Paradox | A Novel

It is June 2010, in the town of Paradox, Washington.

May Emerson has just graduated from high school, failed to impress her family, been cheated on, and lost her best friend. In that order. A man seemingly misplaced in time offers her an escape: her own corpse, perfectly rendered.

Penelope Materas, living in her parents' research laboratory and literally cut off from anyone she could call a peer, has one lifeline left — a pen pal — before she is stuck there forever. She invites him to see the unveiling of her dad's latest and most revolutionary technology.

When Weiss Wakefield receives the invitation to meet his friend from the Labs across the Sound, he is reeling from the death of the girl he betrayed. When he goes, just to take his mind off things, he is unaware that he is being watched.

The thing watching him — watching all of them — wants suffering. 

Paradox is a novel with elements of maximalist fantasy, hard sci-fi, and teen romance. 

You may read the published chapters at the links below, or, if you pay me at least a dollar, you can listen to me read them aloud, including future chapters. If you use a screen reader and would prefer to hear a human, please DM me on Bluesky or Tumblr, and I will hook you up.

read all of part 1 here! <- Updated 8/27!
read all of part 1.5 here!

bonus:

b1.beta matricide

Content Warning: Paradox contains depictions of violence, injury, emotional abuse, and self-harm.