I’m beyond pleased to be the featured fiction contributor in New Reader Magazine‘s latest issue. I discuss my creative process and making historical fiction appealing to a modern day audience in my interview on pg. 20, and my latest short story, To Own Her Body, is on pg. 36.
I don’t want to give too much away about To Own Her Body, but it’s a story told from the lens of a 19th century misogynist prancing about as a self-proclaimed gentleman, which was a fun POV to write in! I hope you walk away wanting to punch the narrator, Alexander Courtenay, the fourth Viscount Belgrave, in the face, because this story’s main theme centers on a woman’s autonomy.
Please read my story, and then I invite you to think about it. What’s a woman worth without her thoughts and opinions? Without love to give freely? What’s a woman without her autonomy?
Enjoy! You may find the interview and story here.
I was worried a bit because the magazine issue’s page included no mention of your story. But it’s there, after all, in the actual issue.
Fo me, the key to the story is a bit different: it’s reputation. I’m sure you understand why; after all, you use it to drive the fate of our engaged couple. This is the era in which blackmail emerged as a significant crime, because reputation is all.
And that casts another light on your leading characters. Alex is a bit of work, using Della’s reputation to take advantage of her, but at the same time he can be manipulated by reputation. Worth considering is what Della’s last action demonstrates about her relationship to reputation.
Congratulations, by the way.