Ardeur-14 Writers on the Anita Blake Vampire Slayer

208 Pages·2009·5.58 MB·English

by  Hamilton Laurell K

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Ardeur

Ardeur
14 Writers on the Anitwa Blwa kew, Vampire Hunter Series
edited by laurell K. hamilton
With leah Wilson
An Imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.
Dallas, TX
“Giving the Devil Her Due” Copyright © 2010 by Nick Mamatas
“Girls Gone Wild” Copyright © 2010 by Heather Swain
“Ambiguous Anita” Copyright © 2010 by Lilith Saintcrow
“Dating the Monsters” Copyright © 2010 by L. Jagi Lamplighter
“Bon Rapports” Copyright © 2010 by Marella Sands
“Mom! There’s Something Dead Sucking on My Neck!” Copyright © 2010 by Cathy
Clamp
“The Other Side of the Street” Copyright © 2010 by Alasdair Stuart
“The Domestication of a Vampire Executioner” Copyright © 2010 by Natasha
Fondren
“Ardeur’s Purpose” Copyright © 2010 by Devon Ellington
“Trying the System” Copyright © 2010 by Melissa L. Tatum
“Are the Fangs Real?” Copyright © 2010 by Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D.
“Death Becomes Her” Copyright © 2010 by Naomi Sharon Lester
“Death’s Got Your Back” Copyright © 2010 by Vera Nazarian
“Showing the Scars” Copyright © 2010 by Jacob Clifton
Other Materials Copyright © 2010 by Laurell K. Hamilton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this title.
ISBN 978-1933771-47-2
Some copyediting by Oriana Leckert
Proofreading by Erica Lovett and Gregory Teague
Cover illustration by Ralph Voltz • Cover design by Laura Watkins
Text design and composition by Yara Abuata
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COntents
Giving the Devil Her Due w 1
Nick Mamatas
Girls Gone Wild w 11
Heather Swain
Ambiguous Anita w 25
Lilith Saintcrow
Dating the Monsters w 41
L. Jagi Lamplighter
Bon Rapports w 57
Marella Sands
Mom! There’s Something Dead Sucking on My Neck! w 69
Cathy Clamp
The Other Side of the Street w 79
Alasdair Stuart
The Domestication of a Vampire Executioner w 89
Natasha Fondren
Ardeur’s Purpose w 105
Devon Ellington
Trying the System w 121
Melissa L. Tatum
Are the Fangs Real? w 135
Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D.
Death Becomes Her w 149
Sharon Ashwood
Death’s Got Your Back w 163
Vera Nazarian
Showing the Scars w 179
Jacob Clifton
w

w
I remember the May 2000 Nebula Awards in New York that Nick
Mamatas writes about. There was a signing at a Barnes & Noble w

for the nebula nominees (the nebula is a literary award for the
Science Fiction Writers of America [SFWA]). I was indeed one of
the writers who was also appearing and not a nominee.
Most book signings are bleak. You sit at a little table with
your books and people avoid your gaze, as if meeting it means
they must buy something, or they think you work for the store.
i got that a lot early on. it’s one of the reasons i stopped wear-
ing the skirt suits or business casual. I got tired of being asked,
“Where are the baseball card books?” I did years of signings like
that, and then came this signing.
My agent, Merrilee Heifetz of Writer’s House, had showed
up to give me moral support. I appreciated that. She alone knew
that there were other things on my mind that weekend than
networking. The nominees were reading from their works and
the rest of us stood to one side quietly listening. Then the first
group of women came up the escalator and spotted my name
tag. They did that squeal-scream. I admit it scared me. Then
they were so excited to see me. It was wonderful, but the other
writers were reading, so I did my best to quiet them and assure
them I’d sign books after the other writers were done. The sec-
ond or third time I got that double-take on my name tag, and
had to talk to fans while the other writers were still reading, I
took my name tag off and gave it to Merrilee to hide. That helped
a little, but it was too late, I had been spotted. When time came
for the official book signing, Barnes & Noble had to give me a
table and a chair of my own to one side, sort of segregated from
the other authors, because my line was as big as everyone else’s
combined. It was the kind of crowd that you want for a signing
and never get. It was gratifying and embarrassing. Yay, I was a
success. Boo, I worried it would make the other writers feel bad.
I had a signing years ago when no one knew who I was, and got
to sit by Margaret Weiss when Dragonlance was a very big deal.
I signed maybe two books; her line was gigantic. So I’d been on
the other end of the event.
What no one but my agent and my editor at the time knew
was that my marriage was over. I was dating again after a decade
and change. I had broken up with my current boyfriend just be-
fore I got on the plane to New York. The attention of the fans was
only part of the change that weekend. At the Nebula dinner, pub-
lishers, editors, and other professionals in our business were all
over me in a good, happy way. Suddenly I was everyone’s golden
w girl. It had only taken about a decade of writing and publishing

to get there.
w

w —Laurell