This makes me so excited that today is publication day for Leigh Russell and it’s a huge switch from the crime style of writing.
Switching genres isn’t always easy especially when they are on the opposite types. Moving from Crime will be a huge adjustment when now you write Dystopian.
Dystopian is a favourite genre of mine but it’s a harsh genre as well as it is not always done well.
I am super excited to start this book just to see what this amazing author has done
And the lady herself Leigh Russell gives us a glimpse of what it was like
Since I’m known for writing crime fiction, several readers have wondered why I decided to write a dystopian novel. In my experience, writers don’t choose stories, they choose us. So when the character of Rachel presented herself to me, I followed her into a future world where food is scarce, the government rules absolutely, and ordinary citizens only exist to serve.
Living in a post-apocalyptic world, when her mother is killed Rachel is initiated into The Programme where selected young girls are medicated to make them fertile. Rachel escapes, only to discover that freedom comes at a price, and she must navigate her way through a terrifying landscape of persecution if she is to survive.
This might seem very different to my usual crime genre, but dystopian fiction and crime fiction both explore how we cope with the reality of our mortality, whether through apocalyptic events affecting humanity, or the murder of an individual. So a crime writer producing a dystopian novel is actually a logical progression.
Crazy Canadian Writing 