Greetings, denizens of geek! Welcome back to your favorite recap: Speculative Chic’s Weekly Roundup! Another week has come and gone, and we’ve been busy as always bringing you the latest and greatest from the worlds of sci fi, fantasy, and horror. Enough with the preambles — let’s dive in!
Monday
Our guest author for this week’s My Favorite Things is Jessica McHugh, author of Hares in the Hedgerow and Rabbits in the Garden. We’re celebrating her contribution to the forthcoming anthology Not All Monsters: A Strangehouse Anthology by Women in Horror, edited by Sara Tantlinger. What can you look forward to? How about grotesquely beautiful crime scenes, a genre-bending (or is it genre-blending?) underrated film, the works of a master author gone too soon, strange storytelling songs of the 70s, and a deep-dish serving of horror with all the toppings! Read on here for more!
Tuesday
Calie continues her journey through genre with her regular series, Changing the Map. For this venture she chronicles the works of the prolific Tanith Lee, who was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award for best novel, and wrote over 90 novels and 300 stories over the course of her career, blurring the boundaries of fairytales, myth, fantasy, and horror. For a sampling of her most memorable contributions to speculative fiction, you’ll find it all here.
Wednesday
Erin brings us a special interview with thriller author Craig Schaefer, whose writings include Ghosts of Gotham, The Loot, and the First Story series. With an exploration of his works as well as a window into his writing process, join us for a closer look here.
Also for Wednesday, we have another special guest! Nominated for the Nebula, Hugo, and Clarke Awards and winner of the Locus Award, Yoon Ha Lee joins us for You’re My Inspiration, and we’ve got a special peek at what went into his upcoming release, Phoenix Extravagant, with a fascinating look at pigment and color, and the magic that blooms from the creation of art. Click here for more!
Thursday
Gemma brings us an analysis of Mike Flanagan‘s Doctor Sleep, the 2019 film adaptation of Stephen King’s novel that serves as a followup to The Shining. Of course, with the shadow of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film (which King notoriously hated) looming over the landscape, Flanagan had to honor King’s written legacy as well as Kubrick’s cinematic one, which is a risk. How did the movie handle this balancing act? What else is going on among the ashes of the Overlook? Join Gemma for the deep dive here.
Also for Thursday, Nicole reviews the YA romance from Crystal Cestari, The Best Kind of Magic. With a heroine with the ability to see true love, a dreamy love interest fated for another, and a cavalcade of magical beings in the majestic metropolis of Chicago, does the book live up to its interesting premise? Only one way to find out!
Friday
Calie‘s back again with another awesome post, this time with an epic craft project: she’s set out to Labyrinth a pair of pants. A homage to Jim Henson and Brian Froud’s cult classic, Calie’s also got a special place honoring David Bowie’s iconic performance as Jareth through embroidery and mixed media. How’s this adventure in fantastic fashion going? Check the status here!
We’ve also got another special guest this week with our column Blast from the Past, where we talk with an author about the iconic things that shaped their work and serve as longtime favorites. We’ve got a master in the house, Carrie Vaughn, to discuss the things that influenced The Ghosts of Sherwood and The Heirs of Locksley. Loose your arrows with the Prince of Thieves here.
Book Club
We’re going to have this month’s Book Club discussion in just a few days, and I will be hosting! I chose Jeremy C. Shipp‘s The Atrocities for a taste of the gothic and weird, as I fancy myself both gothic and weird (and typing that sentence, I randomly thought of this).
While you get ready for our book talk on February 28th, here’s a reminder for our upcoming Book Clubs:
- March — An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass, hosted by Kendra Merritt
- April — Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger, hosted by Nancy O’Toole Meservier
- May — The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso, hosted by Lane Robins
- June — Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber, hosted by Kelly McCarty
If you want to know more about the book choices above, read here and here, and we’ll see you soon for the February Book Club discussion!
Did you notice something our guests have in common this week? Yes, they’re all awesome and incredibly talented, and there’s a lot to learn from all of them when it comes to storytelling and the craft of writing. But specifically, we’ve featured authors who will be teaching at the Odyssey Writing Workshop, one of the most well-renowned programs for writers of speculative fiction. Yoon Ha Lee and Carrie Vaughn are scheduled lecturers this year! We encourage you to learn more about Odyssey (as several of our Speculative Chic contributors are alumni!) and apply (the deadline is April 1). Good luck as you set sail on your writing adventures, and we’ll see you next week!
A scene from Homer’s Odyssey as painted by Arnold Böcklin. The Odyssey Writing Workshop’s logo gives a nod to this heroic epic.
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