Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide 20th-c. contemporary speculative literary fiction Akashic Books, March 2021 (paperback, July 2022) Blurred lines between the living and the dead, reality and fantasy, slumber and consciousness make Nephthys Kinwell's winding routes through Washington, D.C. multifaceted renderings of people who are haunted by their pasts while they seek and decipher clues on how to move forward through grief and disappointment into their purpose. Creatures of Passage slides across and between genres and weaves together heavy themes into a buoyant narrative with the exquisite language and imagery of accessible poetic sensibilities that lifts readers' spirits. Free Will or Destiny? The Mutual Friend by Carter Bays contemporary fiction with romantic elements Dutton, June 2022 Six Degrees of Separation in the age of screen fixation and addiction The Arc by Tory Henwood Hoen contemporary fiction with romantic elements St. Martin's Press, February