Fantastic Books publishes Sarah Totton's Animythical Tales

Fantastic Books has just published Sarah Totton's first book, the collection Animythical Tales, which contains ten short stories (including seven previously published in such venues as Realms of Fantasy, Fantasy Magazine, and Writers of the Future XXII). One of the stories was the Regional Winner (for Canada & the Caribbean) in the 2007 Commonwealth Short Story Competition; another placed third in the 2005 Writers of the Future Contest; and a third won a Black Quill Award (Editor's Choice: Best Dark Scribble category). The introduction is by World Fantasy Award-winning editor Forrest Aguirre.

Editor Douglas Cohen says these stories "explore the full kaleidoscope of the human heart and peel it back, one layer at a time. Totton offers her readers a full palette of emotions and stories to sift through, never settling, never holding back, and never flinching.… The stories in this book are always told with an eye toward revealing something important about the human condition."

Contents:
Introduction by Forrest Aguirre
"A Fish Story"
"The Man with the Seahorse Head"
"Flatrock Sunners"
"Pelly Medley"
"Bluecoat Jack"
"A Sip from the Cup of Enlightenment"
"Choke Point"
"The Bone Fisher's Apprentice"
"A Little Tea and Personal Magnetism"
"The Teasewater Five"

Totton is a licensed veterinarian, a former wildlife biologist, and recently earned her doctorate in epidemiology. She adds "In my spare time I collect rejection letters (over 400 and counting) and I've sold over a couple of dozen short stories along the way. I entered the Writers of the Future Contest 17 times before I finally took home a prize. I'm not very good at quitting."

SFScope Editor Ian Randal Strock is the publisher of Fantastic Books.