AustLit

'Enter a world where terrible secrets are hidden in a wind chime’s song.

Where crippled witches build magic from scrap.

And the beautiful dead dance for eternity.

The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories collects the finest science fiction and horror short stories from award-winning writer Joanne Anderton. From mechanical spells scavenging a derelict starship to outback zombies and floating gardens of bone, these stories blur the lines between genres. A mix of freakish horror, dark visions of the future and the just plain weird, Anderton’s tales will draw you in – but never let you get comfortable' (publisher website).

'Charlie died in Nevada, 1973, after seeing Led Zeppelin live on stage and making the wrong choice on the long drive home.

'Corey meets him at a TAD gig seventeen years later and feels an immediate attraction. They both swear their night together will be a onetime thing, but neither can stay away.

'Corey and Charlie spend two decades building a life together, a mortal and vampire in love, but there are some things Corey’s not willing to give up. She can move cities when Charlie’s eternal youth raises suspicion and she can rebuild her career as a music journalist after every disruption to their life, but as she gets older, it’s harder and harder to be satisfied with their nocturnal existence.

'Then a moment of weakness delivers Charlie and Corey the one thing they never expected to have…and their relationship gets more complicated than either of them ever dreamed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A young girl trapped by generational trauma and an unexpected pregnancy struggles to realise her dreams in the final volume of Mag Vann’s InSecurity Triptych.

'In 1987, baby Marlene witnesses her father mutilated in a Port Moresby compound invasion, giving rise to a deep psychological scar and a powerful family secret.

'In 2012, Marlene finds her perfect match in awkward hacker Andy, an American running from his past and desperate for a visa. Their relationship survives on necessity and petty scams, but visa troubles and an unplanned pregnancy threaten their budding engagement.

'With Marlene’s family watching and struggling to support their daughter, Andy suggests a daring con that could set them up for life. Marlene will sell others out to achieve her dream, but she’s about to learn everyone has secrets and Andy’s are darker than most.

'Could achieving her dream life come with a price tag even Marlene is unwilling to pay?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'“We lived in a world that did not allow women to breathe; how could we be anything but monsters?”

'Tansy Rayner Roberts retells the stories of seven women from Greek mythology, giving voice to the scorned, the sidelined, and the monstrous.

'A young gorgon finds acceptance at the Medusa Club. Atalanta spills the truth behind the myth of the Argonauts. Scylla suffers through a series of terrible college roommates. Handmaids in Sparta get more than they bargained for when they interfere in their queen’s correspondence with a Trojan prince. A comparative mythology graduate finds herself at a speed-dating night packed with dodgy gods. Behind a velvet rope, a queenly Minotaur presides over a roller disco. Persephone shares her story via a series of pomegranate recipes.

'Deliciously mythic and delightfully funny, Gorgons Deserve Nice Things delivers new takes on ancient stories, reinvigorating them with modern perspectives and settings. Showcasing the craft and insight that made her one of Australia’s most beloved short fiction writers, this collection sees Roberts at her wry, subversive best.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Years before he built his name as a science fiction and fantasy author, Peter M. Ball was a young poet and member of the Gold Coast’s Post Hoc Performing Word collective, building a profile with publications in venerable magazines such as Overland and performances at writer’s festivals around Australia. Gold Coast, 2002, collects 24 poems capturing life as a permanent resident of Australia’s most notorious tourist destination, bringing them into print for the first time in 20 years.' (Publication summary)

'“Your career is unlikely to be a constant stream of hits, accolades, festival circuits — and that’s kind of good, because if you’re constantly on-the-road, it’s hard to write and create.”

'In these essays, Angela Slatter — the celebrated author of the Sourdough stories, the Verity Fassbinder series, and (as A.G. Slatter) All The Murmuring Bones — tackles just what it takes to sustain a writing career after your book has launched.

'Building on years of blog posts, keynotes, and articles, What To Do When You Don’t Have A Book Coming Out explores ways you stay visible and sustain a writing career, with advice on doing public readings, applying for grants, engaging with your community, and surviving the fallow periods when the next release seems very distant.

'Whether you’re a new writer trying to plot out your career, or an existing fan of Slatter’s writing looking for yet more sage advice, this chapbook provides a second look at the philosophy and processes of one of Australia’s most acclaimed writers of fantasy and horror.' (Publication summary)

'Several years into their marriage, Beauty and her once beastly husband are at a crossroads. Though they still love each other, they have not been able to have children nor talk about the problems that have beset them since the fairy curse was lifted. Instead, she devotes herself to the roses in their garden while he composes music to charm the most discerning Parisian audiences.

'But Beauty secretly longs for the Beast with whom she fell in love, and her husband fears he’s no longer the creature she most desires. When Peregrine, Beauty’s enigmatic fey sister-in-law, comes to visit, she sparks off a chain of events that will either heal the marriage or leave it in irretrievable tatters.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The night after the tumultuous events at her grandmother’s house, Little Red ventures into the woods to find her missing grandmother. Instead, she discovers a stranger who claims to be her aunt … and learns a startling secret. Her family are wolves, changing form in phase with the moon, and the beast slain in grandmother’s cottage means she’ll not be home again.

'With the full moon overhead, Red learns she can undergo the change herself, but life as a wolf is not so easy as it might appear. The villagers distrust fanged beast and fell magic in equal measure, and every transformation places her family in peril. The secret her grandmother kept close could now bring death to her mother, her aunt, and even Red herself. There are paths that need to be chosen, and no decision will come without sacrifice.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Queen who’d once swept up the cinders is exiled to a distant wing of the palace, replaced by a younger, prettier girl who can bear her King an heir. Unwilling to accept the rapid deterioration of her power and desperately clinging to fraying strands of sanity, the exiled Queen journals the choices that led to her sorry state… and those she must make in order to reclaim her rightful place in the kingdom.

'But there’s more than one prisoner in the castle, and the conspiracy that draws tight around Queen and rival involves graver threats than a return to poverty.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Bluebeard’s seventh wife is the first to survive his wrath, courtesy of ghostly warnings and the timely intervention of her brothers. The village burns her murderous husband, his crimes laid bare and his wealth passed on to her… but even after his death, Bluebeard’s house won’t allow anyone to leave. All wives—living and dead—remain trapped in their husband’s manor, even as the man who terrorised them proves to be less dead than they had hoped.

'Haunted by his vengeful ghost, can the wives find a way to break the curse that would bind them in darkness and torment forever?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'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.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Decades after the incident in the woods, Gretel has forged a good life in a small village, running a bakery and taking care of her brother and the stray, bedraggled women who find work as her apprentices. Business is good, and when it’s not, Gretel took more from the witch than a knack of making sweet treats and gingerbread, just as her brother returned home forever changed by the torture he experienced.

'The book of magic hidden beneath the stairs has kept Gretel and her household comfortable for years, but it also calls to Gretel in the night, demanding she return to the woods and replace the witch they killed. For years, she’s been resisting, determined to keep Hansel and her apprentices safe.

'Then Hansel’s drinking goes too far and Gretel realises her brother is dying. Finally, the seductive call of the book’s magic might be too strong to deny…'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Brain Jar Press).

'How much do you know about the people who keep you safe?

'Madeline Kyle is putting her life back together, throwing herself into a new library job after years of restrictive psychiatric care. Ready to put her past behind her and prove she can stand on her own, Madeline cleaves to personal rules and routines in order to hold back the paranoia and anorexia nervosa that first derailed her life.

'For the first time, Madeline feels safe and in control of her future, but an encounter with a library security guard threatens everything she works for. Madeline’s instincts scream that his furtive interest is a harbinger of danger, but her therapist suggest it’s all in her head and perhaps she’s not ready to move out on her own.

'As the growing threat of the guard eclipses her work, Madeline finds herself struggling to navigate daily interactions that grow murky as the depths of a river in flood. When she retreats into the tunnels below the library for safety, things accelerate towards a violent endgame where Madeline risks everything on a single choice around whose instincts are correct.

'Does she fight back and risk her liberty, or accept the reality others push upon her and risk her very life?'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Brain Jar ed.).

'"Sure, writers have demons and inner critics that whisper horrible, discouraging things to us. But some of us give them undignified pet names and enrol them in short courses to get them off our hands..."

'In these essays, Angela Slatter-the World Fantasy Award-winning author of the Sourdough Stories, the Verity Fassbinder Series, and more-explores the relationship between the writer, their work, and the publishing industry they inhabit.

'Drawn from twelve years of author presentations, keynote speeches, blog posts, and articles aimed at aspiring and established professionals, You Are Not Your Writing features Slatter's best advice on managing social media, understanding the role awards play in your developing career, the hierarchy of rejection, and strategically building your career and network of other writers. Most importantly, they draw the line between the writer and their work, and illustrate the dangers of mistaking one for the other.

'Whether you're a new writer seeking advice on taking the next step, or a fan of Slatter's fiction looking for a glimpse behind the scenes, this chapbook is a peek into the mindset and philosophy of one of Australia's most acclaimed writers of fantasy and horror.' (Publication summary)

'Following on from her Aurealis and Australian Shadow Award-winning debut collection, Joanne Anderton’s Inanimates finds the terrifying in the everyday, bringing together seven stories where ordinary objects become the source of nightmares and extraordinary threat. 

'In “Thread Embrace,” a well-dressed killer finds himself at the mercy of an unexpectedly sartorial threat. “Simulation Theory” sees a wounded soldier bonds with the bomb disposal robot he worked with in the field. In the heartbreaking last story, “High Density”, the comfortable suburban ideal of a retired couple becomes a war against a dark and dangerous form of urban renewal.

'In turns wicked, delightful, horrifying, and fantastic, Inanimates: Tales of Everyday Fear showcases a hidden gem of the Australian genre scene, and highlights Anderton’s ability to see the dark, supernatural threats inherent in ordinary things.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Matter transporters, dead worlds, and ghostly encounters. Parallel worlds, time-travel, and dangers that lurk in the shadows. 

'Little Labyrinths brings together 17 vignettes and microfictions from one of Australia’s premier authors of science fiction and fantasy. Collected together for the first time, these brief tales and startling asides cover territory that is playful, experimental, and infused with speculative wonder. Once dubbed Australia’s King of Genre Fiction, Williams’ work will remind you of the strange, exciting, and mysterious pleasures that come from losing yourself in the smallest stories.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.