About the Author
Series
Works by Laura V Baugh
Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training the Crazy Dog from Over the Top to Under Control (2013) 57 copies
Social, Civil, and Savvy: Training & Socializing Puppies to Become the Best Possible Dogs (Training Great Dogs) (2017) 16 copies
Dragons, Unicorns, Chimeras, and Clickers: How To Train Your Fantastic Beasts: 3 (Training Great Dogs) (2019) 1 copy
Kusanagi 1 copy
Associated Works
Grimm, Grit, and Gasoline: Dieselpunk and Decopunk Fairy Tales (2019) — Contributor — 21 copies, 9 reviews
Water: Selkies, Sirens, & Sea Monsters (Elemental Anthology Book 4) (2021) — Contributor — 4 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Baugh, Laura VanArendonk
Baugh, Laura - Gender
- female
- Occupations
- writer
animal trainer
behavior consultant
costumer - Short biography
- Laura VanArendonk Baugh is an award-winning writer of speculative fiction, mystery, and non-fiction. Her works have earned numerous accolades, including 3-star (the highest possible) ratings on Tangent’s “Recommended Reading” list. Laura speaks professionally on a variety of topics throughout the year—in her day job she’s a professional animal trainer and behavior consultant, and for a hobby an award-winning costumer—and admits a mental turning point in her career when she realized she could buy that sexy red Tesla with her books! [retrieved 8/22/17 from Amazon.com Author Page]
Laura was born at a very early age and never looked back. She overcame childhood deficiencies of having been born without teeth or developed motor skills, and by the time she matured into a recognizable adult she had become a behavior analyst, an internationally-recognized and award-winning animal trainer, a popular costumer/cosplayer, a chocolate addict, and of course a writer. [from Kitsune Tsuki Amazon.com record, retrieved 8/22/17] - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
I had yet to try any of this author's work before, but I went to her website and knew I wanted to read this short story collection the minute I saw the title and book cover.
I think it's pretty safe to say this is the only time I've ever read historical fantasy fiction based on World War II. I thoroughly enjoyed all four stories and their depictions of imperfect, believable, powerful women. They aren't almighty heroines who know everything and make nothing but superb decisions all the time show more (which would've been too over-the-top to be interesting). But these women are gritty and incredible when they kick into gear at critical moments, whether the actions they take are dramatic or subtle.
These tales have what I love about good short stories: sharp lines and meaningful details with no dispensable scenes. Vignettes like these reveal what's important and let it be enough, trusting the reader's discernment and imagination. Demonstrating how a story doesn't have to be long to be substantive, with strong characters.
Oh! And after reading the stories straight through, you'll definitely want to check out the annotations and bonus images. They're like dessert that's more than dessert.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review. show less
I think it's pretty safe to say this is the only time I've ever read historical fantasy fiction based on World War II. I thoroughly enjoyed all four stories and their depictions of imperfect, believable, powerful women. They aren't almighty heroines who know everything and make nothing but superb decisions all the time show more (which would've been too over-the-top to be interesting). But these women are gritty and incredible when they kick into gear at critical moments, whether the actions they take are dramatic or subtle.
These tales have what I love about good short stories: sharp lines and meaningful details with no dispensable scenes. Vignettes like these reveal what's important and let it be enough, trusting the reader's discernment and imagination. Demonstrating how a story doesn't have to be long to be substantive, with strong characters.
Oh! And after reading the stories straight through, you'll definitely want to check out the annotations and bonus images. They're like dessert that's more than dessert.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for an honest review. show less
There are countless fictionalized tales of Greek and Roman mythology, but hardly any on Norse Mythology. Central Indiana author, Laura VanArendonk Baugh, seeks to remedy that with this compelling and fantastical tale full of Viking lore and adventure. Euthalia is excited to travel with her merchant father but when Vikings attack and her father trades her off to the enemy in an attempt to save his own skin, she has to hope that she'll be taken for a bride rather than a slave or a sacrifice. show more She is given to a god as a bride so she is lucky... to an extent. Her new husband seems decent, but he only visit her at night and won't let her look upon him. Euthalia spends her nights with her mysterious husband and her days telling Greek legends and tales to the Norse gods. She gets a reputation as a storyteller and all seems well. That is, until one of her stories inspires a god's murder and she discovers that her husband might really be a monster. What follows is a horrific retribution and Euthalia finds herself caught in the middle of it with no allies in Asgard. Euthalia must seek help with a spiteful goddess to sway Odin, discover the truth about her husband, and save Loki before bloody tragedy opens Ragnarok, the prophesied end of the world. show less
I won this novella through LibraryThing's Member Giveaways, and since I had just read Yamada Monogatari it seemed like a natural next read.
In keeping with my confusion over what "Monogatari" meant, I expected "Tsuki" to mean "story" or something along those lines. But it doesn't. It's not a literary term at all, at least according to my limited search: it means "punch" or "thrust". Perhaps it refers to the twist in the tale, which ought to come as a shock equivalent to a kendo attack. show more Because there certainly was a twist. Of sorts.
As the synopsis says, Tsurugu no Kiyomori is a sort of magic-using private eye, hired to protect a warlord's new bride from a kitsune (often malicious fox spirit) they believe is near, and threatening. Kitsune can and often do take human shape in order to work mischief (and worse), and it could be anyone – or no one. And – again, as the synopsis says – a PI in ancient Japan doesn't have the leeway a classic American gumshoe would, since a mistaken accusation against, say, the bride herself could end in very ugly, very painful, possibly very fatal results.
Tsurugu is partnered – against his will – with a warrior named Shishio Hitoshi, who makes up in grit and determination what he lacks in magic. They become a good team, until they aren't any longer, and that's the problem I had with this story. I'll come back to that. It was well done, with several factors that made it both a very good and a very bad followup to Yamada Monogatari - there were surprising similarities (which is why it was both good and bad). I'm not in any way suggesting anything hinky about either book – just surprise at a superficial resemblance. This is a quick tale (wouldn't it be fun to write stories about kitsune in sets of three? Three tales? Geddit??) which encompasses a pair of mysterious twins, a dog hunt (which was, I felt, an unnecessarily ugly scene, but at least it was not graphic or detailed), and a beautiful bride who may not be what she is supposed to be.
The twist in the tail tale was very much a surprise, and so was effective in that way – but it was so very close to the end of the novella that I think I was still thinking "What … just happened here?" when I hit the last sentence. With the fast pace of the story, it felt like flying along on a bobsled, hitting a wall, and continuing to fly along without the benefit of the sled for a while until I came to a spinning stop several yards away. (This would be one of those rare times I wish I knew where to find a gif that would illustrate that better.) Once I stopped blinking in surprise, I think I was just unhappy about the whole thing. It was clever – I just didn't like it.
But, to end this at least on a positive note, I do love kitsune. I love that the fox-as-trickster trope is as strong in Japan as it is in Native American lore. I love that the creatures can be malice personified or merely mischievous, can fall in love with human and be willing to kill anyone else. They're a fascinating class of being, and it's fun to see them as much as I have lately. And they have three tails – how cool is that? show less
In keeping with my confusion over what "Monogatari" meant, I expected "Tsuki" to mean "story" or something along those lines. But it doesn't. It's not a literary term at all, at least according to my limited search: it means "punch" or "thrust". Perhaps it refers to the twist in the tale, which ought to come as a shock equivalent to a kendo attack. show more Because there certainly was a twist. Of sorts.
As the synopsis says, Tsurugu no Kiyomori is a sort of magic-using private eye, hired to protect a warlord's new bride from a kitsune (often malicious fox spirit) they believe is near, and threatening. Kitsune can and often do take human shape in order to work mischief (and worse), and it could be anyone – or no one. And – again, as the synopsis says – a PI in ancient Japan doesn't have the leeway a classic American gumshoe would, since a mistaken accusation against, say, the bride herself could end in very ugly, very painful, possibly very fatal results.
Tsurugu is partnered – against his will – with a warrior named Shishio Hitoshi, who makes up in grit and determination what he lacks in magic. They become a good team, until they aren't any longer, and that's the problem I had with this story. I'll come back to that. It was well done, with several factors that made it both a very good and a very bad followup to Yamada Monogatari - there were surprising similarities (which is why it was both good and bad). I'm not in any way suggesting anything hinky about either book – just surprise at a superficial resemblance. This is a quick tale (wouldn't it be fun to write stories about kitsune in sets of three? Three tales? Geddit??) which encompasses a pair of mysterious twins, a dog hunt (which was, I felt, an unnecessarily ugly scene, but at least it was not graphic or detailed), and a beautiful bride who may not be what she is supposed to be.
The twist in the tail tale was very much a surprise, and so was effective in that way – but it was so very close to the end of the novella that I think I was still thinking "What … just happened here?" when I hit the last sentence. With the fast pace of the story, it felt like flying along on a bobsled, hitting a wall, and continuing to fly along without the benefit of the sled for a while until I came to a spinning stop several yards away. (This would be one of those rare times I wish I knew where to find a gif that would illustrate that better.) Once I stopped blinking in surprise, I think I was just unhappy about the whole thing. It was clever – I just didn't like it.
But, to end this at least on a positive note, I do love kitsune. I love that the fox-as-trickster trope is as strong in Japan as it is in Native American lore. I love that the creatures can be malice personified or merely mischievous, can fall in love with human and be willing to kill anyone else. They're a fascinating class of being, and it's fun to see them as much as I have lately. And they have three tails – how cool is that? show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
Any time I find myself reaching the end of a book and thinking, "That's it? There's no more?" and frowning sadly in the absence of the characters, I figure I must have deeply enjoyed the time I spent reading. This book went by so fast for me that I find it very hard to believe that I spent any time reading at all. Suddenly the story seems to have become a part of my mind and that is an odd, yet wonderful feeling.
Kitsune-Tsuki is based on Japanese legend and it is written very well. I ended show more up feeling a deep sense of culture that came from the story with what seemed like very little effort on the part of the writer. Reading this book was like watching it all happen before my eyes, the visual power of the words quite easily whisking me away to Japan long ago. At the end of my reviewer's copy there is a mention of things to come in the future, based on some of the characters within these pages, and I certainly hope that comes to be. I would love to read more of this world from this author.
Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it. I also give bonus points for Text To Speech enabling on Kindle format.... but that also wasn't a factor in the above review. show less
Kitsune-Tsuki is based on Japanese legend and it is written very well. I ended show more up feeling a deep sense of culture that came from the story with what seemed like very little effort on the part of the writer. Reading this book was like watching it all happen before my eyes, the visual power of the words quite easily whisking me away to Japan long ago. At the end of my reviewer's copy there is a mention of things to come in the future, based on some of the characters within these pages, and I certainly hope that comes to be. I would love to read more of this world from this author.
Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it. I also give bonus points for Text To Speech enabling on Kindle format.... but that also wasn't a factor in the above review. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 21
- Also by
- 23
- Members
- 189
- Popularity
- #115,305
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 21
- ISBNs
- 28