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    Written on the Coast
    Written on the Coast
    Written on the Coast
    Ebook196 pages2 hours

    Written on the Coast

    By Dayle A. Dermatis

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Ranging from traditional fantasy to science fiction to contemporary fantasy to the undefinably absurd, the stories in this collection will appeal to readers of all types of speculative fiction.

     

    In Written on the Coast you'll find out why Dayle A. Dermatis's short fiction has been called "really, really good"!

     

    With a foreword by USA Today bestselling author Dean Wesley Smith.

     

    Featuring the following stories:

    • Masked

    • Love Makes the Universe Go 'Round

    • Dreamseer

    • Blood Relations

    • Dyrnwyn's Fire

    • Not the Nurturing Type

    • Famous Last Words

    • Corvus Kidnappus

    • At the Mirk and Midnight Hour

    • What Price Beauty

    • As Delicate and Sharp as a Shard of Glass

    • The Change

    • If the Shoe Fits

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSoul's Road Press
    Release dateMar 14, 2022
    ISBN9798201803551
    Written on the Coast
    Author

    Dayle A. Dermatis

    Dayle A. Dermatis is the author or coauthor of many novels (including snarky urban fantasies Ghosted and the forthcoming Shaded and Spectered) and more than a hundred short stories in multiple genres, appearing in such venues as Fiction River, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and DAW Books.Called the mastermind behind the Uncollected Anthology project, she also guest edits anthologies for Fiction River, and her own short fiction has been lauded in many year's best anthologies in erotica, mystery, and horror.She lives in a book- and cat-filled historic English-style cottage in the wild greenscapes of the Pacific Northwest. In her spare time she follows Styx around the country and travels the world, which inspires her writing.To find out where she’s wandered off to (and to get free fiction!), check out DayleDermatis.com and sign up for her newsletter or support her on Patreon.* * *I value honest feedback, and would love to hear your opinion in a review, if you’re so inclined, on your favorite book retailer’s site.* * *For more information:www.dayledermatis.com

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      Book preview

      Written on the Coast - Dayle A. Dermatis

      Written on the Coast

      Written on the Coast

      Thirteen Tales of Magic and Mayhem Written in Lincoln City, Oregon

      Dayle A. Dermatis

      Soul’s Road Press

      Contents

      About This Book

      Foreword

      Introduction

      Masked

      Love Makes the Universe Go ’Round

      Dreamseer

      Blood Relations

      Dyrnwyn’s Fire

      Not the Nurturing Type

      Famous Last Words

      Corvus Kidnappus

      At the Mirk and Midnight Hour

      What Price Beauty?

      As Delicate and Sharp as a Shard of Glass

      The Change

      If the Shoe Fits

      About the Author

      Also by Dayle A. Dermatis

      Be the First to Know!

      About This Book

      Once upon a time, a writer journeyed to the enchanting Oregon Coast and took a workshop. Then, drawn by the siren’s song of knowledge and craft, she went back and took a whole bunch more. The result? Written on the Coast.

      Ranging from traditional fantasy to science fiction to contemporary fantasy to the undefinably absurd, the stories in this collection will appeal to readers of all types of speculative fiction.

      Foreword

      As I sit here at my computer in my WMG Publishing office, my wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, is working with a group of professional writers on the other side of the building. She’s trying to help them learn a vast array of skills to write short stories.

      Outside the day is cold and raining, even though it says June on the calendar. The writers are all exhausted even though they have three full days to go in the week-long grind that Kris is putting them through. One of them even mentioned to me that they could no longer remember the day they arrived. That’s normal for these classes.

      All of the writers in the group were already fine short story writers when they trekked here to Oregon from all over the country and Canada. They are all far, far above beginner levels and most are already selling regularly to professional markets, both short fiction and novels. Yet they are here to learn, to hone craft, to learn new skills and tricks to make their fiction even better.

      They all come here to the offices twice a day to meet for two or three hours. Then they go back to a wonderful small hotel called The Historic Anchor Inn to eat, write, and try to catch a few hours sleep. The Anchor feels like it was designed for writers. Every room is a different two-room suite. Every morning the writers get together to talk over a free breakfast hand-cooked by the staff of The Anchor. Often there are no other guests but writers in the hotel.

      Some writers come back even though there is no workshop going on because they get so much writing done while staying at The Anchor. It’s that kind of place.

      We are the continuing education place for professional fiction writers. We force writers to come to what we laughingly refer to as the end of the planet to write, learn, and get to know other professional writers. It’s two hours to the nearest major airport over a mountain range. And the ocean is cold and the wind is always blowing.

      Professional fiction writers really have to want to learn to get to The Anchor and this workshop complex.

      A secret: True professional fiction writers always want to keep learning. And with writing, there is no top, no time when any writer knows it all. We all aspire to be better every day of our writing lives.

      We offer learning here a fiction writer can’t find anywhere else. So they make the long trip.

      Dayle has made the trip from her home in sunny Southern California many times. I don’t remember how many times, since all these classes sort of blur after a few years.

      But nothing about Dayle blurs for me. She and her wonderful husband are amazing people and I feel lucky to even know them.

      And for me, getting to write this foreword to this wonderful collection is a real honor.

      So why does Dayle have so many great stories written here on the Oregon Coast? Even more than the thirteen included here?

      First off, I don’t think she is capable of writing a bad story. There sure isn’t one in this collection. And a few in here are my personal favorites of her work. (I’m not going to say which ones because I know you all will find your own favorites. Just trust me when I say all thirteen stories are great.)

      One of the stories I hadn’t read before this collection, even though she wrote them all here. Only the instructors in each workshop read and comment on the stories and I wasn’t always an instructor in classes Dayle was in.

      So honestly, reading this collection was like revisiting old friends and finding new ones at the same time. Wonderful.

      Another reason there are so many stories in this collection is that when writers are here, they write. They have no other choice if they are going to keep up. Usually they write under pressure, to hit a tight deadline, to a specific topic, in a strange hotel room, while spending hours away from their computers in classes and discussions with other professional writers.

      Writing is not an option here. Sleep is, but writing must get done on time and on target. (Did I mention all writers we let in here are professional fiction writers to start with?)

      Dayle always hits her deadlines and always with a great story.

      This collection of fiction she wrote here is a fantastic treat. And I’m so glad she thought to put them all together like this and with this wonderful cover.

      So as the professional writers in the other room are moaning that Kris has piled yet another assignment on them while they have a short story due this evening, I am sitting here in my WMG Publishing office writing an introduction for a wonderful book of stories that came from this crazy place on the windy Oregon Coast.

      I love how things like this work out.

      Enjoy the work of one of the best writers working today. I sure did.

      —Dean Wesley Smith

      Introduction

      All of the stories in this collection were written at workshops I’ve taken in Lincoln City, Oregon—hence they were all written on the coast. Twelve were written at what was originally called the Denise Little Workshop and is now known as the Anthology Workshop.

      Editrix Extraordinaire Denise Little worked for Techno Books, who packaged anthologies for DAW Books. If you’re a science fiction/fantasy reader, you’ve probably read some of the anthologies she’s edited. The first workshops were not only to teach the participants how to write a story based on an anthology theme, but sometimes also gave us the opportunity to have our stories considered for live anthologies.

      The final story here was the lone fantasy story I wrote at the Short Story Workshop. I’m including it largely because I wanted thirteen stories in this collection. Because thirteen is a magical number, don’t’cha know.

      At the time of this writing, I’ve attended yet another Anthology Workshop and have two new stories to show for it. But since I wanted to keep this collection to thirteen stories, the two new stories will have to appear in a future collection. I already have five others from various workshops over the years…Written on the Coast II can’t be far behind!

      Masked

      This is one of the more recent stories, although the idea for it had been in my head for quite some time. I’d just never gotten around to writing it. The theme of the anthology was Curses, Foiled Again, and my brain went "A-ha!"

      I love it when that happens.

      Love Makes the Universe Go ’Round

      This originally started as an erotic story—just the middle part of it, about Grazine and the P’ssat. But it clearly wasn’t the right genre for the idea, so I set it aside…until we were given the theme Barflies (which later was published as Cosmic Cocktails). My story didn’t make it into the published anthology, but I was delighted to have been given the impetus to write the idea as a science fiction story.

      Dreamseer

      All I remember about this story was that the theme was Dreams, and that I didn’t know the ending—the Dreamseer’s own arc—until I typed the last words.

      Blood Relations

      Oh, I was in a goofy mood this year! The theme was Dynastic Fantastic: all about the offspring of fantastic parents and a unique look at teenage rebellion.

      I giggled my way through the writing of this story, and I hope it makes you laugh, too.

      Dyrnwyn’s Fire

      Sometimes, you write a short story. Sometimes, writer-friends/colleagues you trust read the short story and say, This is really a novel. And you bang your head against the desk for a few minutes, then sigh and put the idea in your long list of Novels to Write.

      I think Dyrnwyn’s Fire, which was written for a sword-themed anthology, stands well on its own, but there definitely is a novel in there, too. It’s on my long list…. It’s also going to be a great excuse for another trip to Britain to research World War II.

      Not the Nurturing Type

      I didn’t want to write this story. I was recovering from a death in my family, and the theme of A Planet Too Far (stories set on human outposts on the ragged edge of the galaxy) wasn’t one I had much of an interest in.

      But the idea for this story had been knocking around in my head ever since I watched the first season of the revamped Battlestar Galactica—I would’ve loved to write it as a tie-in novel if they hadn’t gone sideways with the whole baby issue. I find the dichotomy between the two opposing points of view—the woman who doesn’t want children, but is expected to, and the woman who wants children, but shouldn’t because it would negatively affect her ability to do a crucial job—fascinating.

      This one may end up turning into a novel as well, sometime down the line.

      Famous Last Words

      This one also came out of the year I was in a goofy mood. We’d spent the first part of the workshop talking about all the changes in publishing (this was in 2009, so the statistics in the story itself are a little dated), and when we were hit with the theme The End of the World As We Know It, this is what exploded in my brain. It didn’t have to be the literal end of the world—just the end of the world for somebody (e.g., for a kid, the end of the world can be not getting dessert after dinner).

      My favorite part of the process was when we got our manuscripts back from the readers: Denise Little, reading as the anthology editor; Kristine Kathryn Rusch, reading as if she were editing the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (which she used to do—and she won a Hugo for it); and Dean Wesley Smith, reading as the editor of Pulphouse (which he used to do as well). All Dean wrote on the first page of this manuscript were two words.

      Which I couldn’t decipher.

      For the life of me, they looked like Baking bread, which made no sense. I asked Dean. He himself had no idea. Kris said, I can read his handwriting, took the page from me…and admitted defeat. It wasn’t until hours later, at lunch (where the page was passed around and everyone agreed it said Baking bread), when Dean commented, I read that story and just set it down on the floor, shaking my head, that we realized it actually said Shaking head.

      I also find it amusing that Famous Last Words is the shortest story in this collection, but this is possibly the longest Author’s Note!

      Corvus Kidnappus

      I may have written these (and many other stories) on the Oregon Coast, but in large part, my heart belongs in Britain. I’ve been an Anglophile since I was a kid (I blame The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, not to mention Tolkien), and I studied in Chester, England, for a semester in college before having the opportunity to live in Wales for nearly four years when my husband’s work took us there.

      The theme of this anthology was Prophecies, and the guidelines said, Your story must be based on actual prophecies—whether they be Biblical, religious, scientific, pronouncements by a famous seer, cultural prophecies, or otherwise…and the story should revolve around what happens as the prophecy does or does not come to pass. (That was probably the most information we ever received about an anthology theme.)

      Note that the story was written well before some of the events mentioned in the story came to pass. Still, as far as I know, the ravens are still safe and sound at the Tower.

      At the Mirk and Midnight Hour

      Know what noir is? Neither did most of us when we were given the theme of Fairy Tale Noir. There were a bunch of fantastic stories…but they weren’t really noir. Oh well! I know I never would have come up with this story if I hadn’t been faced with the challenge, though.

      Once again, I drew on my love of Britain, as well as the Faerie Realm and the Adirondacks of upstate (real upstate) New York, where I grew up and where my family has a cabin that’s a lot like the one in the story. I always believed there were fae in those woods….

      I remember that I wrote this story blind—I had no idea what was happening until I typed it, no idea how the story was going to end. Writing stories like that is a terrifying and exhilarating process.

      What Price Beauty?

      The theme for this anthology was Hags, Harpies, Sirens, and Sorceresses—a story

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