So, first of all I'm excited to announce that my short story Burned will be appearing in this month's Ethereal Tales. Yay! I love short story writing, so I'm always pleased when I actually get something published, and I'm especially pleased in this case because it's a Scarlett story. Scarlett and her gang of werewolves, necromancers, lost gods, and pyschics being my first writing love and all that.

Anyway, I've seen this on a few people's blogs, butkaz_mahoney  is encouraging everyone to do it, so here we are.

'I wish you were coming with me tonight.' - SILVER KISS (which is rolling along nicely, thanks!)

A fire storm was brewing. - Wonderland (which has stalled because I'm too lazy to work on the much-needed worldbuildling).

She ran through the forest, the metallic tang of blood in her nostrils - Wild (which one day I will finish rewriting because I love it, damn you).

The vampire slunk through the dead leaves and damp earth, a parody of the woman it had been in life - Death for the Born (don't really have any witty comments for this one).

http://mindancerpress.wordpress.com/books/skulls-and-crossbones/

I am so writing something for this. Pirates! Come on!

So the AVA technician at work has offered to build me a website (yay! Next step - business cards!) and I thought I'd trawl t'internet for short stories I'd had published over the past few years so I actually had something to put on the website. I couldn't find all of them, as a couple of the ezines don't have archives. But I found all these:

Unusual Appetites
Born and Dead in Brooklyn
The Lady in the Fog
Painless
Mercury Bones
Scream if You Know What I Did Last Friday 13th
Mirror, Mirror
1770

And since I'm here pimping myself, this is probably as good a time as any to remind you all that Queer Wolf is released in paperback on June 7th - just a few short days away!

First up, some pimping: My short story, Unusual Appetites is now online at Lost Souls ezine. I promise you, it's highly relevant ^-^

And now, onto the serious stuff. If you’re not interested in becoming a werewolf, you might want to note how to spot one. After all, you never know what sort of people are out there…

Most contemporary images of werewolves come from Hollywood. Films like The Wolfman and Curse of the Wolfman depict hairy, fanged, wolflike beings, incapable of rational thought. They are rarely shown as actual wolves and walk upright rather than on all fours. This is a direct contradiction to ancient traditions, in which the werewolf is difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish from a true wolf.

If you suspect a neighbour or a loved one of being a werewolf, you might want to check for the telltale signs, as listed by seventh century physician Paulos Agina:

· Pale skin
· Weak vision (I have weak vision!)
· An absence of tears or saliva
· Excessive thirst (okay, I actually have that one too.)
· Ulcers and abrasions on the arms and legs, caused by walking on all fours
· An obsession with wandering in cemeteries at night*
· Howling until dawn**

Tradition also recommends checking the palms of the suspected werewolf. If they’re covered with coarse, stiff hair, get the silver bullets ready. Overly long index fingers and eyebrows that meet in the centre of the forehead are also giveaways.

*This also applies to Goths, so be careful before you shoot anyone.

**This also applies to regular wolves and dogs, so again, easy on the trigger.