What is your book all about?
Charybdis is the story of two women whose paths become inextricably linked by poetry and the skeletons it can so masterfully conceal. Louisa Duberger is the warden of unfathomable secrets, darkness masked behind a Victorian veil so tightly woven, her story could easily have been lost forever.
Greta Randall is just the woman to unearth those secrets, but at what peril?In the pages of Charybdis lies the unfurling of a mystery that begins in a slim volume of poetry bound in red leather, sweeps across the boundaries of time, and leads you into the most shadowed and unexpected corners of Champs Blancs, a grand estate that harbours, within its walls, the echoes of love, obsession, terror, and so much more. A special thanks to my good friend, the poet Susan Richardson, for penning this synopsis! Here’s a link to the book.
What inspired you to write the book?
The inspiration for Charybdis came from two sources. First, I collect antiques, and I had purchased a box of old photos to frame for a display. Inside, there were hundreds of photographs, many from the late 1800s/early 1900s. One of them was a portrait of two children, presumably a brother and sister. She looked vulnerable, frightened even, and he looked sly (you can see the actual photo at the end of the novel). I began to wonder about their story, their relationship, and it turned into a flash fiction piece called “Charybdis”, which appeared in my first short story collection Feasting Upon The Bones. I’d always thought about turning it into a longer story and that’s where my aunt came in.
Aunt Margaret’s Poetry: The Inspiration Behind My Literary Thriller
My Aunt Margaret was the second source of inspiration for the story, or at least her poetry was. I knew I wanted to write about the mystery of a Victorian poet, but I’m not a poet myself and definitely not someone who could write in a Victorian style..
But one day, my aunt shared her own poetry with me (I had no idea that she’d written so prolifically) and they were exactly right for the book—some were cheerful and upbeat, some were dark and tragic, but they all had the right tone and style. She graciously gave me permission to use a few of them, so I built the novel around them. The result is something that I’m extremely proud of—I love literary thrillers with a twist, and I hope other people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
What is your target audience for the book?
The target audience is anyone ages 16 and up, particularly those who enjoy dark mysteries with a literary twist. If you like Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson, or more modern writers like Diane Setterfield or Gillian Flynn, you’ll enjoy Charybdis.
What do you hope readers could get out from your book?
Charybdis is a mystery with a lot of twists and turns along the way that will surprise readers. I also tried very hard (and did a lot of research) to make the Victorian timeline sound and feel authentic and to link the two timelines in an organic way, so for any fans of historical fiction, there’s something for them too!
What are your future goals/plans for the book?
Charybdis was officially launched in May and has been receiving excellent reviews, so the plan is to just keep promoting it. My publisher, JC Studio Press, does an amazing job of marketing, and I do my best to get the word out about it as well, especially through opportunities like Author’s Lounge!
And something more about yourself.
I’m the author of four previous novels, Smile, The Dome, The Seventh Devil, and The Devil You Know, and two short story collections, Feasting Upon The Bones and At The End Of It All, as well as the humour collection What Any Normal Person Would Do, which was recently longlisted for the 2024 Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.
My short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals, and I regularly publishes essays focused on life’s absurdities under the pen name ‘Mydangblog’. I’m also the Editor of DarkWinter Literary Magazine, an online journal which publishes short stories and poetry from both emerging and established writers, as well as the founder of DarkWinter Press and Baxter House Editions, an independent publishing company in Ontario, Canada. Charybdis (JC Studio Press) is my fifth novel.
You can grab my book available on amazon.
