Last April, for the first time, Luna Press opened submissions to novellas. There were a lot of great entries, but as you know the authors which ultimately inspired us with their stories were Joanna Corrance, John Dodd, Andrew Wallace, Dilman Dila, Terry Grimwood and ME Rodman. We were delighted to welcome them to the Luna family!
All going well, the launch party will be held at Satellite 7, in Glasgow, on the 19-20-21 of February 2021. Pre-orders will open this December.
We were also so energised by the responses that we have decided to make Luna Novella a recurring feature of our submission calendar, so watch out for it, next April.
The inaugural stories are original and diverse, spanning from Fantasy, to Science Fiction to Dark Fantasy. Here they are, in order of release.
Joanna Corrance, John's Eyes. Science Fiction novella. Release date 19 February 2021.
Read Joanna's welcome post into the Luna family, here.
John’s eyes were manufactured with the purpose of providing sight to those who have lost it. Equipped with the ability to learn, the eyes develop a sense of responsibility for ensuring John’s happiness. John’s eyes strive to please and, with the power to enhance everything he sees, they soon realise that they are also able to manipulate what he sees. With a skewed sense of emotional intelligence, combined with unquestioning loyalty to their master, the actions of John’s eyes lead to devastating consequences.
John Dodd, Just Add Water. Science Fiction novella. Release date 20 February 2021.
Read John's welcome post into the Luna family, here.
Just Add Water is the story of a crew leaving Earth to seek out a better life amongst the stars, on a ship holding all the colonists as powdered packets, ready to be reconstituted from the oceans of the new world. Chief Engineer Mara Loganova is restored to repair a fault in the ship, only to find it engaged in the destruction of the planet they have come to colonise. Now she must fight against the tyranny of an unrelenting malevolence which is turning the ship to its new purpose.
Andrew Wallace, Dread & The Broken Witch. Fantasy novella. Release date 21 February 2021. Read Andrew's welcome post into the family, here.
In the magical desert of an ancient, altered land called Zabardu, a nameless dread falls across the village, trapping a little girl. The villagers turn to their healer, Bambomiyi, the Broken Witch — a raucous transgender woman who lives in a strange wreck in the desert. She is a veteran of the endless war against invaders from the north, a battle which caused her to lose her powers. What skills she has left, however, are valuable enough for the villagers to tolerate her promiscuity and outrageous behaviour. It helps too that she is a distant descendent of the godlike Daxu, who vanished long ago, leaving her with the gifts of above-average strength and knowledge of the uncanny. And so the wheels of an epic journey are set in motion, as she vows to save the young child. Watch Andrew on our YouTube channel, as he reads an extract from the novella.
Dilman Dila, The Future God of Love. Fantasy novella. Release date 22 February 2021.
Read Dilman's welcome post into the family, here.
The Future God of Love is a romance fantasy, set in an African world where stories are essential for the survival of humanity.
Jamaaro, a struggling storyteller, is the future god of love and must create a story every full moon for the prosperity of his town.
When he falls in love with a strange woman, having known loneliness all his life, he ignores the clues that she might not be she seems.
Terry Grimwood, Skin for Skin. Dark Fantasy novella. Release date 23 February 2021.
Read Terry's welcome post into the family, here.
“And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.” Job 2:4
Troublesome priest Eve Clements is exiled from her North London parish to remote St Jude’s, miles from the nearest village.
Carrying childhood demons with her, broken relationships and addiction, she becomes an unwilling pawn in a supernatural battle that keeps her confined within the parish grounds, with a congregation that is not what it seems.
Eve must find her purpose if she is to survive, as terrifying apparitions and her own emotional fragility drive her towards breaking point.
M E Rodman, Clockwork Sister. Fantasy novella. Release date 24 February 2021.
Read M E's welcome post into the family, here.
Aeon is a simulacra, a creation of flesh, clockwork and magic designed to protect their original humans from the deadly attacks of curse-workers. She is an identical copy of her original, Mara, eighth princess of the Tamyin Empire, except for the brands and seals that mark her as artificial. When Mara dies of natural causes, Aeon expects to be killed. After a botched attempt to euthanise her, she is taken in by a family of rogue simulacra living in the city slums.
When one of their number dies after injecting a dose of a serum that allows simulacra to change their bodies, Aeon is worried that someone is targeting rogues. A trail of discoveries unearths a deadly conspiracy, where friends and enemies are no longer what they seem.
Perhaps some of you might consider NanoWriMo as an opportunity to write a new novella. You would then have 4 months to make it submission-ready. Just saying...
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