Melissa H. Blaine
(The First Two Pages is devoting August to celebrating the release of Day of the Dark, a mystery anthology edited by Kaye George, published by Wildside Press, and inspired by the coming total solar eclipse. I hope you enjoy getting a look at the opening pages of some of the twenty-four stories in this anthology!)
Writing urban fantasy can sometimes be a bit like creating a Scooby-Doo episode in reverse. In the iconic cartoon, Scooby and the gang travel somewhere and encounter a ghost or monster or other supernatural creature. They spend the rest of the episode getting chased by the creature, gathering clues, and eating Scooby snacks. At the end, Scooby and the rest unmask the creature as human and explain the mystery.
Melissa, I had the pleasure of working on your marvelous story in our short story critique group. Congratulations on your first publication!
A very nice explanation of urban fantasy and how to succinctly establish the genre for your reader. I’ve just started on my volume of stories, and am looking forward to reading yours.
Thanks, Margaret and Nupur!