Coming to the world on February 28, 2024, a new anthology called Queens in Wonderland will be offered by No Bad Books Press. This book is available now! With 19 original stories set in (or inspired by) the fantastic worlds of Lewis Carroll, these retellings and reimaginings are all just a little Queer. The original call for stories requested, specifically LGBTQ+ stories within the theme.
About the Anthology
What an honor it is to be included among these stories and these authors. Some of the stories are sad, they are all delightfully “mad.” The Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, and Cheshire Cat have some amazing appearances and reimaginings. My favorite stories were “Dripping Red” by K. R. Cervantes, “One day at Carrolltech” by C.N. Wheaton, and “Boy Kind / Girl Kind” by Stephanie Sanders-Jacob. Honestly, there were many others, but I’m selecting these three because their images have stuck with me especially.
No Bad Books Press has been interviewing each of the authors for their YouTube channel. My interview is embedded below!
About the Story “One More Monster”
My riff on a grown-up Alice in “One More Monster” leans heavily on a poem by Carroll published separately in 1876. It’s a book called The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony in Eight Fits. Carroll confirmed in personal letters that the Snark was part of the same Wonderland world as Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, so I felt like it qualified for the anthology brief. Snark expands upon some of the same creatures mentioned in the poem “Jabberwocky,” in particular the Jub-Jub Bird, which is the focus of my story (the titular “Monster,” in fact).
The LGBTQ+ element of the tale is that Alice is deeply in love with the daughter of the White Queen. Lily (who appeared as an infant in Carroll’s books). She undertakes a quest to hunt for the Jub-Jub bird in an effort to win Lily’s heart. Theresa Halversen, the editor of the anthology has noted more than once that the feeling evoked by this story is one of “longing.”
Below is the interview I did with the editor of the volume for their YT channel