Want to know more about the research behind my recent novella Bluebells? Read on!
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Tag: Novellas
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.
Reimagining Trickster lore & legend
My current work-in-progress novella explores trickster lores and legends in two different cultures, Old Icelandic and Australian First Nations.
I have a keen interest in Tricksters, and in this novella, I have been exploring two Trickster figures from very different cultural backgrounds: Loki from Old Norse legend and Crow, present in many Australian First Nations cultures.
The focus of the novella is on Loki his customary role of physical transformation which is also shared with Crow and, incidentally, many other Trickster figures like Coyote and Raven from North American First Nations among others.
This work-in-progress is not a retelling of any specific legends but is a reimagining inspired by the lore and legends surrounding the Trickster figures of Crow and Loki.
A Dystopian History
One of my works-in-progress has been a dystopian novella. While many dystopian stories and novels explore the future, I was interested in combining a dark fiction genre with alternate history, to ask what if our present never happened?
In developing my own tale, I was inspired by those classic dystopian tropes we are already familiar, with and have been imagined, classic novels like 1984 by George Orwell and The Stand by Stephen King which were my first introduction to dystopian literature and dark fiction. In considering modern history, I focused on scenarios that most-closely mirrored those classic dystopian futures which are already familiar to most readerships.
The events of the First World War were a turning point in modern history, where wars were fought on a global scale for the first time, the speed of development from the Industrial Revolution had a profound impact on the natural landscape and the capacity for mechanised warfare, casualties were high, chemical warfare was employed, and the occurrence of the 1918 Flu pandemic also incorrectly called the “Spanish Flu”.
The horrors of the First World War were catastrophic for those who survived and as a historical legacy. In modern history, it is often considered a turning point. After the First World War, the course of humanity was forever altered, a reality that affects our present, and likely, our future.
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