HBL Note: Cai Emmons, who I first featured when she published Sinking Islands, has not one but two books coming out in September! Cai was diagnosed with bulbar onset ALS in 2021, a disease that causes the degradation of the body and voice (she is now mute)—but not the mind. Cai wrote about this experience in the Los Angeles Times and was profiled by the Washington Post. Both of the books that are publishing this month, which include Unleashed (which I featured earlier this month) and LIVID (out now) were written while she was battling the disease. Both books feature themes of rage, passion, regret and grief.