As a writer of urban/dark fantasy stories (Gun Street Girl, Hungry Ghosts (a graphic novel and also a related-but-not-the-same prose novel by the same name), The Talking Cure, and Song to the Siren), I had originally planned to write this essay about obscure female fantasy/horror writers that deserved more attention. I wanted to write about the Weird Tales writer Mary Elizabeth Counselman (“The Monkey Spoons,” “Mommy”) and the quiet horror writer Rosemary Timperley (“Harry,” “The Sinister Schoolmaster”). However, I ran into a psychological block: it’s extremely difficult to find these fine ladies’ works. Oh, if you’re lucky, you may find “Harry,” one of the finest quiet horror stories out there, in a ghost story anthology. If you’re extremely lucky, you may find Mary Elizabeth Counselman’s “The Monkey Spoons,” a tale of fate and tragedy, in a horror anthology. But if you liked their work and wanted more, unless you’re an internet detective the way my husband and writing partner, Park Cooper, is, finding more stories by these women will be an exercise in frustration, as their works are, sadly, long out of print.
So, I’ve decided to write a personal essay about two women named Dorothy and how they influenced my writing. The first one is an ace short story writer. The second is a mystery author.