A Smugglerific Cover: NUSSIA by Michele Tracy Berger

In which we reveal the cover for the next short story in our 2018 Awakenings series, Nussia by Michele Tracy Berger!

Behold the smugglerific cover:

About the Story

Nussia… I said her name like a wish.

All Lindsay Fields has ever wanted was to have a best friend–someone to share all her likes and dislikes, who would truly understand her. When she enters a competition to host Nussia, a teenage alien from a different planet–and wins–thirteen-year-old Lindsay is ecstatic. Now, the Fields’ are not only the first ever humans to host a Fike alien, they are also the first African-American family to do so.

But Nussia is not quite what Lindsay expected. And Lindsay’s family, home, and entire life changes because of Nussia’s arrival… but not in the way she imagined.

From the author of Reenu-You comes a brand new novelette of being careful of what you wish for.

A Word From Your Friendly Neighborhood Editors (and Book Smugglers)

There are two ways that first contact stories tend to go–you either get E.T. – The Extra Terrestrial sweetness in a tale of understanding, hope, and friendship, or you get Independence Day style devastation and calamity. Aliens are either analogs of our best selves–seeking acceptance, friendship, family, and home–or they are a reflection of our worst selves–violent, untrusting, scheming, and covetous of our resources.

Nussia is the story of a young girl who wants a best friend, and she writes a letter about why she would be the perfect host family for a Fike alien teenager. Lindsay, in other words, wants her own E.T. Nussia ain’t no E.T.

We have been huge fans of Michele Tracy Berger’s ever since we first published her novella Reenu-You: a pre-apocalyptic tale of women of color bonding together after they learn their hair relaxer has changed them forever. When we received Nussia, we were instantly drawn to its hopeful, yearning protagonist Lindsay, and the quiet, building horror of Nussia’s presence in her home and in her family. Nussia is a story of Awakening in its darkest, malevolent form. We hope you like it as much as we do.

About the Author: Michele Tracy Berger

Michele Tracy Berger is a professor, a creative writer, and a pug-lover.

At the age of six, Michele’s mother turned a walk-in closet into creative space just for her daughter. That closet became a portal and gateway to self-expression.

Michele pretended that Will Robinson, a character on the television show Lost in Space was her brother and that she fought alongside Lindsay Wagner who played The Bionic Woman. And, she went on many other adventures. From that age on, Michele never doubted the power of the imagination and over time she learned to tell her own stories.

Her main love is writing science fiction though she also is known to write poetry and creative nonfiction, too.

Her nonfiction writing and poetry has appeared in The Chapel Hill News, The Red Clay Review, Glint Literary Journal, Oracle: Fine Arts Review, Trivia: Voices of Feminism, The Feminist Wire, Ms., Carolina Woman Magazine, and Western North Carolina Woman, A Letter to My Mom (Crown Press), Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia Butler (Twelfth Planet Press) and various zines.

Her fiction has appeared in UnCommon Origins: A Collection of Gods, Monsters, Nature and Science by Fighting Monkey Press, You Don’t Say: Stories in the Second Person by Ink Monkey Press, Flying South: A Literary Journal, 100wordstory, Thing Magazine, and The Red Clay Review.

Her sci-fi novella Reenu-You was recently published by Book Smugglers Publishing.

Michele is completely undone by the sight of pugs and has to restrain herself from collecting any item they appear on. She lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina with her partner Tim. Come visit her at The Practice of Creativity.

About the Artist: Kristina Tsenova

Kristina Tsenova is a visual storyteller—she is a 3D Animation graduate, illustrator and character artist. She has a traditional art background (paiting, drawing and sculpture) and afinity to the digital arts (concept art, design, 3D modelling, motion graphics and movie making). Her other interests include literature, cinema and photography. A great source of inspiration are the movies of Hayao Miyazaki and the art of Pascal Campion. You can find her on deviantart, facebook, and Artstation.

How to Get the Story

Nussia will be published officially on June 26, 2018. You can purchase the DRM-free ebook (EPUB, MOBI) that contains the story as well as an essay from the author available for purchase on all major ebook retail sites and directly from us.

Preorder the Ebook Today

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Want the book right now? Buy the DRM-free ebook edition directly from us and read the story today:

Buy Now

Add the book on Goodreads, and read Nussia for free next Tuesday, June 26, 2018.