debut short story collection told in prose, comics, canvas & photography, themed around the lure of black holes and their unforgiving boundaries.
From the 2022 Chautauqua Janus Prize winner Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos comes a
Sci-Fi, Sensual & Literary
Publishing Dec 15 2024.
“Compelling scientific and emotional explorations that raise the question: What awaits us when we cross the line?…All should prove a delight for SF aficionados.”—Kirkus Reviews
Event Horizon: Stories of No Turning Back is a prose-driven collection of stories themed around the astrophysical phenomenon of black holes and their unforgiving boundaries of “no return”—their event horizons. What arises is a tantalizing question for characters grappling with cosmic decisions in their lives, whether in their living rooms, on space stations or exoplanets: what awaits on the other side of the “event horizon”? An array of celebrated artists help answer this through the sequential art of comics, canvas work, and photography. The collection is introduced by comics, prose and astrophysics academia.
244 pages full color: 6 prose stories with art. 3 short comics. 1 one-shot comic (25 pages). 3 letters of introduction by literature and astrophysics academia. Original canvas work. Original photography throughout.
Whether courage, resignation, or lust, you’ve crossed the line. Don’t buckle up—seat belts don’t work here.
This book is like you being characters in THE EXPANSE reading bell hooks while sipping a drink at a bar in an asteroid belt with Neil DeGrasse Tyson next to you pointing out some intergalactic sh*t going down in the constellation next door, while your mom is calling you cosmic-collect to remind you of the reality of your messy life back on Earth as you feel the woman on the other side of you slowly running her crystal stiletto heel up your leg.
More about the stories
Subject Interests: Literary Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Latinxfuturism, Latino Literature, Women’s Fiction, Nuyorico, Puerto Rico, Greece, Space, Black Holes, event horizons, astrophysics, astronomy, Short Stories, photography, style writing, graffiti, abstract art, comics, human sexuality, love stories, romance.
THE BOOKS
The books are designed after a black hole. They feature full art from cover to back (because images crossing over an event horizon appear frozen in time to an observer (you, the reader). The only information you’ll find on the back cover is a barcode (that’s Hawking Radiation; the tiny information that “emits” out). Book blurbs are tucked inside the book on endpapers (just past the event horizon). Book design by Aaron Guzman.
Hardcovers (6.75″ X 9.5″ in size) and digital. In addition to our lead cover by Karen S. Darboe, in the spirit of multiverses, parallel universes and comic book culture: we have two additional cover variants to make three versions of hardcover by an electric team of artists, each offering something special! Some are limited prints. Kickstarter backers received exclusive digital cover variations to the book.
Our main Karen S. Darboe cover is hardcover with foil stamping accentuating the body outline and inner world, hand energy burst and body grid of Alita, in glowing matte yellow.
The Armando Ramirez-Galen Ihlenfeldt hardcover offers blue and white electrified customized endpapers in both print & digital.
The BLUSTERONE hardcover is a limited print run of 100, featuring art from original commissioned canvas work (30” X 20” ACRYLIC AND BLACK GESSO ON CANVAS) printed on textured paper for the feel of a canvas work. The style-writing GoodStrange vibe of the canvas art of this unconventional cover paired with its texture makes this the artists’ book of the Event Horizon collection.
ISBNs
HARDCOVER PRINT
Karen S. Darboe Hardcover ISBN 978-1-958077-01-6
BlusterOne Hardcover ISBN 978-1-958077-02-3
Armando Ramirez Cover ISBN 978-1-958077-09-2
DIGITAL:
Karen S. Darboe Cover Adobe PDF: ISBN 978-1-958077-03-0
EPUB: ISBN 978-1-958077-07-8
BlusterOne Cover Adobe PDF: ISBN 978-1-958077-08-5
Armando Ramirez Cover Adobe PDF: ISBN 978-1-958077-10-8
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pitsirilos, Stephanie Nina, author.
Title: Event horizon : stories of no turning back / Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos.
Description: New York, NY: Janus Point Press, 2024.
Identifiers: LCCN: 2024911712 | ISBN: 978-1-958077-01-6 (hardcover) | 978-1-958077-02-3 (hardcover)
| 978-1-958077-09-2 (hardcover) | 978-1-958077-03-0 (pdf) | 978-1-958077-08-5 (pdf) | 978-1-958077-
10-8 (pdf) | 978-1-958077-07-8 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH Short stories, American. | Science fiction. | Literary fiction. | BISAC FICTION / Science
Fiction | FICTION / Short Stories | FICTION / Literary
Classification: LCC PS3616 .I87 E84 2024 | DDC 813.6–dc23
Meet the Artists
BlusterOne; Cyrus Amir Boquín; Karen S. Darboe; Cris Delara; Gabriela Downie; Aaron Guzman; Galen Ihlenfeldt; Kroniko; Rafael Romeo Magat; Seth Christian Martel; Eric Nguyen; Anton Oxenuk; Stephanie Nina Pitsirilos; Armando Ramirez; Tracy168.
ARTISTS
BLUSTERONE
CYRUS AMIR BOQUÍN
KAREN S. DARBOE
CRIS DELARA
GABRIELA DOWNIE
AARON GUZMAN
GALEN IHLENFELDT
KRONIKO
RAFAEL ROMEO MAGAT
SETH CHRISTIAN MARTEL
ERIC NGUYEN
ANTON OXENUK
STEPHANIE NINA PITSIRILOS
ARMANDO RAMIREZ
TRACY168
Whether on canvas, paper, clothing, or hard hats… James Alicea has some GoodStrange vibes going on with his style-writing infused art. Canvas work and Cover Artist for Limited Hardcover.
Community physician by day, photographer by… night? Co-publisher of Janus Point Press who captured some of the narrative photography and pin-up you see in here.
(Magnus Arts). Exquisite illustrator of comics, especially women (Marvel, Boom Studios, Dynamite). The cover artist for Event Horizon’s lead hardcover.
(Magnus Arts). Illustrator, painter and pin-up artist of numerous comics covers and oil painting portraits. You see that Wonder Woman she did for DC?! Story art.
Illustrator and letterer. As patrons of style-writing aka graffiti, we appreciate some good letters. Letterer for comics (DC), including one of ours.
Where to start? Graphic designer, illustrator, graphic artist… Tag teams with cousin Stephanie often for comics. Our everything designer and illustrator for numerous works.
Pin-up artist, colorist, indie game developer. Our colorist for the internal art and variant cover art by Armando Ramirez.
Luis “Güillo” Cruz Martes is a graphic designer, muralist, plastic artist. Logo development for KLON.
Illustrator of comics with some fine lines (2021 winner Mad Cave Studios Talent Search, FutureQuake, Birds of Prey, WinC, Mad Cave Studios). Illustrator.
Graphic designer, illustrator, author (The Mare, Graphic Mundi). Also often tag teams with Stephanie for comics and book design. Illustrator and graphic designer for the Event Horizon Cocktail menu.
(Magnus Arts). Sought-after illustrator of comics (Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse) and you’ll see why when you see his work here.
(Magnus Arts). Wicked illustrator and painter of fantasy. Especially lovely with steam. Story art.
Stephanie’s critically acclaimed work can be found in numerous anthologies, magazines, co-creator platforms and artists’ book form. She is the recipient of the 2022 Chautauqua Janus Prize for her story “Jean”. Her creative mediums are prose, comics, graphic novels, and zines. Home is New York City. Writer and Co-publisher.
Illustrator with bad-a** lines and inks. Variant cover art and story art.
The legendary Wildstyle Lovesterone, an “old-timer” legend of NYC’s graffiti scene. Abstract canvas work, black book message. We love you, Tracy. A website with links to articles on his life, and some interviews.
With introductions by:
Dr. Frederick Luis Aldama (Professor Latinx). An award-winning author of over 50 fiction, comics, animation shorts, and scholarly books. He is an inductee of the National Cartoonist Society, Texas Institute of Letters and Ohio State University’s ODI Hall of Fame. He is founder and director of the Latinx Pop Lab and holds the Jacob & Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas, Austin.
Dr. Marcel Agüeros. Professor of astronomy at Columbia University who enjoys tackling classic questions in stellar evolution and examining the environments that stars like the Sun create for their planets. Recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Barack Obama.
Dr. Mariana Espinosa Aldama. Physicist, visual artist, and science researcher specializing in communicating cosmology, gravitation, and foundations of physics through images and data visualizations. Member of the Mathematical Modeling of Social Systems Department at the Research Institute on Applied Mathematics and Systems at UNAM.
109 enthusiastic book fans and generous humans “backed” Event Horizon on Kickstarter with $12,077 in preorders and investment in our artists and imprint. We were funded of our goal within one hour of launch, and highlighted by the platform with a coveted “Project We Love”. You can still visit the campaign page to see how we launched this book.
These are some exclusive giveaways our Kickstarter backers will receive for preordering the book in launch stage. Make sure you don’t miss our next campaign by joining our newsletter.
Interviews