Collision cover

The front cover for the forthcoming World's Collider anthology is now available for public consumption:

Available from Nightscape Press, it'll be out this summer (or winter, if you're living in the same hemisphere I am). That is, of course, dependent on whether I've written that 100 word bio I've been asked to do. Better get on that...

(And for more info about the book, release dates and the like, you can follow the fan page on Facebook. Go on.)

Hearts for Dead Red

The release of Ellen Datlow's Honourable Mentions list the other day not only gave praise to individual writers, but - by extension - to the books they featured in. One book to come off particularly well was Ticonderoga's Australian vampire anthology Dead Red Heart, with 16 of its 33 stories making the list.

Now, in further good news for the collection, Black Static Magazine in the UK has published a review that has plenty of love for the book, commenting on every story individually before giving the work as a whole the thumbs up.

You'll have to grab a copy of the mag itself to read the whole review, but in the meantime I'm happy to say the reaction to my contribution was a positive one:

In Pete Kempshall’s ‘All that Glisters’ the employees of a mining company discover that the legends about an old, abandoned mine have some truth to them, but the precise nature of the menace they face adds a startling note of originality. Along with the unusual concept, this story has some very deft characterisation, with two gay surveyors and a bigoted mine owner portrayed convincingly, while even the calculating agent has some qualms, so that he isn’t the cardboard cut-out villain of the piece.

Dead Red Heart is still available to order from Ticonderoga, Amazon and The Book Depository.

Ellen Datlow's Honourable Mentions 2011

Just a quick post, this one, if only because it's being reported extensively elsewhere.

Uber-editor Ellen Datlow has just released her Honourable Mentions for Best Horror of the Year, and I'm pleased and privileged to say I have a story on the list. The yarn in question is All That Glisters from the Australian vampire anthology Dead Red Heart, and it's just one of an impressive number of stories from Australian writers to make the cut.

Congrats to everyone chosen, especially the significant number of my mates who also got mentioned. Far too many to name here: you know who you are :)

There are a shade more than 600 stories listed overall (if there's anyone on the planet who reads more than Ellen Datlow, I'd be very surprised...), and you can check out the full list here.

Damnation and Dames launch

This time last week saw Damnation and Dames get the equivalent of a bottle of champagne smashed across its bow, when it had its official launch. Scheduled for release as part of this year's Swancon programme, the paranormal noir anthology was sent out into the world by one of the guests of honour at the convention, Marianne de Pierres, alongside the brilliant publisher/editor team from Ticonderoga Books, Russell Farr and Liz Gryzb.

I was very pleased to be asked along to help out, and as well as scribbling in some copies of the book, I was persuaded to do an impromtu reading from my story Sound and Fury. Given that I was on the brink of a bout of flu that ended up wiping out most of the next week (which is why this blog post is so very late...) it was a relief to get through the excerpt without coughing up internal organs midway through. Not the kind of horror the audience had signed up for.

So, a big thanks to everyone who attended and bought copies of the shiny new book - for anybody who wants to pick one up for themselves, you can order one direct from Ticonderoga or (quite soon, as I understand it) the Book Depository and Amazon.

From left: Russell Farr, Liz Gryzb, myself, Marianne de Pierres.

Reading from Sound and Fury.

(Pictures courtesy Liz Gryzb)

Countdown to launch

Just a quick reminder to anyone in the Perth area that Damnation and Dames will be launching at Swancon this Friday.

Damnation and Dames is a collection of 'paranormal noir' stories from the likes of Lisa L Hannett and Angela Slatter, Alan Baxter and Felicity Dowker, Rob Hood, and yes, me. And it's edited by Liz Grzyb and Amanda Pillar, who've got stellar records at this kind of thing, so you know it'll be well worth a look.

Usually you'd have to have forked out for convention tickets to attend, but this year - for the Friday only - a gold coin donation is enough to get you in the door. The launch kicks off at 5.30pm at the Pan Pacific Hotel on Adelaide Terrace in Perth city. I'm not completely sure what the format is, but I imagine there'll be signings and stuff.

So if you're at a loose end on Friday, pop along. Be good to see you!