How and Why?
I began planning the second collection of short stories before the first one was even published. I knew then that I had plenty of other stories in me, and I knew I would need a new goal as soon as Feelings in Staccato would be out.
At the moment, the stories in the new collection are in the final editing stages. I won’t tell you how many there are, but I can tell you the collection is sitting at about 80,000 words.
And then there is Cristina! Cristina paints while she listens to music. In her paintings I find a sentiment that makes me feel nostalgic, sometimes sad and homesick; when I look at her work, I also hear music, and I just love it. I used one of her paintings on the cover of Feelings in Staccato, and that gave me the idea that each story in the new collection could be accompanied by one of Cristina’s paintings. When I proposed this to her and she accepted, I felt absolutely honoured that her paintings and my stories would come together.
The paintings will inspire you to ask yourself: What came first, the painting or the story? Are the paintings and the stories connected? What comes next?
The title of my second book,
The Catalogue, thus suggests both a collection of stories and a collection of paintings: the perfect marriage of words and colours.
The new collection of short stories is coming out in December 2023.
What's Inside?
The stories span across cultures and centuries, to distant lands and long ago, to nearby lands and into the future.
Characters are often surrounded by fantastical and the impossible, and do their best to live and survive, and between the lines, just like in real life, there are compassion and humour, anger and sorrow. If you just drop your guard and are ready to read stories about death and characters making impossible choices, from revenge to love, from abuse to survivors, once again my stories will have something for everyone.
One story explores a post-apocalyptic Australian town, struggling for survival after man-eating plants have cut them off from the world; a witch’s apprentice inadvertently tests a potion with unexpected results; a catalogue of paintings is a the centre of a mystery where life and death hang in balance; ghosts become comrades and find a way to connect with the living; a single mother tries to make her own way in a world dominated by chauvinism; one man finds how far he can be pushed before pushing right back; and then the gods themselves gather for a conclave where they discuss their role in the fate of the world…and more!
Artwork featured in The Catalogue: Family Affairs are paintings by Romanian artist Cristina M. Grigorescu.
Browse through a gallery of paintings as featured in my upcoming title.
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Yoga Teaching