You probably know Izzy Wasserstein from her short fiction, but today I’m thrilled to have her on the site to reveal the cover of her very first novella, These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart, releasing March 12, 2024 from Tachyon Publications! Here’s the story:
In a queer, noir technothriller of fractured identity and corporate intrigue, a trans woman faces her fear of losing her community as her past chases after her. This bold, thought-provoking debut science-fiction novella from a Lambda Award finalist is an exciting and unpredictable look at the fluid nature of our former and present selves.
In mid-21st-century Kansas City, Dora hasn’t been back to her old commune in years. But when Dora’s ex-girlfriend Kay is killed, and everyone at the commune is a potential suspect, Dora knows she’s the only person who can solve the murder.
As Dora is dragged back into her old community and begins her investigations, she discovers that Kay’s death is only one of several terrible incidents. A strange new drug is circulating. People are disappearing. And Dora is being attacked by assailants from her pre-transition past.
Meanwhile, It seems like a war between two nefarious corporations is looming, and Dora’s old neighborhood is their battleground. Now she must uncover a twisted conspiracy, all while navigating a deeply meaningful new relationship.
And here’s the thrilling cover, designed by Elizabeth Story!
Izzy Wasserstein is a queer, trans woman who teaches writing and literature. Wasserstein was born and raised in Kansas, and she received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico. She is the author of dozens of short stories, two poetry collections, and the short-story collection All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From (Neon Hemlock Press, 2022). Wasserstein loves books, comics, horror movies, and slowly running long distances.She shares a home in Southern California with her spouse, Nora E. Derrington, and their animal companions. These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is her debut novella.
Leigh Harlen is a queer, trans non-binary writer of horror and other dark speculative fiction who lives and works in Seattle. Their debut novella, Queens of Noise (Neon Hemlock Press), and their short fiction collection, Blood Like Garnets (TKO Studios), are available everywhere books are sold.
Avi Silver is a speculative fiction author, the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Augur Magazine, and poet. Pluralities, their trans slipstream-meets-space-opera novella, will be published with Atthis Arts in October 2023. In 2018, he co-founded The Shale Project, an award-winning indie arts collective through which he published the ongoing Sãoni Cycle (Two Dark Moons, Three Seeking Stars). Find his short fiction in Common Bonds: An Aromantic Speculative Anthology and Nothing Without Us Too. Their poetry has been published in Strange Horizons and Uncanny Magazine, and received an honorable mention in the 2022 Rhysling Awards. They are currently working on their first full-length book of poetry, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. 
Minnesota native Chloe Spencer is an award winning writer, indie gamedev, and filmmaker. She enjoys writing sci-fi/fantasy, horror, and romance. In her spare time she enjoys playing video games, trying her best at Pilates, and cuddling with her cat. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon and an MFA in Film and Television from SCAD Atlanta.
K.M. Watts is a debut novelist who first dreamed of becoming an author when she won her school’s Young Author Award at the age of five. She enjoys reading and writing YA fantasy and sci-fi, though she also dabbles with YA romantic thrillers. In her free time, she enjoys canyon hiking in her home state of Arizona.