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Conflux 16 2022 Convention

A very late post on the October 2022 Conflux 16 Speculative Fiction Convention held in Canberra. Aside from being an invited panelist for 4 seperate panels, I ran my first Dealers Table for the four days and officially launched Bluebells.

I was also an invited panellist on 4 panels – each exciting to engage with an audience and discuss the theme in question with other likeminded writers.

“Queering Fiction” was a wonderful discussion about how authors create characters with a LGBTQI identity – or how authors like Sam Hawke create an entire world where sexuality is fluid and accepted.

“Re-imagining Horror in a Pandemic” was a great lineup of panelists discussing how the pandemic affected them as writers but also how the wider public changed perceptions and fear became a driver of society. For horror writers, fear is the driver of a story. Many ideas were exchanged on whether horror writing would become more or less popular and certainly Fantasy seemed to be the main genre read during pandemic lockdowns.

“Including Disability in Fiction” was such an important panel that like the queer community, characters with disabilities are often absent, stereotyped or in the background of a storyline. This panel explored what writers living with disabilities experience and want to see more of in fiction and from their own writing.

“Climate Change: Past and Future” was a fascinating panel exploring the emergence and importance of climate fiction in publishing scene. Discussions ranged from the emergence of man-induced climate change to the reality of how climate change is affecting everyday existence and how that has seen the explosion of dystopian fiction. An important comment by Cat Sparks was that perhaps we should be focusing in our writing of turning the current climate crisis around and sending a message of hope in doing so.

The last event was a live 5 minute reading session with Kaaron Warren. I read an excerpt from Bluebells when Peter first meets Nicolas de Laon on the frontlines in Belgium.

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Sabella

Publisher’s Description

On the rosy sands of a distant Earth colony, Sabella lives a quiet life in her isolated home—carefully hiding her vampirism from society.

Sabella may not be undead, but she is painfully allergic to sunlight, possesses supernatural strength and speed, and feeds on fresh blood. In her youth, Sabella seduced a number of men, killing them all for fear of discovery. But with age comes control, and Sabella has sworn off of drinking human blood.

After four years of staying clean, Sabella receives an invitation to her Aunt Cassi’s funeral—along with several thousand credits to ensure she attends the reading of the will. But when Sabella arrives at the funeral, she discovers that the funds were a ruse. Before her death, Cassi—a devout Christian Revivalist—discovered the truth about Sabella and tasked her manservant, John Trim, to hunt Sabella down. Trim hires private investigator Sand Vincent to get close to Sabella and suss out the truth.

But Sand is only human—and Sabella anything but. As Sand becomes enthralled by Sabella’s charm, Sabella must combat her own instincts to keep him alive—and society’s suspicions away.


Review

I read the gothic space opera Sabella by UK author Tanith Lee as part of a gothic literature course.

Sabella lives an isolated life in a house just before the true wilderness of canyons, deer and wolves take control. It is literally the end of the road. Sabella is a vampire and her isolated life is self-chosen because of her inability not to kill her lovers..

The death of her aunt and the formal request of her presence at the reading of the will is requested and orchestrated by her aunt who hated her. Reluctantly, Sabella attends only to receive a paltry sum of money and a curse. Aside from the cursed cabinet which Sabells leaves behind, she is followed by Sand – a man she met on the space ship who is fascinated and intoxicated by her.

Sabella engages in a sexual relationship with Sand but can’t control her feeding. As true as any curse, she kills Sand and within days his brother Jaice appears looking for him. Jaice is bold, brutal and unrelenting. When Sabella escapes him and the darker urges of her hunger and feeding become insatiable, she loses control. It is Jace who rescues her from herself.

Jace also reveals the stranger secret that bind them from investigations of an underground tomb for the original inhabitants of Neo Mars. It is that secret which Sabella and Jaice share their vampiric natures.

Final Thoughts

Sabella was a truly thought-provoking read which beyond the science-fiction and horror, dealt with the core of human natures and the sexual deviancy that is so commonplace in the gothic literature. It is skilfully written, unique and blazing characters.

Conclusion

Sabella was a great read. A blend of science fiction, horror and fantasy into a gothic masterpiece. A perfect read for lovers of the gothic, bizarre, a well-written story and a new take on the vampire tale.

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1920s Gothic Horror

My current work-in-progress is a gothic horror set in the infamous 1920s Razor Gang era in Sydney, Australia.

Some background on the Razor Gangs of Sydney. The more well-known lawless crime eras of Birmingham, Glasgow and New York had their own gangs and warfare on the streets.

In Australia, it was cities of Melbourne and Sydney that were rife with crime gangs controlling brothels, the ‘sly-grog’ of Prohibition Depression, illegal drugs and police bribery. From the 1920s to the 1940s, Sydney’s harbour-side streets were ruled by two women and their gangs: Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh. Both had their seperate illegal business focuses and things ran smoothly enough until members of the gangs started a bloody war with their weapon of choice: the easily come-by straight razor from any barber shop.

In the years of World War I and World War II saw many immigrants and refugees from war-torn Europe, the multicultural nature of Australian population swelled and my project imagines the supernatural beings that would have fled Europe amid the flow of mortal immigrants.

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Bluebells: Book Trailer & Excerpt

My Australian dystopian horror Bluebells explores queer fiction, alternate history, pandemics, vampires, mental illness, trauma and war. The

There is a post on research background to Bluebells and the folklore of the bluebells flowers which is key to the novella character Anna is here.

A video tour of Bluebells and a reading excerpt is below. Enjoy!

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Bluebells Book Launch

Conflux 16- Speculative Fiction Conventions from October 1 -3 will be hosting my book launch for Bluebells. After several hospital admission interruptions, I’m looking forward to properly launching my debut novella from Black Hare Press.

Tickets for Conflux 16 are essential. Book here.

Bluebells has its belated official launch on October 2nd at 12:30 pm AEST.

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Bluebells Release!!

My debut horror novella Bluebells was published on July 9th 2022 by Black Hare Press.


1917, Australia.

In the aftermath of an alternate ending to the First World War, mass frontline casualties and a mysterious pandemic have decimated governments and the environment across much of Europe and the world, Australia included.

Anna Baylon lives with her parents, scraping a meagre living in the drought-ridden, abandoned, and mostly isolated town of Berrima near Sydney, waiting for news of her older brother, Peter, who enlisted years before.

The arrival of a handsome, mysterious stranger, Nicolas de Laon, her brother’s lover, turns her world upside down.

Anna’s strength is tested when she follows Nicolas—a vampire—from the safety of her home, determined to learn Peter’s fate.

But Nicolas’s darkness isn’t confined to his vampiric hereditary. And when Anna learns the darker truth, can she forgive him?

A steamy dystopian thriller from Leanbh Pearson.

More details on how you can purchase ebook, paperback and hardcover copies of Bluebells here.

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13 Lives of Alice Release


I’m thrilled to announce that 13 Lives of Alice, a dark anthology of Alice in Wonderland inspired tales for adults, was published by Black Hare Press on 7th December 2021.

13 Lives of Alice features my dark gaslamp fantasy “The House of the Cat Si” inspired by the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, folklore of the Cat Si, shapeshifting cat fey, and the historical inequalities and special expectations affecting women in Victorian society. “The House of the Cat Si” may contain themes and elements which may make some readers uncomfortable. If you’re interested in the research behind “The House of the Cat Si”, you can read more here.

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy in ebook, paperback or hardback of 13 Lives of Alice, you can find more details here.