Morgan Leigh Bell (born 1981) is an Australian writer of short stories, who grew up in Newcastle, New South Wales, and currently resides in Port Stephens.
[13] The collection is experimental in length, form and scope, mostly generated from flash fiction prompts[14] and short story competitions.
[15] The collection contains the following stories: About the title, Bell has said it is a nonsense phrase that came to her in a dream but "Linguistically it translates to a calculated series of steps forward.
[15] Australian short-story collections that have inspired her are Margo Lanagan's Black Juice, Cate Kennedy's Dark Roots,[15] of which she has said "For perfecting the craft of the short form Australian author Cate Kennedy does it best in her collection Dark Roots, every story sticks with you and haunts you, she is the master,"[12] Tim Winton's The Turning (stories), and Angela Meyer's Captives.
[21][20][22][12] She has said the appeal of Angela Carter's works is the juxtaposition of oddities,[15] and has singled out The Passion of New Eve as a favourite[20] saying "it’s a real trip and a gender bender.
"[23] In interviews Bell has cited the following authors as influences: Ursula K. Le Guin, Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf,[21] Oscar Wilde,[15][22] Jane Austen, DBC Pierre, James Frey, Deborah Levy,[22] Lauren Beukes, Julienne van Loon, Jim Crace;[14] and the following books as influences: Stephen King’s The Eyes of the Dragon, Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway,[20] Dathan Auerbach’s Penpal.
[14] Her recent reading has included Sharp Objects[20] and Gone Girl[23] by Gillian Flynn, and The Good House[20] by Ann Leary, which she called an "extraordinary debut novel" and the "perfect delicate balance of intrigue and poetic justice".
South-south-west, south, south-east, east...."[23] In an interview published 18 February 2015 Bell announced an audiobook version of Sniggerless Boundulations would be available on Audible in about a month.
Page) gave an introduction and then readings of excerpts were performed by the following contributing authors: Janeen Webb, Sheree Christoffersen, Danuta Electra Raine, and Samantha Fisher.
Bell received an acknowledgement from the editor in the paperback edition regarding promoting the crowdfunding campaign on Twitter and other social media.
It stated "I want to thank Morgan Bell for her efforts in creating a last minute social media storm that helped the Pozible campaign reach its goal."
Bell has stated on her website that she submitted two stories for consideration: A Deer In The Shunting Yard, and The Lost Art of Transportation.
Page) with a cover illustrator Q&A with Tallulah Cunningham and readings from Jan Dean, Janeen Webb, Magdalena Ball, and Leonie Rogers.
[45] Bell has committed to editing Hunter Anthologies first themed collection, Sproutlings, a short story project based on wicked plants.
The anthologies call lists Jack & The Beanstalk, The Day of the Triffids, Little Shop of Horrors, and Alice in Wonderland as influences, giving the following flash prompts: "Killer weeds, botanical atrocities, enchanted forests-woods, strangling vines, poison fruits-berries-darts, the tree of life-knowledge, carnivorous flora, cabbage patch kids, wise talking-walking trees, magical beans, primordial slime"[35] The anthology contains the following stories:[47]
[48] Bell has been outspoken about her experiences with anxiety and depression, stating that the intention of many of her stories is to replicate the "sense of that horrifying panic or despair" of mental illness.
[52] She is also open about her asexuality,[14] being interviewed by the Hack program on Triple J radio on 19 July 2011,[53] and her atheism,[14] and is described as self-professed feminist and nerd.