Screen Grab
A novella from No Way Home
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Summary
Screen Grab: A Novella by L.A. Davenport
Lauren's online life is her escape—a space where she’s "L-KAT," connecting with people who truly see her. But as her friendship with an enigmatic user known as gTV deepens, the boundary between her digital world and reality blurs in dangerous ways. Promised a life-changing reunion that could give her everything she’s dreamed of, Lauren finds herself drawn into a world she doesn’t fully understand, led by the alluring promise of a life outside her own. As she steps into the unknown, she must confront questions of trust, identity, and what truly lies beyond the screen.
Screen Grab is a dark and atmospheric journey into the heart of online manipulation, yearning, and the unseen dangers lurking in digital shadows—a thrilling addition to Davenport’s No Way Home collection.
Lauren's online life is her escape—a space where she’s "L-KAT," connecting with people who truly see her. But as her friendship with an enigmatic user known as gTV deepens, the boundary between her digital world and reality blurs in dangerous ways. Promised a life-changing reunion that could give her everything she’s dreamed of, Lauren finds herself drawn into a world she doesn’t fully understand, led by the alluring promise of a life outside her own. As she steps into the unknown, she must confront questions of trust, identity, and what truly lies beyond the screen.
Screen Grab is a dark and atmospheric journey into the heart of online manipulation, yearning, and the unseen dangers lurking in digital shadows—a thrilling addition to Davenport’s No Way Home collection.
Background
I don’t remember how this story began to develop in my mind. What I do know is that it started as a script for a short film while writing with my friend, and it stuck with me, even though the first versions were poorly structured and the characters lacked development. But I persisted, and took a lot of advice, as well as the title, from many friends who were very generous with their time. It was slow and painful to write, but I wanted so much to do the idea justice.
I have always struggled with how people lacking in confidence and love are preyed upon by weak people seeking to crush others to make up for their own inadequacies. Here the intended victim is a teenage girl unhappy at home and being groomed online by a sex offender, and the collision course is with a vagrant who moves into an abandoned cottage. But there are many different ways that this story could have been told – there are so many ways in which people are victimised and marginalised, and they often end up online, lost, afraid, and ready to believe anyone.
To help me with my research, I read Online Predation: A Linguistic Analysis of Online Predator Grooming, which is a Research Honors Thesis by Melissa A. Wollis, published in 2011.
I have always struggled with how people lacking in confidence and love are preyed upon by weak people seeking to crush others to make up for their own inadequacies. Here the intended victim is a teenage girl unhappy at home and being groomed online by a sex offender, and the collision course is with a vagrant who moves into an abandoned cottage. But there are many different ways that this story could have been told – there are so many ways in which people are victimised and marginalised, and they often end up online, lost, afraid, and ready to believe anyone.
To help me with my research, I read Online Predation: A Linguistic Analysis of Online Predator Grooming, which is a Research Honors Thesis by Melissa A. Wollis, published in 2011.
Cover Design
The cover for Screen Grab was designed by the brilliant David Löwe.
To find out how David approaches design in general, and the covers for No Way Home and Dear Lucifer and Other Stories in particular, I talked to him, asking him first of all how he comes up with his ideas.
To find out how David approaches design in general, and the covers for No Way Home and Dear Lucifer and Other Stories in particular, I talked to him, asking him first of all how he comes up with his ideas.
© L.A. Davenport 2017-2024.
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Screen Grab | Pushing the Wave