Location: United States
Member Since: June 13, 2011

Mary C. Aldridge


Biography

Mary C. Aldridge was a Nebula Award Nominee (Finalist) for her fantasy short story, "The Adinkra Cloth," and is a two-time winner of the Cauldron Award for Readers' Favorite Story in Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine. One of her Cauldron-winning stories, "The Knife That Makes Men," was also a cover story.

Ms. Aldridge won a Massachusetts Artists Foundation Fiction Fellowship for another fantasy story, "The Work Leader". Previously, she had received a Fiction Finalist Award from the Artists Foundation for her two-story entry: "The Adinkra Cloth" and "A Courting Story." Ms. Aldridge has published fantasy stories in Space and Time ("The Windela Man") and the late Pulpsmith ("The Pike at Katana Shrine"). Most of her published fantasy stories are inspired by her reading in African art history and African traditional cultures and by her interest in law as a force shaping human life everywhere, even when we don't think of that force as "law".

Books

The Adinkra Cloth & Other Stories    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $2.99 USD. 30020 words. Published on January 21, 2012. Fiction.
"The Adinkra Cloth & Other Stories" contains five "African fantasy" stories by Nebula Finalist Mary C. Aldridge. Besides the title story, this volume includes Cauldron winner story "The Knife That Makes Men," "The Windela Man," the light-hearted "A Courting Story," and "The Work Leader," a novelette-length tale that was awarded a Fiction Fellowship by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation.
The Work Leader    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $0.99 USD. 9670 words. Published on December 31, 2011. Fiction.
The King's work leaders must be masters of the land, but the akasifi forest spirits refuse to acknowledge 15-year-old Kdano Luchenna's right to land mastery. Can Kdano convince the akasifi that he is true Luchenna blood or will the ancient forest spirits take back the farmlands that feed the nation? A story of courage, magic, custom, and law at many levels.
A Courting Story    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $0.99 USD. 2690 words. Published on December 31, 2011. Fiction.
O lovely Yanike! Is that a courting story he just told you? Kindly listen while I tell you what happened to me this very day! It was noon. I was sticky and hot. The cattle were grazing by the river, and I decided to bathe. I took off my clothes. Then I took off my beauty, folded it neatly, and placed it on top of my clothes...
The Windela Man    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $0.99 USD. 4410 words. Published on December 31, 2011. Fiction.
Now, Shebe's bracelet there reminds me of a certain story. All of you know where gold comes from, don't you? But do you know how it is that Kessala women out of all the women in the world rule the gold trade? No? Well this is a story for you, then: about Ga the Traveler and how she found the Windela people and established the gold trade and why no one will ever see the face of a Windela man!
The Knife That Makes Men    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $0.99 USD. 7370 words. Published on December 31, 2011. Fiction.
"A smith-lord fears nothing made of fire." But can the embittered smith-lord of conquered Nkai forge an alliance with Daloro's hostile Prince Regent in order to protect the boy King of Daloro from a treasonous magical attack at the most vulnerable moment of his young life?
The Adinkra Cloth    by Mary C. Aldridge
Price: $0.99 USD. 5940 words. Published on December 31, 2011. Fiction.
"Our mother was dying; grief ate her heart like a witch." Can one young boy protect himself and his three little brothers from the malevolent shapechanger who will stop at nothing to possess the secret of their mother's magic? "The Adinkra Cloth" is a Nebula Award Finalist short story and winner of the Cauldron Award from the readers of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine.

Mary C. Aldridge’s tag cloud

adinkra cloth    adventure    african fantasy    akasifi    black leopard    bloodright    cattle herder    cauldron award    compacts as law    cover story    culture hero    culture heroine    familial love    fantasy    farm work    farm workgroups    farm workleader    fire magic    folktales    forest spirits    forest v farms    ga the traveler    gender roles    gold trade    goldsalt trade    hall of kings    humorous wooing    imaginary world    jealousy    kings    love v evil    love vs evil    magical foes    magical knife    manhood knife    mary c aldridge    maternal love    moral choice    mothers love    mzbfm    nature spirits    nebula finalist    power of love    pride v love    pride vs love    priestess    proud priestess    regency    regent    royal marriage    royal relics    salt trade    shapechangers    short stories    short story    smithlord    snake god    social change    song magic    song ox    song oxen    stolen beauty    storytelling    tall tales    teen workgroups    tradition    twin bond    twin bonds    windela    windela man