Allyson Bird

[Allyson]

Thank you to Dr. L. for setting up these individual author sub-forums!

One member said he'd never heard of me so I'll post Joe. R. Lansdale's comments and a few others as introduction...

A little of the intro by Joe. R. Lansdale to my second short story collection... Wine and Rank Poison.

'She reminds me of a few writers, and it’s my guess that it’s coincidence, because the reminding is not due to style. But, she shares a way of thinking with such inventive writers as Philip Jose Farmer and Avram Davidson. Both could take simple ideas and turn them into unique stories that defied classification. They were brave…

It takes a certain knack partly learned, partly inborn, to write these kind of stories, these brave ventures into the dark lands where creeks of blood flow and bodies hang from trees. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. Not about the content of Allyson’s, or anyone else’s stories. But it’s an attitude that can’t be faked, can’t be borrowed. It can only be stimulated by hard work.

So let me repeat: as a writer, Ms. Bird is her own thing. She has a kind of nuthouse sanity, if you will; she believes in her own writerly psychosis. She is a writer of organized chaos. Her work is Halloween candy with razor blades in it. Fairy Tales with the flesh and blood and bones and viscera in them. Her skill is sneaky and exciting, and everything a reader could want from a good story.

“The Twelfth Chair” and “Atalanta” will show you right off what I mean…

I envy you the reading of this book.

And I am honored to introduce it.'

Joe R.Lansdale.


About the first collection ...Bull Running for Girls.

'Allyson Bird’s stories are richly informed by folklore and literature, and use a range of weird fiction narratives to explore female perspectives in terms of the unknown and the supernatural. Bull Running For Girls is reminiscent of both the Gothic fantasies of Tanith Lee and the empathic ghost stories of Mary Elizabeth Counselman. The strangest of Bird’s stories, ‘The Caul Bearer’, also recalls the stark emotional landscape of Robert E. Howard’s classic ‘Sea Curse’. For Bird, the supernatural is an aspect of life, not something from outside it. Her ghosts and demons are as likely to have a stake in our world as in their own withered hearts. This book brings you witches, revenants, mummies, spirit mediums and ritual murderers. Above all, it brings you face to face with real human issues that few of us, however we pass through the night, can safely avoid.'

Joel Lane.


F. Paul Wilson (author of The Keep and the Repairman Jack series) has been reading ISIS UNBOUND.

'Allyson Bird proves herself a deft and detailed worldbuilder in her debut novel. A mesmerizing, intoxicating blend of steampunk and Egyptian mythology, Isis Unbound is sui generis.'


Gene O'Neill:

'Historical fiction is very difficult to write. In addition to telling a compelling story, the writer must insure that, facts and names are all accurate, nothing factual manipulated for plot purposes. Juggling myth into this mix of fact and fiction adds to the high degree of difficulty. Only the best writers attempt this often later in their careers. But Allyson Bird does all this and makes it look easy in ISIS UNBOUND. She must be a polished veteran of historical--mythological novels? But no, amazingly this is a first novel. And an excellent novel at that. The prose is rich, rewarding with a density of detail, the plot compelling, the characters completely believable. A highly literate novel that should appeal equally to genre and mainstream reader alike. I would give this novel my highest recommendation (and have to a number of my reading friends).'


The Library Journal magazine on Isis Unbound.

'Generations ago, Cleopatra, with the blessing of Isis and Anthony at her side, started an empire. Her descendants still rule, but the goddess Isis has fallen silent, and there are those who fear her favor has been lost and the empire is falling apart. It is not that Isis has forgotten her empire, but she has been killed by her sister, the goddess Nepythys. Now the dead cannot pass over and stumble restless and frightened through a city already oppressed by plague and tyranny. The Chief Embalmer’s daughters, Ella and Loli, get involved in the machinations of the gods themselves as the fate of an empire is decided. VERDICT Set in a declining Egyptian empire dusted with the familiar technological and scientific trappings of a steampunk setting, this debut novel by British Fantasy Award winner Bird (Bull Running for Girls) is a frightening, gorgeous book that breathes something fascinating and new into the genre. It will appeal to avid readers of steampunk as well as horror fans.—April Steenburgh, George F. Johnson Memorial Lib., Endwell NY.'

I'm working on my third collection called The Zealandia Oyster Salon (all written in my new home New Zealand) at the moment which will start off with the stories I'm writing with Joe Pulver as editor...The Beat Hotel from A Season in Carcosa. Gailestis from The Ligotti tribute anthology. The Golden Stars at Night from the Barron anthology, The Children of Old Leech, and Les Fleur du Mal from Cassilda's Song....a new anthology due out very soon.