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Alek L. Cristea is a trans, gay, witch who writes the queer YA SFF he wanted–and needed–to read when he was a teen. When not scribbling words he’s found reading, playing video games, or engaged with one of his many other hobbies (which he seems to keep accumulating over the years). Alek has been making worlds up since he can remember, first for his toys to inhabit, and then in his head. Even now these stories get downloaded (if only) to paper, all that daydreaming takes up an impressive amount of processing power–meaning you can bet he always leaves the laundry in the drum and never folds the bedding. (Cooking though – that never gets forgotten, because that’s a magic all its own!) He lives with his three cats and his not-quite-husband and is desperately attempting to grow more than weeds in their small garden (he manages a decent crop of strawberries each year in spite of everything). At least the bees are entertained.
Breakout
Series: The Altayih Chronicles
Series Number: 1
E-book Price: 7.99
Paperback Price: 12.99
Blurb: Firefly meets Guardians of the Galaxy in this fast-paced space-opera/cyberpunk adventure featuring queer teens in space fighting back against oppression.
E-Book Price: 7.99
Paperback Price: 12.99
Outlaw. Rebel. Thief. Malek has always dreamed of his own ship, of following in his amma’s footsteps and leading a crew through the stars. Salvage, trade, adventure. The perfect life. There’s only one problem: Malek’s in prison, and nobody leaves Helios alive. But after two years of unfair imprisonment, Malek is getting out, one way or another—and he’s taking his new friends with him. He has a plan (sort of), but when Malek’s bid for escape collides with the secret agenda of another prisoner—a Shinarian girl in hiding from her people—she presents him with a choice: trust her and finally leave Helios, or get caught in the crossfire alone. Trystan hates Eden One, a radical colony built upon antiquated ideology and conservative hate. With his father rising in power and his mother cowed, Trystan’s only ally is his uncle, a man who keeps Trystan’s deadly secret safe. Using forbidden alien technology, Trystan’s uncle builds him an android, allowing him to split his consciousness between his real and synthetic bodies. Allowing Trystan a taste of freedom, even if in secret. But everything on Eden One is twisted, so it should come as no surprise when he stumbles upon the terrible project his uncle is working on, with Trystan’s own father at the helm. If he acts, he could lose everything, but if surviving Eden One has taught him anything, it’s that every revolution begins with a single spark of courage. Làhn is a thief, and a good one. As a child on Kirillion, he fell through the cracks and wound up in the Guild. Raised by thieves, conmen and mercenaries, Làhn has never met a mark he couldn’t charm. He’s happy in the Guild, with his family, with his best friend, Kode. This is his life, and he’s content with it. Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t remember before. Before Kode and the Guild. Before Kirillion. When a job goes wrong and Làhn’s life shatters, his only choice is to look to the past. With little more than fragmented memories and the coordinates tattooed on his wrist, Làhn doesn’t have much to go on. But, with the future in tatters, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, suddenly, his past is all Làhn has. Together, they must stand against Berik Corp, the shadowy megacorp whose power stretches across the galaxy. If they don’t—everything will fall.
Cornucopia
Series: The Fractured Cities
Series Number: 1
E-book Price: 4.49
Paperback Price: 7.99
Blurb: A Stranger looking for his lost love, a Regular looking for purpose, an Idol looking for himself, and a Bartender to guide them all.
E-Book Price: 4.49
Paperback Price: 7.99
As with each of the Fractured Cities, Cornucopia is a world unto itself. A place where faith makes magic and magic makes faith. A place of excess and obsession, where the only sin is a life of less, of moderation. But here in Cornucopia, moderation isn't just a sin, it's also a place. A bar, a haven of balance and restraint, where the Bartender welcomes any who will sit, follow the rules, and order a drink. What will he give the Stranger - a man new to the city, searching for his wayward love? And to the Regular - a woman bereft of faith, in need of new purpose? Perhaps in this city of glut, the Stranger will need more than a drink, the Regular more than her usual. Perhaps they'll need each other; an ally with whom to fight a city that ensnares all it touches. Together, they must take on Cornucopia's oldest magic, free the city's newest Idol from the haze of worship, and break the spell that keeps him ensnared and adored.
Homogeny
Series: The Fractured Cities
Series Number: 2
E-book Price: 4.49
Paperback Price: 7.99
Blurb: In Homogeny everything has its place, and there is a place for everything. Surrender everything--your soul, your desires--and you will know peace. But is oblivion peace? And is Gold and her Carnival the only way to find freedom?
E-Book Price: 4.49
Paperback Price: 7.99
Return to the world of Cornucopia, a world of fractured cities and wayward hearts, where even the smallest act of rebellion can birth a spark that will ignite. For each city a spark, and for each spark, a story. Far to the north, the city of Homogeny stands. A city of calm conformity and peaceful order, a city ringed by safe, dark walls that keep the chaotic world outside at bay. In Homogeny, peace reigns. The peace of knowing how each day begins and ends, its denizens wrapped in the comfort of perfect script. A place for everything, and everything in its place: that is the way of Homogeny. To deviate is to invite chaos, and with chaos comes madness and death. Better to surrender—your dreams, your hopes, yourself—and fall into the comfort of the known, the predictable, the safe. Follow the script, know your place. Yet here, in this city of dreamless, hopeless grey, the Patchwork Carnival was born. Here, in Homogeny, a band of sinners stand tall. Nobody knows how the Carnival was forged, only that it began with defiance, with a dream, with music and colour and light. It began with Gold. Nobody knows when the Carnival will appear, grey, dour streets erupting with the sights and sounds of its performance, but everybody knows that getting too close, lingering too long to watch the show will let the performers steal your soul. But what if a soul wants to be stolen? What if a young man, bored with his grey life and this grey world, dares to yearn for more? In the Patchwork Carnival, Gold and her performers wait with arms wide open, an outstretched hand thrown out into the grey. Come with us, the Carnival urges. Run with us, it begs. Play with us, it asks. One by one, Gold and her Carnival will free them all. But with the Carnival itself an aberration, a living sin inside of Homogeny’s perfect calm, the city will not idly stand by and let the Patchwork Carnival destroy all that has been built, and this time, it may very well take more than a single spark to light up the swallowing grey. Perhaps this time the Carnival will be put down for good.