My debut novel, Sirens, is a book that was born from strange circumstances and a lot of dismay. After roughly three years of keeping this story to myself, I will be publishing it in the fall of 2023.
A Three-Year Story
The beginning of this novel was created after binging Black Mirror episodes at the start of the pandemic. After all, in those first few weeks, there was nothing more to do than rot on the couch while watching some dystopian show to distract you from the dystopian world that we were enduring. In the process of creating a Chloe-sized indent that has become a permanent dip in our cushions, I was also able to take advantage of the spare time to daydream.
And to get angry.
To be frank, there are a lot of social issues that can spur me into long rants, and women’s rights have always seemed to linger near the top of the list. If you recall, we were living during a particularly politically volatile time during the pandemic, which only added to my anxieties. From this constant worry about women’s rights being chipped away at and the ever-present disrespect people of my gender were being faced with, I found the perfect opportunity to combine my bored musings and my heightened frustrations by channeling them into something creative.
From Rotting To Writing
In the past, I had struggled to finish writing a story from beginning to end. I would frequently be swept up by unfinished ideas and write random, disconnected chapters but never a story in its entirety. I would excuse my inability to finish an idea as a product of my lack of time, but that quickly lost validity when I had nothing but time as the world felt a collective pause in March 2020.
And so, Sirens was conceived in my parent’s house in the first spring of the pandemic. This story was an excellent outlet to discuss the issues that plagued me at the time and continue to concern me now.
Ok… So What’s This All About?
My story, Sirens, discusses our dismissal of women’s valid concerns. It also explores isolation, incel culture, and the potential dangers of blindly trusting the “next best thing” in technology. It marked the first time that I had completed a story entirely, so it has a particularly special place in my heart. Since the first version of Sirens was completed, I have gone on to draft six other stories but have frequently found myself revisiting Sirens.
At the beginning of this year, I decided that Sirens had come to a place where others might be interested in reading it as well. By the fall of 2023, the story of Michael Ken, as well as Shayna and Jon Way will be published. Sirens follows these three primary perspectives as they struggle with internalized misogyny and the capitalist nature of pushing forward a product—in this case the deadly video game, Sirens—despite its dangerous implications.
I hope to hear your feedback when it’s released, and I intend on chronicling my publishing process as it unfolds. If all goes well, I want to publish some of those other six stories in the future as well. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy what Sirens has to say about sex and society.
Chloe Ruffennach's Stories 
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