Welcome, Lauren!

Born and raised in the rural Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California’s Gold Country on Nisenan land, Lauren Lee Smith is a novelist and screenwriter whose works confront the darker, more taboo elements of the feminine experience. A mother of three young children, her work often explores maternal mental health, trauma, male brutality and the historical intersections of diverse cultures through the lens of feminist horror. 

About The Night Pool (August 2026)

The American West is no safe haven for women— least of all in the Gold Rush town of Coloma, California. Not for Clara Tice, the blacksmith’s strange and stubborn daughter. Not for Mei, the healer whose calm presence in the makeshift camp for Chinese immigrants contrasts sharply with her brother’s hard-eyed pursuit of riches. And certainly not for Haloke, a Nisenan shaman’s granddaughter whose native village has been devastated by smallpox, hunger, and the relentless greed of Outsiders.

One night, Clara and Haloke meet at the river’s edge and watch in horror as Clementine Cobbs, the town beauty, is lured across the water. Together they witness something terrible in the Night Pool. Soon after, an unseen attacker descends upon the mining men of Coloma, abandoning heartless bodies one by one. As the gruesome killings in Coloma threaten to incite further violence, Clara, Haloke, and Mei find themselves unlikely allies— without the gangs, guns, or bravado of the men who claim Coloma’s riches. The three women must work together to confront the evil that menaces them from both monsters and men.

A gripping tale of sisterhood, vengeance, and survival, The Night Pool explores the horrors of greed and lust, and the hidden strength of the most vulnerable among us. 

Interview with Lauren Lee Smith

Tell us about yourself – what is something readers would be surprised to find out? 

I’m a very shy and private person, despite my penchant for making silly videos online. But then, I’ve met authors who hate doing videos and are fine with getting up in front of crowds (sounds appalling), so I suppose we all have our strong suits! Other things about me… I’m a decent rider and am very proud of my shot: I grew up shooting my dad’s rifle. I suppose it’s mine now… I love English roses, the kind with a thousand petals. I try my best to grow them out here in my sea-desert weather, and that is tricky! I love animals, hiking, and being left to read for hours, which is just a distant memory of mine from before I had kids. I love being a mother, and I try to pass along my love of history and books. But the jury is still out on that! 

What is it about the Weird West genre that draws you to it? What are your favorite aspects or examples of this often-underappreciated genre?

The western genre comes very naturally to me, considering I was born and raised in the gold rush epicenter of the West that set off the great migration of settlers into California. I grew up with this history all around me, and was very fond of western films and books. I rode horses, shot guns, haunted mines and swam in the rivers at night but it did not escape my notice that the conventions cater nearly exclusively to men, and all the histories focus on them, too. I find this very limiting, and am committed to stretching the horizon of my imagination to change it. Women lived on the frontier too, and I’d like to hear about them please. And not just in a brothel scene.

Regarding bringing the “weird” elements into the western genre, it seems like the obvious course of action. I’ve always gravitated toward the supernatural in all forms of media, and there is little that could be more horrifying than being a woman on the frontier. There is no shortage of magic and mystery, in the raw, open spaces of this world: it all comes together very easily. 

What inspired you to write this story?

I grew up on rural land about ten minutes from downtown Coloma and visited often. It is a very sleepy little town now, for all its tumultuous history. I used to visit the cemeteries, stroll the streets. I even slipped through the bars of the Emmanual Church doors as a child, when no one was looking. There is an energy there… The stories about the miners and pioneers are so loud and prominent, but beneath them, there are other stories… you can find the original Grandmother Rock in a quiet pasture near a few replica Nisenan homes. A rebuilt Chinese store sits near the river. But every time I wandered those streets I would wonder about what happened that we never heard about, the stories that were not recorded and didn’t make it to modern times. There’s more here, there’s more here… You might sense it too, should you visit gold country. 

If you were living in the Weird West, what kind of character would you be?

A monster, maybe? I’m rather fond of my monster… she’s no villain, and she has lovely golden eyes. I’d like to think I would be like Clara— brave. Or like Haloke, fearless. I might be most like my next heroine, Honey Harker. No woman survives the frontier without grit. I try to cultivate that as much as possible in my life. 

Are there any other writing projects you’re working on?

My next book is a half-epistolary fresh take on the vampire mythos, set in a silver mining camp in the Mojave. Think The Ring meets Dracula. I have five other novels in progress beyond this one. 

What are you reading right now?

I am almost finished with a re-read of Charles Portis’ True Grit, having forced my entire family to watch the Coen Brothers 2010 adaptation (whereupon they all demanded subtitles for them there confuzzlin’ western words). I adore the language of early / classic westerns: it’s full of things you’d never hear anywhere else. The adaptation is pretty faithful to the novel’s dialogue, which is fun. Fantastic characters, I like Ned Pepper in particular. I’m a sucker for bad teeth and lambskin chaps. And of course, Rooster was a good man. One of my favorite highlights of a western is how the good in people is revealed through trial, and similarly, the wickedness. Fantasy seems to get all the attention for the good-versus-evil conversation, but I’d wager a solid western does a mighty fine job of that, too (especially mine). And furthermore, what is a man capable of, when he is alone with no one to rein him in? A test many modern men might fail. In my own work, they fail it quite often because even though my books have monsters and magic, I aim for realism when it comes to the evil of the common man. He’s seldom the hero he wishes to be. 

Favorite weird west movie/book/comic/etc. and why?

Cliche as it is, Blood Meridian has been a big influence on my work because a very key element of a good western is vibes, and McCarthy has those in spades. A disturbing horror western is not just a collection of tropes and conventions, a checklist of characters and costumes. It is a feeling, steeped in history. One must be immersed in the land and remember what it has been through, which is why city slickers struggle so hard to make anything in this genre believable. I judge a western on its ability to confer the feeling of the west. It has to do with time, the collision of cultures, and the suffering required to survive in an unforgiving landscape where nature can be as fierce an enemy as your fellow man. It is an unnameable thing, but you know it when you smell it, like a horse scenting water after a long ride. And it’s worth it, always. Long live the horror western! 

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