Reveal time! Autumn, as it's custom, brings us the covers of our new novellas, for 2025! This year we have one debut author: Madeehah Reza, from England. And we are absolutely delighted to publish American author Deborah L. Davitt!
It is an SF year, for sure, completely off-planet Earth. So let me remind you of this year's fabulous stories!
Release day February 4, 2025.
Deborah L. Davitt: The Carrying Capacity of Paradise -
Luna Novella #22
The asteroid 4 Vesta has been colonised as a nature preserve by eccentric billionaire Benjamin Donovan Sr.—a refuge intended as much for creating a model of how humans can live, as for the animals and plants it hosts.
It is a paradise, removed from the pressures of overpopulation, social media, and the incessant, draining demands of modern life.
Now, Donovan Sr. lies murdered, and his son is either the prime suspect in his death, or the next target on the killer’s list.
Liane Sheridan, the station’s security chief, must find the answers while navigating a web of corruption.
Deborah on the novella:
This story started, as so many of my stories do, with a poem, 4 Vesta, which appeared in the Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy. My imagination was caught by the crater Rheasilvia on the asteroid 4 Vesta, and how the highest mountain in the solar system---the peak at the heart of that crater---has no name. I imagined that crater tented, filled with giant sequoias and tigers and other creatures, every species liberated from hunting and the pressure of gravity. The poem concludes:
Sometimes, like gardeners,
we prune and shape;
sometimes, like gamekeepers,
we must cull,
but we're all entwined—
the star outside is our candle,
this candle we've lit is our star.
But I wasn't done with the concept; an entire story leapt into my head, unbidden, about who might have built this refuge, why, and what they might have wanted to shelter from; and the answer was "almost all of modern life", the stuff that propels so many of us, like the rats of John B. Calhoun's experiments, to the edge of despair and dissolution on a daily basis.
About Deborah:
Deborah L. Davitt was raised in Nevada, but lives in Houston, Texas with her husband and son. She’s known for her prize-winning poetry and acclaimed short stories and novels. Her work has appeared in F&SF, Analog, and Asimov’s. For more about her work, including her Elgin-nominated poetry collections, The Gates of Never and Bounded by Eternity, please see www.edda-earth.com. For information about her podcast, please see www.youtube.com/@ShiningMoonSpeculativeFiction.
You may contact her at the following social media hubs: www.facebook.com/deborah.davitt.3 or @deborahldavitt.bsky.social.
Madeehah Reza - Orphan Planet - Luna Novella #23
What if you were the only person living on a planet?
Elif is the warden of Maoira-I, a planet of interest for the spacefaring remnants of humanity seeking a new home.
But Elif is a child, and the only human inhabiting this world of violent seasons, with just an AI system for company.
When the Interplanetary Mission abandons their plans of sending Elif a helper, she must learn how to survive the storms and the gnawing reality of loneliness.
Madeehah on the novella:
Orphan Planet began, as many of my story ideas do, as a series of vignettes. These were of Elif and her life on Maoira-I, though at the time she was only called The Girl. These vignettes were tied loosely around the idea of the extremities of loneliness i.e. what if you were the only person living on a planet? Throughout writing this novella, I researched about people that lived in the most remote locations around the world, often by choice. What made an impression on me was the connection those people had with their surroundings and how in tune they were with the environment they lived in, even if that environment was a harsh one. I wanted to weave this love of place into the character of Elif, a person who has no choice but to listen to and respect the world she lives on.
The initial vignettes were parcelled up and submitted in 2021 to the Future Worlds Prize for SFF writers of colour and became shortlisted as one of the finalists. I have always loved to read fantasy and science fiction, but I never thought I would be good enough to write a story rooted in science as I always worried I’d ‘get the science wrong’. That being said, I have a child-like fascination with astronomy and outer space, as well as stories set outside our home planet. Being shortlisted gave me the confidence to continue writing this novella. I began to understand that all stories, no matter their genre, are rooted in our shared experiences. At its heart, Orphan Planet is a story about the inimitable value of human connection.
About Madeehah.
Madeehah Reza is a writer and pharmacist from London, UK. She received an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her work has been published in several print and online magazines and anthologies including Wyldblood Press, Luna Station Quarterly, and All Worlds Wayfarer. She was a finalist in the 2021 Future Worlds Prize for SFF writers of colour and nominated for Best of the Net in 2023. Orphan Planet is her first novella. You can find more of her work on her website madeehah.carrd.co and follow her on X @madeehahwrites.
OUT February 4, 2025. More on the novellas in the coming months!
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