Transcendent Love
True Stories of Trans-for-Trans Relationships
A new non-fiction anthology, elevating and celebrating trans love stories
Edited by Michel Lee Garrett
Forthcoming from Jessica Kingsley Publishers
Now accepting submissions!
Crime fiction author
Pennsyltucky poet
Editor, speaker, speechwriter
“One of the best editors of noir working today.”
-Paul J. Garth, Best American Mystery and Suspense-distinguished author
Michel Lee Garrett is an author, editor, poet, activist, advocate, and recovering journalist.
She is the editor of Burning Down the House: Crime Fiction Incited by the Songs of the Talking Heads (Shotgun Honey, April 2024), the author of crime fiction collection Born a Ramblin’ Man and Other Stories (forthcoming), and the editor of Transcendent Love: True Stories of Trans-for-Trans Relationships (forthcoming).
She has investigated courthouse corruption as a small-town reporter, served as the communications director of a U.S. Senate campaign, worked as a news editor and presidential speechwriter for a major research university, and played in a handful of shitty punk bands.
Her fiction has appeared from publishers including Flame Tree Press, Down & Out Books, Shotgun Honey, Mystery Tribune, Cowboy Jamboree and others, including in the Anthony Award-nominated anthology Trouble No More. She predominately writes crime fiction, and her work aims to explore how inequitable systems manufacture injustice and how the human condition is ultimately one of rebellion against an absurd world.
She serves a board member and PR/Marketing Co-Chair for Centre LGBT+, a nonprofit based in Centre County, Pennsylvania focused on building community and providing services and support for the regional LGBT+ community. She is a frequent speaker in her area on queer and transgender issues, often appearing on panels as an expert on LGBT+ rights, equity, justice, and public policy. She has also been an invited motivational speaker to local university students on navigating early-career challenges, self-care, and authenticity while establishing themselves in their fields.
She lives in Central Pennsylvania with her wife and two children. She is a step-mother to two wonderful children and a proud co-parent in a joyous two-household blended family. When she’s not working, she enjoys reading, making memories with family, spending time with friends, and fondly remembering the days when she had enough free time to play video games.
Crime fiction for a good cause
Edited by Michel and prolific author T. Fox Dunham, Burning Down The House: Crime Fiction Incited by the Songs of the Talking Heads is a charity anthology to help fight climate change, featuring 12 of the top names in crime fiction today.
A genre-bending anthology that blends crime fiction with elements including sci-fi, dystopia, history, fantasy, and magical realism, this collection is prefect for fans of boundary-pushing fiction — and for lovers and newcomers to the Talking Heads alike.
“BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE approaches with an easy grin, offering the promise of a good time while nimble fingers pick your pocket, knowing you won't mind. A dizzying array of crime stories, equal parts gritty and poetic, that will surprise even veteran fans of the genre.”
—John C. Foster, author of "Rooster" and "Mister White"