The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2014

‘The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014’ anthology launch

Ticonderoga Publications are holding a launch for ‘The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014’ anthology, edited by Liz Grzyb and Talie Helene and a special preview launch of Amanda Pillar’s brand new anthology ‘Bloodlines’! There will be drinks, readings, and of course books to purchase and get signed.

The event is part of the Conflux Convention at the Novotel in Canberra, at 6.30pm on Saturday 3rd October. (Attending convention members see your program for room details.)

For more event information, visit the show page: ‘The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014’ anthology launch

 

A Night of Ethereal Music Flyer

An Evening of Ethereal Music with Eden, Dandelion Wine, Friends Of Alice Ivy and Plum Green

Lovers of fine music, from darkwave to dream pop, are cordially invited to attend a soirée of enchanting, psychedelic and neo-medieval serenades from Melbourne’s foremost purveyors of ethereal wave – Eden, Dandelion Wine, and Friends of Alice Ivy.

After a seventeen year hiatus, Sean Bowley has returned to his troubadour craft; Eden will be performing a mix of new and old material, and are joined for the first time by bassist Matt Sigley (The Earthmen, The Mavis’s). Sean says of the new incarnation of Eden, “Our sound is as ethereal as ever and steadily becoming more ethereal. I don’t think that people who saw us back in the day will be disappointed. We are being true to our original sound and building upon it.

Dandelion Wine will be revealing new songs from their album currently in production, and unveiling new addition of cellist Francesca Mountfort (Nervous Doll Dancing) to Australian audiences. Francesca will not only be drawing a bow legato! Nicholas enthuses, “Her playing really lends itself to Dandelion Wine and it will be great to have another female voice in the band. Naomi overdubs a lot of harmonies and counter-melodies when we record, and now we can start bringing them into the live show again.”

Friends of Alice Ivy, steered by Kylie and Amps (Ostia), will be joined by new guitarist Tyson Mansell (Resurrection Eve); this will be the Melbourne performance debut of their acclaimed 2014 release ‘The Golden Cage and Its Mirrored Maze’. Those familiar with Ostia can expect to be surprised, as Kylie explains. “Friends of Alice Ivy is a much more elegant proposition, but also a more interesting one. We now introduce aspects of psychedelia, folk, seventies progressive and neoclassical elements…so we have a much broader palette to work with.”

The bands will be joined by New Zealand songstress Plum Green, performing an opening set of her beguiling songs.

Nicholas from Dandelion Wine really speaks for all the musicians involved with these thoughts – “There hasn’t been a night like this in Melbourne for a long time. The combination of ethereal, medieval, psychedelic, electronic, acoustic, darkwave sounds is something that just doesn’t happen often here… one of the most appealing things for us, is that there is a tangible thread running between all of the bands, yet they are all very distinct stylistically. None of the bands could ever be mistaken for one of the others, but if you like one, chances are you’ll like the others. There’s a definite element of kindred spirits at play here.”

Join us in the delicate haze of winelight, by the fireplace at The Old Bar, for a lush, atmospheric show the like of which Melbourne has not seen for many moons.

  • October 2nd, 7pm
  • The Old Bar
  • 74 Johnston Street, Fitzroy
    Entry – $10 on the door

For more information visit the Show Page: An Evening of Ethereal Music with Eden, Dandelion Wine, Friends Of Alice Ivy and Plum Green.

Or view the event on Facebook.

The Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2014

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy & Horror 2014 available for pre-order

I am delighted to announce the final line-up of authors, and show off the gorgeous and classic late-Victorian cover art, for the fifth volume of The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror – the series I co-edit with the vivacious Liz Grzyb.

We have compiled an impressive list of fantastic and darkly delectable stories first published in 2014, from New Zealand and Australia’s finest writers.

The official selection is as follows:

  • Alan Baxter, ‘Shadows of the Lonely Dead’ [Suspended in Dusk]
  • James Bradley, ‘The Changeling’ [Fearsome Magics]
  • Imogen Cassidy, ‘Soul Partner’ [Aurealis 74]
  • David Conyers & David Kernot, ‘The Bullet & The Flesh’ [World War Cthulhu]
  • Terry Dowling, ‘The Corpse Rose’ [Nightmare Carnival]
  • Thoraiya Dyer, ‘The Oud’ [Long Hidden Anthology]
  • Jason Franks, ‘Metempsychosis’ [SQ Mag]
  • Michelle Goldsmith, ‘Of Gold and Dust’ [Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine 60]
  • Michael Grey, ‘1884’ [Cthulhu Lives: An Eldrich Tribute to H.P.Lovecraft]
  • Stephanie Gunn, ‘Escapement’ [Kisses by Clockwork]
  • Lisa L. Hannett & Angela Slatter, ‘Vox’ [The Female Factory]
  • Gerry Huntman, ‘Of The Colour Tumeric, Climbing on Fingertips’ [Night Terrors III]
  • Rick Kennett, ‘Dolls for Another Day’ [The Ghosts & Scholars Book of Shadows: Vol 2]
  • Charlotte Kieft, ‘Chiaroscuro’ [Disquiet]
  • SG Larner, ‘Kneaded’ [Phantazein]
  • Claire McKenna, ‘Yard’ [Use Only As Directed]
  • Andrew J. McKiernan, ‘A Prayer for Lazarus’ [Last Year, When We Were Young]
  • Faith Mudge, ‘Signature’ [Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fi]
  • Jason Nahrung, ‘The Preservation Society’ [Dimension6]
  • Emma Osbourne, ‘The Box Wife’ [Shock Totem: Curious Tales of the Macabre & Twisted #9]
  • Angela Rega, ‘Shedding Skin’ [Crossed Genres]
  • Tansy Rayner Roberts, ‘The Love Letters of Swans’ [Phantazein]
  • Angela Slatter, ‘The Badger Bride’ [Strange Tales IV]
  • Cat Sparks, ‘New Chronicles of Andras Thorn’ [Dimension6 Annual Collection 2014]
  • Anna Tambour, ‘The Walking-stick Forest’ [Tor.com]
  • Kyla Ward, ‘Necromancy’ [Spectral Realms #1]
  • Kaaron Warren, ‘Bridge of Sighs’ [Fearful Symmetries: An Anthology of Horror]
  • Janeen Webb, ‘Lady of the Swamp’ [Death at the Blue Elephant]

In addition to the above incredible tales, the volume will include an overview of 2014 in fantasy, horror genre and Australian publishing, and a list of highly recommended stories.

The editors will shortly begin reading for the sixth volume of The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror.

The Year’s Best Australian Fantasy and Horror 2014 is scheduled for publication in late-October 2015 and can be pre-ordered at indiebooksonline.com. The anthology will be available in hardcover, ebook and trade editions.