NEW FROM SPACE COWBOY BOOKS:
New Book Spotlight
Small Bites
A mini-interview with Eliane Boey
Tell us about your new book?
Small Bites is a feminist horror novella about a woman named Hammie who has lost her hunger, and her own space in her life. To confront this, and to step away from the ceaseless demands on her, she locks herself in the storeroom one afternoon, with a large spider. And that’s where things start to get really weird. It’s a story about reclaiming space for yourself, and coming to terms with your hunger for self-fulfillment.
What aspect of the book was the most fun to write?
I loved writing the dialogue with the spider! It took me just a little while to get her wry, acerbic, but never openly judgmental tone. I didn’t want the spider to judge and instruct Hammie. The work of realisation and change has to come from within. I never wanted the spider to be a “teacher”. So, the dialogue with the spider had to serve as just enough trigger and starter to get her going, working through the mess that she has made her life.
If there is one emotion or theme that you would hope that the reader connects with, what would that be?
Small Bites has gone out to a few early readers and reviewers, and the common reaction has been rage, with not a little disgust at the body horror bits. I’m very happy to hear that it connects that way, sitting in the “weird horror” or “weird girl” sub-genre that is having a little bit of a moment now. A small number of readers, however, described a feeling of unease and discomfort, through Hammie. A sense that nothing is wrong, but something is not right. And that, I think, hits the nail for this book.
