Meet LS Delorme

Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Want to be featured? Email us: online@britishfantasysociety.org

Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres?

All. I am an intensity junkie and I feel like these genres give one more breadth to craft intense emotional experiences for the reader. Also, SFFH writers are the ones who seem best able to predict the future… well, them and the writers for The Simpsons. 

Your influences

Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into SFFH: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?

I was an early reader and finished the Hobbit at age 7. I then went on to read Fellowship of the Ring at age 8. After that, I devoured most of the well-known SFF books like 1984, The Martian Chronicles and Brave New World. I particularly liked series as I was able to live in the world for longer. My favourites as a child were the Narnia series, the Perelandra series, the Wrinkle in Time series, and the Dune series. At some time in my tweens, I discovered horror by reading HP Lovecraft, and I then went on a horror reading spree, reading Lovecraft, Bradbury, King, and Barker. As I read more, I became particularly enamoured of the books that mixed these genres, like Weaveworld by Clive Barker, or The Stand or The Talisman by Stephen King. I also love books where the sci-fi, fantasy or horror is simply an extension of our own world, or our own knowledge. As I worked in science and genetics for a while, I find the growth of AI and the combination of biological agents with technological ones both exciting and terrifying. 

How does that early influence show up in your work now?

In my own writing, I have combined my love of fantasy, sci-fi and horror with an element of romance. I have found when you have the right mix of these genres, they actually work to accentuate each other rather than conflict.

Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?

Probably George Orwell for SF, as he really predicted our current world. Anne Rice, because she pretty much created the paranormal romance genre. HP Lovecraft is an odd one. He clearly influenced so much of the genre even up to things like Lovecraft Country. And yet, now, probably one of the scariest things about his stories is the racism.  

Your work

You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.

My current book is the second in a trilogy that forms the foundation of my Limerent Universe.  They are Caio, Bright Midnights, and Lazlo. One does not have to read them in any order. The first two are already available.

For Bright Midnights I would use this:

Some girls have monsters in their closets, others have demons in their bedrooms. Amelie’s ghouls live behind everyone else’s eyelids. Imagine a world where one misstep leads to possession or explosion. 17-year-old Amelie lives in this world and is on the verge of collapsing.  Her only hope is the one thing that she can’t possess: an imaginary boy that she found in her head. The clock is ticking.

What are you working on right now?

I am finishing the editing on my third foundation book in the series, called Lazlo. It is a story set in the 1940s. This is my first attempt at the blurb for the book, so here it goes:

There’s something rotting in Harrisville.  

It’s 1944, and Veronica just wants to work to gain enough money to eat and eventually buy the home her family is living in. She doesn’t have time for much else. So, she ignores the fire whispering to her, the ghosts trying to talk to her, her boss’s son who can’t stop staring at her.  She also tries to ignore Lazlo, the captivating black soldier that she processed at the draft office.  But as her ability to ignore Lazlo evaporates, so does her self-imposed ignorance about her own backyard, because something is rotting in her hometown. Veronica should know, she works in the cigarette factory, where corpses hide in the tobacco with the roaches.

Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?

I write all my stories to answer questions that I have about the world around me. I try to write books that can be read on several levels, but I think that’s true of most authors. I have basic themes for each of my books, all of which reflect the questions I have. For example, the themes of Caio are time and how we, as humans, move through it. It shows how we are limited and can limit ourselves by our own definitions of time. Bright Midnights is about attraction in all its forms, psychological, physical, spiritual, and scientific.

Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?

I tend to come up with scenes and ideas when I’m doing something else, particularly something “mindless”, like cooking or sitting in transit. I have never once NOT used a scene that I wrote after waking up in the middle of the night. The creative part of my brain works best when I get out of my own way. 

What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?

Creativity isn’t structured. When you try to structure creativity, you end up with red tape. You have to separate your creative writing brain from your editing brain. Don’t edit when you are writing. Just write shit and see what comes out.  

What’s your writing soundtrack?

I make soundtrack music not by book, but by characters, chapters, and scenes. One of my greatest frustrations in the last six months is that my computer ate ALL my playlists. It’s the typical update horror. I updated my Mac, and it ate all my playlists. I called Apple, and they did the “we don’t know” thing. I eventually found some of the music buried in a system file, but I haven’t found all of them. Aaaaaggggghhhhh!

The quickfire round

Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?  
Just……can’t…..choose. 

Quiet or loud? 
Quiet

Dark or light? 
Dark

Strict lines or genre blend? 
Genre blend

Awards or bestseller? 
Bestseller

Fiction or non-fiction? 
Fiction

Poetry or prose? 
Prose

Plotter or pantser? 
Plotter

Reading or listening? 
Reading

Notebook or computer? 
Both

The home stretch

What’s the best thing about being a SFFH writer?

For me, the SFFH genre provides the greatest opportunity for creativity. You have the opportunity to develop worlds that diverge as much or as little from our world as you like. If you want to define your universe from the microscopic environment to the boundaries of space, you can do that. It’s the ultimate in control of your own story. As a bit of a control freak, I appreciate that.  

Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.

Well, first up, you can purchase my books on Amazon at LS Delorme.

My website can be found at www.lsdelorme.com

I am on the following socials:

• Instagram: ls_delorme
• lsdelormeauthor
• Tiktok: lexyshawdelorme
• Twitter: lexyshawdelorme

As it’s very hard for me to sell myself, below is my favourite review of my book Bright Midnights, from Reedsy UK (quoted on the Amazon page):

Bright Midnights – LS Delorme
Must read 🏆

I despaired each time I had to put this riveting novel down and rejoiced each time I came back to it.

Let me begin by saying that my ardor for this novel is only exceeded by my disappointment that it had to end. I cannot begin to give this book the praise it deserves. Bright Midnights by LS Delorme is truly outstanding. Readers who crave a human touch with their science fiction will rejoice at the world of Bright Midnights. Delorme incorporates elements that will appeal to lovers of classic literature and anyone who enjoys a thin veil between our mundane world and the Otherworld. 

The novel is a familiar story of teen-girl-meets-ancient-supernatural-boy and Delorme manages to simultaneously enhance and subvert the trope. Amelie is a psychically sensitive high school senior who closes herself off from everyone and everything in order to survive. Her only escape is in her dreams of flying, one of which leads her to a hallway and a door that introduces her to Clovis, a handsome but wary young boy. As the two get closer, the divide between their world grows thinner and Amelie inadvertently brings a bit of the hallway back with her.

Reading Bright Midnights was the perfect experience and earned tenfold every single one of the five stars rated. The concepts and themes were complex enough to make the act of reading fresh and new, but Delorme avoids the pitfalls of dense prose and speaks simply. Every word is considered carefully, not a throwaway line in all 308 pages. This is not to say that the novel is a pleasing romp from beginning to end. Delorme is not the sort of author to pull punches, so buckle up for a viscerally emotional read. She creates sympathetic feeling in her readers from page one until the ending which I did not see coming. Bright Midnights will challenge readers’ hearts as well as their minds and leave them waiting with bated breath for Delorme’s next book in the world of Bright Midnights.