Mythology 101 (27 page)

Keith hugged her. “Thanks, Diane. Listen, I have to tell you. Wait ’til you hear about my project for next year,” Keith said enthusiastically, holding the figurine carefully. “I’m going to be taking archaeology, you know. There are still reported sightings of the fair folk that no one’s ever been able to disprove. Maybe I can find historic traces.
You
know—and, Holl, you haven’t heard this one yet. I figure, if I can get up high enough in a hot air balloon—an airplane is too noisy, you’d scare ’em off—I can find out if there are really air sprites up in the clouds. There’s much more atmosphere than there is surface on this planet, and I’m sure Nature never wasted it. But if I don’t find anything
there
.…
Wait, Master! Where are you going?” The Elf Master turned and walked away, shaking his head as if it hurt.

“Progressive,” Aylmer stated, teeth clenched around the stem of his pipe. “You are too progressive.”

“Perhaps we should make statues of you, Keith Doyle,” Holl said wryly, “as a fantastic myth.”

“Yeah,” Diane agreed. “But it shouldn’t be an elf for you, Mr. Keith Doyle. I looked it up. It ought to be a gremlin. I found it when I was researching my Mythology paper. There you were, right in the dictionary. ‘Gremlin: Mythical creature. Meddling spirit.’”

With a mischievous grin on his face, Keith bowed to them. “That’s me,” he said.

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About the Author

Jody Lynn Nye lists her main career activity as “spoiling cats.” When not engaged upon this worthy occupation, she writes fantasy and science fiction books and short stories.

Before breaking away from gainful employment to write full time, Jody worked as a file clerk, bookkeeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist, and photographer, accounting assistant and costume maker. For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a local Chicago television station, ending as Technical Operations Manager.

Since 1987 she has published 45 books and more than 110 short stories. Although she is best known as a collaborator with other notable authors such as Anne McCaffrey (the Ship Who series, the Dinosaur Planet series), Robert Asprin (Dragons and the Myth-Adventures), John Ringo (Clan of the Claw) and Piers Anthony, Jody has numerous solo books to her credit, mostly fantasy and science fiction with a humorous bent. Her newest book is
Fortunes of the Imperium
(Baen Books), the second of the Lord Thomas Kinago books, which she describes as “Jeeves and Wooster in space.” Over the last twenty-five years or so, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and speaks at schools and libraries, and teaches the two-day writers’ workshop at DragonCon in Atlanta. When not writing, she enjoys baking, calligraphy, travel, photography and, of course, reading.

Jody lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Bill Fawcett, and Jeremy, their cat.
jodylynnnye.com

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