Not usually one for "hey, check out my story at..." But there's something to be said about the art of self promotion. So...
Hey! Check out my fantasy short "Shattering the Spear" at the ezine Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. It's the first "African-themed" piece they've published--my most significant sell on the paying market thus far.
http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/
SHATTERING THE SPEAR, by P. Djeli Clark
When the forces of the Witch Priest threaten the Southlands, only the mighty Zhusa and their allies stand in the way. But are unbreakable spears enough to stop this ancient evil . . .
Msizi clutched the leather straps, holding on for life as the great umkhombe thundered across the plain. Its powerful hooves broke dry and cracked soil, sending up billows of red dust in its wake.
Umkhombe were familiar in his homeland, quick to anger and always in a foul mood. Larger than a bull, their hefty bulk masked their swiftness and they could easily run down a man. His people, the Zhusa, believed the spirits of fierce warriors inhabited their bodies, and even hunters dared not arouse theiranger.
But like so much beyond the Southlands, these umkhombe were different from any Msizi had known. Each was almost twice as large; and instead of three horns jutting from its snout there was one — a sickle curved protrusion of bone as long as a man’s arm and sharpened in the front like a blade. While the hide ofall umkhombe was thick, this one must have been made of rock; at least threeZhusa spears lay buried in its gray skin...
Read full story at:
http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/?p=777
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