Cirrus@Austlit

'Fans of Kaleidoscope will find more tales of wonder, adventure, diversity, and variety in this collection devoted to stories with teen protagonists. ' (Publication summary)

'In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Alice Sheldon’s birth, and in recognition of the enormous influence of both Tiptree and Sheldon on the field, Twelfth Planet Press is publishing a selection of thoughtful letters written by science fiction and fantasy’s writers, editors, critics and fans to celebrate her, to recognise her work, and maybe in some cases to finish conversations set aside nearly thirty years ago.' (Publication summary)

'Tulliæn spans a fractured mountaintop, where the locals lie and the tourists come to die. Try the honey.

'Briskwater crouches deep in the shadow of a dam wall. Ignore the weight of the water hanging overhead, and the little dead girl wandering the streets. Off with you, while you still can.

'In Haverny Wood the birds drink blood, the dogs trade their coughings for corpses, the lost children carve up their bodies to run with the crows, and the townsfolk stitch silence into their spleens. You mustn't talk so wild.

'The desert-locked outpost of Boundary boasts the famed manufacturers of flawless timepieces; those who would learn the trade must offer up their eyes as starting materials. Look to your pride: it will eat you alive.

'Sooner or later, in every community, fate demands its dues — and the currency is blood.' (Publication summary)

'Our goal is to uncover the best young adult short fiction of the year published in the anthologies dedicated to the form, the occasional special edition of a magazine, and individual pieces appearing in otherwise "adult" anthologies and magazines, and bring them together in one accessible collection. Fans of Kaleidoscope will find more tales of wonder, adventure, diversity, and variety in this collection devoted to stories with teen protagonists. Our goal is to uncover the best young adult short fiction of the year published in the anthologies dedicated to the form, the occasional special edition of a magazine, and individual pieces appearing in otherwise "adult" anthologies and magazines, and bring them together in one accessible collection. So many young readers are avidly reading speculative fiction in novel form; we want to introduce them to the delight that can be found in the short story as well.' (Publication summary)

'Kaleidoscope collects fun, edgy, meditative, and hopeful YA science fiction and fantasy with diverse leads. These twenty original stories tell of scary futures, magical adventures, and the joys and heartbreaks of teenage life.

'Featuring New York Times bestselling and award winning authors along with newer voices:

'Garth Nix, Sofia Samatar, William Alexander, Karen Healey, E.C. Myers, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Ken Liu, Vylar Kaftan, Sean Williams, Amal El-Mohtar, Jim C. Hines, Faith Mudge, John Chu, Alena McNamara, Tim Susman, Gabriela Lee, Dirk Flinthart, Holly Kench, Sean Eads, and Shveta Thakrar

'What do a disabled superhero, a time-traveling Chinese-American figure skater, and a transgendered animal shifter have in common? They’re all stars of Kaleidoscope stories!' (Publication summary)

'An Australian Air Force base patrolled by werewolves. A planet where wages are paid in luck. A future where copies are made of criminals to interpret their dark dreams. A medieval cavalry of mothers who are only permitted to take as many lives as they have created.

'In every world, an imbalance of power. Something terribly askew between women and men, humans and wolves, citizens and constructs, light and dark.

'In every world, asymmetry.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Aussie Spec Fic Snapshot has taken place three times over the past eight years. In 2005, Ben Peek spent a frantic week interviewing 43 people in the Australian spec fic scene, and since then, it’s grown every time, now taking a team of interviewers working together to accomplish! In the lead up to Continuum 8 in Melbourne, this team, consisting of Alisa Krasnostein, Kathryn Linge, David McDonald, Helen Merrick, Ian Mond, Jason Nahrung, Alex Pierce, Tansy Rayner Roberts, Tehani Wessely and Sean Wright, blogged interviews for Snapshot 2012.'

Source: Australian SF Snapshot Project.

'In February 2010 – in the lead up to Aussiecon 4, Australia’s fourth hosting of Worldcon, the international science fiction convention which also boasts the Hugo Awards – six interviewers, including myself, decided it was a great time to Snapshot again. In the space of a week, we managed to publish 90 interviews, covering internationally reknown authors, artists and editors including Margo Lanagan, Sean Williams, Jonathan Strahan and Nick Stathopoulos alongside up-and-coming writers such as Thoraiya Dyer, Felicity Dowker and Jason Fischer, as well as book bloggers, reviewers, publishers and commentators relevant in the specfic scene.'

Source: Australian SF Snapshot Project.

'New Ceres, a planet in the outer colonies, embraced the Age of Enlightenment nearly two hundred years ago and refused to let go. Refugees and opportunists come to New Ceres in search of new lives, escaping the conflicts of the interstellar war that has already destroyed Earth. New Ceres Nights presents thirteen exciting stories of freedom, debauchery, decadence, subterfuge and murder set against the backdrop of powdered wigs, coffee houses, duels and balls.' (From the publisher's website.)

An ejournal of fiction, non fiction, and artwork set in a shared world, the planet of New Ceres:

'The world of New Ceres was originally devised by Gillian Polack, and further contributed to by the authors and staff writers of [the] first issue. Writers and readers ... build and develop [the] world by submitting fiction and nonfiction world building articles and by interacting on the ezine forums.'

Source: Alisa Krasnostein, 'Editorial', New Ceres 1 (2006).

New Ceres is a world consciously trapped in the eighteenth century, a temporal anachronism enforced by conservative factions within government and by the sinister Lumoscenti (the golden monks). According to the ejournal's main page:

Meet the world of New Ceres, an exciting and dangerous place. Its water is green and its inhabitants are sophisticates.

New Ceres is precarious: its New Enlightenment constrains society as well as liberating old thoughts and literature and drinking customs. The planet plays interstellar politics to defend its independence and it recruits refugees from Old Earth and the conquered New Alliance planets to maintain some dangerous habits

On New Ceres you will find coffee houses and highwaymen, drinks, gambling and illegal hi-technology.

Source: New Ceres (http://ceres.dreamhosters.com/doku.php) Sighted: 25/8/2011

Originally published as a twice-yearly webzine launched on 1 September 2006. New Ceres moved into print in October 2008 with the first of the Twelfth Planet Press novella series set on the planet of New Ceres: Angel Rising by Dirk Flinthart. An anthology of original stories, New Ceres Nights, also set on New Ceres, followed in 2009.

Source: New Ceres website (http://ceres.dreamhosters.com/doku.php?id=general:about_new_ceres) Sighted: 23/06/2009

2012 is a themed science-fiction anthology that addresses the social, environmental, and economic issues and concerns of the world today through stories set in 2012. The anthology comprises eleven tales by Australian authors who express their views on the dark tragedies that may possibly await us in a few short years.

Shiny was a free e-zine targeting the young-adult speculative-fiction market. It was launched in 2006 by Twelfth Planet Press, as an attempt to both experiment with the e-zine form and to carve out an audience for young-adult short stories. By 2009, however, Twelfth Planet's commitments to its paying readers and an expanded publication schedule for 2010 and 2011 meant that the 'zine was forced to close down after issue 6 (2009). In just over two years, Shiny published eighteen stories, nine of which were written by Australians.

Source: Shiny website (http://shinymag.blogspot.com/). Sighted: 05/04/2011