Green Fuse Burning

Rita Francis is an artist in mourning for her father, from whom she was estranged. Her girlfriend Molly sends her to a week-long residency in an isolated cabin, in the Mi'kmaw homeland where her father grew up.

The first night brings disturbing sounds. The locals refuse to discuss the cabin's history, and visions start to rise from the nearby lake and swamp.

As the visions press harder on her, Rita paints with a new intensity. She also comes to understand that in the swamp's decay, the end of one life can start another.

This is eco-horror in novella length, built around grief, memory and Indigenous identity. The text is arranged as a gallery exhibition of Rita's paintings, recovered after she disappears, so the reader knows from the start that her week at the cabin does not end with a return home.

It was published by Stelliform Press in 2023 and was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson, Ignyte and Aurora Awards.