The Last Rites of Baby-Blue

Snakes aren't the only desert creatures with fangs

It’s been ten years since Baby-Blue de Lorraine joined their coven. Ten years of playing in bars with Luke, prowling for their next hunt under his watchful eye. Ten years of being left behind while the others go feed. Ten years of being the baby. And they’ve never killed anyone.
Until now.
When Baby kills the wrong person, one of Zedekiah’s concubines, he’s sent to trial to face The Elders for this third and most egregious offense. Zedekiah is out for blood, and only Baby’s death will satisfy. But for Baby, death might finally mean a sweet relief. Unless they can find in themselves something to live for.
Set against the background of the desert suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona, L.A. Barron’s The Last Rites of Baby-Blue is an exploration of queer identity, family, and choosing life in the darkest of moments.

L.A. Barron finds sanctuary in the soft underbelly of horror and speculative fiction. Whether it's online or in their collection of hard cover journals, their work orbits themes of devotion, the physicality of emotions, and the rot that lives inside us all. They previously published their short story "Still We Rot." in Contrarian Publishing's Blood, Sweat, and Queers anthology. They live in the Pacific Northwest with their cat.