Another Life

Finding out who you were in a previous life sounds like fun until you’re forced to grapple with the darkness of the past. Galacia Aguirre is Mediator of Otra Vida, a quasi-utopian city on the shores of a human-made lake in Death Valley. She resolves conflicts within their sustainable money-free society, and keeps the outside world from meddling in their affairs. When a scientific method of uncovering past lives emerges, Galacia learns she’s the reincarnation of Thomas Ramsey, leader of the Planet B movement, who eschewed fixing climate change in favor of colonizing another planet. Learning her reincarnation result shakes the foundations of Galacia’s identity and her position as Mediator, threatening to undermine the good she’s done in this lifetime. Fearing a backlash, she keeps the results secret while dealing with her political rival for Mediator, and outsiders who blame Otra Vida for bombings that Galacia is sure they had nothing to do with. But under the unforgiving sun of Death Valley, secrets have a way of coming to light.

ANOTHER LIFE is a solarpunk science fiction novella, available now from Stelliform Press! 

“The sparse but evocative worldbuilding of Ulibarri’s brilliant solarpunk debut underpins a guarded optimism about the human condition…grounded in quiet interpersonal dynamics and a thought-provoking exploration of how the past should inform the future. With an incisive exploration of postcapitalist, back to basics living and characters readers will root for, this perfectly balances big ideas and big emotions.” --Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Buy a Copy:
Exclusive Interview: “Another Life” Author Sarena Ulibarri
"For some people, ancestry DNA tests have been great, a way to connect with your past, or find lost relatives. But for some, they’ve brought up terrible things from their past. And no, I don’t mean when a racist finds out their ancestors were black; that’s hilarious. Which brings us to Sarena Ulibarri’s sci-fi cli-fi novella Another Life (paperback, Kindle), in which a DNA test reveals that the main character doesn’t just have a skeleton in her closet, she is the skeleton. I’ll let Ulibarri explain in the following email interview." Read More...

Eat Like An Author: Sarena Ulibarri
​"When most people get bored, they eat. When I get bored, I brainstorm new series and features for the blog, and THEN eat. A few years ago, as I was brainstorming and contemplating what I wanted to eat, I thought how cool it would be to have a mini-foodie series where authors share the things they like to eat. Photos and recipes and all. And so I asked them, and amazingly they responded, and I dubbed it EAT LIKE AN AUTHOR. Today, Sarena Ulibarri joins us to share a little insight into her forthcoming book Another Life, and demonstrate how to cook good eatin's with a solar oven!" Read More...

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview
"Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel. Sarena Ulibarri joins us to talk about her solarpunk novella, Another Life. Sarena, tell us about this warmhearted eco-fiction!" Read More...

Steel Tree

The voyage from Earth to Petipa isn’t cheap, but those who can’t afford it can pay off the trip by working the farms of Eta, the fertile moon that feeds humanity’s new colony. Klara Silber’s parents paid their debt, but left her behind, in charge of the orchards and the android nutcrackers. She’s sure if she follows their example, she’ll earn her invitation to ascend the space elevator and join Petipa Colony in no time. Only, the android nutcrackers have been malfunctioning all season, and some of the other farmers have suddenly gone missing.
​
They were told Eta didn’t have any native animal life, but the annual winter party is abuzz with rumors of large creatures lurking in the shadows. When one of the party guests inexplicably transforms into a giant rat and goes on the attack, Klara is sure the night can’t get any stranger. That is, until a fairy-like creature who communicates through dance appears, and a whole hidden history unspools about how the humans conquered these alien lands. To prevent the nuts that caused the giant rat mutation from being sent to Petipa, Klara needs to get two very different communities to work in harmony, even if it means she may never earn her way to the colony.

​"Ulibarri engages deeply with Tchaikovsky’s classic, studding the narrative with an imposing space-bound Christmas tree, dancing fairies, romance between Klara and her printed-circuit android prince, and a hissable villain. The prose skews slightly toward younger readers and will especially appeal to ballet fans, who will delight over the Easter eggs liberally strewn throughout. This is just in time for Christmas."
​—Publishers Weekly

Buy a Copy:
Eat Like an Author: Pirlipat Tarts
My novella Steel Tree starts with a winter party, where the farmers for an off-world colony are celebrating after the winter harvest. Several of the characters stuff their faces with “Pirlipat Tarts,” a pastry made from the nuts of the local Pirlipat tree. Steel Tree is a science fiction story based on The Nutcracker, and Pirlipat is a princess who appears in the original tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffman. In that story, Princess Pirlipat is cursed by the Mouse Queen to transform into an ugly doll. Read More...

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview
"One of my husband’s favorite Christmas traditions is to watch a production of The Nutcracker ballet. One year, I was particularly struck by the scene in which Drosselmeyer gifts two automatons to the Stahlbaum children. I wondered if anyone had reimagined The Nutcracker in a futuristic setting, with the “toys” being robots." Read More...

Morgan Hazelwood: Author Spotlight
"Sarena, thanks for agreeing to be here today. Most author spotlight interviews start off with the boring stuff, but I know what readers REALLY want to know. If you could have any pet (real/fantasy/no-allergies/no worries about feeding it) what would it be?" Read More...

Written as Kira Brinamon

FIGHT, FLIGHT, OR SHIFT: Billie Blackwater, Book One

Billie Blackwater is the only shapeshifter in the mountain town of Juniper, Colorado—at least since her father accidentally shot her mother, thinking he was protecting the family from a mountain lion. Billie works at the historic Silver Coin Hotel, and when she’s not serving drinks, checking in tourists, or leading bogus ghost tours, the hotel proprietor, Mitch, exploits her shapeshifting abilities to spy on the patrons of his illegal casino.

When she discovers that a local drug dealer is peddling a dangerous new synthetic drug called Scarlet, Mitch wants him taken care of and tries to convince Billie to do the deed. She refuses—but he winds up dead anyway, along with two of Mitch's henchmen. With all three deaths looking like the result of wild animal attacks and a vindictive boss ready to out her secret, the blame is going to rest on her shoulders if she can’t figure out who or what did the killing.
READY, SHIFT, AND GO: Billie Blackwater, Book Two

Spoiler Alert: description contains spoilers for book one in the series.
​
Now that Billie knows she’s able to shapeshift outside of her limited territory, she’s determined to find other shapeshifters and get some of the answers she thought were out of reach. Unfortunately, that means a long road trip with her dad, whom she still hasn’t forgiven for his role in her mother’s death. He says he knows some shifters in Durango, but when he and Billie show up on their doorstep, Billie realizes she’s found herself in the middle of a crime scene. Again.

Meanwhile, Caleb is stuck in Juniper, still healing from being attacked by the Scarlet Monster. When a newcomer offers to heal his wounds, she also awakens some strange powers he never knew he had. To make matters worse, the animals in Juniper have started acting strangely, and Caleb is pretty sure they’re about to have a whole epidemic of Scarlet Monsters on their hands.