Got my contributor’s copy of Country Boys this week, editor Richard LaBonte’s anthology with a post-Brokeback Mountain rural theme. Sometimes it’s difficult to have a themed collection that’s not repetitive, but LaBonte did well with this one. The stories also flow together nicely, moving smoothly from one fair to another, from one rural setting or theme, to the next. There were several stories that stood out for me:

“Laying By” by Dale Chase. Set in the California of 1846, Chase maintains a voice of adolescent longing and confusion throughout. A romance at its heart, Chase’s characters, Cullen and Luke, find some solace among the harsh landscape where burying babies along the wagon trail westbound was just part of the routine.

“Noel, for the Last Time” by Wayne Courtois. A bisexual narrator spends a strange weekend with his girlfriend’s older brother. Courtois’ storyline could have worked for a litfic market ‘cept for those pesky (and hot) sex scenes.

“Well Wishing” by Steve Berman. This tale had an eerie twist on the old salesman-and-farmer’s-daughter joke. And Berman plays with the well of loneliness motif in a way that made me smile.

There are also stories from two of my writing buddies: the prolific CB Potts (Three Weeks Till Bear Season), and JM Snyder (Opening Day at the County Fair). And, in the interest of Full Disclosure, LaBonte also took my “Wrestling Gators” for the anthology.

Available for sale here: http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=197