1) So, who are you & what have you written?
1) So, who are you & what have you written?I’m Elinor Perry-Smith, a writer, proofreader, noveliser and editor based in SE London. I’ve written scripts, novellas, poetry and plays. My novella Sons of Gaia is part 4 of The Forgotten Women series. I also edited stories in current horror bestseller, Twisted50: Volume 1. Friend me on Goodreads, HERE.
2) What’s your story about?
Savannah, an intergender teenager on the cusp of puberty, is trapped by a mysterious scientist determined to restart the human race. Savannah must decide: become a woman and forever be a captive or become a man, brutish and desperate. Or might there be a third way? Savannah wants to remain both male AND female, and regain her freedom.
3) What inspired your story?
I knew an intergender person (who identified as female). It seemed to be a pretty lonely place because it was a taboo subject even a decade ago. I thought it would be interesting to have a character who, instead of being considered ‘a freak’, would actually be highly desirable as the saviour of the human race in this brave new world.
4) What’s your usual writing routine?
Coffee. Chores. Walk. Write. Repeat.
5) Which dystopian book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. More and more Atwood’s masterwork seems like a prophecy. That’s the best sort of dystopia, I think; where the seeds of disaster are already visible.
6) What’s the ONE thing our current society should stop doing in your opinion, else we’ll end up in a dystopia too?
We should address damage to the environment by recycling as much as possible. Other parts of the world exist under dystopian conditions because of the first world’s throwaway culture.
To buy Sons of Gaia as a standalone novella, CLICK HERE. To buy all of The Forgotten Women series, CLICK HERE.
