A READING author has celebrated the release of a new collection of stories following a launch party last week.
Madam Lether has marked the release of their latest collection of stories, Tales from the Algorithm, with a digital launch day event.
Speaking of the event, Madam Lether said: “The launch went really well, and watching it all happen was wonderful.
“My first collection was The Martian Olive Tree and Other Stories, which I wrote for a Freedom For Falasteen event with Big Jay.
“And I’ve kept that tradition: for the launch on Friday, I wrote a special story for that evening’s event with the Coconuts drag troupe.”
Madam Lether, as well as writing, performs with fellow drag acts Big Jay, Lentil Pulse, and Ruby Goldsmith as part of the troupe.
Of their latest work, Madam Lether says: “It’s a collection of 13 stories exploring an aspect of modern technology, and each is a warning.
“[One of the stories] Alexander examines online chat and the potential dangers of it as well as the creep of AI.”
And the work has been a long time in the making: “Some of these stories have been in my brain for 25 years; the first one I had an idea for was Alexander, which I tried to write back then, but it just wasn’t working.
“About a year ago, fellow Coconut member Lentil [Pulse] pushed me to give it another go, and then all the stories came pouring out.
If we look back over those 25 years, webcam chat was all the rage then– they were a new thing and I thought about what dangers that might pose.
“It’s become a warning tale about grooming, I suppose, explored through the story of a centuries-old vampire who gets a taste for young blood.
“Lots of similar stories have appeared in the news since, and more and more we see them crop up as a danger through technology, leading to things like the online safety act.”
While the works warn of real-life dangers, Madam Lether says that each story has its own relationship with the real world: “I love allegory; but that balance has to be on a story-by-story basis, and there’s no real formula, no ‘two drops of allegory and a dash of realism’.
“It’s not that simple, but I’m also into all sorts of different creative things.
“I have degrees in Maths and Music, with Music Composition, which was my first creative art.
“Drag is another aspect, I also sew, and this, one might say, is the latest ‘fad’–but I don’t think its a phase.
“It feels like the outlet for me; I’ve got concepts for another 30 stories, collections, and novels planned.
“So just a little bit here and there still to come.”
A documentary about the book, Tales from the Algorithm: 25 Years in the Making, is available to view via: youtube.com
Tales from the Algorithm is available via: foyles.co.uk
