Aftermath Contributor Jacqui Greaves

Aftermath Contributor Jacqui Greaves

Aftermath: Tales of Survival in Aotearoa New Zealand is SpecFicNZ’s new anthology, available here.

The anthology explores Aotearoa in a post-apocalyptic world. Disasters have occurred around the country and the world. New Zealand, in our isolation down under, may have escaped most of what happened around the world, but it was pretty bad out there. As Kiwis are apt to do, though, we’re “getting over it”. You know, she’ll be right …

This is not just an anthology of disaster stories. The pages are filled with hope in the form of short stories, poems, flash fiction and artwork about what comes afterwards. The contributions are exclusively from SpecFicNZ members and reflect the diversity and breadth of this country we love to call home … even if the edges are a bit torn and tattered.

We’re interviewing all the contributors to the anthology so you can get to know the brave souls who’ve battled zombies, aliens, earthquakes, volcanoes and more to bring you the stories you’ll find between its covers.

Today, we’re chatting with Jacqui Greaves

Aftermath includes a variety of disasters set all around Aotearoa New Zealand. What disaster / location combination did you write about and why?

I set my story in Apiti, a small farming village in the Manawatu. The inhabitants lose all contact with the outside world. I chose the location because I farmed there many years ago and know how resilient and practical the people who live there are. We were often cut off from the rest of the world by snow, floods, slips etc and suffered frequent powercuts. I wanted to take that scenario to the extreme and think about what that community would have to do to survive.

How do you think the Kiwi approach to life after disaster is unique?

Kiwis are pretty practical and quick to help out when disaster strikes. I’m not sure those characteristics are unique to us, but we like to think they are.

What are your most valuable post-apocalyptic skills?

I know a little bit about a lot of things. I’m also pretty handy with knives and a crossbow.

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Being a writer, you must have lots of pens. What creative use would you put them to in a post-apocalyptic New Zealand?

Stories will always need to be told and records need to be kept. Pens are also very handy for stabbing!

Tell us a little about your other writing?

I write weird fiction often mixing scifi, fantasy and sex all together into a dark mess.

What are you working on now?

I’m part way into a science fantasy novel based around the Fibonacci sequence, it’s giving me grief so it’s been set aside for now.

I’ve just started what I intend to be a set of novella’s based around space-faring bards, who are all middle-aged menopausal women.

Where can readers find out more about you and your writing?

www.jacquigreaves-author.com

Jacqui Greaves

Come and visit my website: www.jacquigreaves-author.com

Or check out my Amazon author page: www.amazon.com/author/jacquigreaves

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JacquiG_Author

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008782507874

“I confess, I do not believe in time.”  Vladimir Nabokov

 

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