BACKGROUND:
Runaway Humanity is the debut novel of California-based author and drag queen, Joshua Valentine, who identifies himself as "the drag queen superstar author".
 
In his works, starting with Runaway Humanity, he brands himself as an author more stylized in the vein of the traditional female pop star, with his vintage-esque image displayed throughout the book in multimedia flair. Totaling in 8 images spread throughout the book, Runaway Humanity is part queer zine, part cli-fi novel, and includes a complementary Spotify playlist QR code in the back of the book that readers are welcome to scan in the app for musical consumption. Essentially, the book extends beyond the traditional format into both visual and digital outlets while retaining an abstract, feminist storyline. 
 
His style, inspired by visually oriented musical artists such as Lady Gaga, Shirley Manson, and The B52s, is emphasized instead of what he dubs as the 'ghost in a blackbox' model of more traditional authors, where their image is restricted to a little headshot in the back of the book rather than a more fluid, fleshed-out image, and instead serve as just a writer.  
 
DESCRIPTION:
Runaway Humanity is a science fiction novel detailing a corrupted Martian space agency thirty years after planet Earth was abandoned due to inhospitable living conditions. After signs of life are detected on the once-dead planet, a group of scientists are tasked with investigating the source of biosignatures as part of an interplanetary effort. Led by Doctors Drake and Shelby Hilton, Shelby faces sexism and a murder conspiracy as she is pressured to partake in a mission hijacked by a group of barbaric, bioengineered humanoid specimens back on Earth, even an amidst ovarian cancer diagnosis.
 
A note to readers: This book contains scenes depicting graphic sexual and physical violence; death; suicide; stillbirth; infant abuse.