Sirena Diamond is the child of Mexican immigrants who has grown up on the cusp of two cultures. When she isn't consoling her traumatized war veteran brother or entertaining her eccentric abuela with her pet duck, she is caught between a boyfriend trying to erase his past and a man whose past is an ever-changing story and her best friend without boundaries.

Why Stars Burn, a novel-in-stories, introduces us to Sirena’s world and the mysteries that lie just below the glittering surface of life in Los Angeles.

Kathleen Alcalá is the author of The Deepest Roots, a work of speculative nonfiction on sustainability and island living. Her work has received the Governor’s Writers Award, the Western States Book Award, and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, among others. A graduate of the MFA Program at the University of New Orleans and the Clarion West Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop, Kathleen is editing an anthology on La Llorona, the Crying Woman of Mexican mythology, with Norma Elias Cantú. Her novels Spirits of the Ordinary and The Flower in the Skull have recently been republished by Raven Chronicles Press.

In 1947, Orrin C. Evans created one of the world's first Black superheroes--Lion Man! Appearing in the only issue of All Negro Comics, superhero history was forever changed. And now Lion Man is back!

Readapted and remixed for modern times, the award-winning visionary team of John Jennings and David Brame (After the Rain) create a mind-blowing Afrofuturistic tale of cosmic splendor while Bill Campbell (The Day the Klan Came to Town) and up-and-coming Zimbabwean writer, Yvette Lisa Ndlovu (Drinking from Graveyard Wells) deliver a Bondian African spy thriller full of plot twists, conspiracy thriillers, and political intrigue.

In The Adventures of Lion Man, our hero steps bravely out of the past into a bold new future. 

Pain, hope, and love collide in this explosive collection of speculative fiction. Arkdust demands revolutions while seeking compassion and understanding. Alex Smith gives us abandoned Black Panthers, disillusioned queer anarchists, warrior queen grocery clerks, all fighting for a better future against sadistic superheroes and white supremacist automatons—while a high-heeled bag lady with utopia in her eyes leads the way. Worlds we hope to never see and only dare to imagine, Arkdust challenges and implores the reader to explore the unimaginable to make all worlds possible. As Samuel R. Delany says, “You should be in that armchair, this word-wonder in your hand, reading...”

Imagine 1921. The tragedy of the Black Wall Street Massacre forces 13 year-old Sadiqah to flee. With a tattered map and two unlikely companions, she heads west on a perilous journey to find her ancestral home and reconnect with her family. The Search for Sadiqah is a vibrant blend of American history, thrilling action, and heartwarming adventure brought to life.  

Anyi is the gem of the Countless Clans. Their Queens make lifeblood, a magical substance used for everything from medicine to weapons. Once, Anyi had so much lifeblood that they gave it away. Now their Queen is dying, none of her daughters, the Diviewe, can produce lifeblood and the gods that guide the clan have gone silent.In the Empire of Ka, Anyi native Aseye dreams of leaving her work at the imperial armory to strike out on her own. Kwame, a spy with a hidden heritage, is a charming distraction. A man of conflicting loyalties, he’s not to be trusted with Aseye’s heart – or her secret, buried so deep that even she doesn’t remember it. A secret that could end her life.As Anyi’s lifeblood dwindles, the Diviewe beg the Elders to unleash an ancient weapon to save the clan. The Elders refuse. The Diviewe take matters into their own hands. But the weapon is not what they thought it would be, and it’s not the only thing to wake…

Cheryl S. Ntumy is a Ghanaian writer of speculative fiction, young adult fiction, and romance. Her work has appeared in FIYAH Literary Magazine; Apex Magazine; World Literature Today; Best of World SF Vol. 3 and Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction 2022, among others. Her work has also been nominated for the Nommo Award for African Speculative Fiction, the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize and the Miles Morland Foundation Scholarship. She is part of the Sauútiverse Collective, which created a shared universe for Afrocentric speculative fiction, and a member of Petlo Literary Arts, an organization that develops and promotes creative writing in Botswana. Her Sauútiverse novella Songs for the Shadows was released in 2024 by Atthis Arts and her short story collection Black Friday: Short Stories from Africa (Beyond and Within) was published in April 2025 by Flame Tree Press.