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Excerpt
On the day before his twenty-third birthday, Aki’s body must die. Were Aki to achieve the prime of manhood, his light would shine so brightly that his body could no longer contain it. He would ignite. All men would be blind, and their skin would crackle and burn like roast meat on a spit. Women’s wombs would shrivel in their bodies, and the Dark Mother would gather all to her bosom to suck on her thousand poisonous teats. Coldness would rule the Kingdoms of Sand.
But Aki knows this. As the sun always rises, so it must always set — in order to rise again.
from "Break the Vessel"
Bio
Vylar Kaftan writes speculative fiction of all genres, including science fiction, fantasy, horror, and slipstream. Her stories have appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Strange Horizons, ChiZine, and Clarkesworld. Her work has been reprinted in Horror: The Best of the Year, honorably mentioned in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and shortlisted for the WSFA Small Press Award.
A 2004 graduate of Clarion West, she has volunteered for that group as well as the Little Owls mentoring program for young writers. She’s a member of SFWA, Codex, Broad Universe, and the Carl Brandon Society.
She lives with her husband Shannon in Northern California. Her hobbies include modern-day temple dancing and preparing for a major earthquake. Her favorite color is all of them. She prefers the term “differently sane.”
To read her work, visit http://www.vylarkaftan.net/bibliography.
Publications
"Sky and Sea," Brain Harvest, 2009
"Break the Vessel," Helix, 2008, also Transcriptase, 2008
"Christmas Wedding," Warrior Wisewoman, 2008
Writing Description
I write stories that bite you on the nipple.
Goals
I'm creating a worldbuilding wiki for my new novel. It's high fantasy done with scientific rigor--in other words, highly detailed worldbuilding with no elves. I'm creating new races from scratch, following the guidelines of biology, physiology, and evolution. The wiki will describe the history, cultures, and sociology of the world so that I have a reference guide when I draft the novel in September.
No title yet, but the setting is Middle Earth meets 18th century Ottoman Turkey.
I've got a prize for one lucky sponsor: I'll draw a name randomly from all of my sponsors. The winner gets a password so you can explore the wiki. You'll visit the world where my novel will take place. I'll even take suggestions for more people, places, and things to add. If I get more than ten sponsors, I'll draw two winners.
$5 = one ticket
$15 = two tickets
$25 or more = three tickets
