Anthologies

Sixteen original stories showcase some of the genre's most admired authors, including multiple award-winners Diana Wynne Jones, Garth Nix, Lloyd Alexander, Nancy Farmer, and Meredith Ann Pierce.

"A rich resource that will be consulted as frequently by children’s literature professionals and by genre fans themselves." — Booklist (starred review) What kind of child were you? When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? Why do you write fantasy? "Fantasy," writes Leonard S. Marcus, "is storytelling with the beguiling power to transform the impossible into the imaginable and to reveal our own ‘real’ world in a fresh and truth-bearing light." Few have harnessed this power with the artistry, verve, and imagination of the authors encountered in this compelling book. How do they work their magic? Finely nuanced and continually revealing, Leonard S. Marcus’s interviews range widely over questions of literary craft and moral vision, as he asks thirteen noted fantasy authors about their pivotal life experiences, their literary influences and work routines, and their core beliefs about the place of fantasy in literature and in our lives. Back matter includes an index.

First Firebirds . Then Firebirds Rising . Now there is Firebirds Soaring , the third anthology of original stories by some of today?s finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. These authors, including Nancy Farmer ( The Sea of Trolls ), Ellen Klages ( The Green Glass Sea ), Margo Lanagan ( Black Juice ), and Jane Yolen ( The Devil?s Arithmetic ), have brought new worlds and Old Magic to life in nineteen remarkable pieces of short fiction. Mike Dringenberg, co-creator of Sandman , contributes decorative vignettes. Firebirds Soaring ?like Firebirds and Firebirds Rising ?sets the standard for short fiction for teenagers and adult fans of the genre.

In a restless suburb of Pittsburgh PA, there dwells an odd writing and critique group called Write or Die. Celebrating a mysterious annual rite, the authors disclose secret and sometimes tragic circumstances; evident only to those who have experienced the incidents . . . until now. The stories in this collection will take you for perilous jaunts on All Hallows Eve, send you sprinting down a beach at midnight, drown your soul in inky waters, soak you in the blood of wizards and dump you down the rabbit hole of insanity. Whether these are parables that predict or tales to instruct, prepare yourself to be, KNEE DEEP in LITTLE DEVILS This is the first WorD (Write or Die) Halloween-themed anthology. The short stories contained herein were all written for, and read, during the first three annual Halloween reading events. These stories range from wonderfully frightening to frightfully preposterous. Sometimes shocking and unpredictable, this disquieting collection will keep you guessing at the sanity of the authors who write these tales.