Introduction: Take a Walk on the Wild Side
Mark L. Van Name
When Lou Reed exhorted us to do just that in his 1972 song, he was singing about a very particular urban landscape—New York City—teeming with many different types of people. Urban fantasy writers have for some time explored a far broader range of cityscapes—and inhabitants. When I invited the authors whose tales you’re about to read, I told them only that we were looking for stories that mixed urban fantasy and an erotic edge. The way each combined the ingredients was up to her.
The resulting stories cover a wide range indeed. Vampires, shape shifters, witches, demons, fallen angels, and more. Toronto, Las Vegas, San Francisco, London, New England, and other locales. Positively chaste to a tad raunchy. What they share, though, is more important than their differences: all are good stories that will take you into another world.
As a reader, I’m always curious what writers have to say about their works, so I asked these authors to provide afterwords. I think you’ll find them interesting.
Enjoy.