A Blood Red Soul - Book launch with J.C. O'Neill

J.C. O'Neill is launching her new book, A Blood Red Soul, at Sheffield Plate on Thursday 29 October. It's a talk rather than a reading, with O'Neill in conversation with the venue's founder, Beverley Ward, and the whole thing is presented by The Writers Workshop.

A Blood Red Soul is the third book in O'Neill's Blood Red Trilogy, a modern Gothic fantasy series set in Sheffield and the North of England. It deals with female oppression and the control of the female heart, mind and soul, woven together with Northern mythology and the power of female friendship. The story follows Dr Charlie Hart, who carries a dark secret and cannot remember her past; the series began with A Blood Red Heart, continued in A Blood Red Mind, and concludes here, carrying Charlie from the North York Moors to Whitby Abbey.

The trilogy itself had an accidental start. O'Neill only began writing to amuse a relative following their cancer diagnosis, and a few chapters turned into a full series. She holds degrees in law and medicine and worked for the NHS for thirty-two years; she lives, works and writes in Sheffield, though she was born in Cumbria.

The evening runs from 6:45pm to 8:30pm at Sheffield Plate, Orchard Square, Sheffield S1 2FB. Tickets are between £2.88 and £3.96 via Eventbrite, and the night includes a complimentary drink.