Cirrus@Austlit

'To face the place where our unknowing is the catalyst for destruction, this is the path of radical responsibility. ~ Alina

'On the winter solstice, 51 years ago, snow bloomed red in Manhattan.

'Six months later, a quiet epidemic sweeps the island on the hottest day in a century leaving less than 1% of the population clinging to a precarious existence.

'Now…

'Sylvie O’Brien has made a deal with The City’s most powerful Information Architect: Joseph will provide safe passage to the mainland in exchange for midwifery services for his wife. The only problem is natural birth is considered a crime against the state and Sylvie is only barely one step ahead of City authorities and the outlawed Deme.

'In forgotten parts of the urban landscape, among those who have outlived their reproductive worth, Sylvie finds allies, enemies and the truth of her family’s involvement in the Red Bloom.

'Can she survive long enough to experience a life beyond the damage of the past? Or is some trauma impossible to outrun and outlive?

'Her First Reality, Darkness is the first book in The Birthpunk Constellation of eight interconnected novels.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'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.

Leah is spending her mid-life crisis touring the world and finds Andy, an Australian guy, while in Malaysia. When he takes her down river on his boat and shows her fireflies she falls for both. Later, however, she finds herslef standing on the riverbank looking for Andy but can’t find him. The she remembers what has really happened and discovers where she is.

'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.

Christmas brings up long-forgotten memories for a teenage girl.

'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.

'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.