From the Backlist: Reluctant Heroes

Art by tsaloka on Pixabay

Welcome to another post in the Supernatural Underground Backlist Series. Today's feature is from the powerhouse author Amanda Arista. 

AND! If you are lucky enough to be in Texas in April 2026, she is giving an all-day, immersive workshop there, at the Texas Two–Step Writers Conference.

It's designed to help writers gain clarity, confidence, and momentum in their stories. You don't want to miss this chance to meet her in person.

Meanwhile, this gem of insights into 'reluctance' is from her March 2014 post titled: "But I don't wanna," said Every Hero Ever

Be sure and read to the end, to see how it might apply to you. 

We hope you enjoy it!

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"But I don't wanna," said Every Hero Ever

by Amanda Arista

 

Year of Living Heroically #2 - Refusing the Call

Today is especially fitting to write this post as it is currently 19 degrees in Dallas Texas. If there is anything that will make you refuse the call of an adventure, it is cold feet.

On a hero's journey, refusing the call highlights what exactly the hero thinks about himself. They are not just saying, "No I don't want to," but more along the lines of "I'm afraid because of ..." That dot-dot-dot is the real part of themselves that they will have to overcome in the adventure ahead.

My favorite case in point is our man Luke Skywalker, who refuses to go with Ben Ken-obi by saying, and I'm flagrantly misquoting, "No I can't go with you. I have to stay on the farm with Uncle Owen." He's not really saying that he has to stay on the farm with his Uncle. What he is really saying is that he is afraid that he is not awesome like his father and he's just a lowly farm boy. Once the farm is removed from the picture, literally, he spends the rest of the movie trying to become awesome like his father. Sort of.

In romances, this might look a little different. For Violet, in Diaries of an Urban Panther, her refusal highlighted her fear of getting close to someone, because all of her loved ones had died. So she refused to believe that the boy liked her at all. He was just saving her skin, over and over and over. Violet spends the entire book learning to open her heart to other people. 

 

Keep Reading . . .

 

Lear More about Amanda and her wonderful books . . . 

 

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Thanks for dropping by! We hope your 2026 Fire Horse Year is off to a great start!

 

 

Fiction Predictions: Octavia Butler's Vision of the Future

 

Octavia Butler's One Simple Prophesy - Image - Literary Hub

Welcome to the March 2026 issue of Fiction Predictions here on the Supernatural Underground Blog. I hope you are enjoying the series. 

The Author

Today's author spotlight is Octavia Butler, an extraordinary creative and the first SF writer to win a MacArthur Fellowship (“genius” grant). Throughout her career, she also won the PEN Lifetime Achievement Award and the Nebula and Hugo Awards, among many others. 

She was often referred to as the “Grand dame of science fiction.” Born in Pasadena, California, on June 22, 1947 (the sun at the auspicious 0° Cancer). She died February 24, 2006, leaving behind a legacy of stories and adoring fans.

The Predictions

Unlike Jules Verne and William Gibson, Octavia Butler didn't so much foresee a new technological future as portray a dystopia festering with social injustice, inequality, populism and global warming. 

In her series beginning with The Parable of the Sower, she presents a society startlingly like our

own. What makes it more chilling is that it was written in the late 80s and early 90s, but set in our current times, California 2024.

The Parable of the Sower predicted catastrophic effects from climate change, ravaging California wildfires, increased social injustice, gangs, crimes and prisons, seen through the eyes of a young black girl who still had hope. 

The second novel of the series (written in the early 90s), Parable of the Talents, predicts a country divided and a presidential candidate running with the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. 

Note: this was penned two decades before the current US president officially entered politics.

Was Octavia Butler a Seer?

How else to say it?

Yes.

In 1988, she saw California in 2024 as a state crippled by unattended environmental and economic crises that led to social ruin. Her main character, Lauren Olamina, a preacher’s daughter living in Los Angeles, is protected from these dangers by the walls of her gated community... until they come tumbling down.

In a breakneck escape, what begins as a fight for survival leads to something much deeper: a brighter vision of human destiny and the birth of a new faith.

Octavia said:

    I began writing about power because I had so little. 

—Octavia E. Butler, in Carolyn S. Davidson's

"The Science Fiction of Octavia Butler"

And throughout this writing, she continues to open eyes and hearts, long after her death. 

Have you read her?

Please let me know in the comments, and also if you have a favourite book you'd like to explore this way.

Isn't it all so interesting?

xxKim

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About Kim Falconer

The Amassia Series

Kim Falconer, also writing as AK Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. 

 Quantum Enchantment

Kim can be found on AKWilder.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and KimFalconer.com. 

Throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.. See you there!

Read Blood and Water, a PNR alt history that will leave you questioning every natural disaster ever endured.

“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.”

From The Backlist: "Modern Day Faery Tales Drawn From Fantasy and Folklore" by Terri Garey

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It's backlist time again, and this month we're sharing Terri Garey's wonderful take on Urban Fantasy and its origins in myth, fairytale, and folklore.

Enjoy!

Urban Fantasy: Modern Day Faery Tales Drawn From Fantasy and Folklore

~  by Terri Garey 

... I write Urban Fantasy, which is basically fiction that’s set in the real world, yet contains aspects of the supernatural or fantastic. Urban Fantasy was first defined as an acknowledged sub-genre in the late 1980’s and early ‘90s, but in my opinion, “Urban Fantasy” has always been around, from the earliest days when spooky stories were first told around warm fires on cold nights. Ancient gods and goddesses, elves, witches, faeries and werewolves. Dragons, trolls, giants. 

By the standards of the era (whether it be Classical, the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages, the Victorian, etc.) any of these stories could be considered Urban Fantasy, for they all involved a mixture of the real and the fantastic. Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Robert Lewis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde – these are all fictional tales that were based in the real world, yet include elements of the supernatural.

In Urban Fantasy, the supernatural elements are limited only by the author’s imagination, but certain themes, however, remain constant. These “literary tropes” are at the heart of every good fantasy novel, whether it’s Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi Fantasy (Star Wars, Star Trek), Historical Fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones), or Young Adult Fantasy (Harry Potter). 

1) First comes the over-arching theme of Good vs. Evil. The stakes can be as high as the fate of the world, or as simple as saving the life of one individual, but there is always a goal that serves the greater good. Whether the protagonist is a supernatural bounty-hunter who keeps demons from taking over the world, or a single mom who finds out her neighbor is a vampire, moral dilemmas—and the consequences of them—are a mainstay of Urban Fantasy.

2) Second is the journey of the self – protagonists often start out ill-equipped, or even unwilling, to deal with the situations they find themselves in, but through character development (which the author shows by their ongoing actions and insights), find within themselves the strength to meet ever-increasing challenges.

3) Third is A Major Secret – one that puts the protagonist outside the realm of “normal”, but forces them to behave as though they were just like you and me. By placing the protagonist in an urban, “everyday” setting, the author creates a sense of kinship with the reader, fostering the much-needed suspension of disbelief.

... 

To read the full post, click here. 

To visit with Terri, go to her site, here.

A Year of Heroines #2 -- Yeine Darr and Rowan Birchmoon

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As mentioned last month, with completion of The Wall of Night (WALL) series I've been giving some thought to heroines in Fantasy -- all of which has prompted me to focus on them as m'theme for 2026!  Each month, I'll take a heroine (or two!) from a favorite book and contrast-and-compare with a 'leading lady' from the WALL series.

This month, I'm checking in on Yeine Darr from NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, along with Rowan Birchmoon from WALL -- chiefly The Heir of Night, although her influence is felt throughout the series.

Yeine Darr and Rowan Birchmoon

Don't get me wrong, these are two very different characters with very different story arcs -- for starters, Yeine Darr is the main character in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, while Rowan Birchmoon is a "best supporting" player. 

Both, though, come from outlying lands (considered barbarian by some) but are forced by a mix of circumstance and choice to dwell among strangers who are, at best, reserved, and at worst, outright hostile. 

Kindle Edition

Yeine is her people's representative to Sky, the palace of the world-ruling Arameri (who are also her estranged kin), and although summoned there by her grandfather, she also seeks to resolve the murder of her exiled Arameri mother. Soon after her arrival, however, she is precipitated into a three-way contest to become the Arameri heir, which involves not only family and cultural politics, but a long-smoldering civil war between the gods -- quite a few of whom also reside in Sky.

Rowan Birchmoon is also an outsider, a woman of the Winter steppe residing in the alien Derai's Keep of Winds, on the bleak and inhospitable Wall of Night. In Rowan's case, it is love that has brought her there, as lover and consort (but not wife) to the Earl of Night. The Derai, however, dislike what they call "outsiders", and believe she must have bewitched the Earl into loving her, so Rowan's life is also fraught with danger. 

US edition

In The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the Arameri hold sway through magic, and both serve the gods that favor them, while binding others to their own service. Consequently, in Yeine's quest to survive the contest to become Arameri heir (and so the future ruler of the world, effectively) and uncover her mother's murder, she also becomes the central piece in a game of power between the gods -- a game that is soon complicated by romantic entanglement with Nahadoth, one of the most powerful and enigmatic of the gods that serve the Aramieri. 

The stakes in this latter game are even higher than the contest for the Arameri heirdom. In order to survive both, Yeine must discover the source of her own magic and use it to win a game of power that involves both heaven and earth.

Audio edition

On the surface, Rowan Birchmoon's path through The Heir of Night is a quieter one. She also differs from Yeine in knowing the core of her power from the outset. So although the Derai see her as their Earl's unwelcome consort first, and a huntress second, she is also a shaman of the Winter People, with the power to shape the seasons, and a seer. A hidden power, but one, along with love for the Earl of Night, that has brought her to the Wall -- and also to Malian, the prophesied champion (of February's post.) 

So when the chips are down, and Malian must flee for her life, Rowan Birchmoon will step into the game -- and what follows, at that point, will play as big a part as Yeine's in Sky, in shaping the course of her world.

UK edition

Prior Posts: A Year of Heroines 

February: Aerin, Elfrid, & Malian of Night

~*~

About Helen Lowe

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she has recently completed the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series, which is now with its publisher,

Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

From the Backlist - Streetwise Heroines

 

Arcane's Vi - Framed Poster

 
Welcome to another post in the Supernatural Underground Backlist Series. Today's feature is from the wonderful Helen Lowe who is currently bringing us insights and highlights of Heroines as she reflects on them and her Wall of Night Series.

We thought it would be fun to take a peak at her thoughts over a decade ago! 

This post come from February 2014 and offers an astute perspective on what makes  heroines streetwise. 

Let us know your favorite savvy heroine in the comments and be sure to follow Helen's new series on Heroines and WALL.

Good reading...

 

 

 

Streetwise Heroines

by Helen Lowe

Sookie Stackhouse

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I don't think we could have paranormal urban fantasy without the streetwise heroine – but of course that begs the question as to what makes a heroine "streetwise?"

For starters, even if she's not actually from the wrong side of the tracks, I think she has to be able to operate on that turf.

Mercy Thompson

A true streetwise heroine also has to be able to check the box for all three of the big S's: strong, savvy, and sassy.

'Sexy' may make a fourth in here, too, but I don't think it's actually required in the job description...What's the jargon: 'desirable but not essential', he-he.

Maybe just a little bit badass, as well. But with a heart that's in the right place, even if it's in a "tough love" kind of way...

Chess Putnam

Naturally, I have a line up of favorite streetwise heroines from my bookshelf: Sookie Stackhouse and Mercy Thompson are obvious choices, but Stacia Kane's Chess Putnam is also up there.

And if I go beyond paranormal urban stories, there's Tamora Pierce's Beka Cooper, Midori Synder's Jobber, and Kristin Cashore's Katsa. 

 

Continue reading ... 

 

 

~*~

About Helen Lowe 

Helen Lowe is an award-winning novelist, poet, and lover of story. With four books published to date, she is currently completing the final instalment in The Wall Of Night series.
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Helen posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we.

 

Fiction Predictions - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by nikogeyer

Welcome to the February 2026 issue of Fiction Predictions on the Supernatural Underground Blog. This next book is very dear to my heart, and also uncanny in its prediction of the future.

The History

When I was five years old, my dad took my brother and me to the drive-in to see

Salila from the Amassia Series

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea. 

I was basically terrified the entire time, watching through hands clutched over my eyes, fingers barely spread to catch a glimmer of the magical, frightening world of Jules Verne. 

It would be quite a few years later before I read the book, but it has stayed with me, as any of you will know if you've read my fantasies about people living under the sea... 

The Author

Jules Verne was a French poet and novelist born in 1828. He pioneered the SF/Fantasy genre, writing books about space, air, and underwater travel before any aircraft, practical submarines, or spacecraft existed. 

He was a genius with his narrative and his incredible imagination... Or did he actually see the future?  

The Predictions

Verne conceptualised the Nautilus, his underwater vessel, at a time when submarines were little more than handcrafted iron coffins. While he didn't actually invent the submarine, he predicted the sophistication and propulsion systems that would make them viable nearly 100 years later. 

William O'Connor Studios

In the novel, Verne has Captain Nemo and his crew leave the Nautilus wearing self-contained diving suits with air tanks, allowing them to walk on the ocean floor for hours. This predates SCUBA -  self-contained underwater breathing apparatus -  by 70 years when Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Émile Gagnan designed the first successful and safe open-circuit scuba. I wonder if they read 20,000 Leagues and were inspired!

The novel also introduced the notion of marine research and oceanography long before Cousteau was born. At the time, everyone thought that the only thing to be found under the sea was a vast, lifeless abyss. 

Was Jules Verne a Seer?

With so many future inventions written nearly 200 years ago, do you agree with me that authors can be seers? Or could there be a web of causality that moves forward and backward in time, a time that doesn't necessarily follow the order first - then  - finally?

Join me next month, where we will talk more about this and other ideas of backward and retro causation. 

And, please let me know in the comments if you have a favourite book you'd like to explore this way.

Isn't it all so fascinating?

xxKim

***

About Kim Falconer

Kim Falconer, also writing as AK Wilder, has released Crown of Bones, a YA Epic Fantasy with Curse of Shadows as book 2 in the series. 

Currently, she is ready with the third book, planned to be out in 2025. TBA

 Quantum Enchantment

Kim can be found on AKWilder.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and KimFalconer.com. 

Throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.. See you there!

Read Blood and Water, a PNR alt history that will leave you questioning every natural disaster ever endured.

“There is no doubt fiction makes a better job of the truth.”

From The Backlist: "Why Do People Like to Read Scary Stories?" by Merrie Destefano

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It's that time -- and when it comes to backlist posts, this take on why we love a scary story is hard to beat.

It's penned by the fabulous Merrie Destefano, and we think you'll enjoy it every bit as much as we do. 

Why Do People Like to Read Scary Stories?

by Merrie Destefano

The sun goes down, the sounds of the city grow quiet, and the rest of the family nestles, safe and sound in a world of incandescent light. Meanwhile, one person huddles alone in a darkened room, face turned toward a screen, eerie blue light carving shadows on her face while her fingers slowly tap out a message, letter by letter.

A writer is writing.

October winds blow outside her window, leaves gather in shadowed corners of the yard and nearby trees sway, branches creaking.

The writer is writing a scary story.

Why do some writers always return to the dark side of literature, spinning out tales that make readers sit on the edge of their seat? Perhaps an even better question, and one that I’d like to discuss here, is why do some people love to read scary stories?

While, I can’t answer this question definitively, I can offer some suggestions.

1. ADRENALINE RUSH:
This is my favorite answer, although many of the others are just as good. We read scary stories so we can experience artificial situations of “fight or flight.” These scenarios, whether real or imagined, get your body ready for action by giving you an extra dose of adrenaline. Your heart beat speeds up, your breathing increases and your blood pressure increases—in other words, it’s like an instant dose of caffeine combined with heavy exercise. You’re ready to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, although you may be screaming “Mommy!” all the way.

2. FAMILIARITY:
You’ve been here before and you liked it. You’ve been reading scary stories for years, you have a list of favorite authors and you’re waiting in line, with sweaty palms, when his/her next book releases. You stay up late (reading these stories is always better at midnight, right?), turning pages while everyone else is asleep. But the truth of the matter is you can’t sleep, can you? Not until you know what happens next…

3. A VISCERAL REACTION:
The desire to feel something strongly—no matter what the emotion is—can drive readers to these books. Detailed descriptions of eviscerated body parts in zombie stories may not get you excited, but there are plenty of readers out there who live for this stuff.

4. TO FEEL ALIVE:
Similar to the answer above, books that put you on the edge remind you that you are alive. You’re not watching some soap opera at lunch time; you’re hunched over a novel wondering if the heroine is really strong and smart enough to survive that demon horde that’s been chasing her for the last twenty pages.

5. TO CONQUER THE DEMONS:
We all have our demons, things we’re afraid of but don’t want to admit. Things like clowns (It), menacing dolls (Chucky), the end of the world (The Stand), rampant pestilence (Contagion), rabid dogs (Cujo), vampires (Interview with a Vampire) and serial killers (Darkly Dreaming Dexter). By vicariously facing your fears in a novel, you’re able to tame them, or at least, imagine that you’ve tamed them. Until they show up the next night, waiting for you in the closet.

6. TO EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN:
There are boundless supernatural realms, where wonder and horror walk side by side—realms where people rise from the dead or where someone learns the future in their dreams or where someone is giving an extraordinary power. There’s just enough enchantment and mystery to make you want to know more, and just enough danger to make you glad this is fiction.

7. TO FEEL STRONG EMOTIONS:
Anger—hatred—fear—love—surprise—terror—repulsion—empathy…Scary stories have all these emotions and more trapped between the pages, just waiting for an innocent reader to come along and release them. Before you know it, you’re experiencing the same emotions. Again, this is similar to Number Three, but I felt that it needed to stated again. (It is my list, no?)

8. TO PROVE WE CAN SURVIVE:
Isn’t that what it’s all about? You’re secretly taking notes, so if X, Y or Z ever really happens, you’re ready. Doesn’t everyone know what to do in a zombie/alien apocalypse by now? And if so, why? Because you’ve all been making a list and checking it twice while watching The Walking Dead or Falling Skies.

9. SATISFACTION WHEN TERROR IS OVERCOME:
There’s an unbelievably sweet moment when the heroine finally plunges a stake through the heart of the last vampire—almost instantly, your muscles relax, you slump backward in your chair and then breathe a well-deserved long sigh because, without realizing it, you’ve been holding your breath and sitting on the edge of your seat, ready to run.

10. TO PROVE THAT DRAGONS NOT ONLY EXIST, BUT THAT THEY CAN BE DEFEATED:
What? Scary stories can give you hope? To quote someone more knowledgeable on this subject than me: “Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”― G.K. Chesterton. Watching a character deal with the monster in the closet can give you the courage to face up to your own monsters. Yes, tales of terror can actually be uplifting, when written with that purpose in mind.

To read the original post: click here 

To check in on Merrie, you can find her on her website and on Facebook