QSFer Molly J. Bragg has a new FF sci-fi romance out, Hearts of Heroes book 2: Transistor.
When Naomi Woodward’s doctor recommended her for a clinical trial, it seemed like the answer to her prayers. She was finally able to get her gender confirmation surgery and the surgery was a resounding success. She finally looked and felt like the woman she always knew she was.
Her new face and new body finally helped her work up the nerve to ask out Anika, the beautiful nurse that lived across the hall. To her delight Anika said yes, but when they are attacked during their date, Naomi quickly discovers that the experimental procedure she went through had some unexpected side effects, and that when Anika told her things with her family were complicated, she really should have listened.
Now, armed with superpowers she barely understands, a snarky artificial intelligence in her head, and allies that include a Superhero, a Dragon, and the literal Devil, she has to keep Anika safe from the archangel who’s out to kill her while they work desperately to prevent a second civil war in heaven.
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Excerpt
Naomi groaned and scrunched her eyes closed tighter, trying to keep out the light that was making its way through her eyelids. It was too early for the sun to be up, and she was planning on having some very pointed words with the laws of physics about the fact that her eyelids weren’t one hundred percent opaque.
“Naomi.”
She grumbled and scrunched up her whole face.
“Naaooooomi.”
“I know where you sleep, you little turd,” Naomi grumbled.
Dillon laughed, and Naomi opened one eye to glare at him, only to find herself staring at Donna.
“I swear you’re both still five years old,” Donna said.
Naomi blinked and finally opened both eyes. She looked around for a minute, wondering where she was before it came back to her that she was in the hospital. She felt an odd weight on her chest. Nothing too heavy, but something, so she looked down.
“Oh,” she said. “Those are new.”
Donna snorted.
Naomi frowned. “Is that my voice?”
“Yeah,” Dillon said. “It’s kind of trippy, actually.”
Naomi sat up a little. At least, she tried to, but she was as weak as a kitten, and fell back against the bed.
“Here,” Donna said. She picked up the control box for the bed and passed it to Naomi. Naomi took it and raised the back of the bed up.
“Why am I so weak?” Naomi asked.
“Dr. Campos said that you’d be weak for a few days, remember?” Donna asked.
“Not really,” Naomi said. She’d tried to pay attention during all the pre-surgery consultations, but she’d been too nervous and excited to absorb a lot of the details. It was one of the reasons she was so grateful for Donna. Donna had gone with her to every consult, and probably knew more about the procedure than Naomi did.
“I figured,” Donna said. “That was the day he asked you what size boobs you wanted.”
“Oh,” Naomi said. “Yeah, no wonder I don’t remember.”
“This is why I tell people you’re my useless lesbian sister. Someone mentions boobs and your brain turns off,” Dillon said.
“Oh, like you don’t eat at Hooters at least twice a week.”
“I like wings!” Dillon said.
“Then why on Earth are you eating at Hooters?” Donna asked. “Their wings suck.”
Naomi laughed at the betrayed look on Dillon’s face.
“You always take her side,” Dillon whined.
“You’re just mad because Mom loves me best,” Naomi said.
“Naomi, don’t say that,” Donna said.
“Ha!” Dillon said.
“It may be true, but it’s not nice to rub it in.”
Naomi laughed as Dillon’s face fell, but after a moment, she went silent and looked down at the swell of her chest under the thin hospital gown. She was tempted to reach up and touch them, just to make sure they were real, but she didn’t want to explain to Dillon and Donna why she was squeezing her brand-new boobs.
“You want to see your face?” Donna asked.
Naomi looked over at her, fully intending to say yes, but the words got stuck in her throat. She’d waited so long for this moment, but now that it was here, she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to look. Every moment of doubt she’d had in her life came rushing back. What if she looked in the mirror and hated what she saw? What if being trans was all in her head, and she wanted to go back? What if her parents were right and it was all just a phase?
Her stomach twisted inside of her, and she was glad she hadn’t had anything to eat in the better part of a week, because if she had, she was sure it would be coming back up. She wanted to say yes, but she was terrified. Donna, God bless her, seemed to understand, and like always, seemed to know exactly what she needed. Donna reached into her purse, pulled out Naomi’s tablet, and passed it to her. Naomi took it, set it on her tray table, and pulled up the camera app. The screen filled with a nice view of her blanket-covered feet and the wall in front of her. She reached out, hesitating for longer than she cared to admit before she hit the icon to switch to the front facing camera.
A face appeared, and Naomi gasped because she knew that face. She dreamed of that face. She must have drawn that face at least a thousand times. It was the face she’d longed for. The face she had wanted ever since her body had started betraying her with broadening shoulders and a deepening voice.
“It’s me,” she whispered reverently as she felt the weight of the person she wasn’t and had never wanted to be lifted off her shoulders. She took a deep breath and looked over at Donna and Dillon. “It’s really me.”
Author Bio
I’m a 46-year-old trans woman with a degree in Astro-physics and a love of storytelling. I love science fiction, superheroes, and giant robots. My hobbies include collecting transformers, watching way too many crafting videos on YouTube, and complaining bitterly about the way a certain comic book company treats my favorite superhero.
| Author Website | https://www.themollyjay.com/ |
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