Inverness solicitor sees science fiction novel snapped up by Edinburgh publisher
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A solicitor will have her first book published next year after an Edinburgh-based publisher snapped up her short science fiction novel.
The publisher Luna – which specialises in science fiction and dark fantasy – had requested that writers send in their novella-length ideas.
Now Joanna Corrance’s book John’s Eyes will be published as part of the Luna Novella series.
“The news came in an email,” she said. “I’m almost glad I didn’t get a phone call, I could barely speak. But then I started doing roly polys, I was so excited!”
The 28-year-old, who has piles of notebooks filled with ideas to write about, said: “It was inspired by a conversation I had with my dad who is a photographer.
“He described the differences between what the human eye sees compared to what the camera sees and explained to me that a beautiful image to the eye does not necessarily translate into a beautiful photograph.
“This got me thinking, with technology and artificial intelligence improving all the time, will there ever be a camera that is sophisticated enough to replace the human eye?”
Ms Corrance was also inspired when she discovered as a youngster that the family lived where a famous Inverness writer had once stayed.
“Apparently I was really excited when I was little when I found out I was brought up in the same house as the writer Ali Smith,” she said. “I remember being so excited about that and I suppose that spurred me on a little bit.”
But she has no plans to give up her day job to write full-time.
“I enjoy my work and I think one of the great things about being a writer is that you create your own hours,” she said.
“I think there are a lot of writers out there who have another occupation and write as well, and I have always just found the time to write at weekends or into the night.”
She already has her next book in mind, but the arrival of Covid-19 and lockdown has happened since that idea first came to her.
“I’m working on something I started a while ago – a post-apocalyptic crime thriller. But the idea came to me before any of this lockdown, so it feels weird to be writing it now,” she added.
