Have you ever wondered why what-ifs, might’ve-beens, and alternate universes remain such popular variants of speculative fiction? What would happen if we took a left hand turn instead of a right? What if an asteroid the size of a city had NOT collided with Earth some 66 million years ago — would dinosaurs still be the predominant species? How might have things been different? Now, what if throughout history, certain female historical figures managed to take larger strides, given larger success, and in some cases success in itself (versus failure)?
Enter the upcoming short story anthology, HERitage. A compendium of stories by women authors exploring everything from what would’ve happened if the space program allowed women to fly way back with the Mercury 13 to an exploration of how might the U.S. be different if Victoria Woodhull Martin had been elected president nearly 2 centuries ago to what might’ve been if Boadicea of Britain had defeated the Roman invasion in 63AD, leading to a demise of the Roman Empire some 400 years before it’s time (my own contribution to these tales of wonder). Additional stories will explore incredible historical figures such as Josephine Baker and Joan of Arc, Lady Raleigh, a descendant of the Viking shield-maiden Inghen Ruaidh, and Diana Princess of Wales as queen. We’ll see the world laud the greatest English writer ever, Ann Hathaway (instead of her husband, Shakespeare), and stay tuned because there’s a few more ideas in the works that will all be part and parcel of this exploration of what women’s history could have been.
What sort of world would we have inherited if any of the above had happened? To find out, follow our soon-to-be opened Kickstarter coming in February for a July release at this year’s Shore Leave Convention. Contributors include: Rigel Ailur, Lorraine J. Anderson, Laura Ware, Debbie Smith Daughetee, Dana Fredsti, Rosemary Jones, Donna J. W. Munro, K. Ceres Wright, Shabana Kayum, Marsheila Rockwell, Carrie Harris, Susan Kaye Quinn, Susan Shwartz, and yours truly.