Magical Squirrel Time Again · 3:36pm Nov 16th, 2016
The middle of November:
Every year for the past decade has been Magical Squirrel Time in my life, and that continues to be the case. Volume 31 of the Sword & Sorceress anthology is once again available for purchase, and I'll once again have a story in it about Cluny the Sorceress Squirrel and her various friends and not-quite-friends, story number eleven in the whole Cluny chronology.
As another "once again," the anthology's appearance has resparked the fire in my brain to get the whole Cluny novel finished, so I'm likely to be a little thin on the ground 'round these parts for a while. I'll offer a link to "Familiars," the first Cluny story, though, in case anyone hasn't read it, and say that the novel incorporates rewritten versions of the first eight published short stories with a bunch of new interstitial material to tell the story of Cluny and Crocker's first year as students at Huxley College.
And yes, I've said "no more Pony stories till the novel's done" before. Let's see if I actually mean it this time!
Mike
Break a leg! :D
Good luck!
"I'm talking to a cat." Ferdinand was only an apprentice mage, but he did have a fairly good grasp on the nature of magic, and one of those natures was fairly immutable. "Cats can't talk."
"Not a word," said the cat. The ginger tomcat hopped down from the tree limb and padded across the forest floor in Ferdinand's direction. Its pace was no different than any ordinary cat would walk, but Ferd still felt an unreasoning urge to back up against the huge log blocking the path further into the Dark Woods.
"Look, kid. I can call you kid, right?" The cat cocked his head to one side and watched Ferdinand intently. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
"Was that a joke?" Ferdinand touched the huge log behind him, hoping to find that a door had suddenly appeared which he could flee through and slam after he left.
"Naa, that's not a joke." The cat sat down and proceeded to lick one paw. "Well, it was supposed to be. Loosen you up and all that. No, the joke here is what your master sent you up into the Dark Forest to do."
"Go to the house at the end of the path and return with the wand of the evil witch who lives there," recited Ferdinand. "Are you the evil witch?"
"Naa, but the old geezer, he left a few things out. For starters, the witch? She's a Hill Giant."
"Hill Giant?" echoed Ferdinand. "Uh... what about the wand?"
"You're leaning against it."
4304920 what's this from?
4304931 My overly-fertile mind. (Well, when I put so much (censored) in one place, things tend to sprout out at random times.)
I am flattered.
4305324 I like it. You should write more.
4304861
4304916
Thanks, folks!
4304920
If only:
This week's Writeoff was for original fic, you could just keep going over there.
Oh, and I'd forgotten that I might actually have some pony stories to release while I'm working on squirrel stuff. They're already largely written, though, and I've just been waiting for the artist to finish the cover art. So we'll see.
Mike Again
4306680 Hey, the Squirrel-My Little Pony Crossover meme is going strong.
I really didn't want to tread too heavily into your territory. (Squirrel-Mage writers tend to chitter viciously and fluff up their tails at intruding writers when that happens)