I’m delighted to share the news that I have a story in a new LIBRATiger anthology!
Frontiers have always attracted the Other – where they find that the Other is always already there. These 22 stories explore what happens when queer characters encounter weirdness on the edge of the worlds they know.
Queer Weird West Tales, ed. Julie Bozza
After releasing her moody, textured tale of the gunfight at the OK Corral, Writ in Blood – complete with queer protagonists and the devil – Julie decided there weren’t enough queer and weird stories about the wild frontier in her life, so she put out a call for submissions.
Her criteria:
- Queer: At least one main character belongs to the LGBTQ+ spectrum, defined in whatever way seems natural to them.
- Weird: The story contains a speculative fiction element, drawing on fantasy, horror, or science fiction.
- West: The setting is the Old West – or the time and place of any other frontier.
For my story, “Derailed”, I decided to see what had happened to Polly Crewes, who was betrayed by the girl she loved in “Virgin Soil” (And Then… Volume 1). At the end of that story, the wizard protagonists, Lucius and Magnus, encouraged Polly to forgive Nettie in light of mitigating circumstances. Set in South Australia in 1866. 15 years after the events of “Virgin Soil”, we get to find out how the forgiving and forgetting is working out.
That’s the queer and the frontier parts managed. As for the weird? That would be telling. Let’s just say that Australia really doesn’t need another introduced species, especially this one.
Pre-orders
Queer Weird West Tales is due out on 31 August 2022 (as an ebook and in paperback) and is already available for pre-order through the Universal Book Link.
You can also add the eBook to your TBR list on Goodreads and to your library on Smashwords!