eSpec Books interviews Danielle Ackley-McPhail

The Weird Wild West anthology from Espec Books rides into town in November looking like big trouble. Saddle up, pardner and discover strange, supernatural, otherworldly and downright weird adventures way out West from some of your favorite authors. Larry and I have a story in The Weird Wild West, so throughout November and December, we asked some of our author friends to prance their ponies over in this direction and share a few lines with us. Enjoy the blog posts—and then order the book please!

eSpec Books interviews Danielle Ackley-McPhail publisher of The Weird Wild West edited by Misty Massey, Emily Lavin Leverett, and Margaret McGraw.

What is your favorite western movie and why? You know, for me it isn’t a movie, though there are plenty of those that are really good. For me it was a TV show: Kung Fu, not only a western in the finest tradition, but thanks to the mystical aspects a bona fide Weird Wild Western! You had all the trademark elements of the frontier life, but also the unique flare of Shaolin mysticism and Asian culture. The fighting was a mix of kung fu and good old fashion gunfight/bar brawl, and the messages have stayed with me for a lifetime.

What does the wild frontier mean to you? The Wild West is a proving ground. An untamed land that tests a person’s soul and mines it to discover what they are made of, often when they don’t even know themselves. You either come out of the wild frontier strong or you come out broken…presuming you even come out alive.

Who would you say is your wild west role model and why? LOL…I think most people would say Calamity Jane