The Weird Wild West (The Weird and Wild Series)

by Faith Hunter

  R.S. (Rod) Belcher is an award-winning newspaper and magazine editor and reporter.

  Rod has been a private investigator, a DJ, a comic book store owner and has degrees in criminal law, psychology and justice and risk administration, from Virginia Commonwealth University. He’s done Masters work in Forensic Science at The George Washington University, and worked with the Occult Crime Taskforce for the Virginia General Assembly.

  The Grand Prize winner of the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Anthology contest, Rod’s short story “Orphans” was published in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 9 by Simon and Schuster in 2006.

  Rod’s first novel, The Six-Gun Tarot, was published by Tor Books in 2013. The sequel, The Shotgun Arcana, was published in October 2014. His third novel, Nightwise, was released in August 2015, and his latest novel, The Brotherhood of the Wheel is scheduled to be published in March of 2016.

  He lives in Roanoke Virginia with his children, Jonathan and Emily.

  After a long career of writing mostly novels, mostly military, mostly science fiction, David Sherman is now concentrating on short fiction. “Rocky Rolls Gold” is his third story about Gambling Man Clint Walker and Pinkerton Agent Extraordinaire Miss Kitty Belle. For more about his novels and other short fiction, please visit his website: www.novelier.com.

  Jonathan Maberry is a NY Times bestselling author, four-time Bram Stoker Award winner, and comic book writer. He writes horror, thrillers, mystery, fantasy, science fiction and suspense for adults and teens. His novels include Predator One, Code Zero, Rot & Ruin, Fall of Night, Ghost Road Blues, Patient Zero, and many others. Several of Jonathan’s novels are in development for movies or TV including V-Wars, Extinction Machine, Rot & Ruin, and Dead of Night. He’s the editor/co-author of V‐Wars, a vampire‐themed anthology; and is editor for a series of all-original X-FILES anthologies, the YA anthology Scary Out There, and the dark fantasy anthology Out of Tune. His V-Wars books have been developed as a board game. He is a popular featured expert on History Channel shows like Zombies: A Living History and Monsters, Myth and Legend. Since 1978 he’s sold more than 1200 magazine feature articles, 3000 columns, two plays, greeting cards, song lyrics, and poetry. His comics include V-Wars, Rot & Ruin, Captain America: Hail Hydra, Bad Blood, Marvel Zombies Return and Marvel Universe VS The Avenger. He lives in Del Mar, California with his wife, Sara Jo and their dog, Rosie. www.jonathanmaberry.com.

  Robert E Waters has been writing science fiction and fantasy professionally since 2003 with his first publication in Weird Tales, “The Assassin’s Retirement Party.” Robert has also published 30 additional stories in various on-line and print magazines and anthologies, including Eric Flint’s on-line Grantville Gazette, the magazine dedicated to publishing stories set in Baen Book’s 1632/Ring of Fire alternate history series. In 2014, Robert published his first novel, The Wayward Eight: A Contract to Die For, set in the Wild West Exodus gaming universe. Robert lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife Beth, their son Jason, and their cat Buzz. Visit his website as www.roberternestwaters.com.

  Tonia Brown is a Southern author with a penchant for Victorian dead things. Her work ranges from steampunk to romance to humor to horror, and a healthy mix of these genres. She is the author of Badass Zombie Roadtrip and Lucky Stiff from Books of the Dead Press, Sundowners and Skin Trade from Permuted Press, Hauling Ash from Post Hill Press, and the Clockworks and Corsets series from Kinsington Press, as well as the weird western web serial, Railroad! She lives in the backwoods of North Carolina with her genius husband and an ever fluctuating number of cats.

  James R. Tuck is the author of the Deacon Chalk series and numerous short stories.

  He writes the things that keep you up at night.

  Find out more at: www.jamesrtuck.com.

  Liz Colter lives in a rural area of Colorado and spends her free time with her husband, dogs, horses and writing. Over the years she has worked as a paramedic, an Outward Bound instructor, an athletic trainer, a draft-horse farmer and a dispatcher for concrete trucks, but her true passion is her writing. She has been reading speculative fiction for a lifetime and creating her own speculative worlds for more than a decade. Her short stories have appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including Galaxy’s Edge Magazine and Urban Fantasy Magazine, as well as an international contest-winning story in the Writers of the Future anthology. In longer works, she has two completed fantasy novels and is working on a third. News of her writing can be found at her website: www.lizcolter.com.

  As a professional game designer, Scott Hungerford has designed great games and told great stories for millions of players world-wide over the last twenty years. But when the job is over for the day, his true passion lies with writing novels mixing the mythic and the mundane.

  John G. Hartness is a teller of tales, a righter of wrongs, defender of ladies’ virtues, and some people call him Maurice, for he speaks of the pompatus of love. He is the author of The Black Knight Chronicles (Bell Bridge), and creator of the comic horror Bubba the Monster Hunter series and the Big Bad anthology series (Dark Oak Press).

  John enjoys long walks on the beach, rescuing kittens from trees and recording episodes of his podcast Literate Liquors, where he pairs book reviews and alcoholic drinks in new and ludicrous ways. An avid Magic: the Gathering player, John is strong in his nerd-fu.

  Diana Pharaoh Francis writes books of a fantastical, adventurous, and often romantic nature. Her award-nominated books include The Path series, the Horngate Witches series, the Crosspointe Chronicles, and Diamond City Magic books, and the Mission:Magic series. She's owned by two corgis, spends much of her time herding children, and likes rocks, geocaching, knotting up yarn, and has a thing for 1800s England, especially the Victorians. For more about her writing, visit www.dianapfrancis.com. She can also be found on twitter as @dianapfrancis.

  Ken Schrader is a science fiction and fantasy writer. He spends a great deal of his spare time listening to the characters running around in his head. When he’s not doing that, or playing with his dogs, he’s been known to take in the occasional super-hero movie.

  NYT Bestselling author Faith Hunter writes: the multi-book, dark urban fantasy Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock; the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy / post-apocalyptic series and role playing game featuring Thorn St. Croix; and the Soulwood Trilogy featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram, a spin-off character of the Jane Yellowrock / Skinwalker series.

  About the Editors

  Misty Massey is the author of Mad Kestrel (Tor), a rollicking fantasy adventure of magic on the high seas, and Kestrel’s Voyages (Kindle DP), a set of stories following Captain Kestrel and her daring crew. Her short fiction has appeared in Rum and Runestones, Dragon’s Lure, and The Big Bad II. Misty is one of the featured writers on Magical Words (magicalwords.net). When she’s not writing, she studies and performs Middle Eastern dance. You can see more of what Misty’s up to at her website, mistymassey.com, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

  Emily Lavin Leverett is a fantasy, sci-fi, and (occasional) horror writer from North Carolina. Her works have appeared in Flash Fiction Online, Drafthorse: A Journal of Work and No Work, and Athena’s Daughters II from Silence in the Library. She also edits short story collections including The Big Bad: an Anthology of Evil and Big Bad II with John Hartness, from Dark Oak Press. She freelance edits as well. When not writing or editing, she is a Professor of Medieval English Literature at a small college in Fayetteville. She teaches English literature including Chaucer and Shakespeare, as well as teaching composition and grammar. Medieval studies, especially medieval romance, heavily influence her work. When neither writing nor teaching, she’s reading novels, short stories, and comic books or watching television and movies with her spouse and their cats.

  Margaret S. McGraw writes fantasy and science fiction; blogs about prompt-writing, con reviews, and book reviews at ; and edits fiction, academic and technical writing. Her imagination draws on her lifelong love of science fiction, fanta
sy, and anthropology. Her education and experience range from anthropology and communication through web design and IT management. Margaret lives in North Carolina with her daughter and an array of dogs, cats, Macs and PCs, and too many unfinished craft projects. For more details on her writing, friend Margaret on Facebook at “Margaret S. McGraw” and Goodreads at “Margaret S. McGraw”, follow her on Twitter @MargaretSMcGraw, or visit her blog at WritersSpark.com.

  The Weird Wild West Stakeholders

  Robby Thrasher, Jay Zastrow, Bonnie Warford, John Idlor, D-Rock, Sheryl R. Hayes, Anonymous, Karen H, Andrew and Kate Barton, Edward Greaves, Keith Hall, Anonymous, Arne Radtke, Leshia-Aimee Doucet, Evaristo Ramos, Jr., Roy Romasanta, Andrew J Clark IV, Gavran, Christian Steudtner, Doug Wardell, Laura Sheana Taylor, John Green, Gail Z. Martin, Amy Bauer, Katy Holder, Pat Hayes, Adriane Ruzak, Amelia, Margaret St. John, CJ Gray, Pam Blome, Melanie C. Duncan, Joy Pinchback, Karen Dubois, Kim R., Cheryl Preyer, Ed Ellis, Jerel Heritage, Brett Hargis, James H. Murphy Jr., Svend Andersen, Axisor, Jim Naeger (c/o Aussie Adventurer Pty Ltd, (www.aussieadventurer.net), Joshua Palmatier, Kit Power, Sasquatch, A Jacob Cord, Missy Katano, Mike Spring, Sheelagh Semper, Chris Imershein, J.R. Murdock, Jennifer Brozek, sure, Travis I. Sivart, Lynn Kramer, Silence in the Library Publishing, Elizabeth Lee, Candace R. Benefiel, Keith Bissett, Wendy Fairfull, Ann Stolinsky, Gontza Games and Gemini Wordsmiths, Christopher S. Sanders, Kelli Neier, Jaime C., Erin Penn, Janito Vaqueiro Ferreira Filho, KDRW, Tina M Good, Tera Fulbright, Paul Bulmer, John MacLeod, Allison M Ketchell, Maggie Allen, Michael Spence, Jeff, Mike Smith, David McCready, Andy Hsu, Simo Muinonen, David Perlmutter, Steven Saus, Sally Novak Janin, Cathy Franchett, Floyd Brigdon, Lennhoff Family, Antha Ann Adkins, Target, Tor Andre Wigmostad, Paul Minturn, Christine Bell, Ib Rasmussen, Jean Marie Ward, David Zurek, Robert Early, Trip Space-Parasite, Steve Jasper, Cynthia Ward, Chan Ka Chun Patrick, Jim Ryan, Elizabeth Inglee-Richards, Wayne L. McCalla, Jr., Anthony R. Cardno, Heather Parra, Sara-Jane Raines, Richard Sargent, V. Hartman DiSanto, Mark Cole, JW, James Elwood, Joshua Megerman, Ken ‘Merlyn’ Mencher, Vicki Hsu, Andrew Hatchell, Peter Young, Gunnar Hogberg, Brendan Lonehawk, Daniel Frederick Crisman, Ivan Begley, Faye Newsham, Jenn Whitworth, Erica Stevenson, Jan Schumann, Tim Marquitz, Ryan Lawler, Barbara Hasebe, Susan Simko, Ian Harvey, Butch Howard, Wes Rist, JoanneBB, Elaine Tindill-Rohr, JBW, Keith West, Steven Thesken, Darrell Grizzle, James Stubbs, Susan C., V Pallo, Nicholas Ahlhelm, Beth Cato, Paul “Sharps” Ellis, Arnonym, Cindy Gropp Curry, Judith Tarr, Nicholas Diak, Judy Bienvenu, Donald J. Bingle, Komic Brew, Eviltwin, Patrick Dugan, Frances Rowat, Samuel Montgomery-Blinn, T.Rob, Josette Steele, Duncan Dog, Justin Tappan, Gary Vandegrift, Kristin Evenson Hirst, Stephen Kotowych, Cliff Winnig, Kelly Farmer, Michael Bentley, Peter Darbyshire, Patrick Thomas, KT Wagner, Carissa Little, Stefanie Lazer, Melanie Knight, Rich Bowers, Mary Avinger, Megan E, Jeremy Brett, Rachel M. Thompson, Morgan S. Brilliant, Greg Schauer, Elizabeth, Jon Del Arroz, Robert Greenberger, Little Shop of Horror Durham NC, R.T. Bryson, Mary Spila, Robert E Waters, Charlotte Henley Babb, Paul van Oven, M. Menzies, JD Fitch, Kerry aka Trouble, Jay Wolf, David Boop, Stormsister, Steven Pots, Thomas A. Mays, Rowie McDonald-Moss and Michael Timmers, Chokolatte Jedi, Rebecca D. Flowers, Lara Beneshan, Laura Wilce, Ruth-Hanna Strong, Garrett Calcaterra, Lisa Kruse, Jason and Melissa Gilbert, Inge Formenti, Deidre Dykes, Michael D. Woods, Brian Holder, Trent Walters, Aaron Max Berkowitz, Madison Metricula, Valentine Wolfe, Toby Hansen, David McDermott, Gerty McHenry, Merry Alicia Barton, Patricia deVarennes, Lura Wilcox, Connie Wilkins, Dave McNally, Kala Goriup, Andy Bartalone, Michelle Murrain, Bryan C.P. Steele, Jen M, Wendy Lea WaltzingDog Feldmann, Patti & Joan Holland, Carol Mammano, Ada Milenkovic Brown, James Nettles, Grace Lo, Pepita Hogg-Sonnenberg, Annie Standish, Chad Bowden, Deanna Stanley, Tory Shade, Captain Zorikh, Melinda, Pam Smith, Rie Sheridan Rose, Barb Moermond, Kelly Aguirre, Lang Thompson, Kevin “Wolf” Patti, James M-S Keirstead, Misha Dainiak, William Freedman, T.B. Stahl, Brenda Cooper, Hisham El-Far, Andrew and Monica Marlowe, Amazing Blair Peery, C. Markell Lynch, Becca S, Audrey Hartness Reese, Ashli Tingle, Nellie B, D. C. Wilson, Linda C. Trickey, J.P. Alkema, Marc Rokoff, Larry “Lordlnyc” Nelson, Mike Rhodes, Linda Pierce, Theresa Nitz, Penny McClain, Jeff Young, Kaitlin Thorsen, David Stokes, Eric Avedissian, Nathan Turner, Elisabeth L., Elizabeth Bridges, Paul Cardullo, John G. Hartness, Corrine Vitek, Candice N. Carpenter, Jeanne Wilkins, Max Kaehn, Kenneth Gentile, Janice Hofer, Ragnarok Publications, Tracy Syrstad, Jacalyn Boggs, H Lynnea Johnson, Stephanie Franklin, Jeff Narucki, Rachel S. Vance, Melanie Otto, Eliza Wilcox, Tanya Hamilton, Laura A Burns, Rebecca Miller, Dennis Ti, Meta, Anthony Lowe, Melissa Hicks, Hollybelle Daugherty, Melissa Truhn, Brenda Carre, Bart H. Welch, Master Ogre, Anne Rindfliesch, Kerry Ebanks, Michielle, drey, Karey Greenup Trevizo, Nick Lapeyrouse, Sondra, Melissa Hayden, Danielle Schulman, Ralf “Sandfox” Sandfuchs, Renee McPhail, Sheepy!, Kimberlee A. Hughes, Rebecca McFarland Kyle, Denise Murray, Megan E. Daggett, Denise (Ducky) Matthews, Mark Knapp Jr, Trevor Curtis, Georgie Coghlan, Alien Zookeeper, Roxanne Bland, Ann Bilbrey, Samantha Corfield, Joel from BourbonPens.com, sure, Adam T Alexander, Tomas Burgos-Caez, Barbara Silcox, Carla “Tigerlibrarian” Hollar, Lisa Barry, Sarah Eyermann, SwordFire