Yearly Archives: 2011

Night Terrors: Final Call for Submissions

It is with great pleasure that we reveal the Night Terrors Anthology cover. The artwork is by artist Ken Henson and he’s done a truly brilliant job. The book is due for release in late March/early April 2012.

The Night Terrors Anthology will crawl under your skin and keep you awake long into the night. It’s an anthology of creepy stories that will include ghosts, vampires, demons, voodoo and the walking dead. These are stories that are so close to reality that, be warned, they could happen to you!

But there are still spaces to be filled. If you write horror then we may be interested in your work. If your stories start right in the middle of the mayhem then you’ve already won our attention. And if your story manages to keep our attention to the last word then consider your story SOLD!

The reading period for Night Terrors is open until 31 December 2011, which is only four weeks away. Please ensure you read the Submission Guidelines before you send us your story.

Good luck!

The Land of Miu is Released

The Land of Miu (Land of Miu, #1, 2nd ed.)
by Karen Lee Field

We are pleased to announce the release of the second edition of the first book of The Land of Miu Series.

The printed version of the book is currently available through this website for the low price of A$9.99. International readers will be pleased to hear that the book will be available at low prices from all good online book stores in a week or so.

The digital version of the book has been released as a free download. It is available right now in various digital formats (including epub and Kindle) from Smashwords. In coming weeks it will be available from all your favourite online book stores.

Book 2 in the series, The King’s Riddle, will be released on 25 January 2012. [/two_three]

New Cover for “The Land of Miu”

It is with great pleasure that the new cover for The Land of Miu is unveiled.

Many thanks goes to Donna from DigitalDonna.com for her hard work. The cover design is awesome!

The old cover for the original publication (published with the title “Cat’s Eyes”) did not depict the story well enough. The title gave the wrong impression and the cover did not help to rectify the matter. Whereas, the new cover gives off the feeling of an ancient world. The fire represents the danger the four main characters are in. And the silhouettes of the characters clearly show their differences, which imply an unknown race and a fantasy theme. We also believe the targeted age group is clearer.

The author has revealed more information on the background on how The Land of Miu came to be and the mythology behind The Land of Miu on her website.

The Land of Miu, second edition of the first book in The Land of Miu Series, will be published on 25 November 2011.

“Hope” Giveaways

There are two lots of giveaways planned for the Hope Anthology.

The first is through Goodreads. Three paperbacks are up for grabs. However, this one is for Australian readers only. Just click on the “enter” button below. This giveaways ends on 30 November 2011.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Hope

by Sasha Beattie

Giveaway ends November 14, 2011.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The second giveaway is over at LibraryThing. This one is open to everyone, worldwide. Fifteen ebooks are being given away. The giveaway will start in the next few days and will end on 30 November 2011.

Follow the LibraryThing Early Reviewers link. Scroll down until you find the “Hope Anthology” and click on “request it”. Then wait to find out if you’re a winner. It’s that easy.

The Land of Miu Series

We refer to our previous announcement Change of Name, dated 19 October 2011. It is with great pleasure that we announce the titles of the three books in The Land of Miu series.

The Land of Miu (Book 1) is the new title for the previously released book called “Cat’s Eyes”. The first edition will soon go out of print and be replaced with this second edition with the new title. It has been decided that a new cover will be given to the book, which will be uploaded to the website in about a week. The Land of Miu will be released on 25 November 2011.

Books two and three will also receive new covers. They will be added to their respective pages on this website as they become available.

The Kind’s Riddle will be the new title for the second book in the series. It will be released on 25 January 2012.

The Lion Gods will be the title of the third book in the series. A release date is yet to be determined, however, at this stage it seems likely that the book will be published in late 2012 or early 2013.

Change of Name

Cat's Eyes We want to make sure everyone knows about an important change to The Land of Miu series. In December 2010, the first book of the series was published. The book was called Cat’s Eyes. In coming months, the second edition of this book will be published; however, there will be one exciting change…

The title of book one will change to “The Land of Miu”.

The Land of Miu is the first book of The Land of Miu Series. It is NOT a sequel. It is the SAME story, but with a NEW title. It is extremely important that our readers know and understand this.

Why are we changing the name?

The author thought it would be a quirky idea to name the books after parts of a cat’s body, as two of the main characters in the series are shape shifters and sometimes take the form of a cat. However, the titles of the series do not reflect the essence of the books and the publisher feels this new title will help us reach a larger audience of young readers. The series is not about cats. It is about magic, unknown worlds, adventure, suspense, family and friends.

What about the rest of the series?

All the books in the series will have a name change. The titles for books two and three are yet to be determined. Both books have been removed from the website.

When will this change take place?

Very soon. Book one will be republished within six to eight weeks. Book two will be published about eight weeks later. Book three will follow some time in 2012.

You can expect to see these changes reflected on the website as soon as possible.

Author Interview: Benjamin Solah

It is with pleasure that I introduce today’s Hope author, Benjamin Solah, author of Eliot.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, Benjamin.

I’m a writer of fiction, long and short that is often dark and/or left-wing. I sometimes describe it as ‘Marxist horror’ which usually raises a few eyebrows. Other than that, I’m a blogger, spoken word artist and an active socialist.

That’s an impressive list. What is your Hope story about and what inspired it?

Eliot is the story of young boy I’ve been trying to tell for a long time. It’s about a boy who hides a lot, from his school and from his family and through the project of finding Hope it helped me to bring closure to Eliot’s story and find some hope for him in the end, despite such dark circumstances.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment, I’m working on something much lighter, a web serial about a fired office worker that reincarnates himself as Robin Hood and takes class revenge on the boss who fired him and the wealthy head of his favourite wrestling brand via becoming a wrestler himself.

It’s going to be released in weekly episodes at a website called Robbin Toorak (men in tights…and masks) and I’m also planning the serial (serial as in the second story) to write during NaNoWriMo.

To find out more about Benjamin and his writing, please visit his website – Blood and Barricades.

Author Interview: Rowena Cory Daniells

Our featured author for today is Rowena Cory Daniells, author of The Choosing.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, Rowena.

I’m a parent, a writer, a teacher and a person who tries to make sense of the world. I suspect this is my problem.

What is your Hope story about and what inspired it?

I have four sons who aren’t your average Australian blokes. If you don’t like sport and want to get drunk with your mates on the weekend, what role models do young men have? This story is set in my Shallow Sea series, a tropical paradise, a place of perilous beauty. A youth sets out wanting to become a warrior, because warriors are respected in his community and ends up finding himself in another way.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’m neck deep in the new King Rolen’s Kin trilogy, but I also have two other series on the back burner that I’d love to finish writing.

To find out more about Rowena and her books, please visit her website – Rowena Cory Daniells

Author Interview: Craig Hull

Today it is my pleasure to introduce Hope author Craig Hull, author of Deployment.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, Craig.

My background is in science. I am an entomologist, although I have a passion for all animals. Currently I work in the public service, in the agriculture sector. Part of the role of science is to communicate, and so I have always had an interest in how I can get my messages out to the people that matter. Sometime that means writing scientific papers, sometimes it can be done in other ways. I am also very keen on pursuing the photographic arts. I am not a prolific writer, although I do count it as a passion of mine. There are so many different ways for people to share what they feel or think. The “Hope” project was an opportunity for me to contribute to something that I feel strongly about.

Communication is important, in all avenues of life. What is your Hope story about and what inspired it?

In my story, I tried to emphasize how the people that we choose to have around us can be seen as true family. The story is set in a future world. It is about a lady who feels alone, until she finds someone that actually wants her around. Sometimes it can be hard to recognise when we actually make a difference in other people’s lives. It is about the sense of belonging. In my own experience, having migrated through several countries in my early years, family can often be defined by the people that you choose to have around you. It is all too easy to feel alone, despite the connections that modern technology provides.

I couldn’t agree more. What can we expect to see from you in the near future?

I am trying to expand my short story collection, focusing on science fiction. I try to use future worlds to explore human interactions as well as the greater role that biology plays in our lives. Although I must admit that at the moment, most of my spare time is spent with my camera. If a picture tells a thousand words, then I am well on my way to decent novel or two.

If you would like to view Craig’s photography work, please visit his website – Axon Imagery’s Photostream

Author Interview: Jodi Cleghorn

Today we feature another Hope author, Jodi Cleghorn, author of Blinded.

Jodi, please tell us about yourself.

I’m a writer, editor and publisher, specialising in what’s been termed ‘dark, weird sh*t’: a neat encapsulation of the fact I’m drawn to the dark side but not bound by any particular genre. I’m a founding partner at eMergent Publishing, where I’m the creative energy behind the Chinese Whisperings and Literary Mix Tapes imprints. I live with my partner, and seven year old son in the thriving SF metropolis of Brisbane.

You must have a lot of energy to fit it all in. What is your Hope story about and what inspired it?

This is a little embarrassing. The story began as a dream (which I can’t say anything more about as it’s a spoiler, but those who know me, know of the dream and how it caused me to set off a fire alarm at 5:30am). The dream spawned an idea for a flash fiction piece of erotic sci-fi. I wrote a few pages and when you invited me to be part of the anthology in November last year, I knew the time had come for my little erotic-sci fi piece to grow up.

Blinded is a story about the darkness which courts and enamours us when we are at our most vulnerable. It explores issues of love, trust, manipulation and deceit set against the larger backdrop themes of development and conservation, of government/medical control and the right to sovereignty over your body (something I’m passionate about) as well as the influence of mass hysterica regarding ‘progress’. There’s also a metaphysical element to it, but I’ll leave it to the reader to discover that!

Apart from the dream, the story is inspired by my partner’s work in the science of contaminated land, Florence + The Machines song Blinding, Kim Stanley Robinson’s character “Anne” from the Mars trilogy, Kazuo Ishugaro book (and film) Never Let Me Go and a review of Koontz’s Your Heart Belongs to Me on the website Specusphere.

You shouldn’t feel embarrassed. What can we expect to see from you in the near future?

Outside of editing three anthologies and organising the paperback release of three more, I’m preparing for my National Novel Writing Month campaign, collecting up ‘the bones’ of what will be 24 interconnected stories spread across a 24 hour period. The work is inspired by the song “Theme I” from the Australian trio Seeker Lover Keeper.

Find out more about Jodi and her writing by visiting her website – Writing in Black and White

Kayelle Press

- set your imagination free -