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Winner, 2018 Anthony Award for Best Anthology and Winner, Bronze Medal, 2017 Indie Book Awards for Anthologies, Foreword Reviews. Noir meets diverse voices and transforms the genre into an over-the-top, transcendental psychedelic thriller ride of pulpy goodness in THE OBAMA INHERITANCE, a collection of fifteen stories of conspiracy noir curated by editor and award-winning African-American crime novelist Gary Phillips.



In the tradition of satirical works of Swift and Twain, with nods to the likes of William Burroughs, Asimov and Philip K. Dick, these tales contain vigilante First Ladies, Supreme Court judges who can clone themselves, gear-popping robots of doom, and races of ancient lizard people revealing their true master plan … and these are just the tame ones mashed up in the blender of fake news bots, climate change is but a hoax by the Chinese and humans roamed with dinosaurs.

In an era where the outlandish and fantastic has permeated our media 24/7, where mind-bending conspiracy theories shape our views, THE OBAMA INHERITANCE writers riff on the numerous fictions spun about the 44th president of the U.S. Although Obama himself does not appear in most of these stories, contributors spin deliberately outlandish and fantastic twists on many of the dozens of screwball, bizarro conspiracy theories floated about the president during his years in office and turn them on their heads.

THE OBAMA INHERITANCE editor Gary Phillips is a critically acclaimed author of mystery and graphic novels (Peepland, Violent Spring, and Warlord of Willow Ridge). Raised in South Central Los Angeles, Phillips draws on his experiences from anti-police abuse community organizing and anti-apartheid activism. He was the chair of the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color committee, and is president of the Private Eye Writers of America.

Contributors include famed crime-detective author and essayist Walter Mosley, professor and former Department of Justice attorney Christopher Chambers (Sympathy for the Devil), noir raconteur Andrew Nette, actor and novelist Danny Gardner (A Negro and an Ofay), former Maine assistant attorney general Kate Flora (Death in Paradise), award-winning playwright and novelist Désirée Zamorano, and the Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Robert Silverberg.

Award-winning author, screenwriter, and editor Gary Phillips gathers his most thrilling, outlandish, and madcap pulp fiction in an 17-story collection that straddles the line between bizarro, science fiction, noir, and superhero classics.

Aztec vampires, astral projecting killers, oxygen stealing bombs, undercover space rangers, aliens occupying Los Angeles, right wing specters haunting the ’hood, masked vigilantes, and mad scientists in their underground lairs plotting world domination populate the stories in this rip-snorting collection. In these pages grindhouse melds with blaxploitation along with strong doses of B movie hardcore drive-in fare.

Phillips, editor of the Anthony Award-winning The Obama Inheritance: Fifteen Stories of Conspiracy Noir, and author of One-Shot Harry and Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem, said this about pulp. “The most common definition of pulp is it’s fast-paced, a story containing out there characters and a wild plot. There is that. But certainly, as we’ve now arrived at the era of retro-pulp, these stories have elements of characterization: not just action, but a glimpse behind the steely eyes of these doers of incredible deeds.” As an added bonus, Phillips resurrects Phantasmo, a Golden Age comics character created by Black artist-writer E.C. Stoner in an all-new outing of ethereal doings (includes 4 original illustrations by cover artist Adam Shaw).

A trio of compelling, cutting edge plays on notorious rebels including radical feminist and Warhol attacker Valerie Solanas ("SCUM: The Valerie Solanas Story"), Dada instigator Arthur Cravan ("Art Was Here"), and a twisting tale of Jack the Ripper and T.S. Eliot ("Jack the Rapper"). Playwright Kat Georges paints each of these plays with bold, innovative strokes that expand the boundaries of the theatrical milieu. As compelling to read off the page as to perform, these three plays offer sharp dialogue and prismatic views of their rebellious subjects, casting aside stereotypical bullet-pointed personalities to establish new perspectives on the subjects of each play. 

In THREE SOMEBODIES: Plays About Notorious Dissidents, poet-playwright Kat Georges offers a trio of fascinating, cutting edge plays about notorious dissidents—people who shook up the world— for better or worse, including “SCUM: The Valerie Solanas Story,” “Art Was Here,” inspired by poet-pugilist and Dada precursor Arthur Cravan, and “Jack the Rapper,” a mash-up of Jack the Ripper and T. S. Eliot. 

Shakespeare had his kings and princes. Georges chose royalty of the infamous variety: Valerie Solanas, author of The SCUM Manifesto, who famously shot Andy Warhol. Arthur Cravan—nephew of Oscar Wilde, wild child pugilist and poet—whose legendary antics preceded and influenced the Dada movement. Jack the Ripper as sculpted through the words of Eliot’s poem “Rhapsody on a Windy Night.”

All three plays received their world premieres at San Francisco’s notorious Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater, known for its focus on “demolished texts, deconstructed classics, and new works.” As such, the plays in THREE SOMEBODIES are not representative of standard “bio-dramas.” rather these are stripped down, twisted, juxtaposed, hard-bent works intensity designed to bring each subjects life three-dimensional portraits, examine particular personas from inside out. They refused be handcuffed by linear drama so they roar in twists shouts, psychedelic tremors, whirlwind ebullience. 

Playwright Georges paints each of these plays with bold, innovative strokes that expand the boundaries of the theatrical milieu. As compelling to read off the page as to perform, these three plays offer sharp dialogue and prismatic views of their rebellious subjects, casting aside stereotypical, bullet-pointed personalities to establish new perspectives on their subjects.

 

Winner of the 2018 Foreword INDIES Award Gold Medal for Best Sci-Fi! TIME AND TIME AGAIN: Sixteen Trips in Time by beloved science fiction Grand Master ROBERT SILVERBERG presents of all his best time travel fiction in one stunning collection. Silverberg introduces this new collection with a new essay praising early sci-fi icons that left a lasting impression on him as a young boy and launched his sixty-year voyage in time travel fiction.

Over the course of his career, Silverberg expanded time travel’s incredible world of freedom and mystery and delivered imaginative and intriguing stories that are hailed globally. Tales in TIME AND TIME AGAIN include: a marriage destroyed by a time travelling rival, a human waking up in the mind of a lobster after being sent to the future, and a Silverbergian touch to the age-old story of getting an advance peek at the next day’s newspaper.

Each story additionally features new introductions and anecdotes by Silverberg that recount his experiences writing for the greatest science fiction magazines of the past and present. TIME AND TIME AGAIN reaffirms Silverberg’s mastery of not only the science fiction genre, but its most ubiquitous theme.

Gold Medal Winner, Best Young Adult Fiction, Foreword Indies Award
"30 Must-Read Queer Fairytale Retellings For Pride" —Book Riot
"Best LGBTQA+ Books of 2021" —She Reads
"Eight Queer Young Adult Books Coming This Fall" —Lambda Literary

What happens when Tinker Bell is in love with both Peter Pan and Wendy? In this sparkling re-imagining of Peter Pan, Peter and Wendy’s granddaughter Hope Darling finds the reclusive Tinker Bell squatting at the Darling mansion in order to care for the graves of her two lost friends after a love triangle gone awry. As Hope wins the fairy’s trust, Tink tells her the truth about Wendy and Peter—and her own role in their ultimate fate. Told in three alternating perspectives—past, present, and excerpts from a book called Neverland: A History written by Tink’s own fairy godmother—this queer adaptation is for anyone who has ever wondered if there might have been more to the story of Tinker Bell and the rest of the Peter Pan legend.

Unable to afford rent, Mia—a community college student—lives out of her car, cleaning houses of the well-to-do in the LA area to meet her shoestring budget. Then Covid hits, and everything changes.

For people living in houses and apartments, with stay-at-home jobs, the pandemic was inconvenient. For Mia—a student and housekeeper whose budget is so tight she lives in her car—the pandemic destroys the very source of her paltry income. Fortunately, gutsy and funny Mia is a determined survivor. After weeks of cutting her limited spending even further, missing meals along the way, her wealthy employers become desperate for her services again. This time, she’s determined not to let them take advantage of her as they have in the past. Her newfound confidence gives her new hope as she works to escape the shackles of poverty on her own terms. Sally Rooney meets Elizabeth Strout in this brilliant fiction debut.

Kalynh Ngô's Vietnamese translation of the critically-acclaimed dual memoir, MY VIETNAM, YOUR VIETNAM, by Christina Vo and her father, Nghia M. Vo. A chronicle of the divergent journeys of a Vietnamese father, who fled his home country in desperation, and his American-born daughter, who ventured to Vietnam as an adult, capturing the stark contrast between their perspectives as they strive to heal the long-term wounds of war. In this captivating, heartfelt dual memoir, Christina Vo and her father, Nghia M. Vo, delve into themes of their identity, heritage, and the tragic multi-generational ordeals of war, with intertwined stories that present a multifaceted portrayal of Vietnam and its profound influence on shaping both familial bonds and individual identities across time.

Một ký sự về những hành trình khác nhau của một người cha, từng trốn khỏi Việt Nam sau chiến tranh trên một chiếc thuyền nhỏ để tìm chốn dung thân ở Hoa Kỳ, và cô con gái của ông, người sinh ra ở Mỹ, đã mạo hiểm đến Việt Nam khi trưởng thành. Hồi ký đồng hành của cha và con ghi lại sự tương phản hoàn toàn trong quan điểm của họ về quê hương Việt Nam, khi họ tìm kiếm sự đồng điệu và một con đường đưa đến sự hàn gắn cho nhau. Kalynh Ngô, Dịch

Every science-fiction story is a voyage of some kind—to a world of a far-off galaxy, to our own world of the distant future or the remote past, to some interior corner of the human soul. In VOYAGERS: Twelve Journeys through Space and Time, Science Fiction Grand Master Robert Silverberg collects twelve of his finest short stories and novellas, all of which carry readers to the next level of imagination and into a new universe of the mind. This new collection spans 60 years of work by the Hugo Award-winning Silverberg, traveling from one end of the universe to the other, from the dawn of time to its final hours. A journey through its pages reveals time-travelers from the future come back to witness a catastrophe of our own time, Spanish conquistadores looking for—and finding—the Fountain of Youth, a tourist in Mexico stepping into an alternative universe, and spacefarers among the stars making a surprising discovery. The range of these stories, the kinds of voyages they describe, just begins to demonstrate the scope of science fiction, and the lengths to which Silverberg's sparkling imagination can leap.

A whirlwind tour of San Francisco’s fabled queer bohemia in the waning days of the 20th century, as the city’s budget bon vivants work to save their eccentric lifestyles in the face of tech gentrification by LAMBDA award finalist Alvin Orloff.

Harris, San Francisco’s most annoying gay barfly, doesn’t mean to be bitchy, passive aggressive, or insulting. But he’s so bedazzled by his own critical brilliance he feels morally obliged to share his scathing opinions with the world at any and every opportunity. This irritates no one more than his roommate, Maxine, an avant-garde transsexual cabaret singer. When she overhears him badmouthing her on the phone she flies into a rage and expels him from their apartment. This crisis couldn’t come at a worse time. The year is 1999 and the “dot com” boom has rendered cheap housing nonexistent, and Harris, who works as a part-time telemarketer, is—as usual—low on funds. Will he be able to convince one of his eccentric, semi-dysfunctional friends with a rent-controlled apartment to let him move in?

Vulgarian Rhapsody immerses readers in a fading bohemia of queer dive bars, drag clubs, and countercultural cafes. The book’s narrator (a longtime frenemy of Harris who’s every bit as snarky and annoying as he is) tells the story with sadistic relish and an ironist’s eye for the absurd. Anyone feeling sickly from too many uplifting stories of personal empowerment, precious coming-of-age tales, or sugarcoated romances will find the perfect antidote in this hilariously acidic comedy of manners. A must-read for fans of Brontez Purnell, Phillippe Besson, and Ryan O’Connell.

 

"This inspiring collection makes a strong case for how women can design their work lives to meet both personal and professional needs.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Womentality: Thirteen Empowering Stories by Everyday Women Who Said Goodbye to the Workplace and Hello to Their Lives is a collection of powerful, personal essays from enterprising women around the world who came to the same realization: work shouldn’t have to be painful and demeaning. Armed with an internet connection and plenty of creativity and ingenuity, they prove that it is possible to redefine the nine-to-five work paradigm and create a flourishing career that is flexible and fulfilling outside the corporate structure.
The thirteen women—from diverse countries such as Uganda, Venezuela, Poland, Palestine, and the Philippines—approach independent work in different ways, but are all motivated by the same impulses—to escape the drudgery of office life, to have control of their time, and to enjoy the freedom of working for themselves. Importantly, many discover that—outside of the office—it is possible to triumph over global pay disparities that favor men.
Womentality is not a book about people who do not work—on the contrary, these women work hard and their stories illustrate how they overcame challenges to achieve their goals—whether they sought freedom to travel, to spend more time with the family, escape demeaning office politics, or simply to control their career.
The essays in Womentality prove that a life of independence is not reserved for elite, American workers. It is possible for anyone. As the women who contributed to Womentality can attest: escaping the nine-to-five life isn’t easy—it takes guts and persistence—but it’s absolutely worthwhile.

HONORABLE MENTION, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award, Autobiography & Memoir!

Lifelong activist Judy Gumbo, an original member of The Yippies, a 1960s anti-war satirical protest group, offers an insider feminist memoir of her involvement with the Yippies, Black Panthers, women's rights, environmental actions, and a life of activism.

In 1968, a 24-year-old woman moved to Berkeley, California and immediately became enmeshed in the Youth International Party, aka The Yippies, an anti-war satirical protest group. In the next few years, Judy Gumbo (a nickname given her by Eldridge Cleaver), was soon at the center of counter-cultural activity—from protests in People’s Park, to meetings at Black Panther headquarters, to running a pig for President at the raucous Democratic National Convention in Chicago, a protest that devolved into violent attacks by the police and arrests that led to the notorious Chicago Conspiracy Trial.

In this historical account, Gumbo reveals intimate details of—and struggles with—her fellow radicals Jerry Rubin, Anita & Abbie Hoffman, Eldridge Cleaver, Paul Krassner, Stew Albert, and more, detailing their experiences in radical protests. This deep dive into her activism includes details of her organization of a national women's rights group, her visit to North Vietnam during the war, her travels around the globe to promote women's liberation and anti-war protest, and her environmental activism. It also includes extensive excerpts from illegal wiretaps and surveillance by the FBI.

“A welcome addition to the literature of radical activism.” —Kirkus Reviews  “A fun read and a valuable political document, long overdue.” —Counterpunch

Yippie Girl explores Gumbo’s life as a protester to show that, while circumstances always change, protesters can stay loyal to the causes they believe in and remain true to themselves. She also reveals how dogmatism, authoritarianism, and interpersonal conflict can damage those same just causes, offering a timeless and strategic guide for activists today protesting against injustice in all its forms.