A hearty welcome to Ms. Dana Cameron, a partner in several crimes (just ask her sometime about the Monterey Aquarium visit).

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Hi, I'm Dana Cameron, and right now, I'm up to my hip-boots in urban fantasy and colonial noir short stories! My second Fangborn short story, "Swing Shift," combines werewolves, jazz, and spies in World War II, and was nominated for an Agatha, an Anthony, and a Macavity. For a limited time, you can read it at my website. A third Fangborn story, "Love Knot," features vampire Dr. Claudia Steuben and appears in The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy with an Erotic Edge (August 2011). The adventures of 18th-century tavern owner Anna Hoyt continue in "Disarming" and "Ardent." Enjoy!

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One of my favorite lectures to present involves the cliches about archaeologists in popular culture. In addition to explaining "Why Archaeologists Are Middle-Aged German or English Men" (and how some of us are cute girls from Nawtha Boston) and "Why Archaeologists Always Dig Up Mummies and Golden Treasures" (and how we really don't), I like to discuss why, in movies, comics, television, books, and any other fictional venue you can name, archaeologists are always uncovering "Things Best Left Undisturbed."

From H. P. Lovecraft and Rider Haggard, to Dr. Who and Star Trek, to the Marvel Universe and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there are story lines featuring archaeologists who are warned not to disturb the spirit of X, the tomb of Y, or the sacred treasure of Z, and then promptly do, with dire consequences. Inevitably, fictional archaeologists and explorers open tombs, piece together clues that were separated for good reason, and awake long dead terrors. Why is this such a constant theme? Why do people worry we'll uncover ("dis-cover") something dangerous?

It's because we do.

We don't ignore the public records, but we dig for what else was going on behind the scenes. We're interested in the everyday stuff that doesn't make it into the history books, but both the quotidian and the exceptional are often connected to complicated and unhappy parts of the past, filled with exploitation or ignorance or violence. Many people will talk about leaving the past buried, and that's exactly the opposite of what archaeologists do. Archaeologists uncover information, and sometimes even discover the truth. And then we talk about it.

Same as writers.

I discovered this same reticence to delve into hard topics when I started writing fiction. I realized that when the critics in my head were the loudest, when I had the strongest urges to leave my desk and clean the bathroom or go to the gym, or when I kept skipping over one scene, it was usually because it was difficult in some way. It was fraught with emotion of some kind, but almost always the scary, the sad, or the deeply, embarrassingly personal. It was something I would go a long way to avoid in real life.

More importantly, I also discovered those urges to stop writing were almost always indications that I was on to something good, something that would really feed the story I was trying to tell.

(Seriously? In order to write fiction, I need to uncover thoughts and feelings Best Left Undisturbed? That's just great.)

I'm not writing autobiography when I write fiction, not even when the character is an archaeologist. But for a story to work, it's got to have either emotional or physical danger. It has to feel real, so is has to come from somewhere, so writers, me included, mine their own experiences, strip away the details, and refine the sensation.

(No one who's gone into that cave has ever come out again…Oh, that part of the cemetery haunted…Danger, danger, Will Robinson…)

Some recent examples: In "Disarming,"* 18th-century tavern-keeper Anna Hoyt is sent to London to undermine a powerful man. I drew on memories of painful homesickness and cultural alienation to show her response to leaving home for the first time—and doesn't everyone love remembering how they didn't fit in? The payoff I didn't expect was that by doing so, I gave her the reasons to make the huge choice she has at the end.

"Ardent"** continues with Anna's voyage home, where she must chose between the life of her first love and the new life she's found for herself. It's no fun revisiting choices that have changed your life, but in doing so, I realized Anna would turn some of her anger on those forcing her to make those decisions.

"Love Knot" appears in the anthology The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy With An Erotic Edge*** and features my Fangborn character, vampire Claudia Steuben. Claudia's worked hard to keep her considerable powers in control, but when she encounters an artifact that rewards her actions with sexual pleasure, she must decide…okay, I'm going to stop there. That book doesn't come out for another couple of weeks, so you'll just have to wait to find out what happens.

My point is: You don't get anywhere by covering something up. Discovery leads to understanding. So take a deep breath, ignore the rumors and warnings of the locals, and forge on. Visiting your own feelings might be like unleashing demons, but you may get what you need to fuel a story.

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* You can check out the podcast of Disarming, from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (June 2011).

** In Cape Cod Noir, Akashic, 2011.

*** Edited by Mark Van Name, it's available August 2; I'll give away a copy to a lucky reader of Maria's choosing!

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Thanks, Dana!

Readers, tell us a tale of how you've forged ahead, uncovering something interesting. Commenters will all be entered for a chance to win a copy of The Wild Side: Urban Fantasy With An Erotic Edge.