Speculative Fiction with Rivers Solomon & KM Szpara

In their new novel, Sorrowland, RIVERS SOLOMON introduces us to Vern, a pregnant woman on the run from the mysterious compound where she was raised. As she seeks shelter in the woods, she begins to change. KM SZPARA’s new novel, First, Become Ashes, follows Lark, raised since childhood to fight and kill monsters before the FBI arrives to tell him it’s all fake. As the best of speculative fiction does, these novels force their protagonists to question what’s real in their lives and shine a light for readers on our society’s darker realities. Join host JASON HERNDON as he discusses the speculative fiction genre, these stories, and the truths conjured and revealed by these tales. [rsvp required; see below]

Purchase books from our official bookseller, Scuppernong Books, by clicking book image above.

RIVERS SOLOMON writes about life in the margins, where they are much at home. Solomon’s debut novel An Unkindness of Ghosts  appeared on the Stonewall Honor List and won a Firecracker Award. Solomon’s second book, The Deep, based on the Hugo-nominated song by the Daveed Diggs-fronted hip-hop group clipping, was the winner of the 2020 Lambda Award. A refugee of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, Solomon was born on Turtle Island but currently resides on an isle in an archipelago off the western coast of the Eurasian continent.
Authors Website

KM SZPARA is a queer and trans author who lives in Baltimore, MD, with his tiny dog and goofy cat. He is the author of speculative novels such as First, Become Ashes,  Docile, and a third in 2022 that follows up on his Hugo and Nebula nominated novelette, Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time. They’re about cults and trauma, consent and debt, and a horny trans vampire, respectively. His short fiction appears in venues such as Tor.com, Uncanny, and Lightspeed.
Author Website

JASON HERNDON is an author of speculative fiction and poetry. All his characters are Black unless otherwise noted. A psychologist by training, he is fascinated by people, families, and their relationships. His work appears in Star*Line Magazine and Inkwell Black. Originally from Texas, he now resides in Greensboro, NC with his wife and dog.