Dane Huckelbridge: Learn To Celebrate Every Personal Triumph

Dane Huckelbridge has written for the Wall Street Journal, Tin House, The New Republic, and New Delta Review. He is the author of No Beast So Fierce, The United States of Beer, and Bourbon, as well as a novel, Castle of Water. A graduate of Princeton University, he lives in Paris. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

In this interview, Dane discusses the process of writing about the fascinating and misunderstood Wild West era of history with his new book, Queen of All Mayhem, the importance of the publishing team behind any given book, and more.

Name: Dane Huckelbridge
Literary agent: Renee Zuckerbrot
Book title: Queen of All Mayhem
Publisher: William Morrow/HarperCollins
Release date: May 13, 2025
Genre/category: History/Biography
Previous titles: Castle of Water, No Beast So Fierce, The United States of Beer, Bourbon: A History of the American Spirit
Elevator pitch: A spirited recounting of the life of Belle Starr, a female outlaw who served as a Civil War spy, befriended infamous gunslingers like Cole Younger and Jesse James, and eventually became the full-fledged leader of a criminal gang while living among the Cherokee.

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When I was growing up, there was a piece of old family lore that we were somehow related to Belle Starr. Because of that, she was always a person of interest for me, although I confess, I didn’t know that much about her until I began digging and doing the research. And as it turned out, she had an even more action-packed and scandalous life than I imagined! I’ve always been drawn to stories of historical underdogs and social outsiders, especially those who defied the norms of their place and time to forge their own paths, and Belle Starr proved to be exactly that kind of character. I had an inkling of this before, but the full extent of her rebellious spirit became apparent with the research and writing.

In total, it took about three years—two to write the book and one more year for the editing. As far as changes to my original idea, I would say that the book became far more expansive than I initially imagined, especially as it pertained to American history. I realized quite quickly that I wasn’t just telling the story of a female outlaw from the Old West, but also the story of the immigrant experience, Western expansion, the forced removal of Indigenous peoples, the Civil War in the Border States, and the birth of Wild West culture. Belle’s life was lived amid some of the most sweeping and powerful currents in our country’s history, and it became clear that her biography, while incredibly entertaining and insightful in its own right, also provided a fascinating vantage point for better understanding our own origins as a nation.

It’s perhaps not a surprise, per se, but with each book, it’s always a fresh reminder: This truly is a team effort. Your agent, your editor, your cover designer, the publicity, marketing and sales teams—everyone has a critical role to play, and everyone pitches in and does their part. I don’t think I was as aware of this before publishing my first book, but now I’m on my fifth, and I’m very grateful for the help of so many talented and committed people. And it’s a long process, too, much longer than I realized when I was just starting out. Far from being the work of a lone individual over several months, as it is so often depicted in popular culture, the creation of an actual, tangible book is a joint project that involves the collaboration of dozens of people, over the course of several years.

One thing that surprised me was just how much fun it was writing about the Wild West. It’s such a fascinating era in American history, and so misunderstood, too. At times, it felt more like writing the script to a Spaghetti Western, everything just moved so fast. Trying to capture the thrill of stolen gold, the thundering of hooves, the gleam of gunmetal—it was a new experience for me, and I must say, I enjoyed it. Back when I was studying the history of the American West in college, it always came across as dry and uninteresting, which is unfortunate, because in reality it is anything but. Being able to write about this historical moment in our nation’s past and give it the full flare and bravado it deserves, proved to be a pleasure that I did not initially anticipate.

I hope they will see that, while certainly not a role model, Belle Starr was a trailblazer, rising to a position of public power and influence at a time when women in America were generally denied both. She refused to conform to the rules and expectations that society imposed upon her, essentially forging her own destiny despite her detractors—a characteristic that so many important figures in American history share. In the last half-century, her life has been largely overshadowed by Western personalities like Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane; I’d like to show readers that unlike those figures, Belle Starr actually was feared and respected as a Wild West outlaw, and that her life story deserves to be told and remembered.

Never give up! There are rare individuals who do get lucky and hit the ground running, but for most of us, it takes years—and lots of rejection before getting a break. And even then, it’s hard; you never really “make it,” you just keep on working and seeing what sticks. If you’re passionate about writing, and feel strongly that you have something to say, then keep going. It might take years, it might take decades, but there’s only one way to make it happen, and that’s to keep working at it. Be prepared for ups and downs, and learn to celebrate every personal triumph, no matter how big or small. Take it from me: You never know when some story you used to hear around the dinner table might turn into an idea, that idea into a proposal, and that proposal into a book deal. Anything can happen so long as you stick with it.