The original Fight Like A Girl anthology was published by the Kristell Ink imprint of Grimbold Books in 2015. It had an excellent lineup, and a truly memorable launch event at a pub in Bristol. Books and sword-fighting demonstrations absolutely go together.

A second volume has been in the works for some time, and contracts had been sent out when Grimbold ceased trading. The editors, Roz Clarke and Joanne Hall, approached Wizard’s Tower with a view to us taking on the book, and we were delighted to accept.

As with the first volume, the new book will contain a selection of speculative fiction stories in which women demonstrate their bravery, tenacity and skill in a variety of ways. The line-up for the new book is: KT Davies, Dolly Garland, KR Green, Julia Hawkes Reed, Juliet E McKenna, Cheryl Morgan, Lou Morgan, S Naomi Scott, Anna Smith Spark, Gaie Sebold, Danie Ware. Several of these authors were in Volume 1 as well. The book will also feature an introduction by Charlotte Bond.

Roz Clarke said, “Since Fight Like A Girl Vol 1 was published, out of all of the things we’ve worked on together that has been the one project where the most people have come up to us at events and asked us when we are doing another one. I have long felt that it would be worth revisiting this project to explore how much has changed in the intervening years. When terrific writers that you admire come up to you to say that they wish they’d been involved in a project, you know that you’ve got something special.”

Joanne Hall said, “Both volumes of Fight Like A Girl have been an absolute joy to work on. We’re both very grateful to Sammy HK Smith for letting us start this ball rolling, and we’re delighted that Cheryl has shown such great enthusiasm for taking on what has been a quite long-term project. I’m really looking forward to seeing FLAG2 in the wild, and happy to have the opportunity to showcase such a great collection of stories. ”

Publisher, Cheryl Morgan, said, “When Roz and Jo first approached me about taking this book on I was absolutely delighted. The first book was a brilliant idea, and there’s no reason why girls (and women, of all sorts) can’t go on showing their fighting quality well into the future. Here’s hoping that some more misogynist noses are put out of joint.”

Fight Like A Girl 2 is scheduled for publication in the autumn of 2024.