Many a discussion I’ve had with my friend and fellow writer “Dread” Patty Templeton about the ubiquitous presence of beautiful people in all our storytelling media. The heroes and heroines of “Martyr’s Gem” and “Milkmaid” came out of our ardent assertion that those of us who are plain or just plain ugly are as capable of passionate, witty, romantic, terrifying adventures as pretty people. As Leonard Cohen wrote, “Well, never mind it / We are ugly, but we have the music.” I think of Patty Templeton when I think of my Milkmaid and her Gentry Prince. I also think of my best friend Kiri-Marie O’Mahony, who once sat there and described the entire story of “Milkmaid” to me and then asked, “So, have you ever read it?” And looked so very astonished when I reminded her, amid whoops of laughter, that I had written it.
For “The Big Bah-Ha,” I thank JoSelle Vanderhooft, who originally acquired it for Drollerie Press. I thank Jeremy Cooney for creating two marvelous trailers for it. I thank Rebecca Huston (always and forever), whose collaboration and artwork awake fires in me. I thank Gillian Hastings again for being my roommate at the time it was written, and a luminous one at that.
I cannot leave off without mentioning the names of these my beloved community of writers, readers, musicians, and artists (and not even as many of them as I’d like): Samu Rahn, Miriam Mikiel Grill, Ysabeau Wilce, Tiffany Trent, Sharon Shinn, Katie Redding, Jeanine Vaughn, Shveta Thakrar, Julia Rios, Karen Meisner, Dominik Parisien, Nicole Kornher-Stace, Jack Hanlon, Francesca Forrest, Jennifer Crow, Jessica Wick, and S. J. Tucker.
For the support of my family, who always told me to “follow my bliss”—in those words and in so many others—I can but be wholly indebted. Particularly I wish to mention again Sita Aluna, Rory Cooney, Terry Donohoo, Louise Riedel, Rose DeFer, and my brothers Joel, Aidan, Jeremy, Declan, and Desmond.
Last but not least (in fact, the opposite), thank you, Mike and Anita Allen. Without you, (ha! Literally) this book would not have been possible.
C. S. E. Cooney is a Rhode Island writer who lives across the street from a Victorian strolling park. She is the author of The Breaker Queen and The Two Paupers (Books One and Two of the Dark Breakers trilogy), The Witch in the Almond Tree, How To Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes, and Jack o’ the Hills. She won the 2011 Rhysling Award for her story-poem “The Sea King’s Second Bride.”
Other examples of her work can be found in Rich Horton’s Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy (2011, 2012, 2014), The Nebula Awards Showcase (2013), The Mammoth Book of Steampunk Adventures (2014), The Moment of Change, Black Gate, Uncanny, Strange Horizons, Apex, GigaNotoSaurus, Subterranean, Ideomancer, Clockwork Phoenix, Steam-Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories, The Book of Dead Things, Cabinet des Fées, Stone Telling, Goblin Fruit, and Mythic Delirium.
Her website is http://csecooney.com.
Books by C. S. E. Cooney
Jack o' the Hills
How to Flirt in Faerieland and Other Wild Rhymes
The Witch in the Almond Tree
The Dark Breakers Trilogy
The Breaker Queen
The Two Paupers
Desdemona in the Deep (forthcoming)
More from Mythic Delirium Books
Clockwork Phoenix:
Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Clockwork Phoenix 2:
More Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Clockwork Phoenix 3:
New Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Clockwork Phoenix 4
Mythic Delirium:
an international anthology of prose and verse
PRAISE FOR
BONE SWANS
“C. S. E. Cooney is one of the most moving, daring, and plainly beautiful voices to come out of recent fantasy. She’s a powerhouse with a wink in her eye and a song in each pocket.”
—Catherynne M. Valente, New York Times–bestselling author of the Fairyland novels
“Cooney’s brilliantly executed collection of five stories is a delicious stew of science fiction, horror, and fantasy, marked by unforgettable characters who plumb the depths of pathos and triumph…Cooney’s magical prose elicits laughter even as gruesome scenes induce shudders, and her expert pacing breathlessly buoys the reader to each story’s conclusion. All of these stories could easily serve as the foundation for novels while also working beautifully at their current length. These well-crafted narratives defiantly refuse to fade from memory long after the last word has been read.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Writing without ostentation and featuring characters who may be flippant, terse, or even tongue-tied, Cooney produces memorable prose propelled by extraordinary ideas…Faced with such twisted genius, I’ll say no more!”
—Locus
“These stories are a pure joy. C. S. E. Cooney’s imagination is wild and varied, her stories bawdy, horrific, comic, and moving—frequently all at the same time. Her characters are wickedly appealing, and her language—O! her language. Lush, playful, poetic, but never obscure or stilted, it makes her magic more magic, her comedy more comic, and her tragic moments almost unbearable.”
—Delia Sherman, author of Young Woman in a Garden: Stories
“Like one of her characters, C. S. E. Cooney is a master piper, playing songs within songs. Her stories are wild, theatrical, full of music and murder and magic.”
—James Enge, author of Blood of Ambrose
“C. S. E. Cooney’s Bone Swans is like visiting a literary Ys. Coaxed by her deft hand, lands and people long lost to memory resurface, breaking through the hearts of readers with the force of a gentle tsunami. Once that wave has broken over you, you are never the same.”
—Tiffany Trent, author of The Unnaturalists
“Bone Swans is a joy of feathery bones and ghoulish clowns. I adored every word. Like an eyas cries for meat, I cry for more. C. S. E. Cooney’s a major talent, and these are major talent stories. Who can resist hero rats, pouting swans, feral children, flying carpets, and the Flabberghast? So tongue-tied am I with delight I fall back on the usual clichés: gripping, delightful, insightful, rollicking, and lyrical—and yet not one cliché is to be found in Bone Swans, only stories of surpassing delicacy and wit, told by a lady of rare talent. Please, ma’am, might I have some more?”
—Ysabeau S. Wilce, author of Flora’s Dare
“C. S. E. Cooney uses words like jewels, stringing them together on gold filigree sentences. Then she adds a beaded fringe of colorful characters—the living, the dead, the wronged, the righteous, the villainous, the vengeful, the divine. It’s a treasure chest of a collection, and it’s full of gems.”
—Sharon Shinn, author of the Elemental Blessings novels
“If your familiarity begins and ends with C. S. E. Cooney’s poetry, do yourself a favor and stick around for these novellas. If you aren’t new to her stories, know that you will find her here at the top of her not inconsiderable game. Highly original, mythic in scope, lyrically told, just plain fun.”
—Nicole Kornher-Stace, author of Archivist Wasp
“These stories are rich, original fantasy with a sharp edge, peopled by vivid, engaging characters inhabiting fantastic worlds. This is a brilliant and thoroughly enjoyable collection.”
—Martha Wells, author of The Books of the Raksura novels
“Cooney drafts lyrical prose that sparkles with brilliant imagery and compelling characters. I can’t wait to see what she does next!”
—Howard Andrew Jones, author of The Desert of Souls
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