Uppity Women of History

March 2, 2014 ~ Tehani ~ 2 Comments

This post is written as part of the Women’s History Month Cranky Ladies of History blog tour. If you would like to read more about cranky ladies from the past, you might like to support our Pozible campaign, crowd-funding an anthology of short stories about Cranky Ladies of History from all over the world.

I came across the book Uppity Women of the Renaissance in my school library on Friday and immediately went and looked up what else the author, Vicki Leon, had done in the field. Turns out there’s a whole BUNCH of books under the Uppity Women banner, and I reckon they fit right in with our Cranky Ladies of History!

4000 years of Uppity Women (a kind of best of the series)

Uppity Women of the Renaissance

Uppity Women of Medieval Times

Uppity Women of Ancient Times

Uppity Women of the New World

Uppity Women of Ancient Greece

You might like to add it to your Cranky Ladies of History reading list, along with Bad Girls & Wicked Women by Jan Stradling, which I’ve posted in other places about before!

Kicking off the Cranky Ladies blog tour: The Night Witches

March 1, 2014 ~ Tehani

This post is written as part of the Women’s History Month Cranky Ladies of History blog tour. If you would like to read more about cranky ladies from the past, you might like to support our Pozible campaign, crowd-funding an anthology of short stories about Cranky Ladies of History from all over the world.

I thought it only fitting I start the month off right with my own post! I generally would focus on Australian women of history, and I will definitely look to them later in the month, but I felt I had to write about some cranky ladies I only recently learned about, because they were just so amazing.

Katya Ryabova and Nadya Popova of the Night Witches

In World War II, the Russian 588th Air Regiment (also later known as the 46th Taman Guards Bomber Regiment) made more than 23,000 combat flights. This regiment was so successful against the Germans they were dubbed Nachthexen, Night Witches, because the pilots (and incidentally the navigators, officers and mechanics) were all women. Given obsolete equipment, the women devised techniques that made the most of the aircraft and methods of evading detection on their missions, and despite sexual harassment from male colleagues and the sleep deprivation and stress that went with the job, were collectively awarded highest military honours, and 23 members were awarded the Gold Star of Hero of the Soviet Union. 30 air crew members of the regiment died during combat, from a total of over 200 serving during the war.

While it’s perhaps a little blood-thirsty to start the month out with war heroes, I think it is important to remember that women like these played significant roles in conflict throughout history. They aren’t always recognised war heroes, they aren’t always remembered by name, but they are always there.

References:

BitnikGr. (2010, November 2). “night witches”! female combat pilots on eastern front! part-1!. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSEro1gVbOY [Accessed: 27 Feb 2014].

Dowdy, L. (2008). Aviation – the night witches. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.seizethesky.com/nwitches/nitewtch.html [Accessed: 27 Feb 2014].

Naughton, R. (2002). Marina raskova and the soviet women pilots of world war ii. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/soviet_women_pilots.html [Accessed: 27 Feb 2014].

Night Witches. (2014, January 15). [online] Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches [Accessed: 27 Feb 2014].

Noggle, A. (1994). A dance with death. College Station: Texas A & M University Press.

Cranky Ladies of History: the crowd-funding campaign

February 25, 2014 ~ Tehani

During March, FableCroft Publishing is running the Cranky Ladies of History crowd-funding campaign on the Pozible platform. The campaign goes live on March 1 and will close on March 31, running for the duration of Women’s History Month. Our goal is to raise enough to pay our wonderful contributors the professional rates they so rightly deserve, and to create the very best book we can.

It’s our very great pleasure to also announce that we have been successful in securing a brand new Arts Tasmania grant associated with our campaign. The Crowbar funding is ONLY awarded to successful campaigns, but is assessed in advance – we will receive an extra $2,000 for our project if the Pozible campaign fully funds, which is is extremely exciting. We were Crowbar’s very first applicants, so we’re absolutely stoked to be approved for this! The funding is linked directly to the success of the campaign, and although we are approved by Arts Tas as eligible, they are only able to award the funds to successful campaigns, which is a bit scary, but extra incentive to do a brilliant job on our campaign trail 🙂

We are so grateful to so many people who have already offered support to the campaign by way of commitment to the project, and to those people who are already planning to participate in our Cranky Ladies of History blog tour. During the month, people from all over the world will be posting about THEIR favourite Cranky Ladies, and we will be linking to those from the FableCroft blog, Twitter and Facebook, as well as rounding up all the links on our dedicated Cranky Ladies page. It should be loads of fun, and also a fantastic way to learn about all those wonderful, irascible, eccentric, CRANKY women of history who pushed the boundaries of the societal norms of their time and place, and deserve to be remembered.

We will have more information about the Cranky Ladies project and the creators who are on board over the next few days – hope you’ll join us for the ride!

If you would like to host, post or guest blog about one (or more!) of YOUR favourite Cranky Ladies, please let me know! We want to plaster the internet with cranky women, and the more the merrier!

Reviews and news roundup

February 24, 2014 ~ Tehani

A few bits and bobs for linking!

Cheryl Morgan congratulates FableCroft and Twelfth Planet Press on their Aurealis Awards shortlistings, and links to the books for sale in the Wizard’s Tower Books store.
Over at 13 O’Clock, Alan Baxter reviewed Path of Night, calling it, “excellently written and very well paced” – thanks Alan!
Speaking of reviews, Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts was reviewed in the February edition of Locus! Can’t link to it, unfortunately, but Carolyn Cushman said the book is, “a fun fantasy adventure with considerable satire…that brings to mind Terry Pratchett’s Discworld” – thanks Carolyn!
Tansy and other Aussies Alex Pierce and Gillian Polack, along with several other well know folks were mind-melded over at SF Signal, on the topic of “secondary characters who take center stage” – some interesting thoughts presented!
We’re looking forward to our big Book Party in Hobart on March 9 – who will be there to celebrate with us?
While we’re on the topic of parties, don’t forget that tickets to the Aurealis Awards ceremony (and the preceding Conflux Writers’ Day) are on sale! It’s going to be a blast!
And finally, submissions to Insert Title Here close on February 28 – have you got your story in?

Speaking of book launches…

February 23, 2014 ~ Tehani

It seems I’ve managed to neglect to blog about our forthcoming book party in Hobart, Sunday March 9 from 4.30. Celebrating the launch and recent shortlistings of Tansy and Dirk’s novels, and the other FableCroft Aurealis Awards nominations, we will be at The Hobart Bookshop to wine, chat and launch with special guest Lian Tanner! Come along if you’re in Tassie that weekend…

Sneak peek: cover art for Jo Anderton’s “Unbound”

February 20, 2014 ~ Tehani

Dion Hamill is an amazing artist. I say this every time I see a new piece he has done, and I said it again when the cover artwork for Jo Anderton’s third Veiled World novel, Unbound, turned up in my inbox. Here’s a sneak peek at a tiny bit of it…

Isn’t it beautiful? And that’s just a small piece of the puzzle!

Unbound is available for pre-order in print and e-book, at a discounted price and with special bonus content for orders received prior to publication.

With BONUS CONTENT ON ORDER

Print + international post $14.99 AUDEbook $7.99 AUD

The exclusive e-book will be sent to your Paypal email address in mobi, epub and PDF.

This PRE-ORDER pricing and bonus offer is available to readers all over the world, with no geographic restrictions.

Photo used on ebook cover courtesy of Flickr user papalars and used under CC BY-ND 2.0

Aurealis Awards shortlists!

February 16, 2014 ~ Tehani

We’re very excited to see the Aurealis Awards shortlists announced last night! It’s always lovely to see all the marvellous talent on the lists, but it’s particularly nice when some of our own work is there too!

Huge congratulations to Joanne Anderton, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Dirk Flinthart and DK Mok for their individual shortlistings, and to all the contributors to One Small Step and Focus 2012! None of our books are made in a vacuum, and all our writers, artists, designers and proofers play a huge role – thanks to you all!

Congratulations to all the finalists for the 2013 Awards. Look forward to seeing everyone at the ceremony in April!

More information about the shortlists and the Awards ceremony can be found at the website.

Book Review: The Other Tree by D.K. Mok

February 2, 2014 ~ Tehani

I don’t usually review books here on the FableCroft site, but like to periodically do so when it’s a book by one of the authors we have published in the past. D.K. Mok appeared in One Small Step in 2013 with the story “Morning Star”, a novelette length, far reaching, space-based science fiction story that is thoughtful and exciting by turns. The Other Tree is D.K.’s 2014 debut novel, from the publisher Spence City, and while I’ve seen it noted as urban fantasy, I’m not sure it quite fits that genre marker – it’s one of those books that is tricky to classify as anything but “put it on your to-read list”!

If Seanan McGuire had written The Da Vinci Code, the outcome might have been a little like The Other Tree! Given I adore Seanan’s work and think The Da Vinci Code could have been quite fascinating in the hands of a different author, this is definitely a compliment.

I don’t know much about the heritage behind this story but the religious, scientific and geographic elements, whether real or invented, are believably written, and underpin an action packed yet inherently character driven story.

The book rollicks along very nicely, maintaining tension and gradually unpacking characters along the way. I absolutely loved cryptobotanist Chris and conflicted Luke, and their personal journeys are as important to the novel as the overarching plot. Even the secondary characters are multi-faceted and interesting, although I have to say if I have one nitpick, it was with the random head hopping of perspective in a couple of places. Otherwise though, an impressive debut for a very talented writer! Mok is most definitely on my “want more” list!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy of the book. It is available in ebook from your favourite e-tailer or ask your bookstore about the paperback.

The Isles of Glory by Glenda Larke

January 13, 2014 ~ Tehani

This morning I pressed “publish” on the final book of Glenda Larke’s Isles of Glory trilogy, The Tainted. FableCroft has been privileged to publish the ebook editions of this fantastic series over the past few months, and I have been personally delighted to revisit them. It has been a decade since the paperbacks were first released (via Voyager in Australia and Ace in the US, with later German editions as well), and this is the first time English ebook editions have been available.

If you enjoy epic fantasy with an intelligent and action-filled plot, detailed and logical world-building, and characters you will weep for, fall in love with or loathe with justified passion, you need to read Glenda Larke’s books. This genre has been my first love, my go-to comfort read, my preferred escape from reality for over 20 years, and Glenda’s novels are some of the best examples of the form I’ve come across. This trilogy is as good (or better!) than most fantasy being published today, and the themes explored are just as relevant as ever.

The great thing is, you don’t have to just take MY word for it – over the years so many people have said wonderful things about the books. We list some on the Isles of Glory page here on the FableCroft site, but check out Goodreads and the paperback editions on Amazon for even more.

Here at FableCroft, I only publish stories I love, and I love these books. I think you will too!

The books of the Isles of Glory trilogy, The Aware, Gilfeather and The Tainted, are (or will soon be) available for just US$3.99 each from Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords (and affiliates, including iTunes and Sony Bookstore), Wizard’s Tower Books and Weightless Books. Choose your preferred format and supplier!

New Books: What is Focus 2012?

January 5, 2014 ~ Tehani

In the second half of 2013, Deborah Biancotti made one of those throwaway comments that piqued my interest and set my creative brain rolling. The biggest advantage of operating a boutique press is that the projects I choose to publish can evolve from idea to fruition far more quickly than for a major publisher, and also that I’m the only one I have to talk into doing things! Thanks to Deb’s comment, within a week I had the title and tentative table of contents in hand for what I plan to be an annual series.

Focus 2012: highlights of Australian short fiction reprints an exclusive selection of Australian stories that have been recognised as the best of the best – stories shortlisted for and winning major national and international awards. We looked at the Hugo, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, BSFA, WSFA, Aurealis, Ditmar, Chronos, Tin Duck and other relevant genre awards lists to select stories and artwork (by the incredibly talented Kathleen Jennings, appearing on several awards lists for 2012 including the prestigious World Fantasy Awards) to include in the inaugural volume.

And what an amazing table of contents we ended up with: Joanne Anderton, Thoraiya Dyer, Robert Hood, Kathleen Jennings, Margo Lanagan, Martin Livings, Jason Nahrung and Kaaron Warren, most of whom I have been fortunate enough to work with in the past, all of whom create brilliant work. Interestingly, several of the 2012 stories fall on the darker side of the speculative fiction spectrum, and a number of them are novelette length pieces, which of course means that while the selection is elite, you are getting hefty chunk of reading nonetheless! And of course, the quality of the inclusions is incomparable.

Focus 2012 is deliberately an ebook-only publication – we wanted to make it a readily accessible price-point, and to make it easily available internationally, to showcase the highlights of Australian speculative fiction for the year. And while the nature of the selections means the book comes out quite late in the year (we want to wait until all the major international awards shortlists are announced), that means it can act as a refresher for readers who may have not come across publications in the year they first appeared.

With the Focus series, we look forward to introducing readers to the astonishingly good work being produced by Australian speculative fiction creators for many years to come.

Focus 2012: highlights of Australian short fiction is available from your preferred ebook retail platform: find it for US$4.99 on Kindle, iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords and more!