In Aurealis #90, reviewer Rebecca McEwen says The Rebirth of Rapunzel is: “…an immersive and engaging examination of the significance of a woman who, in the end, saves herself.”
And on episode #142 of Galactic Suburbia, Alex says some very nice things about the book (after announcing the winners of the giveaway) – take a listen!
In a gorgeous recent review of Joanne Anderton’s The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, J. Ashleigh Smith over at Goodreads says the collection is: “… alive with gnarled, unusual stories, with weird, memorable worlds, every one rendered in spare, vivid prose.”
Also at Goodreads, Rivqa says that the anthology Insert Title Here is: “A very strong, very dark anthology featuring some wonderfully unique voices.”
To help Ditmar voters make a choice between all the amazing finalists on the ballot, we’re offering a free download of “2B” by Joanne Anderton (from Insert Title Here) and “Look How Cold My Hands Are” by Deborah Biancotti (from Cranky Ladies of History), both shortlisted for the Best Short Story category.
This link will be live until Ditmar voting closes – ENJOY! And if you love the stories, keep in mind that the books they come from are just as awesome, and you can grab them in print or ebook from your favourite retailer, or at the FableCroft shop page!
We’re ecstatic to see several FableCroft mentions on the 2015 Aurealis Awards and 2016 Ditmar Awards (covering the same year of work…) shortlists.
In the Aurealis Awards, special mention to Dirk Flinthart, finalist for Best Collection for Striking Fire AND for Best Horror Novella with “Night Shift” from the collection, Joanne Anderton, shortlisted for Best Science Fiction Short Story with “2B”, and DK Mok, shortlisted for Best Fantasy Short Story with “Almost Days” (both stories being from Insert Title Here). It’s also super exciting to see Focus 2014: highlights of Australian short fiction on the Best Anthology list.
The complete shortlists are available on the Aurealis Awards website, and showcase some of the absolute best of Australian writing produced in 2015 – such an honour to be part of it!
For the Ditmars, it’s fantastic to see Joanne Anderton double up with “2B” on the Best Short Story ballot, alongside Deborah Biancotti’s creepy Cranky Ladies of History story “Look How Cold My Hands Are”. The Cranky Ladies anthology also made the Best Collected Work ballot, and Kathleen Jennings’ gorgeous cover and internals for the book are shortlisted for Best Artwork. Editor Tehani Wessely is also on the ballot for the William Atheling Jr Award for Criticism or Review for both the team efforts of “Squeeing Over Supergirl” (with David McDonald) and “Reviewing New Who” (with David McDonald and Tansy Rayner Roberts). If you were a member of Swancon last year, or of Contact 2016 this year, you are eligible to vote, so please do (for ANY of the fabulous work shortlisted!).
Congratulations to everyone appearing on these shortlists – it really shows the strength of Australian speculative fiction.
Don’t forget to enter to win an exclusive Cranky Ladies of History calendar, designed by Tansy Rayner Roberts – these calendars are ONLY available through this giveaway, unless you were a clever campaign backer and got yours there! Competition closes tomorrow.
Speaking of Cranky Ladies, it’s very pleasing to see the anthology appearing on some “anticipated reads of 2015” lists (such as Tsana’s, here) – we’re in the final stages of edits for the book, and can’t wait to share it with you!
A wonderful review of Phantazein from A Fantastical Librarian, where Mieneke says the book is “filled with fabulous stories from a strong and all-female line-up” and is “…entertaining and a joy to read”. Thank you, Mieneke!
Sean Wright also reviewed Phantazein recently, noting that “Phantazein showcases the depth of talent Australia has in the fantasy field…” Indeed!
The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories is unpacked a bit over at Peter Tennant’s new site Trumpetville – take a look at what he says here.
We really appreciate all the reviews from our readers – if you have read one of our books, please post (or cross-post) a review on Amazon or Goodreads, as they do help!
It’s that time of year when it seems a bunch of Year’s Best anthologies are announced, and we’re so pleased to see a number of our 2013-published stories recognised.
Joanne Anderton’s story “Mah Song” will also appear in the inaugural Year’s Best YA Speculative Fiction from Twelfth Planet Press, which has an astonishing international lineup, and Rowena Cory Daniells’ “The Ways of the Wyrding Women” (One Small Step) has made the table of contents for Ticonderoga’s Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror.
“By Blood and Incantation” (One Small Step) by Lisa Hannett and Angela Slatter received honorable mentions in two anthologies, Imaginarium 3: The Best Canadian Speculative Writingand Ellen Datlow’s, with Datlow also highlighting Kathleen Jennings’ “Ella and the Flame” (One Small Step), “Sand and Seawater” by Joanne Anderton and Rabia Gale (One Small Step), and Joanne’s “Mah Song” and “Fencelines” from The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories.
Focus 2013: highlights of Australian short fiction hits the virtual shelves on October 1, 2014. The second of an annual series, Focus 2013 collects an elite selection of work which has received acclaim via national and international Awards shortlisting.
Focus 2013: highlights of Australian short fiction features work by…
D.K. Mok – “Morning Star”
Juliet Marillier – “By Bone-Light”
Joanne Anderton – “Mah Song”
Thoraiya Dyer – “Seven Days in Paris”
Tansy Rayner Roberts – “Cold White Daughter”
C.S. McMullen – “The Nest”
Cat Sparks – “Scarp”
Kaaron Warren – “Air, Water and the Grove”
Kirstyn McDermott – “The Home for Broken Dolls”
Kathleen Jennings – Illustrations and cover art
The book is officially on sale on October 1, and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon, Kobo and Smashwords for US$4.99.
It’s been a busy time here at FableCroft, and I feel like a duck or an iceberg or something right now. Frantically paddling to keep serenely floating, with so much going on under the surface that you can’t see! However, there are a few things out in the world I wanted to share!
Jo Anderton was interviewed by the AntipodeanSF podcast after winning Best Collection at the Aurealis Awards in April, and the interview went live a couple of weeks ago. Check it out here. Oh, and Jo also won the Australian Shadows award for Best Collection last week! HUGE congratulations!
Suzanne J Willis’s story “Number 73 Glad Avenue” has been reprinted not once but TWICE now! The story became our second to hit the airwaves on the Starship Sofa podcast in April (the first was Michelle Marquardt’s “Almost Greener” back in Novemberlast year), and it will appear again in the anthology Time Travel: recent trips, edited by Paula Guran (Prime Books, October 2014). Well done Suzanne, it’s a fantastic story and we’re delighted to see it getting continued exposure!
I’m 98.3% (or thereabouts) done with story selection for Insert Title Here, and there’s been a somewhat interesting development on that front which I’ll be announcing very shortly – stay tuned for that, and (hopefully) a table of contents reveal real soon!
Cranky Ladies of History stories are starting to trickle in, and we’re looking forward to reading about the amazing women our authors are writing about. I’ve peeked at a few of them already, and WOW – can’t wait to read them all!
I’ve seen some new reviews of FableCroft works out and about on Goodreads and Amazon – thanks to those folks who take the time to write about our books!
It occurred to me recently, that given we have Jo Anderton’s launch next weekend, I probably should (finally) post about the OTHER book celebrations we’ve had recently. Well, in the past year. Hmmm, yes, it HAS been a busy 12 months! (more photos of events over at the FableCroft Facebook page)
First off the rank (gosh, was it really in APRIL last year?!) was the dual launch for The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton and One Small Step, an anthology of discoveries at Conflux, the 2013 Natcon in Canberra in October. We had a great spot in the thoroughfare, and a good time slot too, and it was lovely to see so many con-goers in attendance. Kaaron Warren acted as launcher (for both our books AND Thoraiya Dyer’s Twelfth Planet Press Twelve Planets Collection Asymmetry!), and Joanne, Thoraiya and I said a few words too. Lots of fun!
So we had an intimate but fun launch for Dirk Flinthart’s debut novel, Path of Night, way back in November 2013. It’s the first book of ours that has been launched by the local mayor, which was exciting, and the author and cover designer both attended in fine style. Was lovely to meet some of the good people of Scottsdale, and we had a great evening.
Earlier this year, we had a FableCroft Book Party, hosted by the great folks at The Hobart Bookshop. The wonderful Lian Tanner said lovely things about Ink Black Magic and Path of Night, and Tansy and Dirk both got to read some of their novels too. Was a good turnout, particularly for the Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
Photo by Helen Merrick
Just a few weeks ago (okay, okay, it was nearly two months – goodness me, the year is flying!) we celebrated two wins at the Aurealis Awards, with The Bone Chime Song taking out Best Collection and One Small Step sharing the glory with The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2012 in the Best Anthology category. With several other FableCroft works on the shortlists, including Path of Night and Ink Black Magic, we had a brilliant night, and enjoyed being able to spend the evening with the best and brightest of Australian spec fic.
Now we’re gearing up for next weekend’s celebration of Jo’s new book Guardian, and I’m still a bit boggled that it’s been over a year since the launch of The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories! Hopefully it won’t take me so long to blog about the fun we have there… All attendees of Continuum X are welcome to join us for the launch, 4pm on Saturday 7 June. Hope to see you there!
I think we’re having way too much fun with this. Not only have we offered a bunch of free fiction to celebrate our Ditmar shortlistings, but now we’re discounting books!
For the month of May, the ebooks of Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts and The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton are HALF PRICE – that’s less than three dollars each! This special is currently live on Smashwords and Kobo, and Amazon will no doubt follow real soon.
The annual Ditmar Awards shortlists were announced a few days ago, and we’re absolutely over the moon to have several works feature in various categories, alongside lots of other excellent Australian stuff! To celebrate, we’re offering up some free fiction, including our two shortlisted short stories, samples of Faith Mudge’s wonderful work, and an extract from Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Ink Black Magic. We’ve also linked to Kathleen Jennings’ Illustration Friday posts, as one of her pieces was on the cover of Focus 2012 (and we think she’s awesome…). Click on the highlighted links below to download the samples!
Best Novel
Ink Black Magic, Tansy Rayner Roberts (FableCroft Publishing)
Fragments of a Broken Land: Valarl Undead, Robert Hood (Wildside Press)
The Beckoning, Paul Collins (Damnation Books)
Trucksong, Andrew Macrae (Twelfth Planet Press)
The Only Game in the Galaxy (The Maximus Black Files 3), Paul Collins (Ford Street Publishing)
Best Novella or Novelette
“Prickle Moon”, Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
“The Year of Ancient Ghosts”, Kim Wilkins, in The Year of Ancient Ghosts (Ticonderoga Publications)
“By Bone-Light”, Juliet Marillier, in Prickle Moon (Ticonderoga Publications)
“The Home for Broken Dolls”, Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)
“What Amanda Wants”, Kirstyn McDermott, in Caution: Contains Small Parts (Twelfth Planet Press)
Best Short Story
“Mah-Song“, Joanne Anderton, in The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories (FableCroft Publishing)
“Air, Water and the Grove”, Kaaron Warren, in The Lowest Heaven (Jurassic London)
“Seven Days in Paris”, Thoraiya Dyer, in Asymmetry (Twelfth Planet Press)
“Scarp”, Cat Sparks, in The Bride Price (Ticonderoga Publications)
“Not the Worst of Sins”, Alan Baxter, in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 133 (Firkin Press)
“Cold White Daughter”, Tansy Rayner Roberts, in One Small Step (FableCroft Publishing)
Best Collected Work
The Back of the Back of Beyond, Edwina Harvey, edited by Simon Petrie (Peggy Bright Books)
Asymmetry, Thoraiya Dyer, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
Caution: Contains Small Parts, Kirstyn McDermott, edited by Alisa Krasnostein (Twelfth Planet Press)
“Things Invisible: Human and Ab-Human in Two of Hodgson’s Carnacki stories”, Leigh Blackmore, in Sargasso: The Journal of William Hope Hodgson Studies #1 edited by Sam Gafford (Ulthar Press)
Galactic Suburbia Episode 87: Saga Spoilerific Book Club, Alisa Krasnostein, Alex Pierce, and Tansy Rayner Roberts
“A Puppet’s Parody of Joy: Dolls, Puppets and Mannikins as Diabolical Other”, Leigh Blackmore, in Ramsey Campbell: Critical Essays on the Master of Modern Horror edited by Gary William Crawford (Scarecrow Press)
“That was then, this is now: how my perceptions have changed”, George Ivanoff, in Doctor Who and Race edited by Lindy Orthia (Intellect Books)
Voting is now open for the Awards, for anyone who is a member of the 2013 Natcon (Conflux) or this year’s Natcon (Continuum X). Thank you so much to everyone who nominated our work!
In Aurealis #90, reviewer Rebecca McEwen says The Rebirth of Rapunzel is: “…an immersive and engaging examination of the significance of a woman who, in the end, saves herself.”
In a gorgeous recent review of Joanne Anderton’s The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories, J. Ashleigh Smith over at Goodreads says the collection is: “… alive with gnarled, unusual stories, with weird, memorable worlds, every one rendered in spare, vivid prose.”
Also at Goodreads, Rivqa says that the anthology Insert Title Here is: “A very strong, very dark anthology featuring some wonderfully unique voices.”
FableCroft 