Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds everyone, especially the eccentric side-show proprietor who commissioned it. Benny’s work earns him an invitation to join the show’s eclectic crew of performers—his first welcome in the city—and share in their astonishing secret: the tank Benny built is a cage for their newest exhibit, a living, breathing, in-the-flesh merman stolen from the banks of the East River under a gleaming full moon.

The merman is more than a mythic marvel, though. Benny comes to know Río as a clever philosopher, an observant traveler, and a kindred spirit more beautiful and compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.

A cage is no place for a merman to survive. Though releasing Río means betraying his new family, bankrupting their home, and losing his soulmate forever, Benny must look within for the courage to do what’s right, and find a love strong enough to free them both.

“When the Tides Held the Moon is a beautifully illustrated novel with artwork throughout by Venessa Vida Kelley, known for her stunning romance and fantasy art. This novel includes two different full-color endpapers for front and back, fully-designed chapter headers, and 27 pieces of detailed illustrations throughout, using beautiful two-color, aqua blue and black inks.

A Punk Rock Love Story of Resistance, Revolution, and Resilience in a Dystopian Future In Sink Or Burn, the year is 2121, and fascism has overthrown a once-thriving utopia. Amid the ashes of a fallen nation, Cheap Glitter—a queer, punk rock band—becomes the voice of resistance. As they tour across a fractured America, raising funds for the fight against a brutal regime, they navigate wildfires, sunken landscapes, and the terrifying laws of a collapsing society. At the heart of their journey is CT, a lovelorn survivor whose romantic entanglement with a fellow bandmate—a survivor of a different war—complicates their quest for both personal healing and social revolution.

As the band balances the weight of trauma with the urgency of their fight, they discover that love, however chaotic, may be their greatest weapon. A memoir, a punk rock anthem, and a manifesto for the broken-hearted, Sink Or Burn tells the story of a tortured artist’s evolution into a divine healer. Cristy Road Carrera, a punk rock icon and Latinx artist, weaves together personal survival with the broader struggle for liberation. Set against a dystopian backdrop where love transcends time and violence, the novel challenges the very notion of survival under oppression. Rooted in the experiences of queer, Latinx, and punk communities, this book is an exploration of how art, love, and resilience can shape a future in defiance of societal decay.

Eternal rabble rouser, Cristy Road Carrera is a first generation Cuban-American artist, writer and musician. Blending anti-fascist principles with survival love stories — Road has spent over twenty-five years testifying to the beauty of the imperfect. 

Her career began in 1996 with a self-published punk rock fanzine that sparked decades of illustrating for music, literature and social movements. Forging an imprint in queer, feminist counter cultures with graphic memoirs, illustrated novels, and punk rock records; Carrera redefined her career in 2019, after writing, illustrating, and releasing the Next World Tarot, a 78-card deck that envisions a world based on radical redefinitions of self-love and social justice.

Carrera is a singer and songwriter and has been fronting punk rock bands since her days of self-publishing fanzines. She currently performs her songs as Choked Up, making records and playing shows with the ancient punk rock ethos of passion before profit. Engaging with her world in spaces ranging from Yale University to Bluestockings Bookstore— Cristy Road Carrera continues to thrive on the fringe of the mainstream, and the epicenter of revolution.

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