azlouise writer

A Starless Eye: Othello Reloaded by T.O. Tate

BUT WHY SHOULD HONOR OUTLIVE HONESTY? LET IT GO ALL. In this post-apocalyptic novelette, Ollie, a former sniper, has been forced into retirement by a mysterious disease known as sliversickness. A perpetual outsider in an isolated underground military base, Ollie’s only solace is her lover, DJ. But that relationship is forbidden, putting Ollie’s already uncertain future in jeopardy, and her only protection is DJ . . . whose fidelity has been called into question by one of Ollie's few allies. As Ollie’s illness worsens, eating away at her right eye, her vision becomes more warped, and everything begins to look like evidence. A lost good luck charm, a glance that lingers too long, a poisonous whisper. And at the center of it all stands a man who claims to be Ollie’s friend. As Ollie’s life crumbles before her eyes, it’s no longer a question of when her illness will kill her, but whether it will burst free and kill everyone else, too.

Bitterbound by A.Z. Louise

A PROMISE SEALED IN FLESH AND BLOOD Kin Jole is an indentured assassin, forced to serve those who ripped her soul from her body and stripped her of her conscience. When Kin is ordered to kill Verias Hartwell, a beaten-down sorcerer unwillingly bound to a war machine, she sees his power as an opportunity to do the one thing that will set her free—reclaim and destroy her own soul. Kin offers Verias a trade. She’ll spare his life in exchange for his help stealing her soul. To retrieve it, Verias must join the very guild of sorcerers that turned Kin into a killer. With the fate of her soul in his hands, Kin must now protect Verias from enemies new and old, including a former friend with a bitter grudge. But the closer Verias gets to Kin’s soul, the closer he gets to her darkest secrets. And if the enemies closing in on all sides don’t destroy them, those secrets just might.

A Concrete Crown: MacBeth Retold by T.O. Tate

Chipped Cup

DOUBLE, DOUBLE TOIL AND TROUBLE; SLIVER FALL AND CITY CRUMBLE A CONCRETE CROWN: MACBETH RETOLD is a post-apocalyptic novella set at the edge of a city corrupted by a mysterious contaminant. Micah, a seasoned scout, has seen firsthand the dangers of the desolate city, but as the contamination spreads, his cousin Dawson only grows more convinced that it’s safer inside than out. When their battle of wills escalates from argument to blackmail and murder, Micah must ask if his motives are as noble as he wants to believe. As each following decision causes more chaos and more devastating loss, concrete shards begin to grow from Micah’s head just as guilt and fear sprout in his mind. Haunted by a watchful ghost and followed by nagging, prescient crows, Micah returns to the unnamed city in search of answers. Soon, the real question works its way to the surface: do Micah’s impulses belong to him at all, or are they the whims of the city that’s gotten under his skin?

Off-Time Jive by A.Z. Louise

Set during an alternate Harlem Renaissance where new forms of magic created by Black joy strain against the white establishment, Bessie Knox is an investigator of magical mysteries. When her old colleagues at the Bronx Academy of Magic start turning up dead, Knox's weakened abilities are pushed to their limits, but if she can't solve the case, she'll be next.