Revisited : Wicked Women

When Alchemy Press editors Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber approached Aunty Fox to ask if we interested in an anthology called Wicked Women they pretty much got straight into ‘things Aunty Fox loves’. Obviously we said yes and we are delighted that one of the stories ‘Change of Heart’ by the marvelous Gaie Sebold is now up for Best Short Story in the BFS awards this year.

IMG_589380644477665

Wicked Women Edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber
Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

From thieves and tyrants to witches and warriors, here are twelve tales of women who gleefully write their own rules, who’ll bend or break the social norms, who’ll skate along the edge of the law and generally aim to misbehave.

A. R. Aston –  No Place of Honour, Stephanie Burgis – Red Ribbons, Zen Cho – The First Witch of Damansara, Jaine Fenn – Down at the Lake, Juliet E. McKenna – Win Some, Lose Some, Christine Morgan – The Shabti-Maker, Tom Johnstone – Kravolitz, Gaie Sebold – A Change of Heart, Sam Stone – The Book of the Gods, Adrian Tchaikovsky – The Blessed Union, Jonathan Ward – A Change in Leadership, Chloë Yates – How to be the Perfect Housewife

N.R on Amazon : Fox Spirit’s “Wicked Women” anthology is yet another standard bearer for independent women and publishing and well-worth perusing!

Opening Paragraphs:

From ‘Win Some, Lose Some.’ by Juliet E McKenna
The Martagon is one of those taverns which, while not a brothel, always has enough lasses idling about in low cut bodices to catch a man’s eye through its hospitably open door. And there are always plenty of men passing the door, given it’s in the middle of a street of rooming houses that cater to country folk on some long anticipated visit to this splendid city of Selerima. Such folk always include plough boys desperate to quench their youthful ardour without the risks of sowing their seed in some local furrow. And then there are the older men whose marriage bed has long since staled. They can often be tempted into a slice from a fresh cut loaf.
‘Livak, there’s a man asking for you.’ One of the lasses sauntered over, hips swinging, hem of her pink gown hiked up to show the golden lace on her petticoats and fine white stockings above her soft yellow slippers.
I swept up the rune bones I’d been casually rolling on the table in front of me. ‘Send him for a walk down the Andelane. He’ll find what he’s looking for there.’
Even dressed in a man’s breeches and boots with shirt and jerkin loose enough to disguise my curves, getting the occasional offer is one of the prices of setting up in an inn like the Martagon. Some mistake me for a lad in the candlelight, half blinded by guilt or anticipation or both. Others just see my red hair and green eyes and remember all the whispered stable yard tales about the insatiable appetites of Forest women. Such whispers had mortified my respectable housekeeper mother once I’d reached girlhood, just when she’d thought the gossip about her ill-starred dalliance with the Forest minstrel who was my father had finally faded.

Double Trouble at the Fox Den

Double release day! 

Today we are delighted to announce we have unleashed a mass of femme fatales on the unsuspecting public. Available now from Fox Spirit Books are two exciting volumes of high heels and deadly doings!

The third in our Noir series of anthologies edited by K.A.Laity is ‘Drag Noir‘ where the drag scene meets the seedy world of Chandler and Hammett, where glamour meets grit, where everyone wears a disguise.

Cover by S. L. Johnson
Cover by S. L. Johnson

And from Alchemy Press editors Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber we are delighted to bring you ‘Wicked Women‘! Women who write their own rules, skate along the edge of the law and generally aim to misbehave.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton
Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

So join us for double trouble!

If you would like review copies or to interview the editors please contact adele@foxspirit.co.uk

Ladies Choice

October at Fox Spirit is celebrating the Femme Fatale..after a fashion. Our anthologies ‘Wicked Women’ edited by Jenny Barber and Jan Edwards and ‘Drag Noir’ edited by K.A.Laity are coming up. These ladies are armed and dangerous.

Wicked Women 72ppi Front


From thieves and tyrants to witches and warriors, here are twelve tales of women who gleefully write their own rules, women who’ll bend or break the social norms, who’ll skate along the edge of the law and generally aim to misbehave.

Contents:
Juliet E. McKenna – Win Some, Lose Some
Christine Morgan – The Shabti-Maker
Tom Johnstone – Kravolitz
A. R. Aston –  No Place of Honour
Adrian Tchaikovsky – This Blessed Union
Sam Stone – The Book of the Gods
Chloë Yates – How to be the Perfect Housewife
Stephanie Burgis – Red Ribbons
Jonathan Ward – A Change in Leadership
Jaine Fenn – Down at the Lake
Zen Cho – The First Witch of Damansara
Gaie Sebold – A Change of Heart

Cover by S. L. Johnson
Cover by S. L. Johnson

DRAG NOIR: this is where glamour meets grit, where everyone’s wearing a disguise (whether they know it or not) and knowing the players takes a lot more than simply reading the score cards. Maybe everyone’s got something to hide, but they’ve got something to reveal, too. Scratch the surface and explore what secrets lie beneath — it’s bound to cost someone…a lot.

Contents:
Introduction by Dana Gravesen and Bryan Asbury
The Meaning of Skin – Richard Godwin
Wheel Man – Tess Makovesky
No. 21: Gabriella Merlo – Ben Solomon
Geezer Dyke – Becky Thacker
Lucky in Cards – Jack Bates
Trespassing – Michael S. Chong
Chianti – Selene MacLeod
The Changeling – Tracy Fahey
Straight Baby – Redfern Jon Barrett
Kiki Le Shade – Chloe Yates
Protect Her – Walter Conley
King Bitch – James Bennett
A Bit of a Pickle – Paul D. Brazill
Stainless Steel – Amelia Mangan
The Itch of the Iron, The Pull of the Moon – Carol Borden

Wicked Women and other titles

I’m delighted to announce that something which has been bubbling in the background for a while is now opening to submissions.

Wicked Women

Edited by Jan Edwards and Jenny Barber

‘Regular readers of Fox Spirit books know that women are pretty bad-ass – be they evil queens, goddesses, super-villains or anti-heroes, warriors, monsters, bad girls, rebels, mavericks or quietly defiant – so with that in mind, we’re looking for stories of women who gleefully write their own rules.  Women who’ll bend or break the social norms, skate along the edge of the law and generally aim to misbehave.’

Details posted on the Submissions page but please note that submissions go directly to wickedATmajorarcana.demon.co.uk  in this instance not the usual address. books (800x600)

 

‘Drag Noir’ has now closed for submissions and I am looking forward to seeing what K.A.Laity produces from the third in the Noir series of books. Once again we have artist S.L.Johnson working on the cover.

After the reception to Tales of Eve Mhairi Simpson is back on board editing an invitation only follow up ‘Daughters of Eve’ loosely inspired by women of HEMA (historical european martial arts) and the release of The Lost Giganti.