Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday. Ike Clanton.
You think you know the story. You don’t.
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it.
Above the ground, power is also about allegiances. A magician can drain his friends' strength to strengthen himself, and can place them between him and danger. The one with the most friends stands to win the territory.
Jesse Fox left his Eastern college education to travel West, where he’s made some decidedly odd friends, like the physician Chow Lung, who insists that Jesse has a talent for magic. In Tombstone, Jesse meets the tubercular Doc Holliday, whose inner magic is as suppressed as his own, but whose power is enough to attract the sorcerous attention of Wyatt Earp.
Mildred Benjamin is a young widow making her living as a newspaper typesetter, and—unbeknownst to the other ladies of Tombstone—selling tales of Western derring-do to the magazines back East. Like Jesse, Mildred has episodes of seeing things that can’t possibly be there.
When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp's plans for wealth and glory, and he'll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory.
Events are building toward the shootout of which you may have heard. But you haven't heard the whole, secret story until you've read Emma Bull's unique take on an American legend, in which absolutely nothing is as it seems...
I write science fiction and fantasy, both novels and... Well, I'd say short stories, but they often wind up as novelettes. Or novellas. Usually novellas. My parents observed early on that I was a yakky kid.
I was born in Torrance, California. After that, my family moved to Houston, Texas; Beloit, Wisconsin; South Plainfield, New Jersey; and Rockton, Illinois. Since I was still short a few states at that point, I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota after graduating from Beloit College. From there, I moved to Los Angeles, California; Bisbee, Arizona; and Tucson, Arizona.
Hmm. Still short a few states.
I'm married to author Will Shetterly. I have two cats: Toby, the best cat in the world; and Barnabas, the worst cat in the world.
I'd list my published work, but hey, this is Amazon.com! If there isn't already a link to everything somewhere around here, just search for me!
In addition to my solo writing, I'm the Executive Producer of Shadow Unit, the best science fiction thriller TV show in prose form ever. So far, at least. My Co-Producer is Elizabeth Bear. Writing staff includes Will Shetterly, Sarah Monette, Amanda Downum, Leah Bobet, Chelsea Polk, and Holly Black. We're in our third season as I write this. Check it out at www.shadowunit.org.
As my Amazon Wish List shows, I'm a Man from Uncle and Wild, Wild West fan. I crochet. I sew. I like cowboy reenacting and Victorian dress-up and dancing. I also play guitar and sing, and was proud to be a member of Minneapolis band Cats Laughing and goth-folk duo the Flash Girls.
I'm just a little bit obsessed with coffee.
