TL;DR Press publishes the Women’s Anthology: Carrying Fire (ebook version)

TL;DR: Our second project is live! Check out the Women’s Anthology: Carrying Fire, our collection of 41 short stories and poems written by women writers to benefit the Endometriosis Foundation of America, now available as an ebook on Amazon.

Check out the story of our collection below, along with teasers from some of the 41 featured short stories and poems!

Back in the early days of TL;DR Press, after the Mixtape, our first collection, was published and we began to organize as a full-blown Press-for-Charity, a conversation happened. One of our founders threw out an idea for our next project; a collection focused on women writers. It stuck. The concept for the Women’s Anthology was born.

“Wolf women rise, and sacred mountains tremble with unrelenting wonderment.”  

Excerpt from the poem “The Choreography of Awakening” by Michele Mekel

The search for a worthy charity began, and when the Endometriosis Foundation of America was tossed out as an option, everyone knew it was the right choice immediately. With 1 in 10 women suffering from this disease, nearly every person knows someone who has been affected by this painful, difficult disease.

“Despite the distance, lack of contact, her years of therapy, and now her father’s death, he was still with her like a disease contracted in childhood.”  

Excerpt from the short story “Evictions” by Julie Rea

When we reached out to The EndoFound, they were as enthusiastic about the project as we were. We couldn’t have asked for a better charity to partner with.

“I want to be counted, to stand my ground.

I’m gathering an army of words, cracking my knuckles.

I will fight.”

Excerpt from the poem “Obscurities” by Syreeta Muir

The call for submissions went out on May 15. Our editing team watched submissions roll in for the next month and a half. We found ourselves stunned time and time again by the variety and quality— and by the sheer enthusiasm. For four months we read, edited, critiqued, designed, proofed, and typeset our way to the final product that we can finally share with the world. This collection represents some of the best and most original emerging voices in both short fiction and poetry.

“i suppose i was made of gold, glittering
in the light of the salt-lamp on the bookcase.”

Excerpt from the poem “Me Too” by Alycia Barboza

To each and every one of the writers included in this Anthology: thank you from the bottom of our hearts, for donating your work to support this cause. Without you, none of this would be possible.

“All it takes is the scent of burnt coals, or the sharp tang of hot metal spiking the air and I see his back, the forge-lit sheen of his skin, muscles moving in time to the rise and fall of his hammer.”

Excerpt from the short story “The Quest” by Caroline Lewer

The ebook version of the Women’s Anthology: Carrying Fire is available for purchase on Amazon, with a print version expected within two weeks. All proceeds go directly to The EndoFound.

“The girl hatched of an egg meant different things to different people. She was their emblem of hope for their individual worlds.”

Excerpt from the short story “Eggs” by N J Thompson

Want to share the news? Tweet, post, blog, and shout about our new collection and link to our Amazon page.

Watch out for more news in the coming days and weeks about the print version, the lineup for our Horror Quarterly, and our next call for submissions! Want to stay in the loop? Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook, and join our Slack writing group.