Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

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We're going straight to the Wild Wild West...

Today marks the publication of Westward Weird, a new DAW anthology of, yes, Weird Wild West stories. Here's the book's official landing page on the Penguin* site. The table of contents:

1. "The Temptation of Eustace Prudence McAllen" by Jay Lake
2. "The Last Master of Aeronautical Winters" by Larry D. Sweazy
3. "Lowstone" by Anton Strout
4. "The Flower of Arizona" by Seanan McGuire
5. "The Ghost in the Doctor" by Brenda Cooper
6. "Surveyor of Mars" by Christopher McKitterick
7. "Coyote, Spider, Bat" by Steven Saus
8. "Maybe Another Time" by Dean Wesley Smith
9. "Renn and the Little Men" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
10. "Shadowdown at High Moon" by Jennifer Brozek
11. "The Clockwork Cowboy" by J. Steven York
12. "Black Train" by Jeff Mariotte
13. "Lone Wolf" by Jody Lynn Nye

Let's take a moment to focus on story #4, "The Flower of Arizona," shall we?

Discount Armageddon is the story of Verity Price, latest in a long line of cryptozoologists and monster hunters. Her father, Kevin Price, was the son of Alice Price-Healy and Thomas Price (late of the Covenant of St. George). And Alice was the daughter of Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown (late of the Campbell Family Circus, darling of the Arizona rodeo circuit).

"The Flower of Arizona" is the story of how Jonathan and Frances first met, a long time before their daughter met and fell in love with a man from the Covenant, and an even longer time before their great-granddaughter went and got a book of her very own. This is literally the chronologically earliest Price family story I have ever written. See Jonathan when he had a sense of humor! Learn how much Verity takes after her ancestors! Listen to the mice hail things inappropriately!

In all seriousness, this is a great introduction to the InCryptid universe...and, as a bonus, I'm going to be putting up another story featuring Jonathan and Fran for free download later this month. "One Hell of a Ride" takes place immediately after "The Flower of Arizona," and will make more sense if you've read them both. Plus, it's a fabulous anthology, so you get lots of bang for your buck.

Mama rode the rodeo; they say she was the best...

(*DAW is distributed by Penguin, although they are a distinct publishing entity. Supply chains are weird.)
Tags: cheese and cake, incryptid, short fiction
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  • 47 comments
She was the flower of Arizona, and the star of New Mexico...
They say she never missed a shot. She was the darling of the West.

tikiera

5 years ago

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

tikiera

5 years ago

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

tikiera

5 years ago

tereshkova2001

5 years ago

Deleted comment

It's about Frances "Fabulous Fran" Brown, the Flower of Arizona, from the perspective of her daughter, Alice Price-Healy.
Arr. Hey, did my address and things make it to you? I've been hyperventipaniclating ever since Beth pointed me at your post.
Ye-es. You DID send it to me two different ways, including the one I ask people not to use. Sadly, I am not a machine, and thus have to actually go to the post office to get things into the mail. :(

jhyanmar

5 years ago

Not to mention the several Price-family related songs on the Wicked Girls CD....right? ;)
Yup, but they aren't as necessary for later context.
...I always thought that song was about Annie Oakley. Because I know very little about the Wild West. Now I'm excited to listen to the song again with proper context, and I'm even more excited to get my hands on the new book, as it was already one of my favorite songs on that album! And hopefully the short story, finances allowing.
I love it when songs lend themselves to multiple meanings. :)

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

interesting that the ebook prices on the penguin website are $3 less than what amazon is charging. Does anybody know if the penguin website is "ok" for canadians to use?
I do not, sadly.
This is the sort of thing that makes me wish the NYPL didn't have the hate on for genre fiction. I don't typically buy anthologies unless I know at least 3 authors, but I'd take it out of the library just to read your story. Unfortunately, genre anthologies don't appear to be in their budget.
Sad. :(
Congratulations on having the story extract at the front of the book :)
I nearly ended up with an electronic copy of "Human for a day" as it has You, Jim Hines, Tanith Lee in it until I remembered that I had just had a paper book delivered.....

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

Yay for anthologies! Congrats!
Thanks!
ooh, and I follow at least 9 of those authors in that anthology...

My sister was a Rodeo Princess, so she comes by that selection of riding crops legitamately...
Awesome!
Ebook purchased! Looking forward to the bonus story later, and the book in March. Thanks!
No problem.

idancewithlife

5 years ago

*draws hearts all over the story*
Hee. <3 <3 <3
I'm not ordinarily a purchaser of anthologies, but this one has some good names on the roster, it would be worth it just for the InCrytpid story. Since reading Discount Armageddon I am a little obsessed by the Healys and the Prices and their world and background.
Hey, that works for me!
Unemployed.... bought anyway :)

Gotta have something to keep me sane, yeah?
Totally.
Yay! I LOVE when publishers give you a chance to tell even MORE of the background of the world and story. I know there's so much more in your head, I love to see it out in print.
:-D
Here's hoping!
Shiny! I'll have to get an order in for the book at our local store. And now I'll have the song stuck in my head all evening. Fortunately, I'm quite fond of the tune. :)
That's a good thing!
That's exactly the song my brain started singing as I read this post :). It's nice to know, if not the *right* track, that it made recognizable sense... sometimes my brain goes to strange places - not that I'm complaining mind you but it gets interesting :).
Awesome. :)
I read the story this morning on the bus -- loved it, and I can't wait to learn more about the mice :)
They are unavoidable.
I'm looking forward to reading this, especially that's one of my favorite songs!
Yay!