Kelley Armstrong - Anthology Contributions

Suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous-these all-new stories will ensure that readers never think of vampires (or birthdays) in quite the same way again.

In all the years that came before this, I had never reached this date without fulfilling my obligation. I had chosen this life and would not risk losing it through carelessness.

Only once had I ever neared my rebirth day, and then only due to circumstances beyond my control. It had been 1867 . . . or perhaps 1869. I'd been hunting for my annual victim when I'd found myself tossed into a Hungarian prison. I hadn't been caught at my kill—I'd never made so amateurish a mistaken even when I'd been an amateur.

The prison sojourn had been Aaron's fault, as such things usually were. We'd been hunting my victim when he'd come across a nobleman whipping a servant in the street. Naturally, Aaron couldn't leave well enough alone. In the ensuing confusion of the brawl, I'd been rousted with him and thrown into a pest-infested cell that wouldn't pass any modern health code.

Aaron had worked himself into a full-frothing frenzy, seeing my rebirth anniversary only days away while I languished in prison, waiting for justice that seemed unlikely to come swiftly. I was not concerned. When one partakes of Aaron's company, one learns to expect such inconveniences. While he plotted, schemed and swore he'd get us out on time, I simply waited. There was time yet and no need to panic until panic was warranted.

The day before my rebirth date, as I'd begun to suspect that a more strenuous course of action might be required, we were released. I'd compensated for the trouble and the delay by taking the life of a prison guard who enjoyed his work far more than was necessary.

This is my first story with Cassandra as narrator. She's been MIA for the last few books in the series, so I really enjoyed the chance to revisit her and play with her voice, in preparation for writing her book.

My only concern with this one (having not seen the other stories in the book yet) is that it's a tab...bleak. Not a light-hearted, "vamps & birthday parties" tale, which may disappoint some readers.

My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon - Coming January 2008

ed. P.N. Elrod

contribution: "Stalked"

Um, it's about...supernatural and honeymoons (don't have an official description yet)

I had to get rid of the mutt.

Killing him would be easiest but, unfortunately, out of the question. If Elena found out, she'd be pissed.

Ten years from now, I'd still be hearing about it: "Clay couldn't even get through our honeymoon without killing someone." She'd laugh when she said it . . . in ten years. Right now, she'd be furious.

It's a Clay and Elena story, narrated by Clay, which is always fun.

This one gave me a chance to revisit two of my favourite characters and deal with some leftover business from Broken--how is Clay coping with his injured arm?

Some may recognize the setting as St. Louis, but it's not named. That's because, just before final edits, I learned that LKH's books are set in St. Louis. I know some reader, somewhere, would say I was somehow copying/dissing the Anita Blake series (it's happened to me before!) So I cut the references. As for why it was set there...it's one of the few US cities I've visited but never used in my books.

Like A Charm - 2004

ed. Karin Slaughter

contribution: "Plan B"

From nineteenth-century Georgia, where the bracelet is forged in fire, to wartime Leeds, the seedy underside of London's Soho, a Manhattan taxi, the frozen cliffs of Nova Scotia, and back to Georgia, each writer weaves a story of murder, betrayal and intrigue. Fifteen chilling stories linked by a glittering charm bracelet which brings misfortune to everyone who handles it...

She snaked her hand over her head and wriggled in her seat like a belly dancer, her laughter tinkling chime for chime with the bracelet. The tiny dock-turned-patio held only a half-dozen tables, but every male eye at every one of those tables slid an appreciative look Abby’s way, and an envious one at Gregory. He snorted under his breath. Fools.

Wrote a lot of mystery short stories in my early twenties, so this isn't as much of a stretch as it might seem. I was thrilled when Karin asked me to contribute, though I'm sure plenty of mystery readers will see my name on the cover, amidst all those bestselling crime writers and say "who the heck is she?" Got a kick out of the "frozen cliffs of Nova Scotia" line on the jacket blurb. Yep, that's my story...but it's set in Nova Scotia in mid-summer, on the sandy beaches under those cliffs (which, BTW, are not frozen in July!)

Dying for It - Tales of Sex & Death - 2006

ed. Mitzi Szereto

contribution: "Death Dealer"

Sex and death have always been connected. The French call orgasm “la petite mort” (the little death). In Shakespearean England, “to die” also meant to have an orgasm. The Victorians believed a man’s climax depleted his physical strength and moral resolve and brought him closer to death. Likewise, the sex act drained women of their vitality.
We are as keen to examine sex as we are death: put the two together and you have an explosive, daring literary venture into the taboo. Dying for It: Tales of Sex and Death satisfies with an exciting and entertaining variety of expressions on the two most intimate human acts.

In high-school, I’d run a charity fortune-telling tent at the local fair. On the sign I’d written, in large letters: "For Entertainment Only." But no one listened. They still asked me to use my cards to tell them who to marry, which career to choose, whether to buy a house—decisions that should never be entrusted to a sixteen-year-old with a deck of old cards.
After a year working in real counseling, I’d realized people paid more attention to my advice if I used my cards. And it was then, frustrated by those cases that no gentle prodding would fix, that I discovered the real power of the Death card.