Today’s the day! After a long journey, my anthology, Women of the Weird West, is finally out. This anthology published by Brigids Gate Press and edited by me is near and dear to my heart.
When I first conceived of the idea of this anthology, the intent was simple: I wanted to see more untold stories of the Old West. I wanted to read tales in the Weird West that didn’t always center on a lone stoic gunslinger and his heroics.
And the stories I received did not disappoint. Reading through hundreds of submissions for this anthology, I was transported to desert landscapes, dusty saloons and alien worlds. From stories and poems of fae, monsters, ghosts, and magic, these tales centered marginalized characters who rose up to face impossible circumstances.
In the anthology’s pages you’ll also find tales covering far-flung worlds and futuristic scenarios, as the Weird West encompasses far more than stories set in the late 1800s in the U.S. Southwest. The Weird West is also an aesthetic, a feeling: a sense of danger and cultural clashes, vast landscapes and new beginnings, all threaded with the fantastical.
Whatever the setting, a few recurring themes emerged in this anthology: the powerful bond of siblings, the betrayals of spouses, the solace of community, and the fierceness of mothers, sisters and daughters. These stories and poems are a tribute to the people who persist, insist and thrive despite unthinkable obstacles, both human-made and supernatural.
I hope you enjoy the journey.
Praise for Women of the Weird West
Preorder at Mysterious Galaxy (coming soon)
About the Book
Saddle up. The Old West is weirder than you think.
In this bold reimagining of the Old West, dive into haunted canyons, frontier towns hiding cosmic horrors, vast deserts, and far-flung worlds where women take center stage. Women of the Weird West features 25 original speculative poems and short stories set in landscapes both familiar and strange. Gunslingers, outlaws, dreamers, and survivors face overwhelming forces both human and supernatural. Subversive and genre-bending, this anthology captures the wonder, violence, and resilience at the heart of the Old West while featuring women all too often left off the page.
With an introduction from Kasey Lansdale.
Contributors
- Eugen Bacon
- Jennifer Brody
- V. Castro
- K.M. Chavez
- Deborah Daughetee
- Sarah Faxon
- Jendia Gammon
- Anastasia Jill
- R.J. Joseph
- Nicole Givens Kurtz
- Angela Liu
- Christine Lucas
- Anna Madden
- Tiffany Morris
- Donna J.W. Munro
- SJ Myles
- Nico Martinez Nocito
- Cynthia Pelayo
- Grace Quon
- Stephanie Rabig
- Rebecca Rowland
- Tammy Salyer
- Lisa Timpf
- Angelica Urquizo
- Mathilda Zeller
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