QSFer Warren Rochelle has a story in a new fantasy anthology:
For Glosson Bennett and his husband, Cameron Ross, life was going well.They both had good jobs, a house they loved, in a neighborhood that they loved, too.
When their next door neighbor died while traveling, they inherited the curmudgeonly black cat they had been caring for, and a curious little box, as a thank you, and, they were told, for good luck. Good luck? Not quite.
The magical creature inside the box, a long-time captive, had ideas of its own. Glosson and Cameron’s lives changed had never dreamed of…
This book contains some adult language and content – The world of the Fae is full of secrets and hidden things. It is a world of darkness and light, sensuality and fear. Step through the veil and take a peek at ten Fae in stories by ten authors.
Note: Warren’s story is the only queer story in the collection.
Excerpt
Someone laughed, a thin, high laugh. Glosson jerked back, pressing himself against the wall. “Are you laughing at me?”
“You heard that? Oh, thank God, I thought I was going crazy. It’s him, he’s doing all this—the bed legs, the dishes, the things he told me in the weird dreams, everything.”
“Him? Him who? Told you in your dreams?”
Cameron pointed behind Glosson to the door to their bedroom. He turned and there, leaning against the doorjamb, was a very small creature, no bigger than a house cat, with a wrinkled human-appearing face, and thick brown curly hair all over its body. It waved at the two of them, and then extended what looked like a six-fingered hand and blew a kiss.
Glosson could actually see it, a tiny red valentine in the air, and he stared as it flew toward Cameron. He watched as Cameron grabbed his helmet, swung, and the valentine shattered, red dust sprinkling on the floor.
“Do you see him? Did you see what he just did? He’s been in all my weird dreams,” Cameron whispered. The creature’s hair shifted from brown to white-blond, the same color as Cameron’s, and it pulled a pouty face.
Glosson nodded. “I saw it. What is it?” Even with an impossible creature staring at them, Glosson had never felt more relieved.
“Thank God. I thought I was going crazy, and I thought you thought—oh never mind. It’s a Luck.”
“A Luck?”
“That’s what he told me. Like a brownie and like a boggart.”
Author Bio
Warren Rochelle has taught English at the University of Mary Washington since 2000. Rochelle’s short fiction and poetry have appeared in various journals, including the North Carolina Literary Review, Forbidden Lines, Aboriginal Science Fiction, Colonnades, Graffiti, Collective Fallout, Queer Fish 2, and Icarus, as well as the Asheville Poetry Review, GW Magazine, Crucible, The Charlotte Poetry Review,Second Hand Stories, and Romance and Beyond. His short story, “The Golden Boy” (published in The Silver Gryphon) was a Finalist for the 2004 Gaylactic Spectrum Award for Best Short Story.
Rochelle is the author of three novels: The Wild Boy (2001), Harvest of Changelings (2007), and The Called (2010), all published by Golden Gryphon Press. His fourth novel, The Werewolf and His Boy, was published in September 2016 by Samhain Publishing.