Cirrus@Austlit

'Charlie died in Nevada, 1973, after seeing Led Zeppelin live on stage and making the wrong choice on the long drive home.

'Corey meets him at a TAD gig seventeen years later and feels an immediate attraction. They both swear their night together will be a onetime thing, but neither can stay away.

'Corey and Charlie spend two decades building a life together, a mortal and vampire in love, but there are some things Corey’s not willing to give up. She can move cities when Charlie’s eternal youth raises suspicion and she can rebuild her career as a music journalist after every disruption to their life, but as she gets older, it’s harder and harder to be satisfied with their nocturnal existence.

'Then a moment of weakness delivers Charlie and Corey the one thing they never expected to have…and their relationship gets more complicated than either of them ever dreamed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Commentators such as Naomi Klein (2016) and Kim Stanley Robinson (2015) have warned that a failure now to adequately address anthropogenic climate change is an act of intergenerational theft. So great are these man-made impacts the term Anthropocene has been suggested to delineate a new epoch in the planet’s history. Australian writers are using science fiction and cli-fi, or climate fiction, to examine possible conditions faced by future generations that reflect on our current approach to the phenomenon. This paper argues that the mosaic novel, in concert with a science-fiction approach, is particularly well suited to this task in its use of interlinked short stories as a reflection of the complex elements of global climate change. My mosaic novel, “Watermarks”, being written as part of my PhD in creative writing, is set in near-future Brisbane. It draws attention to what has been identified as a relatively neglected topic in climate fiction: mitigation (Clode and Stasiak, 2014; Jordan, 2014). “Watermarks” uses a bricolage method in its construction, which also has resonance for the amorphous, interwoven aspects of anthropogenic climate change. The book adds to the small canon of other Australian writers who have used the science fictional mosaic to present visions of future life in the Anthropocene: Sue Isle’s Nightsiders (2011); James Bradley’s Clade (2015); and Steven Amsterdam’s Things We Didn’t See Coming (2009).'

Source: Abstract.

Jason Nahrung describes the story as 'the second of my short stories starring detective Shane Hall and her accidental partner Manasa Chalmers as they negotiate a paranormal Brisbane. This one draws on a memory of how one of my favourite venues in the city was gentrified, as well as looking for an idea of mermaids different to the fairy tale.'

Source:

'Story behind the Story 1', Feathers of the Firebird, 6 January 2017. (https://firebirdfeathers.com/2017/01/06/story-behind-the-story-and-then-authors-on-their-contributions/)

'Stanis felt the first warning sign in the soles of his feet. The earthen floor of the kitchen trembled, as though with the twitch of a mighty worm. Out here, on the arid edge of the settled lands, such movements weren't uncommon: wraiths ruled in the wilderness. The minor disturbance wasn't anything his wards couldn't handle; he and the earth had an understanding, after all. But there was more to this sensation than an earth wraith scratching an itch. On the bench, the morning's milk lay curdled in the pail, turned in the time it had taken him to wash his face. There were no flies.' (Introduction)

'Kevin Matheson is coming to Brisbane with revenge on his mind. Even for a vampire, there is no time like the present.

'He has a score to settle with Mira, the sadistic killer who tore his life in outback Queensland apart.

'For Mira’s bodyguard, Reece, worn out and fading a little more each day, the present is all he has.

'He is determined to spend it protecting his mistress, for better or worse.

'But, as the two men head for a collision, the vampires of Brisbane have their own plans – plans that will lead Kevin and Reece down roads they never expected to travel.

'And at the end of the line, at the intersection of loyalty and vengeance, both face the question: who are they willing to sacrifice to win the war?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A teenager in love with the darker side of life has disappeared. Detective Shane Hall, struggling with her personal demon, follows the trail to parts of Brisbane’s seedier side, The Valley. She must keep control to find the missing young woman, and for her own self-preservation.'

Source: Magazine blurb.

'For the undead, blood is more than sustenance. It’s a connection to the memory of life.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.