Out today: Heiresses of Russ 2013

Fresh on the heels of the Lambda Emerging Writers Retreat, I think it’s serendipitous that today I’m celebrating the publication of Heiresses of Russ 2013: The Year’s Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction edited by Tenea D. Johson and Steve Berman (Lethe Press), which includes one of my short stories, "One True Love." As Johnson writes in the introduction:

"It should not be easier to find a zombie apocalypse than it is to find a lesbian protagonist in the aisles of your local bookstore. Falling for werewolves and shape shifters should not be more accepted than a transgendered love affair; marginalized people really will still exist in the future; more folks should know that, and more so create like they know it. Someone then must step into the gap, or to be more accurate the gaping holes in the collective visions of our possibilities as human beings. In these pages, someone has."

Indeed!

My story "One True Love" originally appeared in Foretold edited by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte). That means "One True Love" was originally published in a young adult anthology, but Heiresses of Russ is not YA. I really appreciate that they've invited me to be in this anthology, because I think my writing often straddles the line between YA and adult, and honestly, I'm not sure that "One True Love" is your typical YA tale.

I’ve already blogged about the inspirations for “One True Love,” so today I’ll simply note (provocatively?) that this story is about a princess who falls in love with her stepmother. And that princess gets to wear some armor in the process.

I thought it was fantastic to have my story included in Foretold, which is a collection of stories by totally mainstream bestselling authors such as Meg Cabot, Richelle Mead, Michael Grant, and more. I think my little tale of lesbian heroics actually fits in there fine.

But it’s also incredibly cool to have “One True Love” collected in Heiresses of Russ 2013, because now my little tale of lesbian heroics is only one among many tales of lesbians — heroic or otherwise. How often do you get to read an entire anthology of speculative fiction about lesbians? Come on, really? Pretty much only when Heiresses of Russ comes out — once a year.

This year’s anthology includes tales by Jewelle Gomez, Jamie Killen, Brit Mandelo, Richard Bowes, Julia Rios, Nisi Shawl, Megan Arkenberg, Sarah Diemer, Wendy N. Wagner, Claire Humphrey, Andrea Kneeland, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Kate Harrad, JL Merrow, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, and Carrie Vaughn.

Heiresses of Russ 2013 is available at Amazon (including Kindle), B&N Nook, or directly from Lethe Press.