Permuted Press

Mockup of Cthulu Unbound 2

Though she began her fiction writing career just two years ago, Alameda writer Adrianne Courters (better known as A. Kiwi Courters) struck it big this year with three stories. Courters' work appears in Rage of the Behemoth, a fantasy anthology, Cthulu Unbound 2, a horror anthology based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft, and the magazine Kaleidotrope.

"I don't want to be too boastful about it — some writers struggle for a long time before they see their work in print," Courters said. "At the same time, it's not like I turned into J.K. Rowling or anything."

Courters took up the quill during her recovery from a serious auto accident in which she sustained two broken femurs, a fractured hip, and multiple fractures of the lower legs among other injuries. Unable to walk, she said she wanted a job "where I could sit down a lot."

Initially, she began writing horror stories. "I was scared. Every time I looked in the mirror, I saw someone I didn't recognize. Between the pain and the painkillers, everything got kind of surreal." When she realized her two young sons were more afraid than she was, Courters said it fell into place.

Artwork copyright Kurt Kirchmeier

Cover for the October issue of Kaleidotrope magazine.

"I tried to come up with stories that were scarier than my own situation, just to get out of that fear mode. And I tried to make it more comfortable for Skip and Neal. They think Mom's pretty cool now. I have more metal in my bones than (comic book and movie hero) Wolverine."

Her earliest published piece, "Ravenous Angels," appeared in The Undead Volume 2: Skin and Bones, an anthology of zombie stories.

During rehab, Courters' frustration turned her writing in a new direction. "I could hardly move. I couldn't walk on my own. When you get like that, you start to have dreams about running, or playing tennis or whatever." Vicariously, Courters began not only to run, but to battle monsters and foes through a fantasy character.

"Duma [a character in her story] kicks butt. She rides elephants, fights with a sword, kills monsters — it was really a great release for me." Duma of Elephantine comes out of Courters' love for archeology (the series is set in prehistoric Africa) and her craving for physical activity. The combination adds up to action-packed stories Courters describes as "low fantasy," that harken back to the sword-and-sorcery stories of the pulp era.

Art by Johnney Perkins

Duma leads the charge against a monster, from the collector's edition cover of Rage of the Behemoth.

With a plethora of published work this summer, how does Courters intend to top herself?

"I'm going back to work. Yay! No more wheelchair and crutches," she said. But Courters hopes to maintain her writing career on the side. "With two school-aged boys and a husband, plus a full-time job, I think my [fiction] output will slow down considerably."

For now, Courters is content. However, "I do have about a zillion reconstructive dental surgeries to go through. Who knows what kind of writing that will inspire?"

Look for A. Kiwi Courters' stories: "Stalker of the Blood Red Sands" in Rage of the Behemoth, published Rouge Blades Entertainment June 1; "New Fish" in Cthulu Unbound 2, published by Permuted Press June 30; and "Duma of Valley Kifaru" in the October edition of Kaleidotrope magazine.