Book 1

The Stars of Mount Quixx

by S. M. Beiko

Published 25 April 2023

Even the best intentions can bring down a mountain …

Sent away for the summer, the Ivyweather sisters were promised a family vacation by their wealthy, indifferent parents. Two at-odds opposites ― Constance an anxious society sweetheart and Ivory an adventure-struck rebel ― the sisters aren’t sure what to make of the dangerously decayed town of Quixx and its creeping fog that never seems to lift.

When Ivory disappears after a spat with her sister, Constance tracks her to the mountain, where the Ivyweathers learn the town’s hushed talk of monsters is more than just a rumor. There, the sisters meet Derrek, a dapper and talented astronomer who also happens to be a spider-like creature with a scientific mind, the best of intentions, and a tragic past. Together, they all must find a way to lift the dangerous fog that has ensnared the town and return Quixx’s long-lost stars. But they soon discover that something far more monstrous than beasts lurks in Quixx, and it’s poised to crush this sleepy mountain town, along with the dreams of those in it.

Death and discarded memories haunt every corner of Quixx, but kinship, romance, and family ― the one we choose ― are at the heart of this cautiously optimistic, unabashedly queer modern monster story.