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Elizabeth Mann, haunted by self-destructive habits, thinks that leaving New York will solve her problems. During a trip to London she comes face to face with the skeleton of the famous criminal Jonathan Wild. Her obsession with the thief is interrupted by an encounter with Gideon Streetcar, an infertility specialist and future lover.

At an auction a few weeks into their relationship, Gideon bids on a box of memoirs by Jonathan Wild's second wife, Mary. Her journals are doled out sparingly throughout the novel, leaving the reader and Elizabeth breathless for what happens next.

Influenced by conversations with Gideon about cloning possibilities, she enlists Gideon's help to allow her to give birth to the clone of Wild. Elizabeth is implanted with an egg with Wild's DNA and soon shows signs of pregnancy.

Both deadpan detective novel and twisted historical romance, Heredity shows how the past, present and future are linked. As the book ends, both heroines find themselves in similar situations: pregnant and damaged by the past but determined to survive.

Three smart young women -- the scholarly Ruth, her poet roommate Lucy, and their exotic, provocative neighbor Anna -- are obsessed with games of all kinds. They've devoted themselves to both the academic study of play and the design of games based on the secret history of the neighborhood around Columbia University, from Grant's Tomb to the former insane asylum that once stood where the campus is now.

When Anna's mysterious brother Anders gets involved and introduces live-action role-playing based on classic Greek tragedy, theory goes into practice and the stakes are raised. Told in a variety of formats -- including Gchat and blog posts -- that bring the fraught drama of Euripides screaming into the 21st century, The Magic Circle is an intellectual thriller like no other.

This short story originally appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine, #3 December 2006. It can also be found in the anthology Realms: The First Year of Clarkesworld Magazine (2007), edited by Sean Wallace and Nick Mamatas.

Read the full story for free at Clarkesworld.

A series of mysteries.

An explosion of truths.

The Explosionist: Someone sets off a bomb outside fifteen-year-old Sophie's boarding school, but no one can figure out who.

The Medium: Soothsayers and seance leaders are regular guests at her great-aunt's house in Scotland, but only one delivers a terrifying prophecy, directed at Sophie herself.

The Murder: When the medium is found dead, Sophie and her friend Mikael know they must get to the bottom of these three mysteries in order to save themselves--even as the fate of all Europe hangs in the balance.

Set in a time of subversive politics, homegrown terrorism, and rapidly changing alliances, The Explosionist is an extraordinarily accomplished debut novel for teens that delivers a glimpse of the world as it might have been, had one moment in history been altered.

Sixteen-year-old Sophie knows there is more to the story of her parents' death. And she's on a mission to find the truth. To aid her in solving the decades-old mystery, Sophie has enlisted her best friend, Mikael, whose friendship has turned into something more. It's soon clear that Sophie's future is very much wrapped up in the details of her family's past, and the key lies with information only one man can provide: her parents' former employer, the elusive billionaire Alfred Nobel.

As the threat of war looms in Europe, dangers to Sophie and her loved ones grow. While her determination to solve the mystery doesn't waver, forces beyond her control conspire to keep her from her purpose. Then, news of her great-aunt Tabitha's death sets off a chain of events that leaves Sophie questioning everything.

The more Sophie learns, the more she realizes that nothing--and no one--in her life is what it seems. And coming to terms with the dark secrets she uncovers means imagining a truth that she never dreamed possible. Full of gorgeous settings, thrilling adventure, and romance, invisible things is a novel that dares to ask, what if?