(Yes, yes, I’m two days late. It’s been busy here.)
Can’t Hold Us Down: Tales of Defiance & Hope, a queer charity anthology that includes my sapphic post-apocalyptic slice-of-life “Utopain Scholastic”, as well as several other wonderful stories that I had the honor to edit and many more besides, is now out available in ebook! You can find a running list of vendors where you can grab it on its Books2Read page, and you can check its page here on my site for more info as well. Here’s more about “Utopian Scholastic” in particular:
Victoria is just trying to get by as a laborer in the new settlement established by the Humanist Corps in the former state of Washington, but fellow settler and local librarian Rosario has a highly specific retro-futuristic vision for the new society she wants to help build, and Victoria lacks the patience for anything but ensuring the settlement’s basic needs are met. In the aftermath of the complete collapse of the US empire, Victoria and Rosario are left to wrangle the complicated feelings of nostalgia, loneliness, and claiming identity and purpose in the ruins of a failed civilization while rebuilding a city from its very foundation.
All proceeds for sales of Can’t Hold Us Down will be going to Rainbow Railroad and Transgender Law Center, two LGBTQIA+ focused organizations that are holding strong against a surge in the US and Canada of anti-queer legislation and astroturfed sentiment by providing material, community, and legal resources to some of the people most directly impacted in these times and laying a groundwork for a brighter future for us all.
A big thanks to Archer Kay Leah for organization this whole project and inviting me to participate! This has been an incredibly fulfilling anthology to be a part of, and I know enjoyers of queer romance and SFF will be delighted with what we have in store.