Clever, beautiful—and hopelessly violent.

Meet Addie and Dorian, the sisters at the center of Barbara Barrow's debut novel The Quelling, coming to bookstores and online retailers September 25.

Addie and Dorian have always been together. They’re clever, beautiful—and hopelessly violent. Diagnosed with a rare psychiatric condition and accused of murder in childhood, the sisters have spent most of their lives in a locked ward under the supervision of eccentric researcher Dr. Lark. Now on the cusp of adulthood, Addie has a plan: start a new family, to replace the one she lost. Dorian struggles to quell her violent tendencies in time to help raise her sister’s child.

Illustration: "The Bride," Alex Eckman-Lawn
Photography: Jason Chen for Paradigm Gallery
Designer: Michael Norcross

But Dr. Lark sees these patients as key to the completion of his revolutionary cure, and he will not allow Addie’s absurd ideas to get in the way. As his “treatments” become increasingly bizarre, they put Addie and Dorian’s safety at risk. The girls’ only lifeline may be Ellie, a ward nurse with troubles of her own, who’s never felt the need to protect anyone—until now.

"When I think of The Quelling in a visual way, as a series of images rather than words, I think immediately of imprisoned women, bristling with a kinetic animal rage, in a very contained space," said author Barbara Barrow. "I’ve always loved Gothic novels, and I wanted to write something in that spirit of Gothic claustrophobia. Alex Eckman-Lawn's art perfectly conveys that Gothic aesthetic. The arching spines in the foreground, and the snakelike design on the right, both express a sense of coiled, bristling tension. The hollow-socketed skulls at the bottom hint at the novel’s weird psychological atmosphere and also symbolize the figures of the two sisters who both mirror and combat each other. The curtains and draperies suggest the novel’s themes of repressed or hidden secrets, but they also allude, in a more literal way, to one of the more bizarre treatments the girls undergo, one that is at the center of the plot.

"And there, in the middle of it all, is the misty figure of the woman, her face in shadow, her arms reaching out to the sides, with all these currents or filaments gathering around her. I think of the woman as representing the character Addie: vulnerable yet ferocious, contained and refusing her containment, looking outward in a way that strikes me as furtive but also confrontational."

The first 50 preorders of The Quelling through the Lanternfish Press website will come with a bookplate signed by the author. You can also preorder The Quelling from your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or other online retailers. And don't forget to add the book on Goodreads!

These are the Astonishing Tales of
Boom

We're thrilled to share the cover of Charlie J. Eskew's debut novel, Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark, forthcoming from Lanternfish Press on September 4 - and just in time for Comic Con weekend.

We asked Charlie for a few thoughts on the final version of the cover:

The first time I had the chance to talk to Ron I was able to give him an overview of the character, and he’s seemed to capture everything that mattered to bringing Donald to life, and then some.  I always had this murky image while writing Donald, and when I discussed my ‘ideas’ during our Skype call that was probably apparent.  Ron was able to strain out all the ridiculous bits of my rant though and form a character that leaps off the page, something that is pretty astonishing.  (Yeah, that was cheap, but I stand by it…)

He captured all the elements of Donald’s powers, and it made SO much sense to have his costume inspired by the 90’s era of comics, which Donald is most tied to.  Looking at the cover for the first time kind of hit me harder than I’d expected.  It wasn’t what I’d been expecting, it was so much more, and I can’t express my gratitude enough for the care that went into producing it.

Preorders for Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark are now open! The first 50 preorders through the Lanternfish Press website will include a trading card and signed bookplate. You can also preorder Spark through your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or other online retailers.

(And don't forget to add Tales of the Astonishing Black Spark on Goodreads!)

You can find more of Ron Ackins' work on Instagram and Tumblr.

Are you ready for our next release? Allison Coffelt's literary memoir Maps Are Lines We Draw is now available for pre-order before the March 20 publication.

From the cover:

After a decade of dreaming, Allison Coffelt arrived in Haiti, ready—she thought—"to learn how much she didn’t know" about the Caribbean nation. Traveling the highways with Dr. Jean Gardy Marius, founder of the public health organization OSAPO, she embarked on a life-changing journey that would weave Haiti’s proud, tumultuous history and present reality into her life forever.

Maps Are Lines We Draw explores the culture and natural beauty of the island as well as its discomfiting realities: the threat well-intentioned aid organizations can present to the local economy; the privilege that determines who gets to travel between a "here" and a distant "there" which is foreign and other; and the challenge of doing short-term good without creating long-lasting harm. 

You can preorder your copy now through our website or at your favorite independent bookstore or online book retailer, including Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The first 50 copies of Maps preordered through the Lanternfish Press website will include a bookplate signed by the author.

We're beyond thrilled to unveil the cover of Anca L. Szilágyi's debut novel, DAUGHTERS OF THE AIR, which is being released on December 5. Preorders available NOW!

We asked Anca to share a few words about the inspiration behind this design:

I've been a fan of  Nichole DeMent's work since I first encountered it in 2013. I knew right away that the moody, mythic imagery of her Oracle series fit the atmosphere of Daughters of the Air. In the years prior, I'd used paintings as prompts to finish a first draft of the novel, putting Dover art stickers into notebooks and writing whatever came from them. There was a lot of groping around in the dark for a long time, but I gradually learned which artists generated ideas for me, and more specifically, which artists seemed to generate ideas for which characters: Chagall aligned with Daniel, the father; Modigliani aligned with Isabel, the mother; and Kandinsky aligned with Pluta. Eventually, though, the story as a whole suggested its own aesthetic. 

I adore the cover image, "Bird Moon"; it makes me think of wandering through tall, crackly grasses on a summer night, listening to the rattle and click of flying creatures. It also reminds me of a particular, pivotal scene in the book that is wild with possibility, both dangerous and transformative. I'm grateful to Nichole for letting us use this gorgeous piece!

"Bird Moon" image by Nichole DeMent. Design by Michael Norcross.