My new horror short story, ‘Selfie’, is out now in Aurealis Magazine. I’m stoked to be included in Australia’s top science-fiction, fantasy and horror publication.
What’s ‘Selfie’ about you ask? When the trip of a lifetime for travel influencer Amber turns sour, she’s forced to face her greatest fear: herself. The story delves into body shame, body horror and how social media informs our self worth.
As well as being an author, I’m a landscape and travel photographer. Through the rise of social media, I’ve seen a huge increase in ‘influencer’ marketing in the travel industry – you know the type, beautiful, bikini clad women in exotic locations. And while some of these influencers are doing good with their work, I’ve read horror stories about people destroying the environment to get a single shot. I’ve turned up to once-empty landscape locations only to find them populated with people posing for selfies.
Added to this, my own fears about body image, body shame and vanity, and you have the horror story ‘Selfie’. In writing it, I wanted people to stop and think about what they’re posting to social media and what it says about their self-image. Are we being defined by our online persona, rather than ourselves? And how are our expectations of womanhood defined by what we see online?
I hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I did writing it! Get your copy from Aurealis here. It’s only $2.99 USD for all that creative goodness.
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