The ship is sinking and blood and sharks fill the water. All that’s left is to die…or fight! In Brigid Collins’s historical WWII story, “The Road Beneath Indianapolis,” a sailor must fight against the urge to yield to thirst, despair…and monsters!
Brigid Collins often writes about the fae and other creatures from myth and folklore, tales that range from very dark stories to stories that are still sharp, but contain many elements of fun and romance. Both Jamie and I particularly enjoy fairy tales and retellings, and Brigid has appeared often in Jamie’s other anthologies based on such folk. As for myself, I am always a fan of darker stories in which these creatures appear–so I was particularly happy to read Brigid’s dark and monstrous tale!
You can find “The Road Beneath Indianapolis” in Amazing Monster Tales #4: Into the Briny Deep, out now!
The Interview:
How do you feel about the ocean? Any particular memories you’d like to share?
The ocean is absolutely terrifying! I’m fascinated by exploration of the sea floor and by so many of the incredible and beautiful animals that live in the ocean, but there is no way you could ever get me to do more than stand on the beach and let the waves lap over my toes. Don’t you know there are sharks in the ocean? Plus, the idea of floating on the surface over the deeps, with no telling what else may be lurking below, gives me the shivers. It makes for an atmospheric setting for fiction, though!
What is your favorite media (stories, nonfiction, video, games, music) about the ocean?
I’ve always loved the Little Mermaid, starting with the Disney version of course, but also including the original fairy tale. There’s also this game I had for the Wii console called Endless Ocean where you’d swim around and explore various ocean biomes. You couldn’t even die in the game (the first one, anyway) but some of the locations still triggered my phobias, like the ink-black deep-sea trench and the shelf where the sea floor dropped away, leaving your little SCUBA diving character floating out in an unmarked blue void… ugh.
What monster did you bring to your AMAZING MONSTER TALES story in this issue? Why?
Shark mermaids! First because I was writing a historical fantasy piece and had chosen to use the sinking of the USS Indianapolis as my setting. Second because mermaids are cool, scary mermaids are cooler, and sharks are the scariest thing in the world – see above for my thoughts on deliberately putting myself in their domain.
Bonus question! Anything you’d like to share with the readers, promotional or otherwise?
I just released the second book of my women-loving-women fantasy romance series, Winter’s Consort, on June 1st. If you like faeries with their scary edges firmly in place, you can pick up book 1, A Prisoner to Spring, for only $0.99 until June 8th on most retailers, or until June 30th on Kobo via their Read with Pride campaign for Pride Month. You can grab it via this universal link: https://books2read.com/u/mvW8O2
[The Winter’s Consort series currently consists of A Prisoner to Spring (#1) and An Ally to Summer (#2).–Ed.]
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Brigid’s Bio:
Brigid Collins is a fantasy and science fiction writer living in Michigan. Her fantasy series The Songbird River Chronicles and Winter’s Consort, her fun middle grade hijinks series The Sugimori Sisters, and her dark fairy tale novella Thorn and Thimble are available wherever books are sold. Her short stories have appeared in Fiction River, Feyland Tales, and Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies. Sign up for her newsletter at www.brigidcollinsbooks.com/newsletter-sign-up/ and get a free copy of Strength & Chaos, Mischief & Poise: Four Cat Tales, exclusively available to her subscribers!
You can find Brigid at:
Website: brigidcollinsbooks.com
Twitter: twitter.com/purellian
Check out Amazing Monster Tales #4: Into the Briny Deep Today!