Cirrus@Austlit

'Anikó has a new life as an author, supported for a year by a meager grant. By day, she writes the novel the Government commissioned. By night, she writes a novel the Government would never endorse. To stave off loneliness and hunger, she joins a study mapping the neural pathways of narratives, and it is there, in the Science Partition, she meets the enigmatic and paranoid E. When E goes missing, Anikó is forced to walk the liminal space between her old life and new to find him. The search unearths cutting-edge, pre-revolution technology that promises both resurrection and revolt in the real and imagined worlds.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It’s October 1974 and all is not well in the town of Elyora.

'First the clocks stop.

'And men in shiny suits turn up offering payment for the inconvenience.

'Then the phone lines stop working.

'And finally, the power goes out.

'The trouble is, no one comes to explain that.

'Dorothy Briggs, a local old lady, is disturbed by a blast of music and drawn towards the nearby river where she hears a voice - “You murdered my son, Dorothy Briggs” - and crumples to the floor.

'Fast forward to December 2012.

'Jo, Benny and Hal, members of the band Faunabate, have no idea what they’re in for when their car suddenly breaks down on the way to their first gig.

'Their nearest town?

'Elyora.

'Upon arrival it quickly becomes clear that this is not your normal town.

'Why are all the magazines dated at 1974?

'Why have all of their clocks stopped?

'And where exactly have all the people gone?

'There are some towns you don't ever want to visit.

'And Elyora is one of them.

'Because not everyone gets out alive...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Take eight authors, work them like they’ve never worked before and what do you get?

'Working for the devil, running from zombies, talking your way out of a throat slashing…

'The In Fabula-divino project – eight months of mentoring, editing and publishing.

'Those eight stories are joined by four tales from some of the biggest names in speculative fiction – Kevin J Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Trudi Canavan, Angela Slatter and Kaaron Warren.

'You’ll be entranced, entertained and inspired. And maybe even find your own halo…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Pandora Robinson was confused. What made a belief true or false? What gave words their meaning? And was a lie still a lie if you truly believed it? Sometimes the world just didn’t make a lot of sense.

'Answering questions at school was hard enough, but after meeting a most peculiar mechanical man and his silent young companion, Pandora faces the hardest question ever. Are we the same person today as we were yesterday?

'From the lair of the Sphinx to the bowels of The Theseus, clues to the answer abound, but will Pandora be able to put them together in time to save an unlikely friend and still make it to court in time to stop them taking her away from her Dad.

'The Machine Who Was Also A Boy is a middle school tale of puzzles, paradoxes and perplexing predicaments.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Twenty-six authors trade Tiny Dancer’s California- blessed lyrics for the shadowed recesses of stages large and small in From Stage Door Shadows, a speculative fiction homage to the darkness just beyond the limelight of the entertainment industry.

'The stories re-introduce the women Bernie Taupin wrote about and Elton John sang about: blue jean baby, LA lady, the band’s seamstress, the music man’s wife and the girl dancing in the sand, along with a stellar cast of musicians, singers, thespians, fans, managers, dancers, DJs, magicians, talent show contestants, stars and has-beens.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'DECK THE HALLS traverses the joy and jeopardy of the festive season, from Yule to Mōdraniht, Summer Solstice to Years’ End. The stories journey through consternations and celebrations, past, present and future, which might be or never were.

'Along the way you’ll meet troll hunters, consumer dissidents, corset-bound adventurers, a joint-toking spirit, big-hearted gangbangers, an outcast hybrid spaceship, petrol-toting politicians, mythical swingers and a boy who unwittingly controls the weather.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In late 2011, Jessica Bell and Dawn Ius founded Vine Leaves Literary Journal to offer the vignette, a forgotten literary form, the exposure and credit it deserves. The vignette is a snapshot in words, and differs from flash fiction or a short story in that its aim doesn't lie within the traditional realms of structure or plot, instead it focuses on one element, mood, character, setting or object. The journal, published quarterly online, is a lush synergy of atmospheric prose, poetry, photography and illustrations, put together with an eye for aesthetics as well as literary merit. The annual print anthology showcases the very best pieces from across the year. From the haunting prose of Theresa Milstein and Carrie Mumford, to the controversial and quirky work of H. Edgar Hix and Greg Belliveau, the pathological effects of cigarettes and apple seeds, ice sculptures and mental illness are explored. We meet a lovable old man named Joseph and find out out how the good old washing machine can change one's life. Oh, and how could we forget a mention of the mother with the scissors? Each vignette merges to create a vivid snapshot in time and place. Prepare for big stories in small spaces, between and beyond the words. Read one at a time. Taste them. Savour them. Live them.'  (Publication summary)

'100 Stories for Queensland is a charity anthology of flash fiction, that is, short stories of under 1000 words, in aid of the survivors of the worst flooding in history in the Australian state of Queensland.' Source: http://emergent-publishing.com/bookstore/100-stories-for-queensland/ (Sighted 04/08/2014).

'In a devastated world, a voice calls out through the darkness of space, a young woman embraces Darwin, a man lays flowers in a shattered doorway, a two-dimensional wedding feast awaits guests, a Dodge Challenger roars down the deserted highway…and that’s just the beginning.

'Inspired by the Talking Heads’ song of the same name, Nothing but Flowers explores the complexities and challenges of love in a post-apocalyptic landscape; from a take-away coffee mug to a gun to the head, a fortune cookie to a guitar, the open road and beyond. Poignant, funny, horrifying and sensual, this collection of short fiction leaves an indelible mark on ideas of what it means to love and be loved.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'1989: a cusp between decades.

'The year the Berlin Wall came down and Voyager went up. Ted Bundy and Emperor Hirohito died. The birth of the first Bush administration and computer virus.

'In San Francisco and Newcastle the ground shook, in Chernobyl it melted. Tiananmen Square rocked the world and Tank Man imprinted on the international consciousness. Communism and Thatcherism began their decline, Islamic fundamentalism its rise.

'It was the year Batman burst onto the big screen, we went back to the future (again), Indiana Jones made it a trifecta at the box office and Michael Damian told us to rock on.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'7.30AM. THE INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL OF A MAJOR EUROPEAN AIRPORT IS POISED ON THE BRINK OF CHAOS.

'7.35AM. PANGAEAN AIRLINES, EUROPE’S PREMIER CARRIER, IS PLACED INTO RECEIVERSHIP, CANCELLING ALL FLIGHTS AND IMPOUNDING THOUSANDS OF ITEMS OF LUGGAGE.

'The Yin and Yang Book follows the complicated web of events stemming from a suitcase, a stolen van Gogh painting, one woman on the run from her employers and the consequences of her decision to stay or go.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In a small North American university town ten lives are intersecting…

'Miranda reaps what she has sown.

'Mitchell understands there is no resisting fate.

'Clint dreams of forging a violent destiny.

'Elizabeth is about to make a discovery.

'Robin hides a terrible secret.

'Simon hasn’t slept in ten days.

'Sam is pursued by nightmares.

'Susie has lost everything.

'David has just been found.

'Jake atones for past evils.

'Ten ordinary people struggling to keep their sanity in an insane world.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.