NOVELLA DEAL: Blood Cypress by Elizabeth Broadbent
We’re excited to announce we’ve signed a deal with Elizabeth Broadbent to add her story Blood Cypress to our novella line. Managing editor Jennifer Barnes explains, “I’m excited about this addition because I feel there’s still much to explore in the realm of generational horror and the horrors of daily life. Blood Cypress peers into some dark corners that have been long overlooked and deserve closer examination.”
Acquiring editor R.J. Joseph adds, “Broadbent uses the confessional trope to plunder emotional depths in this Southern Gothic story of family and loyalty. Quite an admirable feat, considering so many details are packed into the short, novella form. I enjoyed the overwhelming discomfort this story brought.”
ABOUT BLOOD CYPRESS
No one cares when Lila Carson’s ten-year-old brother Beau disappears. He can’t speak. He throws tantrums. He’s a useless Carson, one of those kids in a broken-shuttered house that lost its glory when his father died. When the sheriff and his good ol’ boy deputies show up to investigate, they eye up Lila and call her twin brother, Quentin, names. A closeted bisexual girl in the South, she’s terrified.
Lower Congaree recites it like an eleventh commandment: Don’t go in that swamp. But as the long night drags on, it’s clear Beau disappeared behind those ancient trees. The sheriff’s deputies won’t risk going back there.
Lila might not have a choice.
ABOUT THE NOVELLA LINE
The Selected Papers from the Consortium for the Study of Anomalous Phenomena (CSAP) is a line of novellas curated by editor/academic R.J. Joseph. She serves both as editor for the line and also imaginary “Crypt-Keeper,” introducing each tale as a found document and part of the fictional journal produced by the CSAP society. The first book in the series, Bleak Houses, is now available and contains two novellas from Kate Maruyama. We have also announced Errant Roots from Sonora Taylor and 12 Hours from L. Marie Wood, Hollow Tongue by Eden Royce and Asylum by Sarah Hans.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Broadbent eventually escaped South Carolina for Richmond, Virginia, where she lives with her three sons and husband. Her nonfiction has been published by The Washington Post, Insider, and Time; her speculative fiction has appeared with, among others, HyphenPunk, Tales to Terrify, Penumbric, If There’s Anyone Left, and Black Beacon Books.
