Back in 2015, SQ Mag published my story “Night Blooming”. It featured Shane Hall, a homicide detective, and Manasa Chalmers, a corporate security operative from India, united by happenstance and searching for a lost teenager.
There were a couple of points of difference to the typical buddy cop story, firstly in that Brisbane, as with the rest of the world, is experiencing “mythomorphosis”, in which people are transforming into mythical creatures, and secondly, in that this strange and little-understood phenomenon was affecting our heroines quite personally.
I was chuffed and pleasantly surprised for “Night Blooming” to be selected for Ticonderoga Publications’ latest anthology of Australian fantasy and horror, their Year’s Best 2015 — see the table of contents below*, salivate, then order it, my friends!
But wait, there’s more! Because hitting the digital shelves at the end of 2016, ahead of a paperback release this month, is And Then … Vol.1 from Clan Destine Press. This tome features 15 longer tales starring dynamic partnerships, a varied and exotic selection of Antipodean adventure stories (here be dragons, and so much more!).
Among the first offering (TOC below) is my “The Mermaid Club”, another outing for Shane and Manasa. I’ve written a little about the story over at Sophie Masson’s website, but proof’s in the pudding. Not to give too much away, the pair suspect their’s something fishy about a kidnapping at a rich man’s club … Ebook here, paperback to come, with Vol.2 close on its heels!
* you will notice a certain Kirstyn McDermott in the list! doubly chuffed!
Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2015 TOC
Joanne Anderton — 2B
Alan Baxter — The Chart of the Vagrant Mariner
Deborah Biancotti — Look How Cold My Hands Are
Stephen Dedman — Oh, Have You Seen The Devil
Erol Engin — The Events at Callan Park
Jason Fischer — The Dog Pit
Dirk Flinthart — In the Blood
Kimberley Gaal — In Sheep’s Clothing
Stephanie Gunn — The Flowers That Bloom Where Blood Touches Earth
Lisa Hannett — Consorting With Filth
Robert Hood — Double Speak
Kathleen Jennings — A Hedge of Yellow Roses
Maree Kimberley — Ninehearts
Jay Kristoff — Sleepless
Martin Livings — El Caballo Muerte
Danny Lovecraft — Reminiscences of Herbert West
Kirstyn McDermott — Self, Contained
Sally McLennan — Mr Schmidt’s Dead Pet Emporium
DK Mok — Almost Days
Faith Mudge — Blueblood
Samantha Murray — Half Past
Jason Nahrung — Night Blooming
Garth Nix — The Company of Women
Anthony Panegyres — Lady Killer
Rivqa Rafael — Beyond the Factory Wall
Deborah Sheldon — Perfect Little Stitches
Angela Slatter Bluebeard’s Daughter
Cat Sparks — Dragon Girl
Lucy Sussex — Angelito
Anna Tambour — Tap
Kaaron Warren — Mine Intercom
And Then Vol.1 TOC
Introduction by Janeen Webb
Sulari Gentil — Catch a Fallen Star
Jason Nahrung — The Mermaid Club
Alan Baxter — Golden Fortune, Dragon Jade
Jason Franks — Exli and the Dragon
Lucy Sussex — Batgirl in Borneo
Amanda Wrangles — Come Now, Traveller
Evelyn Tsitas — Stealing Back the Relics
Peter M Ball — Deadbeats
Narrelle M Harris — Moran & Cato: Virgin Soil
Dan Rabarts — Tipuna Tapu
Kat Clay — In the Company of Rogues
Sophie Masson — The Romanov Opal
Tor Roxburgh — The Boudicca Society
Emilie Collyer — The Panther’s Paw
Tansy Rayner Roberts — Death at the Dragon Circus