Christine Morgan’s “High School Mythical: Asgard“ appears in The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic 2. She answers a few questions here:

Tell us a little about yourself and your writing.

I’ve been a reader as long as I can remember. I love language. It’s like Play-Doh, a complete sensory experience that, with patience and practice, can make almost anything you imagine. Among my childhood friends, I was the storyteller who came up with ideas for let’s pretend, and constructed elaborate scenarios for my toys. As a teenager, I got into role-playing games as another outlet. Once I began attempting to write for real, I started with ‘traditional’ fantasy … but horror was my true calling. These days, it’s mostly historical horror and dark fantasy, with an emphasis on drawing from mythology, folklore, and various ancient cultures.

What is at the root of your Urban Mythic story?

I…

Kim Newman has provided a 19th century adventure, “Angels of Music” for The Alchemy Press Book of Pulp Heroes 3:

In the ’70s – that colourful, hectic decade of garish clothes, corrupt politics, personal excess and trivial music – three girls were sent to the Paris Opéra. They could dance a little, sing a little more, were comely when painted, and cut fine female figures in tights. Were the world just, they would have been stars in the ascendant, rewarded with fame, riches and advantageous marriages.

Writing is a notoriously solitary business. What keeps you at it? The fame that constantly eludes you? Getting a lie-in in the mornings? The rubber?

Can’t do anything else, I’m afraid.

What was it that inspired “Angels of Music”?

Realising that three unrelated characters in 19th century mystery fiction were all opera singers …

There seems to have been a shift in appreciation…