Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook.

I've finally received my author copy of Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook, and it is stunning. hard back, with embossed cover, beautifully illustrated and some incredible names within. I feel so honoured and privileged to have been included.

This one has been a long journey. And at times I didn't think it was ever going to happen. Editor Christopher Sequeira, however, kept the faith. He knew he had something special and took his time to find the right publisher. Echo Publishing didn't let us down either. They created an absolutely beautiful book, one that will take pride of place on my shelf.  

I've receieved a  few personal messages telling me how much they love my story and the book. Out in the wider world reviews have started rolling in, and I'm thrilled to have had my name included in a review as the author of one of the outstanding stories.

This is a fantastic book.

But don't just take my word for it - check this blurb out.

It is the year 1890. Sherlock Holmes’ fame has spread even to the colonies as he and his stalwart chronicler, Dr John Watson, are swept up in an array of mysteries ‘down under’. They find themselves summoned from location to location, traversing all corners of the strange island continent of Australia, challenged with mysteries and a geographical and cultural landscape with which they are unfamiliar.

From eerie shadows on cave walls, to an actor’s most grisly curtain call, an abduction by a demon, and an inexplicable drowning, to the odd affair of the reputed biggest man in Australia, a purloined bunyip, and to sinister, bearded bushrangers, the tales within this collection provide fresh perspective to the Holmes phenomena and will intrigue, delight and entertain readers.

The stories are written in Conan Doyle’s classic Watson persona by a range of Sherlockians, historians, established writers and some exciting emerging talents: Kerry Greenwood and Lindy Cameron, Meg Keneally, Kaaron Warren, Lucy Sussex, L.J.M. Owen, T.S.P. Sweeney, J. Scherpenhuizen, Will Schaefer, Robert Veld, Doug Elliott, Philip Cornell, Raymond Gates, Jason Franks, Narrelle M. Harris, Steve Cameron, and editor Christopher Sequeira himself, and with an introduction by Baker Street Irregular Bill Barnes, and illustrations by Philip Cornell, J. Scherpenhuizen and Marcelo Baez.

It is in the shops, and it is available online. You know you need this.

I hope you enjoy reading this. I am.

Sherlock Holmes Down Under.

I've had to keep this one under my (deerstalker) hat for a while, but I'm thrilled to announce my inclusion in this fantastic anthology.

'Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook' is due for release later this year. Edited by Christopher Sequeira, this collection includes stories by some fantastic authors. I am privileged to be alongside so many great names, including Lucy Sussex, Kaaron Warren, Kerry Greenwood, Lindy Cameron, L.J. M. Owen and Narrelle Harris.

The development of this project took quite some time, and I'm indebted to Chris for his determination to see this book published.  The cover is fantastic, and I can't wait to see the internal illustrations.

Keep watching this space for further details closer to its release in November through Bonnier/Echo.

Aurealis Awards Finalist, 2015.

Last year I decided to take a break from writing and from the blog for a number of reasons. I figured I needed a month or two. I had no idea it would last this long.

Last week I decided I needed to get a move on. I needed to return. I figured I'd post something soon. And then yesterday, I realised the time was ripe, just after I received a wonderful email informing me that I had been shortlisted for an Aurealis Award.

Lodloc and The Bear was originally published last October by Keith Stevenson in Dimension6, a free magazine that is well worth reading. (Go, download and read it. And please, if you can spare a few bucks, pay to download the yearly collections instead and support small press in Australia.)

This is a favourite story of mine, and so I was delighted and thrilled by its shortlisting. I was also a little shocked, as I really didn't expect this. I feel so honoured.

Thanks to everyone who has sent comments and messages of congratulations. I appreciate them all.

And congratulations to my fellow finalists, especially my friends on the list - Sean Monaghan, Michelle Goldsmith, Clare McKenna, Amie Kaufman, Kaaron Warren, Joel Shepherd and Michael Pryor.

The winners will be awarded at a ceremony in Brisbane on Friday, 25th March, 2016.

2015 Aurealis Awards – Finalists

BEST CHILDREN’S FICTION
A Week Without Tuesday, Angelica Banks
The Cut-Out, Jack Heath
A Single Stone, Meg McKinlay
Bella and the Wandering House, Meg McKinlay
The Mapmaker Chronicles: Prisoner of the Black Hawk, A.L. Tait

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL / ILLUSTRATED WORK
The Undertaker Morton Stone Vol.1, Gary Chaloner, Ben Templesmith, and Ashley Wood
The Diemenois, Jamie Clennett
Unmasked Vol.1: Going Straight is No Way to Die, Christian Read
The Singing Bones, Shaun Tan
Fly the Colour Fantastica, various authors

BEST YOUNG ADULT SHORT STORY
“In Sheep’s Clothing”, Kimberly Gaal (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
“The Nexus Tree”, Kimberly Gaal (The Never Never Land)
“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children,)
“The Heart of the Labyrinth”, DK Mok (In Memory: A Tribute to Sir Terry Pratchett)
“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar)
Welcome to Orphancorp, Marlee Jane Ward (Seizure)

BEST HORROR SHORT STORY
“Bullets”, Joanne Anderton (In Sunshine Bright and Darkness Deep)
“Consorting with Filth”, Lisa L Hannett (Blurring the Line)
“Heirloom Pieces”, Lisa L Hannett (Apex Magazine)
“The Briskwater Mare”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Breaking Windows”, Tracie McBride (Aurealis #84)
“Self, Contained”, Kirstyn McDermott (The Dark)

BEST HORROR NOVELLA
“Night Shift”, Dirk Flinthart (Striking Fire)
“The Cherry Crow Children of Haverny Wood”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“The Miseducation of Mara Lys”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Wages of Honey”, Deborah Kalin (Cherry Crow Children)
“Sleepless”, Jay Kristoff (Slasher Girls and Monster Boys)
“Ripper”, Angela Slatter (Horrorology)

BEST FANTASY SHORT STORY
“The Giant’s Lady”, Rowena Cory Daniells (Legends 2)
“The Jellyfish Collector”, Michelle Goldsmith (Review of Australian Fiction Vol. 13 Issue 6)
“A Shot of Salt Water”, Lisa L Hannett (The Dark)
“Almost Days”, DK Mok (Insert Title Here)
“Blueblood”, Faith Mudge (Hear Me Roar)
“Husk and Sheaf”, Suzanne Willis (SQ Mag 22)

BEST FANTASY NOVELLA
“Lodloc and The Bear”, Steve Cameron (Dimension6)
“Defy the Grey Kings”, Jason Fischer (Beneath Ceaseless Skies)
“Broken Glass”, Stephanie Gunn (Hear Me Roar)
“The Flowers that Bloom Where Blood Touches the Earth”, Stephanie Gunn (Bloodlines)
“Haunting Matilda”, Dmetri Kakmi (Cthulhu: Deep Down Under)
“Of Sorrow and Such”, Angela Slatter (Tor.com)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY
“2B”, Joanne Anderton (Insert Title Here)
“The Marriage of the Corn King”, Claire McKenna (Cosmos)
“Alchemy and Ice”, Charlotte Nash (Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #61)
“Witnessing”, Kaaron Warren (The Canary Press Story Magazine #6)
“All the Wrong Places”, Sean Williams (Meeting Infinity)

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVELLA
“Blood and Ink”, Jack Bridges
“The Molenstraat Music Festival”, Sean Monaghan (Asimov’s Science Fiction)
“By Frogsled and Lizardback to Outcast Venusian Lepers”, Garth Nix (Old Venus)

BEST COLLECTION
The Abandonment of Grace and Everything After, Shane Jiraiya Cummings
Striking Fire, Dirk Flinthart
Cherry Crow Children, Deborah Kalin
To Hold the Bridge, Garth Nix
The Fading, Carole Nomarhas
The Finest Ass in the Universe, Anna Tambour

BEST ANTHOLOGY
Hear Me Roar, Liz Grzyb (ed.)
The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014, Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene (eds.)
Bloodlines, Amanda Pillar (ed.)
Meeting Infinity, Jonathan Strahan (ed.)
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 9, Jonathan Strahan (ed.)
Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction, Tehani Wessely (ed.)

BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman
The Fire Sermon, Francesca Haig
Day Boy,Trent Jamieson
Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Hush, Skye Melki-Wagner

BEST HORROR NOVEL
No Shortlist Released

BEST FANTASY NOVEL
In The Skin of a Monster, Kathryn Barker
Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, Alison Goodman
Day Boy,Trent Jamieson
The Dagger’s Path, Glenda Larke
Tower Of Thorns, Juliet Marillier
Skin, Ilka Tampke

BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL
Crossed, Evelyn Blackwell
Clade, James Bradley
Illuminae, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Their Fractured Light, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Renegade, Joel Shepherd
Twinmaker: Fall, Sean Williams

SARA DOUGLASS BOOK SERIES AWARD
The Chronicles of King Rolen’s Kin, Rowena Cory Daniells
The Watergivers, Glenda Larke
The Lumatere Chronicles,  Melina Marchetta
Sevenwaters, Juliet Marillier
The Laws of Magic,  Michael Pryor
Creature Court, Tansy Rayner Roberts

Chronos Awards.

The awards season is upon us and I've just heard that both Kaaron Warren (for writing short fiction) and Jack Dann (for an anthology he edited) have been shortlisted for the Stoker. Congratulations. They would both surely deserve to win.

I'm eligible for a coupve been conle of upcoming awards. I'sidered for the Aurealis Awards, but it will take a little while before the shortlist is announced. And I'm also eligible for the Chronos and Ditmar Awards, both of which will be presented in June.

I truly believe last year was the breakout year for me. I stepped up my writing practices and skills and sold a number of stories to quality markets. So Sad, The Lighthouse Keeper is the first of those stories to be published, and I am very proud and honoured to have had it included in Keith Stevenson's fantastic anthology, Anywhere But Earth.

Since publication it has received excellent comments and reviews. If you have read the story and enjoyed it, (and are so inclined to do so) please consider nominating it for the Chronos Awards here.

If you haven't read it, then you should consider purchasing a copy.

I promise I'll name my first-born after you.