In 2016, I edited City of Weird, an anthology of stories about monsters, ghosts, robots, blood drinkers, man-eating octopuses, evil books, ravening slime molds from outer space, vodianoi (look it up), and more, all centered around Portland, Oregon.
The authors: Stevan Allred, Jonah Barrett, Doug Chase, Sean Davis, Susan DeFreitas, Rene Denfeld, Dan DeWeese, Art Edwards, Stefanie Freele, Jonathan Hill, Justin Hocking, Jeff Johnson, Leigh Anne Kranz, Kirsten Larson, B. Frayn Masters, Kevin Meyer, Karen Munro, Linda Rand, Brian Reid, Bradley K. Rosen, Nicole Rosevear, Mark Russell, Kevin Sampsell, Jason Squamata, Andrew Stark, Adam Strong, Suzy Vitello, Leslie What, Brigitte Winter, and Leni Zumas.
Booklist said, "These stories range from highly speculative to more mainstream, from upbeat to cynical, silly to serious; stories of love and loss, humor and pathos, from the bizarre to the poetic. There’s even an illustrated comic. Some are wonderfully pulpy, and some are more modern. “Transformation,” by Dan DeWeese, uses an alien invasion as critique of mindless conformity; “Yay,” by Bradley K. Rosen, is a Christmas Krampus story of madness and indigence; “Waiting for the Question,” by Art Edwards, is a gritty urban fantasia featuring Alex Trebek. All of the stories are very good, making this a fun and recommended collection.”
Forest Avenue Press has the whole review here.
Kirkus Reviews included it in its "Savory Selection of Science Fiction and Fantasy Books to Read in October" (collections of short fiction come at the bottom under the sweet notation, "Here are some additional short fiction ‘snacks’ worth checking out between your longer novel reading").
Portland Monthly included City of Weird in its October 2016 Pop Culture Hot List, saying, "...contributions range from tales of alien invasion to volcanic eruption, through murderous river creatures and otherworldly teenage rites of passage, all set right here in the Rose City. Yeah, weird doesn’t even cover it."
Jim Carmin interviewed me for a piece in The Oregonian.
A cool, very detailed review in Willamette Week.
A Halloween broadcast with Rene Denfeld, Dan DeWeese, and me on Think Out Loud.
Also on Halloween (which is why I’m dressed like Little Edie) I did a quick spot with Tra’Renee on KATU Afternoon Live.
Ken Jones interviewed Dan DeWeese, Karen Munro, Suzy Vitello, and me for KBOO’s Between the Covers.
Stevan Allred, Jason Squamata, and Leslie What on KBOO’s Afternoon Sampler.
Leigh Anne Kranz, Susan DeFreitas, and B. Frayn Masters also read from their stories on KBOO’s Bread and Roses, the country’s longest-standing feminist radio show, but there doesn’t look to be a link to the recording.
Just prior to its release, Tor.com included City of Weird in its Genre-Benders feature.
Author Art Edwards wrote about the evolution of his story “Waiting for the Question” on Necessary Fiction.
The Willamette Radio Workshop adapted four stories from City of Weird into radio plays, which were performed live, first at the beautiful Kiggins Theater in Vancouver, Washington, and then at the UFO Festival in McMinnville, Oregon. The stories: “Transformation” by Dan DeWeese, “The Fixer: a Serial–1–The Duchess” by Sean Davis, “A Code for Everything” by Andrew Stark, and "Letters to The Oregonian in the Year 30,000 BC" by Mark Russell. On the Kiggins’ big screen, graphic novelist Jonathan Hill’s mini comic “How Do You Say Gentrification in Martian?” was also given a radio show treatment, with lots of fitting sound effects.
In 2016 when it was first published, City of Weird was the top-selling book of the holidays at Powell’s Books. Here’s then-CEO MIriam Sontz recommending it on KGW TV.
A review in The Columbia River Reader (which does not have an online archive) was reproduced in the author’s own blog here.
Kevin Harden interviewed me about the book for The Portland Tribune.
I interviewed Kevin Sampsell and Kevin interviewed me in a piece for NW Book Lovers about how he was in an anthology that I edited (City of Weird) and I was in an anthology he edited (Portland Noir).
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You can buy City of Weird in all the usual places, but my favorite is here.
I headed this section of the website “My Books,” but this one isn’t a me book as much as a we book.
My husband, fine artist Stephen O’Donnell, and I produced The Untold Gaze together. We selected the writers and edited the stories and laid out and designed the book, inside and out, together. Granted, I was the one who had my hands on the computer for the design work. But Stephen was the one who painted all the art.
The Untold Gaze is a large format art book featuring nearly ninety of Stephen’s paintings with thirty-four pieces of short fiction and poetry, all inspired by his work.
The authors: Steve Arndt, Liz Asch, Jude Brewer, Matty Byloos, Doug Chase, David Ciminello, Sean Davis, Monica Drake, Colin Farstad, Dian Greenwood, Sara Guest, Robert Hill, Lisa Kaser, Megan Kruse, Kathleen Lane, Margaret Malone, Kevin Meyer, Karen Munro, Whitney Otto, Michael Sage Ricci, Bradley K. Rosen, Sam Roxas-Chua, Stephen Rutledge, Edie Rylander, Liz Scott, Evelyn Sharenov, Tom Spanbauer, Scott Sparling, Laura Stanfill, Adam Strong, Vanessa Veselka, Suzy Vitello, and Lidia Yuknavitch.
In his introduction, Bob Hicks says, “One fascinating factor in the creative collaboration that is The Untold Gaze is that it’s the artist, not the writer, who sets the pace…. The stories in this collection are miniatures, little jewels, short tales, impressions, whispers of possibility, precise reframings of the art.”
Katharine Coldiron had this to say in her review in After the Art: “I expected to absorb and assess this book as a novelty. With contributors like Tom Spanbauer, Whitney Otto, and Lidia Yuknavitch, I was certain the written work would be good. But I suspected O’Donnell’s paintings would act as load-bearing supports for the work, and thus I’d have to lower the bar for actual enjoyment. I was wrong. The Untold Gaze is a successful experiment in blending creative writing and visual art, more graceful and more memorable than any similar endeavors I’ve known.”
Here are authors Liz Scott, Bradley K. Rosen, and Stephen Rutledge, along with Stephen and me, on KBOO’s Between the Covers.
Gertrude ran this fun interview with Stephen and me about our lives together and the book.
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More information on the book, including the way you can buy it, can be found here.
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Actually I lied when I headed this whole section “My Books.” I did that to separate these two out from the books I’m in or designed covers for, but really both of these books are we books, because they belong to the authors who contributed stories, and to the editors and proofers and everyone else who had a hand in their making, of which there are many.
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And now I have another we book to add to this page!
In early 2023, Stephen decided he'd like to put out a collection of short stories. We produced it together, with me doing the copy-editing and design-work. Well, inside the book Stephen insisted that I be listed for interior and exterior design, but really, it was all a very close collaboration.
Half-Light pubbed on July 8th. Here’s the description he wrote up for the book:
Half-Light is Stephen O'Donnell’s premier collection of fiction. Ten stories that explore issues of gender and sexuality, aging and youthful striving, resignation and resilience. In settings historical and contemporary. And, more than anything, they tell of the unexpected connections — often fleeting, sometimes profound — that humans make. Trade paperback, 103 pages.
It can be purchased through Powell’s here.
Or through Stephen’s artist website here.