“Kittyand Cormac’s Excellent Adventure”
“Surrender”by Cheap Trick
Theworld has so many stories about magic and mayhem to explore. So manypotential characters and discoveries. I haven’t even scratched thesurface. There are more things in heaven and Earth, Horatio . . .
“Sealskin”
“SaucySailor” by The Wailin’ Jennys
Thisis a sequel to the selkie story, “The Temptation of Robin Green” (in Kitty’s Greatest Hits). It tells the story of Robinand the selkie’s child, a son, who grows up to become a Navy SEALbecause of course he does. But now his mother has passed away and he’slooking for answers. I really ought to write more about selkies,shouldn’t I? (You see how this whole sequel thing starts.) Thisappeared in Operation Arcana, edited by JohnJoseph Adams.
“TheArcane Art of Misdirection”
“Abracadabra”by The Steve Miller Band
Oneof the most popular characters in the series, probably right afterCormac, Rick, and Kitty herself, is Odysseus Grant, stage magician. Sowhen I was invited to submit a story to P. N. Elrod’s anthology Hex Appeal, my main character was obvious. I know alot about Odysseus I haven’t had a chance to write about yet. I haven’tyet told his origin story, about growing up in Providence, RhodeIsland, next door to an old vaudeville stage magician who knew suchincredible lore and such dark secrets . . . But never mind, I’ll savethat for another time.
“WhatHappened to Ben in Vegas”
“Ain’tThat a Kick in the Head” by Dean Martin
InKitty and the Dead Man’s Hand, Ben has anadventure, and Kitty spends a chunk of the book beside herself tryingto figure out what happened to him. He shows up at the end, havingrescued himself, with only a healed gunshot wound to show for it. We,the readers, never actually find out what happened to him. Well, now wedo.
“DefiningShadows”
“Elephants”by Warpaint
Iwrote this one for an anthology that wanted stories about supernaturaldetectives. I chose to write about Detective Jessi Harden,Kitty’s sometime-friend and sometime-nemesis, the Denver cop who hasinadvertently become an expert in supernatural criminals and crime.That’s only half the story. The other half came from a story told by aFilipina friend about a strange and hideous form of vampire found inthe Philippines: the manananggal. The manananggal isn’t even really avampire. It detaches from its torso and flies around seeking outpregnant women. Then it sucks their unborn fetuses out through theirnavels. Basically, when I can cross that thin, thin line between urbanfantasy and horror I will do so with gusto. I think everyone needs toknow about this creature. Also, if you want to read Cormac’s side ofhis conversations with Detective Hardin, you can do so in “Long TimeWaiting,” in Kitty’s Greatest Hits. This storyappeared in Those Who Hunt Monsters, edited byJustin Gustainis.
“BellumRomanum”
“Kingdom”by VNV Nation
Iwas invited to send a story to an anthology called UrbanEnemies, edited by Joseph Nassise. The premise: stories aboutthe villains of urban fantasy series. Our hero’s rivals and enemies. Ofcourse I only had one real option: Gaius Albinus, Dux Bellorum, Roman,the two-thousand-year-old former centurion who has used his immortallife to manipulate vampire kind into an army that can bring about theapocalypse. This isn’t quite his origin story—this doesn’t tell how hebecame a vampire. Rather, it tells how he became a magician with thepower to destroy the world. Much of the background laid out here isreferenced in Kitty in the Underworld and Kitty Saves the World. This is a good example of hownot all the information I know about a story necessarily makes it intothe story. Because the Kitty novels are written in first-person pointof view, they can only tell you what Kitty knows. It turns out, there’sa lot Kitty doesn’t know.
“KittyLearns the Ropes”
“Ballof Confusion” by The Temptations
Here,I explore one of my big questions about the supernatural in the “realworld”: what happens when supernatural creatures take part inprofessional sports? Of course a werewolf boxer is going to havesignificant advantages—as long as he can keep it a secret. The storyhappens when he can’t keep it a secret anymore. It also features Kittydoing what she does best—getting people to talk. It originally appearedin the anthology Full Moon City, editedby Darrell Schweitzer and Martin H. Greenberg.
“KittyBusts the Feds”
“Antmusic”by Adam Ant
It’sprobably just as well I wrapped up the series when I did, because Iwould be unable to continue writing stories featuring Kitty withoutalso commenting on various current political issues.
CARRIE VAUGHN is the New York Times best-sellingauthor best known for her Kitty Norville urban fantasy series. Theseries, about a werewolf who hosts a talk radio advice show forsupernatural beings,includes fourteen novels and a collection of short stories.
Vaughnis also the author of the superhero novels in the Golden Age saga andhas been a regular contributor to the Wild Cards shared-world novelsedited by George R. R. Martin. In addition, Vaughn writes the Harry andMarlowe steampunk short stories featuring alien technology in analternate nineteenth-century setting.
Vaughnreceived the 2018 Philip K. Dick Award for her novel Bannerless.She is also the winner of the RT Reviewer Choice Award for Best FirstMystery for Kitty and the Midnight Hour andthe WSFA Small Press Award for best short story for “Amaryllis.” Shehas a master’s degree in English literature, graduated from the OdysseyFantasy Writing Workshop in 1998, and returned to the workshop aswriter in residence in 2009. Her most recent books are TheGhosts of Sherwood and The ImmortalConquistador.
Abona fide Air-Force brat (her father served on a B-52 flight crewduring the Vietnam War), Vaughn grew up all over the U.S. but managedto put down roots in the area of Boulder, Colorado, where she pursuesan endlessly growing list of hobbies and enjoys the outdoors as much asshe can. She is fiercely guarded by a miniature American Eskimo dognamed Lily.
EMMA BULL (War for the Oaks), won the Locus Awardfor best first novel and has been a cult favorite ever since. She’sgone on topublish fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories and achildren’s picture book. Her novel Bone Dance wasa finalist for the Hugo,
