Introducing You Make Yourself Another
Shifting, murmuring, blurring the lines of consciousness, opening toward the light: Half Mystic is delighted beyond belief to welcome our newest book into the world. You Make Yourself Another by Lucy Hannah Ryan opens for preorder today.
Who are you, really? That is the question at the heart of this short story collection, a visceral, tender, & elusive meditation on transformation in its many guises. Named for an insult hurled at Hamlet’s Ophelia, You Make Yourself Another blurs genre & gender lines to illuminate a state of sharp, queer flux. From a girl whose illness has her slipping between the veil of life & death to a grieving model on the path of self-destruction, from the mystery behind a teenager’s disappearance to a woman’s journey through bodily autonomy via strange metamorphosis, this collection haunts & hollows in equal measure.
Bessie Flores Zaldívar, author of Rain Revolutions & Libertad, wrote of the book: “Evoking morbidity, lust, and tenderness, the bizarre stories in You Make Yourself Another are tactile and real—you feel each transformation on your own skin.”
Marisa Crane, author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, said: “With prose that is at once poetic and biting, You Make Yourself Another is an enchanting, visceral exploration of identity, transformation, loss, escape, and queerness. These stories transcend genre and transport us into expansive and imaginative worlds where we can become who we are. This book is a beautiful howling, an unflinching act of rebellion, and a powerful exploration of what it means to inhabit a body. Every page is a surprise and a delight.”
& Kathryn Harlan, author of Fruiting Bodies, longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, called You Make Yourself Another “A magical collection perfect for fans of Kelly Link and Carmen Maria Machado. This book speaks of love, suffering, and transformation in seven stories so vivid and intimate you can expect each of them to swallow you whole.”
Longtime fans of Half Mystic might recognise Lucy Hannah Ryan’s name from their pieces in Half Mystic Journal’s Issue I: Allegro & Issue III: Nocturne. As You Make Yourself Another spins stories of metamorphosis & becoming again, we return in this book to where we started: a place strange & dark & howling, where girls are gods & new lives rise out of miscarried dreams. You Make Yourself Another comes out on April 18, 2023, & is available for preorder now. For updates on the blog tour, giveaways, & more, you can subscribe to Half Mystic’s newsletter. Pleasure & pain intertwine in this collection, & every future wears the name of a self you used to be. The body is a malleable thing here. Whatever you need, you can become it.