Christy Theodoulou completed her Law degree at Lancaster in 2021 and the Bachelor of Civil Law at the University of Oxford in 2023. Although, subsequently she hasn't been pursuing that particular discipline. Rather, perhaps as a cathartic exercise, she completed the first draft of her debut novel in 2023 and, following various edits, it has now been published by Hawkwood Books.

Christy’s first draft was, as mentioned, more of an explosion of need rather than a conscious and deliberate career output. She had no training in creative writing and simply completed the draft in an almost manic mode. But the experience was a positive one, followed by a euphoric pride at her creation. What ensued was much time honing the work until she sent it off to various parties in the hope that one would be interested. Luckily, Hawkwood Books were keen to publish it.

Godless Cosmologies is a gothic, literary fantasy which follows an asylum patient facing one of life’s greatest paradoxes: to cure one’s mind through love, one may just have to lose it. Being set in an asylum, it is quite influenced by Christy’s own experience as an inpatient whilst struggling with her own mental health. But it is not a memoir. It follows Pear who, upon arriving at Kopolka’s mental asylum on the day of his mother’s death, is summoned to a midnight, cavernous rendezvous where he meets Mystery, an enigmatic patient with a penchant for philosophy.

He is soon tricked into her service which, at first, requires little more than helping her torment a school tyrant and retrieving a shipwreck for a seaboard shelter. All seems well, particularly during his sojourns to the mollifying Water: a fantasy, underwater world in which he finds himself a whale in the company of erudite octopus Mr Octaveley. But soon he discovers that mystery harbours dangerous delusions of her own and, as the price of replacing his mother becomes ever steeper, and ever more challenging for his shy, silent constitution, the lines between reality and fancy, and safety and danger, begin to shake. The question is: will Pear let them crumble?

Christy feels that her time studying at Lancaster University has played an important role in her own life. The University, to Christy, was welcoming and unimposing, and at the time she perhaps needed it most in her life, it made her feel at home. Her fond memories of her time there will stay with her and she hopes to visit again soon.

If you are interested in following Christy on her writing journey, you can find her on Substack here and Instagram here. You can also purchase Godless Cosmologies via this link.