These Bright and Perilous Designs

A layered, lyrical, and heartbreaking novella.

"Myth retold through a multiverse lens, centered on asexual and neurodivergent voices, anchored in Latinx brilliance and geekery." - Summer Stewart, poet, editor, and publisher at Unsolicited Press

In the near future, a grieving son uncovers the secret journal entries of his genius mother-and the life and love story she tells is layered across multiple universes.

In one universe, Phaedra falls in love-tragic and doomed-with Hippolytus. In another, the pair are brilliant and misunderstood software engineers whose creations threaten the world.

In ancient Greece, in the near future, in every world, some things remain true: Phaedra and Hippolytus' love is doomed, and Phaedra's scorned husband Theseus will do anything to seize their designs.

A novella written in vivid nonlinear prose perfect for fans of NK Jemisin's The Broken Earth Trilogy and the myth-laden heartbreak of Hadestown, These Bright and Perilous Designs reimagines the Greek myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus with neurodiverse and asexual characters. It is a love story spanning lifetimes and a study of grief for those left behind.

Felicia Martínez is an artist and writer from eastern New Mexico, though she now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home. She has been guest poetry editor at The Deadlands, an SFPA Rhysling Award Finalist, a Dream Foundry Contest for Emerging Writers finalist, and received her PhD in English from Stanford University. She is the author of The Other Lives of Altagracia Sanchez.