{"id":26740,"date":"2022-06-10T07:21:09","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T14:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/?p=3083"},"modified":"2022-06-10T07:21:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T14:21:09","slug":"meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=26740","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Characters from January Fifteenth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/publishing.tor.com\/januaryfifteenth-rachelswirsky\/9781250198945\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>January Fifteenth<\/em><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> comes out next week! I can hardly believe it.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last week, I posted a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/my-new-novella-january-fifteenth-excerpted-in-tordotcom-publishing-2022-debut-sampler\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">short excerpt of Janelle\u2019s story<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and linked to the <\/span><em><a href=\"https:\/\/publishing.tor.com\/tordotcompublishing2022debutsampler-scottomoore\/9781250871572\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Debut Sampler<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which includes a longer one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, meet all the characters!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3084\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/january-fifteenth-oblong-four-pov\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?fit=1600%2C900\" data-orig-size=\"1600,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"January Fifteenth  Four POV\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?fit=300%2C169\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?fit=584%2C329\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3084 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?resize=584%2C329\" alt=\"Image of four people with the following text: January Fifteenth, A new novella from Tor.com by Rachel Swirsky. Follow four women in a future USA with Universal Basic Income: Hannah, an abused mother. Janelle, a broke reporter. Olivia, a wealthy student. Sarah, a pregnant teen. Money changes everything \u2013 except people.\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?resize=300%2C169 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?resize=768%2C432 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?resize=1024%2C576 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?resize=500%2C281 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/January-Fifteenth-Oblong-Four-POV.png?w=1168 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(I\u2019ve put some graphics in here, but all the information on the graphics is also in the text.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>January Fifteenth<\/em> takes place in a future USA with Universal Basic Income. The novella follows four women on January 15th, the day they get their UBI payments.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HANNAH, an abused mother on the run in upstate New York<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JANELLE, a broke reporter raising her orphaned sister in Chicago<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OLIVIA, a wealthy student celebrating Winter break at a Colorado ski resort<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">SAARH, a pregnant teen trapped in a fundamentalist cult in Utah<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While I was reading all the various arguments about UBI, I noticed that most commentary centers on the traditional right\/left political axis. That\u2019s a great place for discussion, but I wanted to talk about the smaller scale, human effects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The story evolved to center around these four women from different places who have very different experiences with UBI. The money enables some of them to change their lives, but it can\u2019t get rid of all their problems. Or, to put it like the tag line does: Money changes everything\u2013 except people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UBI has the potential to ameliorate\u2013or not\u2013some of the most serious problems people have in life. This novella engages with a number of those, from the more casual horrors that many readers will have experienced personally like racism, domestic abuse, sexual assault and suicide, to more unusual situations like cult exploitation. I\u2019ve experienced some of these things myself. To write about others, I read a lot and talked to people. (Thank you so much to anyone who shares their stories in whatever way they choose.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I spent a lot of time with these characters (40,000 words is more than twice the length of the longest thing I\u2019ve published before!) so I feel very close to them. I hope you find them compelling, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Meet Hannah, an abused mother on the run<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3087\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/jan-15-hannah-flyer\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?fit=1545%2C2000\" data-orig-size=\"1545,2000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jan 15 Hannah Flyer\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?fit=232%2C300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?fit=584%2C756\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3087\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300\" alt=\"Image of a person clasping her hands with the following text: January Fifteenth, A new novella from Tor.com, by Rachel Swirsky. In a future USA with Universal Basic Income, follow four women, including: Hannah, an abused mother, \u201cHer heart pounded. She hadn\u2019t expected Abigail to find them so fast. She took a deep breath to shout upstairs for Jake and Isaiah to start piling furniture against their bedroom door.\u201d Money changes everything except people.\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300 232w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?resize=768%2C994 768w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?resize=791%2C1024 791w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?w=1545 1545w, https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Hannah-Flyer.png?w=1168 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/strong>January 15th is the anniversary of the day Hannah looked at her universal basic income payment and realized she had the resources to take her two children and flee her abusive ex-wife. Since then, Hannah and her children have been on the run, fleeing from Abigail as she stalks them from rental home to rental home. So far, Abigail hasn\u2019t discovered their new place in Canasota, New York, but it\u2019s just a matter of time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u200b\u200bAs the twanging faded, Hannah heard a distant, quiet shuffle from the back of the house. Something wooden groaned. Hannah\u2019s mouth went dry. The ends of her scarf dropped from her hands, unwound, and fell loosely across her chest.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her heart pounded. She hadn\u2019t expected Abigail to find them so fast. She took a deep breath to shout upstairs for Jake and Isaiah to start piling furniture against their bedroom door.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A high-pitched giggle broke the quiet, followed by another. Hannah exhaled in relief. Thank God. It was just the boys playing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her heart hadn&#8217;t stopped pounding, though. Damn it. Damn it! What was she supposed to do when the boys wouldn&#8217;t listen? This wasn&#8217;t about sticking their fingers in their cereal or getting crayon on the walls. Did it really matter that it was developmentally normal for a seven-year-old to test authority if it ended up giving Abigail a way back into their lives?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Meet Janelle, a broke reporter raising her sister<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3094\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/jan-15-janelle-flyer\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?fit=1545%2C2000\" data-orig-size=\"1545,2000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jan 15 Janelle Flyer\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?fit=232%2C300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?fit=584%2C756\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3094 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300\" alt=\"Image of a person holding a microphone with the following text: January Fifteenth, A new novella from Tor.com, by Rachel Swirsky. In a future USA with Universal Basic Income, follow four women, including: Janelle, a broke reporter, \u201cJanelle felt like a bee doing the same mindless task year after year, just like all the other bees. Get the honey. Do a dance. Interview someone who thinks her cats should get UBI.\u201d Money changes everything except people.\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300 232w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?resize=768%2C994 768w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?resize=791%2C1024 791w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?w=1545 1545w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Janelle-Flyer.png?w=1168 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/strong>Since their parents were killed in a plane crash, reporter-turned-activist Janelle has been raising her little sister, Nevaeh, in their home city of Chicago.Their inheritance isn\u2019t enough to cover all their expenses so Janelle spends her time scrambling to get as many gigs as possible. Unfortunately, legitimate news jobs are scarce, and a lot of aggregators won\u2019t work with Janelle because of her former activism. Every January 15th, Janelle gets stuck doing the same boring interviews so she can keep their bank balance positive.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She felt like a bee doing the same mindless task year after year, just like all the other bees. Get the honey. Do a dance. Interview someone who thinks her cats should get UBI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interview a violinist who uses their money to fund lessons for disadvantaged kids. Interview a new mom about the savings fund she set aside for her baby. Interview a lawyer representing a class action lawsuit against a landlord for extorting his tenant&#8217;s disbursements. Interview a senior citizen who lost his home because of problems with the transition from social security. Interview the protestors wherever they are this year. Interview the protestors protesting the other protestors wherever they are this year\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The aggregators would probably love to run her story, too, if she wedged it into the right box. Sentimental: Chicago-based 28-year-old raises 14-year-old sister after parents die in plane crash. Political: Former activist relies on legislation she championed to care for orphaned sibling. Socially Responsible: UBI Keeps Black Families Together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anyway. The upshot was that there was always work for two weeks in January even if you didn&#8217;t have a great relationship with the major aggregators\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So of course one of her buzzcams was broken.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Meet Olivia, a wealthy student on winter break<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3098\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/jan-15-olivia-flyer\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?fit=1545%2C2000\" data-orig-size=\"1545,2000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jan 15 Olivia Flyer\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?fit=232%2C300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?fit=584%2C756\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3098 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300\" alt=\"Image of a person drinking through a straw with the following text: January Fifteenth, A new novella from Tor.com, by Rachel Swirsky. In a future USA with Universal Basic Income, follow four women, including: Olivia, a wealthy student, \u201cDon\u2019t think about that. Don\u2019t think about Brown. Don\u2019t think about failing. Don\u2019t think about Spring semester starting in ten days. Don\u2019t think about talking to your parents.\u201d Money changes everything except people.\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300 232w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?resize=768%2C994 768w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?resize=791%2C1024 791w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?w=1545 1545w, https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Olivia-Flyer.png?w=1168 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Olivia, a freshman at Brown University, has always been the scapegoat of her dysfunctional, grandiosely wealthy high school \u201cfriends\u201d group. Things aren\u2019t going any better for her at college where she\u2019s isolated and failing out. So maybe it\u2019s not too shocking that she\u2019s doing badly at her friends\u2019 reunion at an expensive Colorado ski resort. Drunk and preoccupied with her own worries, Olivia barely notices her \u201cfriend\u201d William\u2019s bizarre \u201cWaste Day\u201d celebration: a contest to see who can waste their UBI payments most extravagantly.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;How&#8217;s life at Brown?&#8221; Elsa pressed sweetly. &#8220;Does Brown have remedial classes?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I&#8217;m not in remedial classes,\u201d said Olivia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;So you&#8217;re failing out,&#8221; Elsa said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The accusation caught Olivia like a blow to the stomach.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t think about Brown, Olivia told herself. Don&#8217;t think about Spring semester starting in ten days. Don&#8217;t think about telling your parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Whoa,&#8221; said Leroy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Low blow,&#8221; said Freddie.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Disapprovingly, Pauline said, &#8220;Not nice, Elsa. We don\u2019t hunt foals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Meet Sarah, a pregnant child bride trapped in a cult<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"3099\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/jan-15-sarah-flyer\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?fit=1545%2C2000\" data-orig-size=\"1545,2000\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jan 15 Sarah Flyer\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?fit=232%2C300\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?fit=584%2C756\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3099 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300\" alt=\"Image of a pregnant person with the following text: January Fifteenth, A new novella from Tor.com, by Rachel Swirsky. In a future USA with Universal Basic Income, follow four women, including: Sarah, a pregnant teen, \u201cSarah didn\u2019t keep sweet. That was her problem. She\u2019d always been too angry. She said no. She didn\u2019t smile.\u201d Money changes everything except people.\" width=\"232\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?resize=232%2C300 232w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?resize=768%2C994 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?resize=791%2C1024 791w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?w=1545 1545w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rachelswirsky.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Jan-15-Sarah-Flyer.png?w=1168 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>Fifteen-year-old Sarah is trapped in a cult, a fundamentalist offshoot of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Having been married off last year, she\u2019s only a few months away from giving birth to her first child. Everyone knows that the heretical mainstream Mormons only force the prophet\u2019s women to pick up their checks in person to harass them. But as she makes the annual pilgrimage on foot, pestered by her needy cousin Agnes and haunted by memories of her recently exiled brother Toby, Sarah\u2019s starting to doubt what everyone knows.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sarah didn&#8217;t keep sweet. That was her problem. She&#8217;d always been too angry. She said no. She didn&#8217;t smile.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her brother, Toby, was gentle, but the wrong way for a boy. He always let everyone else choose first. He was weak and he cried too easily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Her cousin, Agnes, was too smart, too needy, too scared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They were all bent nails trying to keep tacked together. No wonder everything kept coming apart.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/publishing.tor.com\/januaryfifteenth-rachelswirsky\/9781250198945\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">January Fifteenth<\/span><\/a><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is available for pre-order through several different online platforms, including <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.powells.com\/partner\/33241\/biblio\/9781250198945\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Powell\u2019s<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/January-Fifteenth-Rachel-Swirsky\/dp\/1250198941\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.indiebound.org\/book\/9781250198945\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Indiebound<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/january-fifteenth-rachel-swirsky\/1139985263\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barnes and Noble<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January Fifteenth comes out next week! I can hardly believe it.&nbsp;Last week, I posted a short excerpt of Janelle&rsquo;s story and linked to the Debut Sampler, which includes a longer one. Today, meet all the characters! (I&rsquo;ve put some graphics &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/rachelswirsky.com\/2022\/06\/meet-the-characters-from-january-fifteenth\/\">Continue reading <span>&rarr;<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/?p=26740\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26740"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26741,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26740\/revisions\/26741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amptoons.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}