Cornelia Grey is a student halfway through her creative writing degree with a penchant for fine arts and the blues. Born and raised in the hills of Northern Italy, where she collected her share of poetry and narrative prizes, she is now based in London, and she is thoroughly enjoying the cultural melting pot that is the City.
Her interests vary from painting to photography, from sewing to acting; when writing, she favors curious, surreal poems and short stories involving handsome young men seducing each other. She loves collecting people's stories and re-discovering lost tales that deserve to be told.
Her days are full and hectic. She reads, goes to flea markets, galleries and the theater, and of course spends most of her time writing. When she's at home, she likes to curl up with a book and the classic cup of tea and leaves chestnuts in the garden for the squirrel that comes around from time to time.
If you had a chance to make a deal with the devil... would you take it?
There's an unusual devil on the prowl - Farfarello, at your service. From bluesmen down on their luck, to magicians stranded in circuses full of strange creatures, to reclusive inventors determined to give life to their creations, this devil is always ready to show up and grant people their wishes in exchange for a small fee - their soul.
And if he happens to meddle a little in their love lives while he's at it, and maybe teach them a few lessons in the process... well, a devil's got to have a little fun, after all.
Thomas Escott has always wanted to be a toymaker, yet just as he achieves his dream, an accident claims his right hand. He’s certain his life is over—until he hears about groundbreaking prosthetics being made by a reclusive inventor.
Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life conning drunkards in the seediest pubs in the darkest towns, careful to hide the true depths of his power. But when he spends a little too much time in Shadowsea and the infamous slumlord Count Reuben gets wind of his abilities, hiding within the Circus of the Damned may be Gilbert’s only chance at survival.