Calista

conception of Ovee’s intelligence throughout the story, I was informed by latest scientific research on its senescence, its ability to live outside water for limited periods depending on air moisture, to change form and color as part of its camouflage, its remarkable aptitude for learning and recognising symbols, its ability to recognise human faces, to solve a cognitive test designed for young children, to make use of tools, to devise tricks that will lure a prey, and last, its unique ability to modify its RNA – its DNA template – in its own lifetime, to reflect the demands of its environment.

There might be more to come, but this is the Ovee we know today. To introduce it in a 19th century English mansion gave me a thrill. How would occupants of this house react to its intelligence? Would they project a ghost onto it, perhaps? At the start, I had not set out to create a ghost story but a spirit became the only plausible notion in the mind of my characters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Laura Rahme is a French-Australian historical novelist of Lebanese, French and Vietnamese descent. She grew up in Senegal, France and Australia. A lover of mathematics and physics, she never imagined she would one day write novels. While living in Brisbane, she gained an Honours bachelor degree in Aerospace Avionics from the Queensland University of Technology then later, an Honours degree with a double major in Psychology and a single major in Media Studies from the University of Queensland. With a twenty-year career in information technology, she earned a living as a software engineer, and digital business analyst.

Her first historical novel, THE MING STORYTELLERS (2012) is set during China’s Early Ming dynasty. Her second novel, THE MASCHERARI: A NOVEL OF VENICE (2014) is an epistolary occult mystery set in 15th century Venice. This was followed by the gothic thriller, JULIEN’S TERROR (2017) which spans the French Revolution and Napoleonic periods.

CALISTA is her fourth novel.

Laura lives with her husband in Brittany, France.