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Eleanor Beresford

Goodreads Author

Born

Streaky Bay, Australia

Website

http://www.eberesford.com

Twitter

elsaberesford

Genre

Young Adult, Gay and Lesbian, Fantasy

Member Since

December 2014

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/eleanorberesford

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Eleanor Beresford was born in remote South Australia, spent some adult years in the UK, and is settled in beautiful Adelaide with her even more beautiful wife and toddler son. In a former life she was a harried academic librarian. Now, her days are spent writing, game designing, and travelling her beloved city with her little boy. She would not change her life for anyone else's in the world.

She has a sizeable collection of girls' school stories ranging from the turn of the century to the 1960s.

She writes LGBT fantasy and young adult books, and interactive fiction games with strong female protagonists, because she writes the stories she would have loved to have read as a lesbian teenager.

She hopes they will reach other readers, young and ol ...more

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Eleanor Beresford There are two real answers to that. One is I have been reading school stories avidly since I was a child; as an adult, my collection is ever growing. …moreThere are two real answers to that. One is I have been reading school stories avidly since I was a child; as an adult, my collection is ever growing. There is just something about the tight community of girls, the mixture of high drama (avalanches! Fires! Kidnappings!) ,and the equally dramatic conflicts of friendship and rivalry, that never fails me.

I am delighted in the recent resurgence of adding fantasy to the mix, with a particular love for the 'Harry Potter' and 'The School of Good and Evil books, but what I wanted was, instead of confronting Dark Lords, to focus on the real school story aspects: how does the use of magic affect things like facing a prefects' meeting? What is an honourable use of a magical gift, if you are going to play cricket?

The second reason is that while the books focus on close, often intense friendships between girls, they are traditionally always going to abandon these for marriage. When I grew up, I didn't even know what a lesbian was, let alone that I was one, but I always wished at least some of the girls wouldn't trade their devotion to each other in for marriage.

So 'Pegasi and Prefects' and 'Elves and Escapades' are a work of love. I took one of my favourite school story tropes, the sporting and/or horsey (Charley is both) tomboy who is inevitably called Tom(my), Bobby, Bill(ie), George, Henry, Harry, Frankie, Freddy or, once and memorably, Cecil, and thrust her into a world in which she gets to ride a pegasus and fall in love with another girl.(less)

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What are you currently working on?

Eleanor Beresford I'm making the last little changes on 'Elves and Escapades', while writing the third novel in the Scholars and Sorcery series, 'Mermaids and Misadvent…moreI'm making the last little changes on 'Elves and Escapades', while writing the third novel in the Scholars and Sorcery series, 'Mermaids and Misadventures'--young Esther taking the spotlight at last. A series set in Cornwall would not be complete without mermaids.

I'm also editing a novelette called 'Fairies and Felicitations', which revolves around a barbed prank played by Kitty on the girls of the form above.(less)

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Eleanor Beresford’s books

Average rating: 3.69 · 354 ratings · 46 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Pegasi and Prefects (Scholars and Sorcery, #1) 3.64 avg rating — 195 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Elves and Escapades (Scholars & Sorcery #2) 3.80 avg rating — 105 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Fairies and Felicitations 3.66 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2015	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Scholars and Sorcery: Pegasi and Prefects, Elves and Escapades and Fairies and Felicitations really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Eleanor Beresford's Blog: Eleanor Beresford's Blog: Scholars and Sorcery

Trying to channel Elsa

fifth form rivals
I’ve just recovered from a nasty bout of influenza–followed by a nasty bout of spring cleaning and decluttering. I singled out about two hundred books, I think, for disposal or donation.

I also made a resolution: I would read and review each of my school stories, and then donate them. There are always new books to read. I don’t need to hoard them.

Then, of course, today I pulled out the first of the