Book excerpt: Excitement reigns in the second book of the weird western fantasy Tales of the Outlaw Mages series by author Amy Campbell, featuring reluctant heroes, magic cowboys, and found family with a dash of pegasus, magic, and LGBTQ representation. The price of power is unforgiving, and for one mage, it's a debt paid in chains and despair. Blaise Hawthorne, a mage with a power that could break the earth, was imprisoned for using his magic to save those he loved. His only hope is an unlikely ally–a charming politician whose promises may be as treacherous as Blaise’s captors. Can Blaise risk trusting the man who offers him a future, or will betrayal shatter their fragile bond? Effigest is the pulse-pounding second entry in the Tales of the Outlaw Mages series, where the wild allure of the Old West collides with the magic of fantasy. This tale weaves together the threads of found family, LGBTQ+ representation, and the relentless quest for redemption, all set against a backdrop where every spell cast is a gamble of life and death. Keywords: weird western, western fantasy, epic fantasy, found family, LGBTQ, queer, asexual, bisexual, gay, magic, mage, pegasus, wild west, old west, fantasy western, magical western, magic western, reluctant hero, historical fantasy, anxiety, cowboy, gunslinger Related authors: Liza Street, J.R. Frontera, David J. West, David Bain, Michael Newton, Rachel Aaron, Joseph P. Bailey, Lila Bowen, Harmon Cooper, M.M. Crumley, Related Books: Gunsmoke and Dragonfire, Home on the Strange, The Cowboys of Cthulhu, Gideon Thorn, The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow, Infernal Fire, Wake of Vultures, Cowboy Necromancer, The Immortal Doc Holliday, Spellslinger, Charmslinger, Blood Bounty, Unicorn Western