Fight Like A Girl 2
Press Release from Wizard's Tower
The original Fight Like A Girl anthology was published by the Kristell Ink imprint of Grimbold Books in 2015.
It was BFS Award shortlisted, had an excellent lineup and a truly memorable launch event at a pub in Bristol. Books and sword-fighting demonstrations absolutely go together.
A second volume has been in the works for some time, and contracts had been sent out when Grimbold ceased trading. The editors, Roz Clarke and Joanne Hall, approached Wizard’s Tower with a view to us taking on the book, and we were delighted to accept.
As with the first volume, the new book will contain a selection of speculative fiction stories in which women demonstrate their bravery, tenacity and skill in a variety of ways. The line-up for the new book is: KT Davies, Dolly Garland, KR Green, Julia Hawkes Reed, Juliet E McKenna, Cheryl Morgan, Lou Morgan, Naomi Scott, Anna Smith Spark, Gaie Sebold and Danie Ware. Several of these authors were in Volume 1 and the book will feature an introduction by Charlotte Bond.
Roz Clarke said, “Since Fight Like A Girl Vol 1 was published, out of all of the things we’ve worked on together that has been the one project where the most people have come up to us at events and asked us when we are doing another one. I have long felt that it would be worth revisiting this project to explore how much has changed in the intervening years. When terrific writers that you admire come up to you to say that they wish they’d been involved in a project, you know that you’ve got something special.”
Joanne Hall said, “Both volumes of Fight Like A Girl have been an absolute joy to work on. We’re both very grateful to Sammy HK Smith for letting us start this ball rolling, and we’re delighted that Cheryl has shown such great enthusiasm for taking on what has been a quite long-term project. I’m really looking forward to seeing FLAG2 in the wild, and happy to have the opportunity to showcase such a great collection of stories. ”
Publisher, Cheryl Morgan, said, “When Roz and Jo first approached me about taking this book on I was absolutely delighted. The first book was a brilliant idea, and there’s no reason why girls (and women, of all sorts) can’t go on showing their fighting quality well into the future. Here’s hoping that some more misogynist noses are put out of joint.”
Fight Like A Girl 2 is scheduled for publication in the autumn of 2024.
(And seriously, I’m so happy to see this come back!!)
Reading: Andrew Joseph White’s Hell Followed With Us, picked up purely because it has such fabulous cover art (Evangeline Gallagher) and because I’ve always had a thing for fallen angels. Only just started it, but this is a YA title with a very, very different vibe and an awful lot of bite.
Watching: Exploding Kittens on Netflix. Despite an excellent premise (and the presence of Tom Ellis), it’s very much a one-trick kitty - the premise is all it has. Got through one chaotic episode, and that was more than enough, thanks. Tho’, in fairness, I don’t like Rick and Morty either!
Playing: Have finally run dry on Baldur’s Gate, having completed it in all modes but the top one. Re-opened NeverWinter (for the time in ver a year) but it’s rather sad by comparison so am contemplating a run at Skyrim, which which I haven’t touched in over a decade. But will the maps make any more sense?!
that's awesome!