Athena Bliss with her debut novel Sons of Echidna. Picture supplied
Russian born Gisborne resident Athena Bliss has just published her first novel The Sons of Echidna, a dark fantasy story which will be part of a trilogy.
It was a story she had carried in her head for years until she finally put pen to paper during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Echidna refers to the Greek primordial goddess Echidna, the mother of monsters.
Bliss said the writing of the book was the easy part, but the rounds of editing and submitting to potential publishers took almost two years.
“From the very first draft, it’s been through a lot of changes, which have helped to really polish the story to a glow,” she says.
“I can hardly believe it’s done at last — at least until I start the editing for the next two in the series.”
The Sons Of Echidna is a dark, fantasy story with touches of sci-fi, a little bit of spice, and some unexpected wholesomeness with an unlikely found family.
It is a story about a young woman named Lucy who is at the end of the line. She’s broke and desperate and hopes that her new job as a live-in nanny is the smooth ride she needs to get back on her feet. She has lived a cursed life with a secret, strange power over life and death which she wants to put behind her. Unfortunately for her, the family she’s signed up to work with seem to be part of her life-long curse. It’s quickly made clear that she isn’t getting her fresh start, and instead she’s been abducted into a dysfunctional home filled with monsters, both mythological and human. But her kidnappers don’t know yet that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew, and Lucy soon discovers that her life-long curse could actually be her saving grace.
It’s full of twists and turns and surprises that will keep you up reading until the wee hours to find out how it ends.
Bliss said the book was written with a lot of what she wanted to see in the world.
“It’s woman-led, it’s dark, it’s funny, and it’s a story with a lot of diversity. The protagonist deals with ADHD and there’s a lot of LGBTQ+ representation, without making those traits the entirety of the characters’ personalities. So my hope is that people who celebrate diversity and enjoy a fast-paced story will embrace my book.”
Athena moved to New Zealand with her family in 2001, and settled in Auckland. Seven years later, her now-husband moved into a flat with her. He was from Gisborne and over the years she got to know his family and his hometown and fell in love.
“We stumbled into a stroke of good fortune in 2019 and knew immediately that we wanted to raise our daughter in Gisborne. We moved down the first chance we got and haven’t looked back. Not that we could have, since Covid lockdowns began the month after we moved,” she says.
She was an artist and illustrator long before she took up writing.
“The Sons of Echidna evolved into a richly illustrated story that I’m really proud of. I think there’s something like 33 illustrations between the pages, and I painted the cover as well. That’s actually part of why I decided to go with self-publishing — full creative control. I would also like to thank the Margaret Spencer Writers’ Encouragement Trust, who helped support me in my writing.”
The book which is already receiving positive reviews is available on Athena’s website. athenabliss.com and is also available to preorder from Atlas Comics and Collectibles in Treble Court and from PaperPlus.
The e-book is available through Amazon.com and Kindle Unlimited, and the audiobook will be on all audiobook platforms.