I’ll be at the Canberra Geek Markets this Saturday 29 April at EPIC, Canberra.
My stall is located next to the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild (CSFG) stall
Come along and check out comics, books, media and merchandise for all your inner Geek desires!
I’m selling and signing books and have some cool merchandise all available at sale prices!
Publisher’s Description
Saturnalia in Aufleur is a time of topsy-turvy revels, of the world turned upside down. The city’s theatres produce an annual display of reversals and surprises. Women can transform into wolves. Even the rats are not what they seem.
Evie has travelled to Aufleur to uncover the city’s sinister secrets… but this newspaper reporter has secrets of her own.
As she befriends the dazzling cabaret performers of the mysterious Vittorina Royale theatre, she falls under the spell of their most charismatic celebrities: songbird Livilla and the Stagemaster Poet. Who is Garnet, and why is everyone so afraid of him? What are the secrets of the Creature Court? Evie thought she wanted to learn the truth, but now she just wants to get out of Aufleur alive.
If you enjoy intrigue, devastating plot twists, LGBT characters and sumptuous detail, you’ll adore this gaslamp fantasy novella inspired by Paris theatre, Ancient Rome and the Roaring 20s.
Review
I recently read prequel novella Cabaret of Monsters (Creature Court, #0.5) by Australian author Tansy Raynar Roberts.
The protagonist Evie is also known as the Storyteller and travels to Aufluer as a reporter the cover the fashionable and famous theatrical scene.
Evie is quickly embraced by the theatrical group run by the mysterious Stagemaster Poet at the Vitoria Royale theatre as the troupe prepares for the famous Aufleur Saturnalia plays. Evie has an ulterior motive for being in the Vitoria Royale as she discovers more about the man Garnet, the strange history of returned songbird Livilia. But Evie can’t help but learn to feel for the members of the troupe and her real reason for being in Aufleur causes internal conflict as she learns more about the Creature Court and its hold over the city.
Final Thoughts
A well-written dark Gaslamp novella set in a 1920s-esque era that is dark, mysterious and dangerous. A truly unique plot and well-crafted characters.
Conclusion
Highly recommended for fans of dark fantasy, Gaslamp themes, paranormal and supernatural tales set in an intoxicating 1920s style world.
Publisher’s Description
Everything has changed for Dr Ruth Galloway.
She has a new job, home and partner, and is no longer North Norfolk police’s resident forensic archaeologist. That is, until convicted murderer Ivor March offers to make DCI Nelson a deal. Nelson was always sure that March killed more women than he was charged with. Now March confirms this, and offers to show Nelson where the other bodies are buried – but only if Ruth will do the digging.
Curious, but wary, Ruth agrees. March tells Ruth that he killed four more women and that their bodies are buried near a village bordering the fens, said to be haunted by the Lantern Men, mysterious figures holding lights that lure travellers to their deaths.
Is Ivor March himself a lantern man, luring Ruth back to Norfolk? What is his plan, and why is she so crucial to it? And are the killings really over?
Review
I recently read forensic archaeological crime mystery The Lantern Men (Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, #12) by UK author Elly Griffiths.
The protagonist Dr Ruth Galloway has left the marshes and working at the University of Oxford and living in a townhouse with her new partner. But she is restless and soon requested to work a cold case murders on the marshes of Norfolk. A series of missing women from an artistic retreat and local folklore of lights on the marshes that lead the lost astray are the Lantern Men. But this specific folklore is imbedded the past and present of the retreat – saving the lost on the real and metaphorical marshes and missing women the likely victims of a sinister killer.
Ruth Galloway is the forensic archaeologist that convicted killer Ivor March requests to find two of his victims Detective Nelson is certain he killed. Soon, Ruth is following a trail of history, folklore and tales of the lantern men. But as the psst students and leaders of the retreat become interwoven with legendary and real lantern men, Ruth and Nelson wonder if there’s more than one killer – and more recent missing women on the marshes taken by a very real Lantern Man.
Final Thoughts
I’ve read several Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths and the clever integration of local folklore in The Lantern Men is highly intriguing. The suspense and thriller aspects of a murder mystery were cleverly interwoven with the folklore of the lantern man central to theme and crimes.
Conclusion
A highly recommended mystery – both for it’s history and crime themes. There’s even something for fans folklore and suspense. A great read!
*** I received a free copy in return for an honest review ****
Publisher’s Description
Almond-eyed celestial, the filial daughter, the perfect wife.
Quiet, submissive, demure.
In Black Cranes, Southeast Asian writers of horror both embrace and reject these traditional roles in a unique collection of stories which dissect their experiences of ‘otherness,’ be it in the colour of their skin, the angle of their cheekbones, the things they dare to write, or the places they have made for themselves in the world. Black Cranes is a dark and intimate exploration of what it is to be a perpetual outsider.
Review
I was thrilled to read and review Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women edited by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn.
This is a beautiful and rare collection of speculative fiction tales from women of southeast Asian descent writing about the culture where women are supposed to be quiet, unheard and remain in the shadows. Black Cranes brings these voices, cultures, folklores and legends into the open and shines a light on the powerful women of Southeast Asia.
Final Thoughts
There are so many different and wonderful tales in Black Cranes that I found it difficult to choose my stand-out favourites.
Some of my favourite stories were “The Genetic Alchemist’s;s Daughter” by Elaine Cuyegkeng, , “Kapre: a love Story”, by Ron Cupeco, “Vanilla Rice”, and “Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn.
Conclusion
An absolutely stunning, beautiful and powerful collection of tales about women emerging from the shadows of their cultures. A simply stunning collection!
The Condor is a mythic Trickster figure in the legends of the local people of the Andes. There is a myth which accompanies the Condor recounted below from source unknown.
There was once a an old shepherd who lived with his beautiful young daughter in a little village at the top of the Andes. The girl pastured the sheep, llamas and other animals from her father’s farm while his wife tended to household chores.
Un expectantly, a young man visited her in the mountains. He went to see her every day and always so elegantly dressed as if he was attending a great gala in the Andes and a always wore a beautiful white scarf about his throat. The two got on very well and were vary careful to meet when she would attend to the livestock.
They became quick friends and at one of this visits he asked the girl if she would play a game. “If you pick me up, I’ll pick you up”. She trusted the man and lifted her in his turn, just as she and made for a quick leap into the sky, he transformed into turned into a magnificent condor and gently cradled the her in the cage of his talons and took her up to his nest inn the highest peaks of the Andes.
They lived together in his nest for a long time. He brought her food and took care of her and she fell in love with him and gave him and she had a beautiful baby. While the girl loved them both – husband and child- but she missed her father deeply and cried every night thinking about how lonely the poor old man would be.
One day she saw a humming bird passing by and asked him for help. The bird would go to the village and bring back her father to rescue her and her child and in reward the humming bird will have every flower in her father’s plot. The cheerful bird accepted.
The agreement met, trrudb e gone and the Condor had finished eating po youn nv g truth he returned to his nest and instead of his family he found two green frogs in their place. The humming bird was waiting for him there and told him that the girl and their son turn into ojos frogs right in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do.
On the following day, her father arrived at that there with a dead donkey to distract the Condor while he rescued his daughter and her child.
Legend says that now the Condor watches over the Andes trying to find a new girl to bring to his nest and just once in a while when he sees someone as beautiful as the shepherd’s daughter he becomes an elegant young man and visits them trying to trick them into playing a game with him.
Publisher’s Description
When two young girls go missing in rural Herefordshire, police constable and wizard-in-training Peter Grant is sent out of London to check that nothing supernatural is involved.
It’s purely routine—Nightingale, Peter’s superior, thinks he’ll be done in less than a day. But Peter’s never been one to walk away from someone in trouble, so when nothing overtly magical turns up he volunteers his services to the local police, who need all the help they can get.
But because the universe likes a joke as much as the next sadistic megalomaniac, Peter soon comes to realize that dark secrets underlie the picturesque fields and villages of the countryside and there might just be work for Britain’s most junior wizard after all.
Soon Peter’s in a vicious race against time, in a world where the boundaries between reality and fairy have never been less clear….
Review
I’ve been reading this series for years now and I absolutely love it. Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London, #5) by UK author Ben Arronavitch was as classy, funny, scary, and at times, as gory the others in the series.
Foxglove Summer follows London special branch (spooky stuff) constable Peter Grant when he’s sent out of his comfort zone and into the herodfordshire countryside. He’s there to help determine if there is any magical or unnatural forces behind the sudden disappearance of two pre-teen girls. What he finds is the country is potentially more dangerous than London and semi-visible unicorns with malicious intent are rampaging about the forests at night. Into such danger Peter Grant wades and questions begin to rise over the sudden reappearance of the girls, their odd behaviour and which one might be a fairy changeling? Or both?
Final Thoughts
Foxglove Summer was an unusual departure for Arronovitch and the Peter Grant books which has been squarely set in London. I enjoyed the new secondary characters and the involvement of the Fae in the storyline. A refreshing novel in the Rivers of London series.
Conclusion
Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy, mystery, paranormal, alternate history, crime and dark fantasy. As always delivered with Aaronovitch’s superb craftsmanship. A great, fun read!
A very late posting of the offical launch of Bluebells on October 2nd, 2022 at Conflux 16 Convention in Canberra. The book launch which had been delayed due to my health issues and extended hospital stays. So this was time to celebrate!
We kicked off the launch with Zachary Ashford giving a great introduction to my writing career and focus so far: I’m an LGBTQI and disability author of numerous short stories in the horror and dark fantasy genres. Bluebells was my debut novella.
Zachary had a couple of questions on what inspired me to write Bluebells. The answers ranged from climate change, an interest in WWI, vampires and the Black Death and ‘Spanish fever’. Alternate history had always fascinated me and the question in my mind became what if the world had fallen into a post-apocalyptic state during WWI? What if the future we know, never happened?
Zachary invited me to do a quick reading from Bluebells. I chose a passage near the end where the vampire Nicolas confronts and debates his humanity alongside his vampirism.
A book signing and purchase option for copies of Bluebells followed and I had a lovely time meeting new and old friends while I signed copies.
Publisher’s Description
Decades after escaping the tower, Zel makes her living as a healer and wise-woman, travelling the lands with her family and the sentient, serpentine braid that still carries a touch of the witch’s magic. Short-haired and happy, Zel prepares for the birth of her first great-grandchild, only to find herself shaken by unexpected news: Mother Gothel is dead.
Memories of the woman who raised her, isolated and imprisoned, unlock within Zel an equal measure of anger and grief, forcing her at last to reckon with the tragic events of that long-ago summer when her own children came of age … a season where implacable death stalked her family across the wild, grassy plains and the world Zel knew split open and soured.
For there are graver threats in Zel’s world than witches, greater sorrows to be borne than the loss of true love, and some dangers from which even the oldest, strongest magic may not be enough to protect her.
Summary
Braid was highly anticipated for me after reading one of the other novellas in the Never Afters series by Australian author Kirstyn McDermott.
Braid follows the protagonist Rapunzel, known as Zel, through her flashback memories of life immediately after the Tower and the rise of anti witchcraft sentiments in the common folk. This lands Zel into trouble that her fierce twin sister ends up paying the costs while they mourn the earlier death of Zel’s younger brother and the other twin.
Despite what should have been a joyous and life-changing arrival of Zel freed from the witch’s tower. But even here, Zel has a complicated friendship and dislike for the witch Gothel s who had raised her from a child to a tormentor.
Review
Braid is a well-written and highly original novella from the Never Afters series. McDermott uses a complex technique of several timelines, which could occasionally be difficult to follow at times. Well-worth reading the imagined life of Rapunzel after fleeing the tower with her prince.
Conclusion
A wonderful read for fans of fairytales and fantasy, literature and history, There’s a bit of everything for the reader and makes you think what prisons we build for ourselves. A great real!!
Publisher’s Description
Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the Baba Yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the Baba Yaga may find help, or hindrance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch – and these are her tales.
Review
I was determined to read Bram Stoker Preliminary ballot anthology edited by US author Lindy Ryan. Into the Forest is an anthology of stories and poetry about the fascinating figure of the Russian witch, Baba Yaga.
There were many brilliant stories in this anthology but to highlight a few favourites. “Last Tour into the Hungering Moonlight” by Gwendolyn Kiste , “Water like Broken Glass” by Carina Bissett, “Herald the Knight” by Mercedes M. Yardley and “Mama Yaga” by Christina Sng.
Final Thoughts
Into the Forest is a unique anthology drawing on the masterful skills of many authors and their interpretations of the multitude of Baba Yaga legends. A beautiful collection spanning time, history, cultures and styles.
Conclusion
Highly recommended for fans of folklore, fairy tales, fantasy and mythology. This anthology has it all and so much more. Definitely worth a read!
A very late post on the October 2022 Conflux 16 Speculative Fiction Convention held in Canberra. Aside from being an invited panelist for 4 seperate panels, I ran my first Dealers Table for the four days and officially launched Bluebells.
I was also an invited panellist on 4 panels – each exciting to engage with an audience and discuss the theme in question with other likeminded writers.
“Queering Fiction” was a wonderful discussion about how authors create characters with a LGBTQI identity – or how authors like Sam Hawke create an entire world where sexuality is fluid and accepted.
“Re-imagining Horror in a Pandemic” was a great lineup of panelists discussing how the pandemic affected them as writers but also how the wider public changed perceptions and fear became a driver of society. For horror writers, fear is the driver of a story. Many ideas were exchanged on whether horror writing would become more or less popular and certainly Fantasy seemed to be the main genre read during pandemic lockdowns.
“Including Disability in Fiction” was such an important panel that like the queer community, characters with disabilities are often absent, stereotyped or in the background of a storyline. This panel explored what writers living with disabilities experience and want to see more of in fiction and from their own writing.
“Climate Change: Past and Future” was a fascinating panel exploring the emergence and importance of climate fiction in publishing scene. Discussions ranged from the emergence of man-induced climate change to the reality of how climate change is affecting everyday existence and how that has seen the explosion of dystopian fiction. An important comment by Cat Sparks was that perhaps we should be focusing in our writing of turning the current climate crisis around and sending a message of hope in doing so.
The last event was a live 5 minute reading session with Kaaron Warren. I read an excerpt from Bluebells when Peter first meets Nicolas de Laon on the frontlines in Belgium.
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