HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD, VOLUME 2 – Edited by Russ Anderson – Written by Lots of Folks, including Me and the Writer Featured Here: Joel Jenkins.
This past July, PulpWork Press released HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD, VOLUME 2. (The book can be ordered RIGHT HERE.) I’ve given my fellow writers an opportunity to answer some questions in order to pump up the book a bit, and I’ll run these Wednesday features as long as I’ve got writers responding.
Presented below is my interview with the super-talented JOEL JENKINS.
Me: What’s your story about?
JOEL: “The Lost Vale” is about what happens when Butch and Sundance and the Wild Bunch get led into an ambush by Native American gunslinger Lone Crow. Though Lone Crow as known for his prowess with his .45 pistol, his skill with the bow was severely underestimated–as the Wild Bunch discover, much to their chagrin.
Me: How did you approach writing a weird western story?
JOEL: I’m no stranger to genre mixing so weird western isn’t too much of a stretch for me. Most of the weird western tales I write are done for anthologies and so I take hold of a weird idea or event, start writing, and see what happens. If I over think the plot then there’s too much story to fit into my 7,000 or so word limit. As it is, the events of “The Lost Vale” spill over into a sequel called “Gunmen of the Hollow Earth,” which was published in the companion volume of How the West was Weird 2 which is How the West was Weird: Campfire Tales. Campfire Tales was released only in electronic format and is available at Smashwords.
Me: What other stories in HTWWW2 have caught your eye?
JOEL: There’s a lot of good stuff to choose from but I’m always thrilled to see a Mr. Brass tale (Joshua Reynolds) and then I got to read a brand new Sebastian Red (Derrick Ferguson) story on top of it! I don’t want to neglect to mention the story by that Mark Bousquet fellow. It’s a fascinating mix of steam-punk, western, horror, and time travel. (Editor’s Note: Joel totally said that last bit on his own. Honest!)
Me: What other writing of yours would you like to highlight?
JOEL: I’ve got ten plus novels out which you can find at pulpwork.com, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. The fourth novel in my Dire Planet sword and science fiction series, Strange Gods of the Dire Planet, is now available on Amazon.
Me: Thanks, Joel! For information on Strange Gods of the Dire Planet, visit the Pulpwork page right here. And for a free preview of the novel, click here. Anyone interested in more on Joel’s work can check out the latest information on his books and stories at his blog: JoelJenkins.com.
