We had a lovely weekend at Conflux a couple of weeks ago, and celebrated the launch of Phantazein with a fantastic roll up of con attendees. Cake and champagne were consumed, and wonderful congoers purchased books. I made a short and hopefully coherent launch speech that thanked the contributors, the cover artist Kathleen Jennings, and our designer Amanda Rainey, and also the authors of the forthcoming Insert Title Here anthology, which got slightly bumped because of Phantazein leapfrogging it (it will now launch in April 2015). The convention itself was quite intimate, but had some big-hitting panellists and a really lovely friendly feel to it. Was great to catch up with so many interstate friends, and I must give a huge shout out to intern extraordinaire Katharine and (sub intern?!) Elanor, who spent a great deal of time in the dealer room taking care of the table – it made such a big difference to my con experience, and is so much appreciated!

I’m delighted to see the first reviews of Phantazein starting to come in now – people seem to be enjoying it! Over at Butterfly Elephant, Bethwyn says “There is something dark to this collection, something that weaves everything together and leaves you coming back for more each time.” Katharine gave it five stars on Goodreads and said “From the very first piece in this anthology (one of my favourites!) I was swept away. This is a collection of wonderous fantasy, the kind that don’t always have a happy ending…” and Matt Morrison says of the stories “…all have a fresh voice and a unique spin…”.

My co-editor Tansy Rayner Roberts and I had a chat about the line up for Cranky Ladies of History today, and we’re very VERY close to being able to announce the table of contents. It’s SO exciting and we’re so delighted with the stories our amazing authors have shared with us – just you wait and see!