Narrelle M. Harris's Blog, page 28

Quintette of Questions: Suzanne Cass

This week’s new romance release interview is with:

Suzanne Cass

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title?

The name of this book is Chasing Bullets, and yes it was VERY hard to pick the title. I had a working title of Undercover, but I decided that I needed to change it, as there are so many other books out already with the title Undercover. So I went in search of a better one.

After about 20 different incarnations and three weeks of different permutations, I eventually settled on Chasing Bullets, which came up in one of the many urban dictionaries on Google as a slang version of “to take a bullet ”.

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

Oooh, I love this question. I think a lot (most) authors like to keep a photo gallery of images and ideas of their characters. And this is particularly true for me, so I picked my characters, using well-known celebrities almost before I started writing them.

My hero, David Cooper, is a cocky, sardonic undercover cop, with slightly messy surfie-blonde hair and a constant three-day growth. The celebrity I picked to personify him is Eric Christian Olsen, who actually plays a cop in the TV show, NCIS LA. His goofy persona is close to my hero’s personality. And I like to think my heroine, Tara Hunter, who’s an extreme sports guide, is tall and statuesque, just like the Aussie model, Megan Gale. One of Tara’s best asset’s her beautiful big smile, and Megan Gale is world renowned for her own gorgeous big smile.

3. What five words best describe your story?

Courage, heroes, Aussie suspense and (of course) romance.

4. Who is your favourite fictional couple?

This is a really hard one. I know this might sound odd, but I’ve always loved animal stories. And one of my favourites is Milo (the cat) and Otis (the dog). I know, it’s a soppy eighties tear jerker, but how can you not cheer for those amazing animals with such a strong love for each other they’ll climb mountains and swim surging rivers to find each other again? I cry every time I watch that movie.

If I have to name a human fictional couple/team, it’d be Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games. Throughout all the trials and tribulations Suzanne Collins throws at her characters, Peeta loves Katniss unconditionally, even though Katniss won’t allow herself to admit her own feelings for him. Peeta supports Katniss through everything, even when she’s lost faith in herself. It’s such a poignant, tragic book (and movie) but you can’t help barrack for them both to come out winners (of the games and at finding love).

5. What song always makes you cry? 

James Bay has an amazing, soulful voice. His song, SCARS, always makes me think of Tara and Cooper, when she first leaves him in Sydney and runs away to Byron Bay. I always imagine Cooper staring out his hospital window, wretched and in pain, wondering what he did wrong. It’s also significant because of the scars both characters bear, both internal and external.

About Chasing Bullets

Tara Hunter’s easy life in Byron Bay is turned upside down when David Cooper, her ex-police partner, appears in town and their chequered past comes back to haunt her. Tara is drawn into Coop’s mission to track down a group of terrorists hiding out in the jungle wilderness. But when he’s taken hostage, will she be able to find the courage to tell him she loves him and save him from a terrorist’s speeding bullet?

About Suzanne Cass

Suzanne Cass lives in Perth and loves to write about enigmatic heroes in wild, passionate, dangerous stories. Chasing Bullets is her second published novel. Her debut novel, Island Redemption won the RWAus award for best unpublished romance novel of 2016.

Follow Suzanne Cass

Website: www.suzannecass.com
Facebook: Suzanne Cass
Instagram: Suzanne Cass
Twitter: SusieCass1

Buy Chasing Bullets

Chasing Bullets [image error] (Amazon US kindle)
Chasing Bullets (iBooks)


Chasing Bullets (Smashwords)

Chasing Bullets will be released in  paperback in late January 2018.

2017: My Writing Year in Review

When 2016 came to a close, I was very happy with my writing year. A new novel, a new one-shot erotic spy adventure, several short stories and a poem all published! Who knew 2017 would get better?

The biggest writing news of 2017 for me was winning the ‘Body in the Library’ category of the Scarlet Stiletto Awards with my ghost/crime story, ‘Jane’.

I’ve been nominated and shortlisted for recognition before, and it really is wonderful to have my work highlighted alongside brilliant writers. But I have to say, winning an award is also pretty damned lovely.

The success of ‘Jane’ is cherry on a wordcake this year. My eighth novel, Ravenfall, was released in September – it’s currently in paperback, but the ebook is being prepared and will be out soon.

I also wrote more lesbian romance this year, with the one-shot romance set in Melbourne, Near Miss.

I didn’t neglect horror either, with ‘Passive Aggressive’ appearing in Myths, Monsters, Mutations in December – just in time for me to enter it into the Aurealis Awards (along with ‘Jane’ and Ravenfall.)

My epic-best-friends Sherlock Holmes short stories have also come both halves of the year, with ‘The Adventure of the Temperamental Terrier’ in MX Publishing’s sixth volume of Sherlock Holmes stories in May, and ‘The Mystery of the Miner’s Wife’ appearing in the already widely acclaimed Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook, an anthology of stories set in Australia in 1890.

Coming in 2018

I’m not done with 2017 yet, and already I have projects underway for the new year!

Beginning with the confirmed publications, in April 2018, ‘The Problem of the Three Journals‘ is in the Table of Contents for the fabulours Baker Street Irregulars: The Game is Afoot anthology. It’s the second in a series full of alternative universe stories. In mine, Holmes and Watson are a pair of Melbourne hipster cafe owners, serving superb coffee and solving crime!

You can pre-order Baker Street Irregulars: The Game is Afoot[image error] at Amazon.com.

A release date hasn’t yet been set for Jay Henge’s Wavelengths anthology, but it will contain my foray into SF, ‘Earworm Armageddon’.

The rights for The Opposite of Life are mine again, and I’m negotiating with Clan Destine Press to re-release it as an ebook, as they already publish its sequel, Walking Shadows. I’ll also be working on a third book in the series, though I have other commitments in the first half of the year so it may not be seen until 2019 or later.

I have HolmesWatson works underway for Improbable Press, short stories in a modern setting. I have a fantasy-romance to be expanded and resubmited to an interested publisher, and a few other story irons in fires that may come to fruition during the year.

Patreon

My biggest project for 2018 is the launch of my Patreon to re-release and then right more of the novellas that formed my first book, Fly By Night.

I”m in the process of having a new cover created for the first novella, Fly By Night – as soon as that’s done, I’ll be making it free to all my Patreon supporters. I’m also re-editing the second, Sacrifice, which will be released first there too. After that, I’ll be writing three more novellas in what is now called the Duo Ex Machina series – named for the two-man band featuring the lead characters, Frank and Milo.

You can find a bit more about the original stories on my site here, or go to Patreon. Depending on the supporter level, Patreons will receive story chapters, sneak peeks at works in progress or soon to be published, writing tutorials, character naming rights and other free books. Visit my Patreon.

Thanks for being with me this year, and I hope you’ll stick with me for the next!

Five Questions for Tansy Rayner Roberts

Today, Tansy Rayner Roberts answers five questions about her new book:

Tansy Rayner Roberts

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how did you choose the title?

Girl Reporter – and it’s absolutely the clear, best, most obvious title for this story, given that it’s all about the ‘girl reporter’ trope in superhero stories. I may have been slightly inspired by Kelly Link’s Girl Detective short story from some years ago – I love stories that are named after slightly problematic tropes! (I also published a story called Fake Geek Girl, so.)

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

Oooh I like the time travel option, it’s definitely necessary. For Friday, someone with sassiness like 80’s era Nadine Garner, or Melissa Howard who played Rebecca in Dead Gorgeous, that ABC TV show about Victorian ghosts.

For Tina Valentina I’d love an actress who was a big name in the 80s-90’s for that authentic cred – like Claudia Black or Lucy Lawless. Justine Clarke, maybe?

Actually all three of those might be slightly too young, we can also go forward in time, yes?

There are so many options for Griff but my head settled on 90’s Matt Day and I can’t go past that.

Caitlin Stacey is my favourite of everything, I was thinking Solar but actually I can see her as Astra. Clearly I’d have to write her an Astra story to give her a bigger part.

Isla Fisher and Rose Byrne could fight it out for who gets to be Megadethra.

Rachael Taylor as Danni/former Catsuit. Yes, I’m pretty much casting just the women here.

I think Celia Pacquola would do a good job of Astra III.

I want people who have read the story to come back and fill in the blanks here!

3. What five words best describe your story?

Fun, snarky, heroic, action-packed and loving.

4. Who’s your favourite hero and/or sidekick? (Not necessarily a team)

I adore the relationship between Hawkeye and Hawkeye in Marvel comics. The way that Clint Barton dealt with a young woman taking his name and superhero identity while he was dead/out of town… at first he was determined to put her in her place, but they became a great team, and he happily shares the name and status with her instead of insisting he is senior. I like the way that their mentor-mentee relationship is often quite broken and sibling-y because he’s less competent at life than she is. So great.

Another favourite was Barbara Gordon as Oracle, mentoring Stephanie Brown as the new Batgirl.  And of course you can’t really talk about the sidekick relationship without addressing Bruce & Dick from 60’s Batman. “Robin, it’s important to stay in school. Be a good role model. Drink plenty of milk.”

5. What song reflects a theme, character or scene in your book?

Ha this is a ridiculously hard question for me. The Press Gang theme music? All the Crazy Ex Girlfriend theme songs as sung by Megadethra? Remy Zero’s ‘Save Me’, still the absolute best creative decision made by the Smallville production team? Ooh NO I know what it is. It’s totally the Birds of Prey song from Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

(but an honourable mention to this version of Bonnie Tyler’s Holding out for a Hero, as performed by Melissa Benoist on Glee.

About Girl Reporter

From the award-winning author of Cookie Cutter Superhero and Kid Dark Against the Machine comes a brand new novella about girl reporters, superheroes, and interdimensional travel

In a world of superheroes, supervillains, and a machine that can create them all, millennial vlogger and girl reporter Friday Valentina has no shortage of material to cover. Every lottery cycle, a new superhero is created and quite literally steps into the shoes of the hero before them–displacing the previous hero. While Fri may not be super-powered herself, she understands the power of legacy: her mother is none other than the infamous reporter Tina Valentina, renowned worldwide for her legendary interviews with the True Blue Aussie Beaut Superheroes and her tendency to go to extraordinary lengths to get her story.

This time, Tina Valentina may have ventured too far.

Alongside Australia’s greatest superheroes–including the powerful Astra, dazzling Solar, and The Dark in his full brooding glory–Friday will go to another dimension in the hopes of finding her mother, saving the day, maybe even getting the story of a lifetime out of the adventure. (And a new girlfriend, too.)

About Tansy Rayner Roberts

Tansy Rayner Roberts is an award winning blogger, podcaster and fantasy author. She co-hosts the Galactic Suburbia and Verity! podcasts, and is well known for writing feminist commentary on pop culture including superhero comics and Doctor Who.

Follow Tansy:

tansyrr.com
Twitter @tansyrr
Facebook
Instagram @tansyrr
Patreon
Newsletter

Buy Girl Reporter

Girl Reporter [image error] (Amazon US)
Girl Reporter (Amazon UK)


Girl Reporter (Amazon Australia)

New release: Myths, Monsters, Mutations

The fine people at Jay Henge have brought out another specfic anthology in time for the holidays!

The blurb for Myths, Monsters, Mutatations is:

Myths, tales of monsters, mutations of what’s real. Our entire history of storytelling, of myth and lore, of what we pass on to our children, and share around the campfire, has included stories of monsters. From the bogey-men and devils who will eat you if you go out at night, to the gods and demigods waiting to be offended by some small slight, to the sinister mutations and impostors who try to fool us, to the monsters we harbor deep in our own hearts—all find a place within these pages.

My contributions is a short office horror story called ‘Passive Aggressive’, about the insidious evil of passive aggression in offices…

Angie feels her blood vibrating like water on the skin of a drum. A timpani throb. She feels full of tremors.

She feels hollow.

The hollowness is singing.

Buy Myths, Monsters, Mutations

Myths, Monsters, Mutations[image error] (Amazon US kindle)
Myths, Monsters, Mutations [image error] (Amazon US paperback)
Myths, Monsters, Mutations (Amazon Australia)
Myths, Monsters, Mutations (Amazon UK Kindle)
Myths, Monsters, Mutations (Amazon UK paperback)

Narrelle’s Holiday Reading Guide

The end of the calendar year is coming, bringing with it school holidays, the Christmas break, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, the solstice and other observances and festivals, including the new year!

Whatever the occasion – it’s always a good time for a book, am I right? Seems a good time to suggest a recommended reading list of the books I’ve enjoyed this year!

Pardon the blatant plugging, but I have stories in a couple of fantastic anthologies that have been published over the year which you might enjoy, especially if you enjoy crime, adventure or fantasy!

Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook is a collection of stories set in Australia (and on a boat to New Zealand) in 1890.

Authors include Kerry Greenwood cowriting with Lindy Cameron, Lucy Sussex, Steve Cameron, Meg Keneally and Jason Franks!

Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook (Booktopia)


Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook (Angus and Robertson)


Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook (Five Mile)
Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook (Amazon Australia)
Sherlock Holmes The Australian Casebook (Amazon US)

And then.. Volumes One is an absolute treasure trove of great fiction by Australian writers, including Sulari Gentill,  Jason Nahrung, Alan Baxter, Jason Franks, Lucy Sussex, Amanda Wrangles, Evelyn Tsitas, Peter M Ball, Dan Rabarts, Kat Clay, Sophie Masson, Tor Roxburgh, Emilie Collyer and Tansy Rayner Roberts.

There are stories in outer space, in ancient lands, involving dragons and mysteries and alien life forms and pretty much everything in between!  Volume Two is coming as well – check out Clan Destine Press for details (and other cool books by Australian authors!)

I’m especially delighted with Scarlet Stiletto: the Ninth Cut 2017, as it contains my Award-winning ghost/crime story Jane. In fact, every story in the volume is an award winner, by fabulous new Australian crime writers.

Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut – 2017 (Amazon.com)
Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut 2017 (Clan Destine Press)

I have novels and short stories out too, like the action-filled paranormal thriller/gay romance Ravenfall ,and lesbian romance Near Miss!

But it’s not all about me, I know that.

It’s also about Emily Larkin, whose Baleful Godmother series has been a delight all this year. The sixth book of this magical regency series of books and novellas has just been released, but you can start with the delightful Unmasking Miss Appleby, then dash right along with Resisting Miss Merryweather,  Trusting Miss Trentham, Claiming Mister Kemp, and Ruining Miss Wrotham before finishing (for now) with Discovering Miss Dalrymple.

Tansy Rayner Roberts has been another joy this year (and every year) with her Belladonna University/Fake Geek Girl and Castle Charming novella series, her Patreon posts and pretty much just everything she writes. I interviewed her recently, so you can find links of books to love right there. Her brand new book, Girl Reporter, is due out on 19 December too!

More gruesome splendour is provided by Emma Viskic, whose  And Fire Came Down, is every bit as good as its award-winning predecessor, Resurrection Bay.

Full of action, drama, serious injury, and featuring a cast of diverse supporing characters and a deaf protagonist. Highly, highly, highly recommended!

I also want to wave flaily hands at Gillian Polack’s The Wizardry of Jewish Women, because it displays her customary wry wit and intricate world-building in a seemingly innocuous domestic setting with suburban Australia.

Get The Wizardry of Jewish Women in Mobi or Epub formats at Bookview Cafe. 

That’s enough fiction of various types to be getting on with. If you want to try some more ideas, just search my blog on the tag ‘reviews’ for suggestions.

Enjoy your break, if you get one, and may every book you read be golden!

And please – if you have a great book recommendation for the 2017-18 transition, please leave a comment, and maybe even a link!

Quintette of Questions: Welton B. Marsland

This week’s new romance release interview is with:

Welton B. Marsland

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title?

It’s called By the Currawong’s Call, though it didn’t get that title until quite late in its development.

For the longest time, all its bits and pieces had no actual title at all, but they lived in a computer folder called ‘Dinbratten’ – the name of the town in the book.  Then for another long while, it had the working title Ratties (the nickname for the town’s residents).  Briefly, I considered various Biblical references, due to my main character being a priest, and Australian Football references, but nothing really fit well.

Finally, I started throwing around ideas involving various bush birds and settled on the currawong because it’s not only a beautiful bird with a beautiful call, but its name is beautiful, too.  I don’t know if anyone will notice, but the first occurrence of “currawong” in the book is actually made in reference to Jonah Parks (and he certainly does some calling!).

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

If I could cross early ’70s John Waters (the Australian actor, not the American film director!) with Jensen Ackles when he’s got a beard, I think the result would make a pretty good Jonah Parks.  For Matthew, my Anglican priest, 1939-era Tyrone Power would be just the ticket (have you seen him in that year’s “Jesse James”? Mercy!)

3. What five words best describe your story?

Intimate. Hopeful. Quiet. Sexy. Australian.

4. Who is your favourite fictional couple?

Several spring immediately to mind, but I must go with Agron & Nasir from the TV series Spartacus.  They flew under a lot of the mainstream’s radar, but they were magnificent characters, gifted with a story arc that was so carefully and lovingly woven, shunning practically every stereotype that might’ve got in their way.  Just so satisfying and narratively tight, it’s hard to believe they were “only” secondary characters.

Amazing work and commitment from three straight men (writer/creator Steven DeKnight, Australian actor Dan Feuerriegel and New Zealand actor Pana Hema-Taylor) in bringing this oh-so-untypical, heroic, badarse, complicated queer couple to the screen.

Dan and Pana set the bar so high for two-people-believably-falling-in-love that I’m just completely spoilt for all screen depictions of love stories from here on out.  I could shower accolades all day!

5. What song always makes you cry? 

Forever Autumn from the War of the World’s double album never fails to turn the waterworks on.

About By the Currawong’s Call

A small town, a new arrival, and a love that is as undeniable as it is unlawful…

Victoria, Australia, 1891

Anglican priest Matthew Ottenshaw receives his first posting in tiny Dinbratten, two days’ ride from his Melbourne home. Determined to honour his calling as best he can, he throws himself into the footy mad, two-pub town, navigating the dusty streets, learning the gossip, and striking up a friendship with Jonah Parks, the resident police sergeant and local bona fide hero.

A police officer and a priest often find themselves needed at the same place, and Jonah and Matthew’s friendship deepens quickly, as they set about their business of protecting the bodies and souls of Dinbratten’s residents. When a bushfire threatens the town, and Matthew’s inexperience with fire endangers the church buildings, Jonah comes to the rescue, and a reckless kiss in the midst of the chaos takes their friendship to forbidden.

Neither Matthew nor Jonah can go back to the way things were before, but continuing their relationship puts everything at risk: their jobs, their friends, even their lives. In the outback town of Dinbratten where everyone knows everything about everyone else, how can they ever expect to keep a secret this explosive?

About Welton B. Marsland

A queer-punk history geek who flits between nature walks, dinky bars, footy matches and live gigs, WBM lives in the great city of Melbourne with an ex-Army sword-slinger and three idiosyncratic cats.

Follow Welton B. Marsland

weltonbmarsland.com
@wbmarsland
weltonbmarsland on tumblr.com

Buy By the Currawong’s Call

By the Currawong’s Call   (iTunes)
By the Currawong’s Call (Booktopia)


By The Currawong’s Call[image error] (Amazon US)


By the Currawong’s Call (Amazon Australia)


By the Currawong’s Call (Amazon UK)
By the Currawong’s Call (Google Play)


By the Currawong’s Call (Kobo)


By the Currawong’s Call (Nookbook)


By the Currawong’s Call (Large print and dyslexic editions)

Quintette of Questions: SM Spencer

This week’s romance release interview is with:

SM Spencer

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title?

A Chance for Snow.  I wanted to keep to the theme of “A Chance …” and knew this was to be a story set around Christmas, so this worked well. It wasn’t hard to pick the title, just took a bit of tweaking.

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

Hugh Jackman would make a fabulous Jim Mitchell!  And Rose Byrne would make a great Debra Franklin. As for the kids, perhaps a young Liam Hemsworth for Porter, and Emily Browning as Megan. (An all Australian cast, for certain!)

3. What five words best describe your story?

Moving, Dreamy, Surprising, Entwining, Genuine

4. Who is your favourite fictional couple?

Well, if I were to base it on the number of times I watched the movie and never seemed to tire of it, I think it would have to be Richard Gere and Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. My favourite quote from the movie, “big mistake”. Who doesn’t know where she says that, who she’s talking to at the time, and why she says it? It’s a classic line!

5. What song always makes you cry? 

The song Angel (sometimes known as In the Arms of an Angel) by Sarah McLachlan always make me teary; every time I hear it. I love all versions of the song, but perhaps my favourite would be the one with Pink, from the American Music Awards, 2008.

I’m glad you asked this question as it prompted me to look up the history of the song—there’s a good reason it brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.

About A Chance for Snow

With a double wedding and Christmas fast approaching, love is in the air—or is it?

Of course Debra Franklin is looking forward to her best friend’s wedding; she just wishes she wasn’t dateless again, because even though she’s made plans to leave the small-town gossips behind, she knows the wedding photos with her looking like a spinster will last forever. But when the tall-dark-and-handsome Jim Mitchell, with his cobalt blue eyes shadowed by an American cowboy hat, appears on the scene just a week before the wedding, she reckons her problem of being dateless might just be solved.

Megan Saunders has always wanted a White Christmas, and this year she’s having one—in Canada. But getting her wish is a double-edged sword as it means having less time with her best friend, Porter Murray, before he leaves for university. She’s getting her childhood wish fulfilled, so why does her future feel as bleak as a dusty road leading nowhere?

As Debra’s and Jim’s paths cross with the teenagers, they form unusual friendships—and their lives are changed in surprising ways.

About S M Spencer

Growing up, S M Spencer wanted two things: a horse, and a writing career. After years of hard work, she’s got both. Living the Dream!

Follow S M Spencer

Facebook
Twitter

Buy A Chance for Snow

 A Chance for Snow (Copperhead Creek – Australian Romance Book 5)[image error] (Amazon US)
A Chance for Snow (Amazon Australia)

Quintette of Questions: Angela Kamerer-White

Quintette asks writers five quick questions. This week’s interview is with:

Angela Kamerer-White

1. What’s the name of your latest book – and how hard was it to pick a title?

My first book is called The Band That Changed Her Life. It was originally titled 15 Grooms but I felt that was too obvious and didn’t really express the story well enough, since music plays a part in the story.

This time around it wasn’t all that difficult, but then I tend to have the title in my head before the story.

2. If you could choose anyone from any time period, who would you cast as the leads in your latest book?

Well, there is no main lead but I would love it if the band Super Junior could play the characters they inspired. A young Elizabeth Taylor or Viviene Leigh would be awesome too, but honestly, if this ever goes to the screen I want to have a multi-ethnic, and racial cast with new and undiscovered talent.

3. What five words best describe your story?

International poetic romantic musical adventure.

4. Who is your favourite fictional couple or team?

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson

5. What song always makes you cry? 

Our ‘Love is Like a Storybook’ story from The Princess Bride

though ‘Sorry Sorry’ by Super Junior was the catalyst that brought this book into existence and ‘Bloodstream’ by Stateless was played on repeat during the writing of it.

About The Band That Changed Her Life

They had risked it all for fame, but what about love?

The largest boyband in Asia collides with 15 American fangirls that change their lives forever.

Love takes courage and gives it right back. Will you take the risk?

About Angela Kamerer-White

My name is Angela Kamerer-White I was born and raised in Southeast Louisiana.

When I was 13 I went to boarding school and made my first Korean friend. In college, where I majored in English, I made friends who were all fans of Kpop. I was introduced to the band Super Junior and the rest, as they say, is history.

I live in Gonzales, LA and work for Walmart. The Band That Changed Her Life is my first book.

Follow Angela Kamerer-White:

Facebook

Buy The Band That Changed Her Life

The Band That Changed Her Life: Adventures in Kpop[image error] (Amazon US Kindle)
The Band That Changed Her Life: Adventures in Kpop[image error] (Amazon US Paperback)
The Band that Changed Her Life (Amazon UK)

‘Jane’ wins The Body in the Library category at the Scarlet Stiletto Awards

This year I entered the Sisters in Crime Australia Scarlet Stiletto Awards for the very first time. The awards, hosted by Sisters in Crime and a number of generous sponsors, are for crime stories written by Australian women and with female protagonists.

I am absolutely thrilled to have received the Body in the Library first place with my ghost story, ‘Jane’.

An Australian Literature research student meets a ghost in a state-of-the-art private library on a remote bush property. She tries to unravel the mystery of the ghost’s origins while the dangers of the present, both human and natural, loom.

The awards night was fabulous! Most of the 26 shortlisted authors (out of 186 entrants) were there, some coming from interstate. Jane Clifton was a marvellous MC, and did a fantastic interview with the ever-lovely Sigrid Thornton (with whom she co-starred in the iconic TV series Prisoner).

Congratulations to all my fellow short-listed authors, and category winners! Huge thanks to Sisters in Crime and the award sponsors, especially the fabulous Athenaeum Library!

A big thank you too to Lindy Cameron, who looked me in the eye when I told her I’d never written for the awards and instructed me, in no uncertain terms, that this year I had to enter.

Books and Publishing has a full list of the winning entries.

If you’d like to read ‘Jane’ and the other award-winning stories, you can pick up Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut 2017:

Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut – 2017[image error] (Amazon.com)
Scarlet Stiletto: The Ninth Cut 2017 (Clan Destine Press)

You can also find out more about the awards at Sisters in Crime.

News: Horror story sale to Jay Henge

I’m delighted to announce that my short horror story, “Passive Aggressive”, has been accepted for Jay Henge’s next anthology, Myths, Monsters, Muations.

I’ve also had a science fiction story accepted for their following anthology, Wavelengths, though the cover isn’t yet available for that one.

Jay Henge creates entertaining themed anthologies. I have works in two other anthologies – “Death’s Door” in Intrepid Horizons about a young poet’s odd relationship with the Grim Reaper, and “Show and Tell” in Encounters – where it’s a possessed mummy hand versus Class 1B and the odds are pretty even.

I’m not sure yet of the release date for Myths, Monsters, Mutations, but in the meantime you can find these other JayHenge anthologies:

Intrepid Horizons Amazon US Kindle
Intrepid Horizons Paperback
Encounters Amazon US Kindle
Encounters Paperback
Encounters Amazon.com.au ebook
Encounters Amazon.co.uk ebook