Congrats go to Wally Cwik, who took first place in our Jingle Hell contest on 15 December. Below is his winning story, The Christmas Tree

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Congrats go to Mike Penkas, who took second place in our Jingle Hell contest on 15 December. Below is his story, Midnight Cappuccino.

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This week we have Terence Byrsa (Joe Rulli) and Mike Martinez as our featured readers.
Joe Rulli is a recently-acquired Twilight Tales regular who writes under the pen name Terence Byrsa. He has shared his fiction with us at a number of open mics and it has always been very well received
Mike Martinez is Twilight Tales’ official Secretary, scheduling guru, and chief herder of cats. He has also been known to harass local authors into appearing at the Twilight Tales mic to share their talents and abilities. No one who puts pen to paper within 200 miles of Chicago is safe from his harassment- Beware!
Following are their answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics, what’s your story called and what (briefly) is it about?

Joe: The selection for the reading is again from “The D’Medici Syndrome”. It’s the third part of the continuing story of the Pontevecchio family - wealthy, politically influential, religiously active - and problems that creep into their lives. The narrative is laid out through the eyes of 7-year old Pico Pontevecchio.

Mike: I’m editing two things right now to prepare for the reading, I’m not sure which one will be read but it will either be “Teddy Was Five”, or something from my “Bar Crowd” Series. Teddy, is about a woman who lives with consequences of her choices in life, and what may be a real situation or an alcohol induced hallucination.

What inspired this story or what inspires you to write in general?

Joe: I read “The House of Medici” last winter: it’s a great piece of non-fiction. I was awed by the historical D’Medici family’s passion for the arts, philosophy, history, religion and politics in 14th & 15th century Florence and thought it was a cool idea to transpose some of that experience into a 21st century Italian-American family.

I’ve always enjoyed writing and history - a history major with a teaching background - but it was only in the last two and a half years that I saw my writing fiction as a goal for my life. I find most of my spark for writing centers around social issues that haven’t seemed to go away: the drive of a culture away from the balanced use of reason toward illogic and emotionalism; the ongoing ghetto-ization and negative stereotyping of homosexuals; and the unbridled quest for success through the accumumation of “stuff”.

Mike: Both of these stories were inspired by what most of my stories are; the reality of life after death, at least the way I see it. Inspiration in general comes from all kinds of places for me, urban legends, music, and columns like “News of the Weird” and stupid crook stories. You’d be surprised how much of the story set-ups I write about are inspired by the lack of sense exhibited by humans.

What kinds of books draw your attention when you prowl the aisles at book stores?

Joe: In bookstores, I love roaming the history section - leafing through ancient Rome and Greece. I like to pass through the general fiction, too. I read a lot of classics.

Mike: Well, have you got a day or two for me to list them? I tend to hang out in the mystery and mysterious horror sections. Those stories always seem to have dead guys in them. But is just as likely I’ll get an idea from a real life episode in a biography, or magazine. Then there’s always the local news. If you can’t imagine a dead guy or horror story after watching the local Fox affiliate, I’ll want to check and see if you’re still breathing. If you aren’t, its likely I’ll be writing a riff about why you aren’t any more.

Have you ever been given advice as a writer that has really helped or that made you wonder?

Joe: The most helpful advice so far has been from articles by published writers who have prodded me to write everyday and to keep sending things out in spite of the rejection letters on my refrigerator. I have a couple of writer friends who have been very supportive, too.

Mike: The best advice I ever got was, “Write, and keep writing. Never stop and learn to ignore editors who want to steal the soul of your work to make it marketable for themselves.” The trick I’m still trying to learn is, when the editor wants to make my work better, and when I’m about to give up my soul just to get published.

What has coming to Twilight Tales and sharing your work taught you about your own writing?

Joe: I’ve enjoyed coming to Twilight Tales. The horror/fantasy/mystery genres are areas I don’t travel in much and have loved trapsing in on Monday evenings. I’ve gotten a lot of positive support about my writing, but also I’ve been exposed to a creativity that is horrorfyingly[sic], fantastically, and mysteriously refreshing.

Mike: That I wasn’t as bad of a writer as I once thought I was. And, that encouragement and honest critique by other authors makes you more willing to take chances and get messy with the words you put on the page. Positive support from other authors is a far better way to improve then only ever typing alone at the PC. Oh, and reading what you wrote, keeps Eric off your back about writing in general.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to tell us about your work(s) in progress, or things on the horizon you’d like to share?

Joe: My works in progress are a few: my first completed manuscript is in fourth draft and has survived four rejections this spring/summer and is currently being considered (50 pages is anyway) by an indie publisher here in Chicago. I’ve picked back up a third manuscript after a several-month break (to finish Pico’s story). I gave myself Thanksgiving-ish to finish the first draft. There are two others in various stages of first drafts and a collection of short stories that’s crawling together, one iota at a time.

Mike: I’m not sure what (if anything) will get accepted but I have a few things out, so we’ll have to see. Then there’s always the scheduling I do for Twilight Tales. There is a lot of fun stuff coming up, but to enjoy it, you actually have to come to the Celt and read something you’ve written.

We hope you’ll join us on Monday November 10th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Joe’s and Mike’s fiction, and perhaps more discussion!

Monday 3 November is our 15th anniversary party. In honor of this, we cornered our once and future volunteer Eric Cherry (who served as our CEO in between) to share some of his thoughts at having been involved with Twilight Tales through many of our changes.
Following are his answers to our interview questions.

1. This week we celebrate Twilight Tale’s fifteenth anniversary. In your own words tell us how Twilight Tales has grown and changed while you have been involved.

Eric: I walked into Twilight Tales for the first time in April 2002, just as the organization was hosting the World Horror Convention. I threw in as a convention volunteer, then starting coming early every Monday for the show. What’s changed? We were at the Red Lion for most of the years that I’ve been aboard, but now we’re at the Mystic Celt. We were a greater or lesser part of many conventions and bookfairs, we published anthologies and short story collections, and our website took on more dynamic properties.
We’ve been an unofficial, all-volunteer operation. We’ve incorporated, earned not-for-profit status, and we’ve continued thriving due to the efforts of our volunteers. The core crew has changed over time. When I walked in the door, Larry Santoro handled staging, Lisa Rogers-Lowrance did things with books and inventory, Andrea Dubnick managed scheduling and emceeing, and Tina Jens worked with everybody on all manner of things. Tina is on the Board of Directors, and the rest of the core crew is wholly different.

2. What is the biggest accomplishment the group has made?

Eric: There’s no secret that I’m focused on writing production. The biggest accomplishment we’ve made is the standing network of authors who are forever working their butts off to turn out better fiction. How many of the writers who started off writing in a closet are now out and published? More than a couple. How many once thought that a novel was an impossible dream, and are now novelists? I can think of at least four who’ve recently finished their first drafts.

3. What one thing in the group’s history makes you proud or pleased to have been a part of?

Eric: I’m going to side with my above answer: I’m most proud of our authors’ successes. They did all the hard work, certainly, but Twilight Tales — embodied in its regulars — has been a part of their path. There is no higher achievement, in my not-quite-humble opinion.

4. What changes have you seen that make you confident the group will continue to be successful over the years to come?

Eric: It’s the passing of the baton that makes me most confident. I named some of the core crew from back when I first walked in, but that was by no means the end of the crew list. When an all-volunteer meeting came together, twenty people would show up. We’d draw in an easy dozen now, and a goodly number of those weren’t on the roll call in 2002. And how many of the regulars from 2003 or 2004, how many of that volunteer crew, came and went in that time? Plenty.
Yet the show has gone on weekly for all this time. We incorporated, and the show went on. We increased and decreased our convention involvement, our publishing schedules, and even experimented with a suburban presence. And whatever else went on, every Monday night there was a show (unless some #@$%^! holiday got in the way, of course).
There’s a vibrant and active crew now, and they do an amazing job. And when the time comes for a crew shift, they’ll hand the baton along. That’s how it’s always been, and I’m never in doubt it’ll continue.

5. What direction do you hope Twilight Tales takes in the years to come?

Eric: One of my favorite answers to that now is: “That’s not my job.” I’ve been a hanger-on, a volunteer from the fringe to the core, a member of the Board, and CEO. Now, I’m merely a fringe volunteer: I emcee.
What I hope is that the core crew of volunteers does what the core crew has always done: exactly what it thinks would be fun. History suggests the weekly show will continue to be fun, but even the content and shape of that show is mutable.

6. Finally, what one event or incident sticks out in your mind as something everyone should know about Twilight Tales and why its a great place for authors and reader to gather and exchange ideas?

Eric: The open mic is one event that everyone should know about Twilight Tales, and it’s why we’re a great place for authors and readers to gather.
Yes, it’s not one event, unless there’s a cosmic sort of open mic (not unlike Terry Pratchett’s L-Space, but with more noise and alcohol, and fewer bananas). But it’s what I call the front lines of fiction. It’s where the best of what we have and do comes out.

We hope you’ll join us on Monday November 3rd at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) for our 15th anniversary party…with free appetizers, the usual cash bar, and plenty more discussion!

October at Twilight Tales has always been something special. This year we’re trying something exciting: a featured reader paired with a themed open mic for each week from now until Halloween!
Martel Sardina writes award-winning short fiction, along with book reviews and other oddities, and she recently edited the anthology Hell In The Heartland for Annihilation Press. She once served as the Money Goddess for Twilight Tales as well, but now is happily…unstructured, in her involvement with us.
Following are Martel’s answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics, what’s your story called? If you can, please tell us briefly about it.
Martel: The story I’ll be reading, “Desperate Times Call For Cunning Linguists,” is a transgendered love story involving Frankenstein.

What inspired your story, or what inspires you to write?
Martel: I wrote this particular story for an anthology that was looking for gay/lesbian/transgendered horror stories. After a softball game last spring, I was telling my teammates that I needed to come up with a story idea. A few bottles of beer later, I had the seed I needed and wrote the first draft after returning home. I sent it off to Brian Salgado and Mark Wegren (two of my teammates who helped in the brainstorming process) for some feedback. Many thanks to Brian and Mark for their help and willingness to listen to me natter on about various story ideas over the years. They’ve both actually been characters in other stories I’ve written but that’s a story for Red Light Night

Each week in October features a specific genre, tell us what draws you to the genre featured your particular week (Oct. 27; Monster Bash).
Martel: I grew up on monster stories. As a kid, I watched all of the horror classics (Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi.) I grew up on Svengoolie and thought Berwyn was some magical place where monsters lived. Talk about a let down.

What sorts of books do you find yourself seeking out when walking the aisles of bookstores and libraries?
Martel: I probably read more crime fiction than anything else these days. I read a lot of true crime and other non-fiction related to law enforcement. I like to read case studies that analyze criminal motivations and behaviors. Maybe I’ve been picking the wrong books, but it seems that the crime fiction I’ve been reading is scarier than the horror fiction has been. I feel a bit jaded toward horror these days. Maybe it’s a phase…I hope so.

Any advice you’ve been given as a writer that’s either very good, or very out there that you would like to share with us?
Martel: A ruthless editor is a writer’s best friend. I wrote a poem recently and shared it with a writer friend. He told me that the meat of the poem was the last stanza and that if I cut everything else that came before it, the poem might have more impact. After re-reading the piece, I hated to admit he was right because that meant throwing away more than 3/4 of the original poem. Learning to “kill your children” is hard, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

Anything else you’d like to share about your writing or upcoming publications/events?
Martel: My story, “Better Left Unsaid,” will be coming out shortly in the TRAPS! anthology (edited by Scott Goudsward) from DarkHart Press. I am a contributing editor at Dark Scribe Magazine and have lots of book reviews, articles and interviews available to read for free at www.darkscribemagazine.com; I’ll be workshopping a novel at the Borderlands Press Novel Bootcamp in January and will share more about that experience at some future TT event. Oh yeah, I almost forgot…I’m happy to report that I’m headed for merry old England in 2010. I’m going to be hosting/coordinating the reading series at the World Horror Convention 2010 which will be held in Brighton. I’m stoked about that for sure!

We hope you’ll join us on Monday October 27th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Martel’s fiction (along with open mic fiction in a Monster Bash theme), and perhaps more discussion!

October at Twilight Tales has always been something special. This year we’re trying something exciting: a featured reader paired with a themed open mic for each week from now until Halloween!
Jay Bonansinga is a local author who has read and presented at Twilight Tales numerous times in the past. His novels include The Sleep Police, The Killer’s Game, and the Ulysses Grove series of thrillers (Frozen, Twisted, and Disturbed) among others. Jay also wrote The Sinking Of The Eastland: America’s Forgotten Tragedy, a nonfiction narrative accounting of the capsizing (into the Chicago River) of the S.S. Eastland in 1915. Several of Jay’s books are under option at major Hollywood studios, and he has more than one screenplay currently in studio development.

Following are Jay’s answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics, what’s your story called? If you can, please tell us briefly about it.
Jay: “STEAGAL’S BARBER SHOP AND SMOKE EMPORIUM,” which is an anti-war tale I wrote a couple years ago in the tradition of Rod Serling and Paddy Chayevski, first published in the February 2005 issue of AMAZING STORIES. I am so jacked up about what the current regime has done to our country, I cannot resist reading this again (I think I might have read it in public a couple of times).
Go Obama!!!

What inspired your story, or what inspires you to write?
Jay: I have always been attracted to the “socio-political fantasy” of Harlan Ellison, Rod Serling, George Clayton Johnson, Ambrose Bierce, Richard Matheson, and H.G. Wells. I have always attempted to tell surreal, weird, funny horror stories that have a deep and angry subtext about something real and relevant. I hope this story has that to some degree.

Each week in October features a specific genre, tell us what draws you to the genre featured your particular week (Oct. 20; Ghosts, Goblins, and Dead Guys).
Jay: Ghosts stories are all — to some extent — about one thing: GUILT. They were invented in the Victorian era when everybody was riddled with guilt. I — being a lapsed Catholic — understand guilt. I guess that’s why I LOVE ghost stories.

What sorts of books do you find yourself seeking out when walking the aisles of bookstores and libraries?
Jay: Since the horror genre is all but dead — no pun intended — I currently seek out dark and comedic stuff. I guess this is due to the fact that our world is currently a dark and comedic place.

Any advice you’ve been given as a writer that’s either very good, or very out there that you would like to share with us?
Jay: Don’t use adverbs or adjectives. This is one of the great myths among geeks who have bought that old Hemingway crapola about all great writing being lean and minimal and…yawn…boring. I say give me extra mayo on that sandwich, and while you’re at it, throw some brown mustard on it, and then deep fry it in seasoned batter!!!!

Anything else you’d like to share about your writing or upcoming publications/events?
Jay: Please, everyone, go out and order or purchase my new book, PERFECT VICTIM (Pinnacle 2008), which comes out in December, so that my children can get their dental work and text books and medicine. And also so we can put a gallon of gas in the tank.

We hope you’ll join us on Monday October 20th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Jay’s fiction (along with open mic offerings in a Ghosts, Goblins, and Dead Guys theme), and perhaps more discussion!

October at Twilight Tales has always been something special. This year we’re trying something exciting: a featured reader paired with a themed open mic for each week from now until Halloween!
Richard Chwedyk is a lifelong resident of the Chicago area whose short stories and poems have appeared in several anthologies, as well as in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His short story “Bronte’s Egg” received the Nebula award in 2004 in addition to picking up both Hugo and Sturgeon nominations that year. Richard has been a guest of Twilight Tales several times over the years, and always manages to at least delight us if not flat-out amaze.

Following are Richard’s answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics, what’s your story called? If you can, please tell us briefly about it.
Richard: I’m frantically working to complete a piece called “The Man Who Put the Bomp.” It is a saur story. I don’t know what it’s “about,” a good story always being about the “something else” that the story contains. What happens in the story is that the saurs meet their “maker” — a man who contributed the significant pieces of the genetic sequence that made the saurs possible. And Axel’s first question to him when he arrives, not knowing who he is or what he’s done, is, “Are you a bad guy or a good guy?”

What inspired your story, or what inspires you to write?
Richard: What inspires me at this moment is raw panic and desperation to meet the deadline — and an overwhelming desire not to disappoint the audience.

Each week in October features a specific genre, tell us what draws you to the genre featured your particular week (Oct. 13, Science Fiction and Fantasy).
Richard: Fantasy stories affect me most when characters discover the world as something greater than they first conceived — when they find the door that leads to another world, or look at the street and for the first time see that there’s a whole other world hiding within the quotidian. There are more parts than the sum of the whole. I think that’s what drives my interest in any literature: anything and anyone that suggests that there’s more to the picture than the picture.
For science fiction, I tend to look for the stories that focus not upon what “the future” will bring, but how we will live with it. Perhaps all literature takes on the topic, directly or indirectly, of what makes us human, but recent science fiction takes a unique approach of posing that question by expanding our technology, our territory and our knowledge, seeing if we can still recognize human beings in the milieu. If one can summarize (at great risk) the work of a Samuel Beckett by saying that he keeps taking things away from humanity to see what remains recognizably human there, science fiction has been adding things to a character while looking for what humanity persists. And of course I’m fascinated by the questions of what makes us human as reflected by beings other than humans.

What sorts of books do you find yourself seeking out when walking the aisles of bookstores and libraries?
Richard: All sorts of books — new and used. Right now I’m waiting for 7 Stories Press to finally (finally!) get out their reprint of two Nelson Algren books in one: “Who Lost an American?” and “Notes From a Sea Diary.” I’ve been an eclectic reader since before I knew how to spell eclectic. It’s very difficult for me to pin down what I’m looking for. I’m looking for the books that reveal the secret threads that hold the universe together. One book brings me to another, which leads to another, and another.

Any advice you’ve been given as a writer that’s either very good, or very out there that you would like to share with us?
Richard: 1. (from me) Never work for a newspaper. 2. (from City News Bureau) Never do a bad job well. 3. (from Ray Bradbury) Don’t think — write. 4. (from Jeff Ford) Just tell the f—ing story! 5. (from me) Trust the story. Stories are smarter than their authors — listen and follow.

Anything else you’d like to share about your writing or upcoming publications/events?
Richard: I’ve been frustratingly unproductive of recent. So much to write and the time shrinks away. Keep poking me with sticks and keep sending that guy with scythe over to knock on my door and I’ll finish some of this stuff. Recent stories are listed on my Web page http://www.sfwa.org/members/chwedyk/” I hope to be updating it soon.

We hope you’ll join us on Monday October 13th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Richard’s fiction (along with open mic fiction in a Science Fiction and Fantasy theme), and perhaps more discussion!

October at Twilight Tales has always been something special. This year we’re trying something exciting: a featured reader paired with a themed open mic for each week from now until Halloween!
John Everson first came to Twilight Tales as a reader and a staff member, and even co-edited the anthology Spooks with Tina Jens before moving on to form his own imprint, Dark Arts Books. His short story collections include Cage of Bones & Other Deadly Obsessions, Needles and Sins, and Vigilantes of Love; and his work has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. His first novel, Covenant, received the Bram Stoker award for best first novel in 2005, and it has just become available in paperback.

Following are John’s answers to our interview questions.

Let’s start with the basics, what’s your story called? If you can, please tell us briefly about it.
John: Covenant is about a reporter who “runs away” to a small coastal town to escape his dark past… and gets embroiled in the dark past of the small town, where a series of suicides have been occuring from the cliff outside of town. Nobody wants to talk to the reporter about the deaths, and as he digs deeper, he finds that there has been a death from the cliff on the same date every year for one hundred years…

What inspired your story, or what inspires you to write?
John: Covenant was inspired by a newspaper clipping that someone once handed me that talked about a bar at the top of a cliff in England. Apparently, this was the biggest suicide spot in the country: people would go to the bar, have a last drink and then walk a few yards away and jump.
As for what inspires me to write — inspiration sparks from anywhere. I’ve always written stories and poems and lyrics and I love the way words can take you to a place in a heartbeat that is so far from where you sit now… just by opening a door in your imagination. Writers opened those doors for me as a reader and I want to do the same for others…

Each week in October features a specific genre, tell us what draws you to the genre featured your particular week (Oct. 6, Horror and the Dark Arts).
John: I love the sense of the “unexplored” and “unexplained” and “otherworldly” in horror and dark fantasy; there’s a sort of “anything can happen” feeling that I relish. As a reader, I picked up books because I always wanted to escape into another world — to be transported into a place that was unfamiliar. So growing up, I read a lot about alien worlds because they were exotic and offered wild opportunity and often featured characters with powers and experiences very different from anything we could ever come in contact with. I loved the sense of wonder that those wildly imaginative novels brought. That’s why I don’t have any particular interest in writing horror that deals with real-world problems like a psychological study of a serial killer. I can see that in the newspapers and as a reader I want to escape the troubled realities of this world, not explore them deeper. So virtually all of my horror truly has a dark fantasy element to it - something about my fictional worlds is generally outside the realm of our existence, unless you fully believe in ghosts, or erotic creatures who can suck away memory, or taxidermists who embalm people in a way that immobilizes them yet keeps them conscious forever or boys who perform the unspeakable and in doing so create an all-consuming pumpkin queen.

What sorts of books do you find yourself seeking out when walking the aisles of bookstores and libraries?
John: Fun, fast, can’t-put-’em-down ones. At least, I used to. I haven’t “sought” a book in a store or library in years at this point. I run a small press, Dark Arts Books (www.darkartsbooks.com) and proof books for other small presses (Necro Publications and Cemetery Dance). So manuscripts are always turning up on my door — I don’t go looking for them because I have no free time to read beyond what is already sent to me!

Any advice you’ve been given as a writer that’s either very good, or very out there that you would like to share with us?
John: Getting up at the mic at Twilight Tales is a very useful way to test your fiction — it allows you to listen with fresh ears to what you’ve written in a way that you’ll never be able to repeat sitting at your computer at home. By watching the audience’s reaction, and hearing how easy or difficult the phrases are to read out loud, you’ll know where the “soft” spots are in your prose, and conversely, where to “tight” bits are that should be left alone when you go back to edit.

Anything else you’d like to share about your writing or upcoming publications/events?
John: Covenant is, of course, out now and for the next few weeks I’m dedicating all my free time to a book tour to promote it. Sacrifice, the sequel, will be out from Leisure in June of 2009. This summer I finished a new unrelated novel called The 13th, which I’ll be turning in to Leisure this month (I’m doing some final proofing and edits now). That will be out in 2010, I would imagine. I’ve also got some short fiction due out any day — I just finished co-writing a Halloween tale for Doorways Magazine with Gary Braunbeck and JF Gonzalez, which will be out in October. My novelette “In Memoryum” should be out in the next few weeks in the Dark Hart anthology Fearful Symmetry, Deadly Beauty. And another novelette, “Fish Bait,” which [I] wrote after a visit to some of my old CyberPsycho’s Magazine friends in Denver a couple years ago, will be out soon in Cutting Block Press’s Horror Library Vol. 3 anthology.
Anyone who wants to check in about my projects, read some free fiction or check out some of my horror-related art and music can visit www.johneverson.com where you can also read my blog and signup for my monthly e-newsletter. Thanks for interviewing me about my “Dark Arts”!

We hope you’ll join us on Monday October 6th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear John’s fiction (along with open mic fiction in a Horror and Dark Arts theme), and perhaps more discussion!

This week Twilight Tales brings you two strong voices in genre fiction. Both are award winning authors who have special ties to Twilight Tales.
Tina Jens founded Twilight Tales almost fifteen years ago. She saw it grow from a local reading and writing group into an organization with a national reputation. Her time and dedication have brought many respected authors to Twilight Tales’ microphone. After Tina stepped down as President and CEO of the group, she took on the task of guiding young writers to find their own voices while teaching at Columbia university in Chicago. We are pleased that she has found the time to fit a featured reading into her busy schedule.
Jody Lynn Nye has published a number of books featuring fantasy, mythology, and cats. Her last book co-authored with Robert Asprin debuted in March of this year. Jody has a large following of readers who not only enjoy her books, but cats as well. Jody has appeared a number of times at Twilight Tales, always with wonderful stories full of fun and mischief, and occasionally cats.
Let’s see what this week’s authors have in store for us…

Starting with the basics, what is your story called and can you tell us about it briefly?

Tina: I’m thinking about dusting off one or two of my shorties, stories that just beg to be performed and pair that with an excerpt from my novel in progress. But that’s just today’s plan. The show’s a whole week and a half away. I could change my mind six times between now and then!
I’ve got several novels in progress. One on the front burner, a couple-three on the back burner. I may go with one of those. It’s easier for an audience to enjoy a novel excerpt that either starts on page 1, or is a self-explanatory, stand-alone scene. The Twilight Tales (Ir)regulars have heard several segments of my primary novel-in-progress (THE PROPHECY WAR) at the open mics, and I’m not sure the section I’ve just polished stands alone, so I may go with the beginning of THE LEGEND THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN (the sequel to THE BLUES AIN’T NOTHIN’), INTERNATIONAL OHIO (starring a sleuthing waitress who works in a truck stop), or SEIZE LOVE (about a hitwoman who has seizures at really inopportune times and who has a crush on her newest assignment).

Jody: My story is “And So, Ad Infinitum.” It originally appeared in an anthology entitled Familiars Fantastic (DAW Books). It gives new definition to what constitutes a familiar and who can have them. (I was hoping to have my vampire orthodontist story finished, but life conspired against me, so I hope people don’t mind an old story.)

What inspired this story?

Tina: THE PROPHECY WAR sprung from a novella I wrote when Bob Weinberg & Marty Greenberg invited me to choose a Nostradamus prophecy and write a story based on it for THE SECRET PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS anthology.
The idea for INTERNATIONAL OHIO came while I was doing a bit of research for THE PROPHECY WAR. I needed a state with a town named “Memphis” but wondered if there were other options than Tennessee. That led me to look at a map of Ohio and I noticed that they have an Athens, Dublin, Liverpool, Gahanna, Lebanon, Lima, Macedonia, Madeira, the list just goes on and on.
SEIZE LOVE was an act of desperation. I was at the Borderlands Books Novel Writing Boot camp, and we were required to come up with a brand new, fully-developed novel idea and write the opening chapter in less than 12 hours (that included sleep-time). I didn’t come up with anything I liked until about 2 hours before the next session. But it turned out quite well, and I will continue developing it.
THE LEGEND THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN picks up a few months after the first blues book leaves off. Mustang, Ratman & Old George have struck out as itinerant blues musicians, hoping to raise enough money to rebuild the club. Mustang falls for a bad man, who happens to be possessed by Ratman’s long-dead rival. Bad, bad things happen. It’ll be a darker book than the first one.

Jody: No one will be surprised to learn that it has a cat in it. I enjoy having cats in my literature when it is suitable. I am inspired by two things: putting food on the table, and writing up the ideas that come to me. The fact that I can do one by doing the other works pretty well.

You have both been doing readings for some time, has anything interesting or odd ever happened at a reading that you would like to tell us about?

Tina: EVERY night at Twilight Tales is interesting & odd, and I say that after fourteen years of weekly attendance!
The weirdest thing that’s happened to me was at a book signing. It was at a Borders Books in a mall in Burlington, Iowa, near my hometown. They had me set up at a table out in the mall in front of the store, hoping the mall zombies might notice me. A short woman, probably in her sixties, with calloused hands and weather-worn wrinkles that suggested a lifetime of hard physical work, approached the table, stopping about ten feet away. She crossed her arms and glared at me.
In a voice more timid than I’d intended I said, “Can I help you?”
She said, “I just wanted to see what an author looks like.”
A shaky laugh I hadn’t meant to let out escaped and finally I said, “We look just like anyone else.” (Alright, granted, I was in a three-piece black suit that had subtle beading on the knee-length walking jacket - not exactly everyday fashion in small town Iowa.
She stared at me some more then said, “You’re not so much,” and stalked off.
My dad was with me. He gave me a sympathetic one-armed hug then went off to get me a drink from the Orange Julius stand. Thank goodness for dads!

Jody: At a DucKon (local SF con) once, I was reading a story using about fourteen
voices. Afterwards, Fred Pohl, whom I had not noticed in the audience, came
up to compliment me. I floated around all day after that.

When wandering book stores, what sorts of books attract your attention?

Tina: I love all kinds of category fiction from paranormal romance to police procedurals, from dragon tales to British humor, from zany road trips to the mysterious blood rites of Haitian voodoo. I have a great fondness for genre fiction that includes humor; things you’d never find shelved in the humor aisle. Folks like Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, Janet Evanovich, Kinky Friedman, Tim Dorsey, and Carl Hiaasen. While they say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, books with humor are almost always packaged in garish colors, so as I browse the shelves, I keep an eye out for books that are lime green, Sunkist Orange and lemon yellow with the odd splash of goober purple thrown in.

Jody: Since I was just in The Strand bookstore in New York, I can tell you what I did. I went straight for the cookbook section. I’m an avid cook and baker. Then I browsed the early literature, history, then mysteries. When I’m writing SF or fantasy, I never read them, so I go through a lot of
mysteries.

Writers are always looking for advice, has any one ever given you great, or really out there advice you can share with us?

Tina: Bob Weinberg gave me the best piece of advice: Never stop writing at the end of a scene or anyplace that gives you a sense of closure. He said he often stops in the middle of a sentence. If you end your writing session at a natural break, you’ll feel all fuzzy and satisfied inside and won’t feel a sense of urgency to get back to it. If you stop writing in the middle of things, you’ll feel unsettled until you resolve the scene. Then of course, you launch halfway into the next one so you never feel complacent.

Jody: Learn your craft. Spelling and grammar count. Learn to write dialogue in different voices than yours. Don’t wait for permission from anyone to write what you want; it is always your privilege to use your talent. A dear friend whom I just lost said, “Never air your education.” What he meant was that no more than ten percent of what you studied to write that story should appear in the story itself. You should write FROM your knowledge, not of it.

Finally, is there anything exciting on your horizon, or anything else you’d like to share with us?

Tina: I’m really enjoying my retirement from the administrative side of Twilight Tales. I’ve got more time for writing, more time for teaching, and more time to play around with other creative projects.
Along with the novels outlined above, I’m adapting two short stories and a novella for radio-theater performances, polishing up a novella I co-wrote with Bob Weinberg that will be released as a signed limited edition hardcover, working on a poetry collection of American Haiku, and doing a ton of research on New Orleans - both for a novel and a new college course I’m hoping to teach at Columbia College - Chicago in January. And, in my spare time, I’m revising my curriculum and reading list for the next semester of the Fantasy Writing Workshop at Columbia. And hitting the blues clubs, of course.

Jody: New books coming up in November: Myth-Fortunes (Wildside Press), January:
Myth-Chief (Ace mass-market paperback), April: A Forthcoming Wizard (TOR
Books, second half of An Unexpected Apprentice).

We hope you’ll join us on Monday September 29th at Mystic Celt (3443 N. Southport) to hear Tina’s and Jody’s fiction, and perhaps more discussion!

This coming Monday, we have two featured readers from the Chicago area.
Jude Walter Mire is the other half of the killer-works.com dynamic duo: we met the (or rather, his) “better” half of the duo—his fiancé Jill Cooper–last month. A Twilight Tales “regular,” he’s also currently serving as our CEO.
Russell Working is a staff reporter for the Chicago Tribune and the author of the short story collections Resurrectionists and The Irish Martyr.
Following are their answers to our interview questions.
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