The Complete Prose Works, Part One

With the understanding that I might have forgotten a thing or two.

Most of you know I’ve written a number of comic books, the Fables series and the even earlier Elementals series being two of far too many examples. Fewer of you remember, largely because you’re not old enough, I used to draw comic books too. And almost none of you know I wrote a movie or two (because they’ll never be made — including the Fables movie that New Line Cinema commissioned and paid me for (thanks, Ken, for the lessons on how to write the treatment). At about the same one of the big wigs from New Line let me know, “This would be too expensive to make, so we probably never will.” But this article isn’t about any of that.

Because I want to, and I because I like every avenue of storytelling, I also write/wrote prose stories too. This article is about that. I wrote a few novels that have been published, and we’ll talk about those in Part Two (or maybe Part Three), but this time we’ll deal with the short stories.

A Wolf in the Fold

This was one of the two illustrations I did for the story.

In 2002 I wrote the story called A Wolf in the Fold, as a bit of extra stuff to include in the first ever Fables collection, called Legends in Exile. It revealed some of the back story of Bigby Wolf, primarily how he met Snow White for the first time, and eventually traveled to our world to become a member of Fabletown. Since they seem intent to keep some version of the complete Fables stories in print forever (a policy of which I approve), you can still find this prose story in one or another of the various Fables imprints and collections.

Meet Mr. Hamlin

In 2004, at the request of editors Martin H Greenberg and John Helfer, I wrote the story Meet Mr. Hamlin, for their anthology of modern fairytales called Little Red Riding Hood in the Big Bad City. My story was a first take on the Pied Piper tale, and has nothing to do with the version of the Pied Piper I later created for a Fables novel (about which more in Part Two). It’s a nasty little ditty about manipulation and revenge, as all tales about the Pied Piper ought to be. The anthology was published by DAW Books in 2004.

It’s long out of print, but apparently there are used copies of it available through Amazon.

Thieves of Daring

In 2010, or possibly 2009, I wrote a story called Thieves of Daring for an anthology called Swords and Dark Magic¹ : The New Sword and Sorcery, edited by two gentlemen of distinction, Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders. I wasn’t invited to participate in this project. I lied my way into it. Here’s the story: at a book convention (I believe it was one of the World Fantasy cons, but I could be mistaken) I was in the bar when I overheard Mr. Strahan talking about the project, which seemed to me a fine anthology in which to be invited into. Just as I was rehearsing ways to hint and cajole him to invite me, I overheard that the book was closed. All participants have been locked in, and no further invitations would go out. So, instead I came up with a different story, over drinks a bit later in the evening. “Jonathan,” says I, “I have a story I’ve already written that I think would be perfect for the theme of your new anthology. I know the Table of Contents are closed, but since we both know writers can be flakes, and one or two who agree to provide a story often fail to do so, I would be willing to send you my story, as a backup vehicle, just in case you’re left short and in the lurch. Of course, if everyone comes through, my story is canceled, with no obligation.” Jonathan said something like, “You’re very kind. Sure, send it to me, just in case.” I told him I’d send it along as soon as I get home. Then, on returning home I wrote like the wind. I had no previously-written tale, to send him “just in case.” I lied. I lied, with malice aforethought, just like I lied to TSR about all of my previous qualifications to get the job for their Art Department, in 1980. Like many spinners of stories, I am a scurrilous liar. Jonathan sent me an email a few days after I sent my story to him, letting me know it was accepted for inclusion in the anthology.

There are Kindle and used paperback versions of this still available through Amazon, and also a very nice hardback version published by Subterranean Press, if you can find a copy.

From A to Z in the Ultimate Big Company Superhero Universe (Villains Too)

In 2010, Lou Anders invited me to submit a story for his anthology of original superhero fiction called Masked. I agreed, confident that doing a superhero story would be easy, given my experience in the field. I started out a couple of things that might be okay, but nothing really zinged. Then Lou made the mistake of helping to inspire me by sending me the manuscripts of everyone else in the anthology that had finished their stories. That kind gesture killed me. They were all so good, I froze, knowing my abilities were crap compared to theirs. With the deadline looming, in a panic, I decided to go another way. “If I can’t match their stories for quality,” I said to myself, “I can beat them in size. I’m not just going to tell a superhero story, I’m going to tell ALL the superhero stories, in one vast saga. So, I started with A is For Achilles and proceeded from there. I wrote not just one story, but 26, some no more than a paragraph long, but all tied together in one grand uber plot of novella length. It seemed to be well received. After all these years I still like it. And it’s still available, at least in a digital edition, on Amazon.

A Night in the Lonesome November

I wasn’t invited to submit a story to this anthology of new prose fairy tales, called Happily Ever After, edited by John Klima, but he did ask me to provide an introduction. But I really wanted to write a story, rather than an introduction, so I snuck myself in by the back door and wrote a story as my introduction. Take that, John. The title of my tale, called A Night in the Lonesome November is a rather obvious wink to Roger Zelazny’s wonderful novel, A Night in the Lonesome October. It was published by Night Shade Books in 2011.

There are used copies of this available, but also the Kindle edition is currently available for free through their Kindle Unlimited program.

A Little Monkey Business

Okay, this wasn’t a prose story, it was an essay for a scholarly work called Living With Shakespeare, edited by Susannah Carson. But I’m proud of it, because my poor insights were deemed worth inclusion alongside such luminaries in the Shakespeare business as Brian Cox, F Murray Abraham, Sir Ben Kingsley, and James Earl Jones, to name but a few. Yes, I’m a little bit starstruck. In my essay I reveal who really wrote the complete works of Shakespeare, and who the worst of Shakespeare’s villains is. Hint: It’s neither MacBeth nor Iago. Living With Shakespeare was published in 2013 by Vintage Books.

It looks like there’s an audio book (I wonder who read my essay) and a Kindle version of this book still available, both through Amazon.

But wait! There’s more!

Next time we’ll list some of the more recently published short stories.

1. Actually they called the anthology Swords & Dark Magic, but since I’m a sworn enemy of the ampersand, I retitled it.