We are delighted to officially welcome Orkney writer Barbara Stevenson to the Luna Family!
We first met Barbara through Beyond Realities, our short-story contest, back in 2014.
Two of her surreal fantasy stories made the shortlist and were selected for both Vol I and Vol II of BR.
Barbara's sharp humour and fantastical characters and locations always make for exciting adventures.
This collection will feature brand new stories, as well as "Where the Ocean Meets the Sky" and "The One-armed Bandit", from Beyond Realities volumes I and II.
Barbara says:
"I fell I love with fairy tales/fantasy on my eighth birthday when I was given not one, but two copies (independently) of Oscar Wilde’s Happy Prince and Other Stories. I was captivated by characters such as The Selfish Giant, The Remarkable Rocket and The Devoted Friend. Conspicuously, they all died, but they died beautifully, leaving the glimmer of surreal magic behind.
Since then I have been on the trail of that speck of lagniappe – the seasoning that adds a deeper, more colourful dimension, without the soppy sentimentality.
The stories in the collection involve journeys or quests of one sort or another. I must thank Luna for allowing me to bring them together and I hope they will amuse as well as give rise to new inklings."
Barbara Stevenson has a background in veterinary medicine and, subsequently, animals feature in many of her stories – some with outspoken things to say about humans. She studied creative writing as part of an Open University BA(Hons) degree and has had a novel and several short stories published. In 2014, her humorous sketch "Commonwealth Conundrum", about Martians trying to join the Commonwealth, was performed at the Tron Theatre, in Glasgow. In 2016, she won the Scottish Association of Writers’ Livingstone scholarship trophy and the Castles in the Air trophy for a short story in the fantasy genre. She lives in Orkney, where she finds inspiration for her writing.
We'll keep you posted on the release date for this collection.
WELCOME, BARBARA!