Written in 2023 in Melbourne, Australia
Illustration by Bobby Nenadovic
Drama
Pages: 40
Book description:
After two months of isolation, Nora starts visiting Polar Park again. Accompanied by her brother, Matteus, she spends the morning admiring and petting the three wolves that live in the enclosure.
That afternoon, she is paid a visit by her parents, who express their concerns about her wellbeing and give her an ultimatum. Unable to ignore their wishes, but not open to changing her behavior either, she gets herself into an impossible situation and risks losing everything that is important to her.
Read the first few pages here
How I came up with September’s Aftermath
September’s Aftermath is technically a novelette; it slightly surpasses the wordcount for a short story. Yet, for some reason, I always thought of it more as a short story.
September’s Aftermath is one of those stories that ended up completely different from my initial idea.
Originally, I wanted to write a story about a mermaid. It was going to be a beautiful, mysterious story about a man who lived in Norway (because Scandinavia comes across to me as beautiful, dark and mysterious). He would work by the ocean, maybe as a fisherman, and would spot a mermaid. Him and this mermaid would never speak, but somehow, they would keep seeing each other. The reader would follow this man as he goes through life’s struggles, while the mermaid represents something or helps him realize something. If this idea sounds vague…that’s because it was a very vague idea.
However, because I’m not a fan of writing fantasy, I moved on and altered the idea.
I kept the story in Norway, because I still wanted to write some kind of beautiful, sad story. Then, I replaced the mermaid with wolves. I thought of wolves because my brother has always been fascinated with wolves, and they also fit the dark and cold setting of Norway.
And then I developed the storyline that turned into September’s Aftermath. I switched the male character for a female one. Nora, now the main character and narrator of the story, has obviously gone through something in September. In the story, the reader can follow her as she starts visiting Polar Park again, which is an animal sanctuary in Bardu, Norway. The story portrays her deep admiration and connection to her brother, Matteus, who has in turn always been connected to the three wolves at the sanctuary.
I love this story. I love writing about extremely strong connections between characters, and this is definitely something that comes across well in this story. I think it’s a sad but beautiful story, and it’s probably the one book I’ve written that I’d feel most confident recommending to people.