Izzy Wasserstein

Welcome back, friend! Yesterday, I shared about These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart, a novella that beautifully explores the queer trans experiences set in a world where cloning technology exists. Today, I am excited to bring you this interview with Izzy Wasserstein about it! 🙂

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Get to know the author: Izzy Wasserstein

Hi Izzy. Welcome to Armed with A Book. Please tell me and my readers about yourself.

Thanks so much, Kriti! I’m a queer and trans woman, an English professor, a massive nerd, and someone who genuinely wants to hear about your D&D character. I love speculative fiction, poetry, and hanging out with the furry members of my family, which currently includes a dog and two cats. 

These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is set in mid-21st-century Kansas City. Technology has seen many advances. At the same time, lawlessness seems to have increased too. Tell me more about the state of the world in your story.

The world of These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart is in rough shape. The pace of climate change has accelerated, the US government has largely collapsed, and local law enforcement—such as it is—is handled by city governments or militias, depending on where one is. In short, unless you’re wealthy, you’re on your own.

The novella focuses on the less well off people. What does a day in their lives look like?

For people within the commune where much of the novella takes place spend their time growing food in the community garden, nurturing protein vats, and doing odd jobs to keep the commune working. But their daily lives aren’t as grim as that might sound: they also share meals, work together to lighten the load, and play games, make music, and do their best to find joy and community in difficult times, the way humans tend to. 

For those not in the commune, life is similar, but even more precarious, especially in neighborhoods like the one in the story, where poverty leaves people with few choices. People find work where they can, sometimes relying on drugs to get by (both illicit drugs and street versions of the ones Big Pharma makes), and generally trying to stay fed and safe in the decaying ruins of what used to be a poor but vibrant neighborhood. 

I love the concept of communes and how people find safety in them through a pact of human compassion. What made you choose this setting for this story?

I firmly believe that we need each other, especially in bad times. Communes are a particularly ambitious response to that need. They are utopian projects, and I’m fascinated by how such projects are structured and how they succeed or fail. I wanted to explore those questions, and to give characters choices to make hard choices in difficult times. Doing the hard work of community in disastrous times is a massive challenge, and I would be the first to tell you that I don’t know the right answers to the questions the novel raises about how such communities should be structured. But I’m sure that to face the challenges of this century, we’ll need to think a lot about how we can do community better.

Did you bring any of your experiences into this book?

Quite a few of them! I grew up about an hour from where the events of this story take place, and I know the area well. There’s a lot of my love for Kansas City in this book. Much of what’s going on in the commune is based on my own experience with the challenges and opportunities of organizations and trying to cultivate communities. 

Surprisingly, perhaps, Dora isn’t based on me; she’s short-tempered, has a great memory, and is at her best in a crisis. I am pretty chill, my long-term memory is hilariously bad, and let’s just say I’m not the one you want to look to for urgent choices.

You mentioned how Theo was always part of the story but who they ended up becoming and the relationships they had was a bit of a surprise for you. What is it like for a character to write themself through you? Have you had that happen in other stories that you have written?

Having a character write themselves through me happens to me fairly often, and I love it. I’m not a particularly mystical person, but I’ve noticed that sometimes my characters simply won’t do what I expect and way them to do. Theo was like that, demanding that I reject what I had planned for their role in the story, and I think the book is better for it. Whether Theo’s objection was my subconscious telling me something (which seems a logical conclusion), some weird word-alchemy, or a gift from the muses, I don’t know. I just know it’s one of those things that makes me love writing, even at those times when the act of writing can be deeply frustrating.

I love the title of your novella. It is unique in the titles I have come across. I am curious about your process for its selection and what made you pick These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart as the title? Did you have any other titles in mind?

Thank you! I have a deep fondness for titles that are, well, extra, and These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart certainly fits the bill. Sometimes I have titles in mind for a story very early in the writing process, but in this case I struggled mightily to find one that worked. I know I tried other titles, but I can’t recall them now. Suffice to say that they were not great. I think they didn’t work because I wanted a title that would capture something about the emotional core of the book. I hope the title reflects the precarious state of these characters and their world, and something about Dora, who has a habit of making decisions that damage herself and her community, even (especially) when she’s most trying to help. 

I enjoyed your writing! Do you have a favourite quote or scene in the book that you find yourself going back to?

I’m delighted you enjoyed it! I think the moments I love going back to most in this story are the quiet ones, where Dora is catching her breath between facing down threats. One moment that I particularly enjoyed writing was when Dora and Theo are walking away from a particularly tense meeting, and for a moment, Dora is more-or-less alone with her feelings, a position she’s not very comfortable with. It was fun to write, and I like to think it captures something important about who Dora is, the way she thinks, and the way she talks: 

We walked under a patina of stars. When I was a kid, there’d been plenty of power to go around. Motherfuckers were still burning coal in those days, and wind power was online, solar. Don’t know where the money was coming from, but KC at night lit up day-bright. Back then, you’d had to look close to see the rot of the long twentieth century. Now it lay exposed. But at least the stars had returned.

Izzy Wasserstein in These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart

If you could meet any of your characters, who would it be?

I don’t think Dora and I would get along, so I’ll rule her out. From this book, I’d love to meet the twins, Samara and Samuel. They’re thoughtful, kind, devoted friends, and I like to think we’d get along great. Plus, they could tell me their takes on the events of the story, which would be fun. 

If I could pick from any of my works, then the narrator of my short story The Crafter at the Web’s Heart would be my pick. She’s bold, confident in her powers, and tenacious. Plus, she has cool spider powers. Who wouldn’t want a friend with spider powers? (Besides arachnophobes, I mean.)

If readers could take one thing away from this book, what would you want it to be?

That we need one another. The world is in a precarious state, and likely to get worse before it gets better. I’m not known for my optimism, and I’m not here to tell you everything will be fine. But I know that, whatever’s coming, we’ll be much better off if we face it together. 

Do you see yourself returning to this world and characters again in the future?

I’d love to! It was so much fun to write in Dora’s voice, and Theo deserves to get to narrate their own story. Plus, there are other corners of this world I’d love to explore. I hope someday the opportunity presents itself! And, selfishly, I’ll add that if more people buy the book, that makes it more likely I’ll get the chance to return to this world and these characters.

From your bio, it sounds like you are a D&D fan! I don’t play but for my readers who do, please tell us about your D&D character. 🙂

I’m actually in two D&D campaigns at the moment, but I won’t test your patience with describing both of my characters. Xara is a warlock and cleric who is absolutely devoted to helping her patron, a lich queen, ascend to godhood. She’s convinced that her would-be goddess is better and kinder than the pantheon of her world, and whether she’s right or wrong, her devotion has led to massive changes across the land. Like Dora, she’s loyal, fierce, and capable of doing great harm when trying to help—exactly the kind of messy, complex character I’m drawn to!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Just this: things are hard out there, so be excellent to each other. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and sharing with my readers. 🙂 

Thank you! It was an absolute pleasure! 

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Thanks for joining us! Learn more about Izzy on her website. Connect with her on BlueSky and Instagram.

I hope you will check out These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart on Goodreads. Read my review here.