to the trickster myths of the world, and the entire book is highlighted by the remarkable decorations of Charles Vess. 


Datlow and Windling are two of my all-time favourite editors when it comes to putting together anthologies of mythic nature, and The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales anthology is one of my all time faces.

The Coyote Road - TCR - like its companions The Green Man and The Faery Reel makes great reading for anyone interested in myths, legends and folk tales.  Some are new stories, some are old and are being retold, but they are all fresh and unique and great to dip in and out of for tired minds in need of inspiration.

I am a great big fan of trickster tales and am therefor the one who loved Loki's duplicity and interesting character in the newest Thor movie. This collection of short stories and poems, with artwork by Charles Vess, is one of my desert island books.

In The Listeners by Nina Kiriki Hoffman we meet Nysa, a young slave in ancient Greece.  She is fourteen and pretty enough to draw the attention of her owner's one friend.  After overhearing the men speak after too much to drink one night, Nysa discovers that her owner has agreed to sell her, for one night, to his friend.  The thought of having sex with this odious man does not appeal to Nysa and she mentions it to a friend of hers, at the well as they draw water together.  Her friend hands her a small cake of incense to burn and assures Nysa that it may not be that bad after all.

Nysa ends up burning the incense and saying a prayer to Hermes, the god of thieves, travellers and guardian of roads and boundaries, begging him for help, to set her on another path.  And miraculously, Hermes does appear and places his mark on her...changing her path and life irrevocably.

It is a great story - a strong heroine bargaining with a god, yet she remains humble enough to accept his grace and guidance. The story is set in ancient Greece and a lot of terms are unfamiliar to the english reader yet the author takes great care to explain what each of these words mean through making use of context.  It is a trick that works really well and she has a light hand giving us lots of info about ancient Greece and the way women were treated (not nice) without us realising it.

It is a thoughtful story and well written.  The author is new to me, which is silly as she's been around for some time.  I had recently bought a book of hers which I'm reviewing in December and would like to say thank you to Kaz Mahoney for putting the ear worm about this writer in my brain.

Teeth: Vampire Tales edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

Synopsis

Fascinated by vampires?

Then feast on nineteen tantalizing, bite-sized tales exploring the intersections between the living, dead, and undead.

The vampires in these stories range from romantic to chilling to gleeful—and touch on nearly every emotion in between. The one thing they have in common is their desire for blood. . . .

I couldn't wait to get a copy of Teeth. Firstly, it has an amazing list of authors involved: Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Garth Nix. Secondly, it promised to give some alternate views to the type of vampire that we've become used to of late. The introduction by the editors of the book, Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling is a fascinating account of the popularity of the vampire genre and the Gothic through the ages from local myths, through Buffy to the Twilight phenomenon.

It's not often that a short story leaves me with tears in my eyes but Flying by Delia Sherman did just that. The story follows eighteen-year-old Lenka, a former trapeze artist who's recovering from leukaemia. Her family were at the height of their popularity when she fell ill. As a result her brothers and their wives headed off to work while her parents settled down in Cleveland and worked regular jobs to help pay for her care. Now in remission, Lenka is keen to get back to circus life although she knows she isn't strong enough yet. She manages to persuade her parents to take her to the Cirque des Chauve-souris. Once there Lenka watches the show with a professional eye - seeing how it could be improved but aching to be a part of their show.

The next day she runs away, leaving her parents a note, and joins them. Too weak to perform she deals with the front of house responsibilities. As time goes on she discovers that there's more to her new family than she thought. I loved Lenka - she has an inner core of steel and a determination to claim back her life. Hating the fact that she's become so helpless and dependant her act of running away is more than just a whim. She knows that she belongs in the air and all she wants is to be strong enough to fly again. By the end of the story I was both happy and heartbroken. I want to read a novel about Lenka as soon as possible. I'm aware that'll probably never happen but I want to know more!

I can't finish this mini-review without mentioning Vampire Weather by Garth Nix. I'm a massive fan of the Sabriel trilogy. The worlds and landscapes that he created are forever in my memory. Vampire Weather tells the story of Amos who lives in what appears to be an Amish community - cut off from the rest of civilisation. When the fog rolls in off the mountains they live in fear of vampires using the weather to attack so hide in their homes. However, Amos meets a girl at the postbox and she changes his life forever. Atmospheric and memorable, I was a bag of nerves every time Amos stepped outside his house.

If you want a different kind of vampire then please check this anthology out. The authors involved have put together a thoughtful, terrifying and satisfying book that's a keeper.