FICTION
Helen O'Neil's fiction explores numerous themes, including:
- race
- disability
- poverty
- mysticism
- human sexuality
Her debut project is After the Flood, a book of short stories with apocalyptic and dystopic themes. These stories include:
- The Passover, a story about the gassing of American vagrants during a time of economic cataclysm. The title refers to the 40-day period after the first round of gassings when the spirits of the dead moved over the Earth, testifying about their grief.
- The Hunt, a story about sexual terrorism between enemy races in a country at war
- The Headless King, a story about a hedonistic investment banker who falls prey to the toxic feminine
- Lost Words, a dark romance about a young disabled biracial writer who seduces her white social worker and loses her ability to write
- The Thaw, a dark romance about a white schoolteacher married to an abusive East Asian wife and his rebound affair with a fiery biracial painter and lay nun
In addition to this project, Helen is working on a novel called The Prophet Maximilian, about a schizophrenic Jewish street hustler from the Bronx with a prophetic Great Work to carry out for humanity.