The first one hundred copies ordered will also include a signed and numbered ex libris style plate, signed by Janeen Webb.
We all have our demons. In SCORPION GIRL, women of all ages face theirs. From
battlefields to bedrooms, in these stories nothing is what it seems: creatures
from myth, legend, history and literature rub shoulders with ordinary—and
extraordinary—people. From ghosts to scientists, from eco-terrorists to time
travellers, these courageous women come face to face with the uncanny, the
supernatural and the bizarre. They meet the challenges with whatever they can
muster—from the casual bravery of a woman warrior to the stoic endurance of
a refugee child. Like all of us, they try to make sense of the unstable, conflicted
world in which they find themselves.
SCORPION GIRL is a must-read collection for everyone who enjoys fast-paced,
unsettling, provocative fiction.
Here are some opening passages from three of the stories:
A Pearl Beyond Price
For there are strange objects in the great abyss, and the seeker of dreams must take care not to stir up or meet the wrong ones.
—H.P. Lovecraft.
“The Strange High House in the Mist,” 1926
Michiko was not afraid. She had heard the monsters singing, each to each, a
hundred times before today. She was fascinated, but she did not think the
creatures even noticed when she dived into the blue-green deeps of their
realm, fishing for pearls on the edge of the great abyss.
She knew the monsters were always there, though she could never be entirely
sure she had seen one. She had caught glimpses–a tentacle slithering into a
crevice, a huge eye peering at her from beneath a ledge, a sudden burst of
bubbles at the mouth of an
underwater cave. She did not need to
see them to know them. In her heart
she understood the cadence of their
monster melody. Their music was
made in deeper, darker tones than
the whale-song that vibrated through
her bones whenever the great herds
of humpbacks came to the warm
waters of the Indian Ocean. The
monster song was mournful: the
creatures of the deep sang of loss,
and sorrow. They sang of darkness
and death. They sang of despair.
“With her crystalline prose, sharp wit, and a gift for telling compelling
stories with meticulous detail, Janeen Webb has produced a
marvelous collection of modern fairy tales and folk stories that
speak to our own time. Here readers will meet environmental
criminals, fearful and compassionate monsters, alien invaders,
ghosts in various forms, and powerful women who can be both
compassionate and merciless. This is a volume that will delight any
connoisseur of unsettling, provocative, and rewarding fiction.”
— Pamela Sargent, author of THE SHORE OF WOMEN and editor of
the WOMEN OF WONDER ANTHOLOGIES.
Gallipoli Belle
I met a Lady in the Meads,
Full beautiful, a faery’s child
Her hair was long, her foot was light
And her eyes were wild–
—John Keats: La Belle Dame Sans Merci.
On the morning of the 25th April 1915, for the first time in his young life, Private
Timothy James Robinson of the Australian Division disobeyed an order. He
dropped his rifle, climbed over the rail,
took a deep breath, and executed a
perfect swan dive.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
He felt scorching heat on his hands
as he broke the surface of the burning
oil slick that surrounded his stricken,
sinking ship; he felt the too-close
whine of the bullets that followed him.
But then he was through, diving down,
down, down to safety. He kicked off his
Army-issue boots and struggled out
of his backpack, turning over and over
in the roiling, blood-stained waters of
the cove. The sea was a churning
mess of oil and mud and sand and kelp that swirled around anchor chains and
mortar shells and bits of exploded metal: the water was full of battle debris–and
bodies. The bodies of the newly dead floated everywhere, bumping together
blindly like schools of strange khaki-coloured fish.
“The tables have turned in Janeen Webb’
s much-anticipated new
collection! With a swing of the hips and a nod to Wells and Lovecraft,
these smart and brave women storm the ramparts of corporate
greed, climate crime, and plain old-fashioned brutality. They may
not always succeed (and you
‘ll be in tears), but they never
disappoint. A collection with a real sting in the tail.”
— Dena Bain Taylor, author of BONES & KEEPS
Scorpion GIrl
The day the invaders killed Grandfather was the day my mother finally
decided that our family would have to flee from the city.
“We are no longer safe,” she said.
“We have no option. We must go.”
We have practiced this. We are ready.
~~~
We all set out–my parents, my
brother, and me. We are carrying our
backpacks, walking as if this is our
usual afternoon excursion across the
town square and through the park to
the gym where my brother plays
basketball for his school. We each
have our coats, a change of clothes,
and basic toiletries, but we have left
our family treasures behind in case
we are searched. Random searches
are becoming more frequent
nowadays. Mother has brought a
small first aid kit with her, and she has
risked carrying her jewellery. She has
taped it tightly to her body in a little
pouch.
“Gold can be sold,
” she says.
“We will need cash.
”
We have left our Mercedes in the driveway. We have left the blinds open in our
house. We have set the table for dinner–a dinner we will never eat. Everything
appears normal. We walk along our regular route, through the narrow, dusty
streets to the old town square.
There is a skinny guard sitting in the shade of the high arch, his Kalashnikov
rifle propped casually against the ancient stone gateway. The guard is young,
and spotty, and he smells bad. He’s not much older than my brother, but the
gun gives him all the authority he needs. The guard knows us. We come this
way every day. We’ve been doing it for weeks, establishing our routine against
the day we feared would come–against today.
“Janeen Webb has created astonishingly varied portraits of strong
women, not all of them admirable but all fascinating, all believable:
a mercenary taking on eco-terrorists. An elderly lady who is an eco-
terrorist. A ghost bent on justifiable revenge. A double-crossing
time-travel researcher. A conniving saloon keeper. A mother whose
control does not end with the grave. A refugee child of terrifying
endurance. A must-read collection for anyone who values original
stories of desperate circumstances forcefully met.”
— Nancy Kress, multiple Hugo and Nebula winner.