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I wasn’t going to submit to Epilogue (then known by it’s temporary name, Apocalypse Hope) because I just didn’t have any idea what to write. Epilogue is an anthology of post-apocalyptic stories where there is hope for the future, and hope is hard. I’m all for dark and depressing, twisted, sad, even nasty. But hopeful? I didn’t think I could do that.

Until the editor, Tehani, mentioned to me “you can set it in the Debris universe, you know” and BAM! BOOF! *insert comic-book expletive* I had an idea. You know why?

I already had a post-apocalyptic world to work with.

A Memory Trapped In Light is set in the Debris universe… but it’s not one you might recognise. It’s actually extremely spoilerific, there’s a character in this story who is absolutely vital to everything that happens in the books, but you won’t know it. Not yet.

I also hope it’s a fun story all on its own! With laser cannons and giant-undead-metal-spiders, it can’t be that bad, right?

Epilogue is an awesome anthology, and I’m honoured to be a part of it. Seriously, it is. I’ve proof read it. I know. It’s still up for pre-order at a special price, and I totally recommend you go pre-order. Go on, off you go. I’ll wait here.

In the meantime, here’s a teaser for A Memory Trapped In Light. Enjoy!

Isola wired an ancient laser cannon to an untended Shard, and breathed a little easier when it began to charge. She didn’t have much time. It was already an hour since Ruby had been taken, and she felt each second, each minute, like the cut of a knife.

“Izzy, please,” Alida whispered, crouched behind her. “Don’t do this. The bosses haven’t given you authorisation. You’ll be punished.” She froze as something clattered in the distance, metal crashing through metal.

Isola ignored it. Just the ruins of Crust, falling in on themselves. “I don’t care.” She dug through her stash — stolen from graves and abandoned caches — but the bosses had confiscated most of her finds, and the laser cannon was the only weapon they’d left her with. She’d be lucky if it fired at all. “I’m not going to leave Ruby to the Legate.”

“But—”

“She’s my little sister!” Isola snapped. “And I’m not arguing with you. Now go away, or the bosses will think you’re involved. Want to get wired for my sake?”

The cannon rattled, and a dim silex hub in its side brightened. Charged — she hoped. Isola tugged it free, wrapped it in her jacket and tied it awkwardly around her waist. She pulled on heavy boots, strapped goggles to her forehead, and tore a fresh strip of linen to breathe through.

Alida hung back, not quite able to leave, not strong enough to try and make her stay. Isola paused to run dirty fingers through the girl’s lank blonde hair, and plant a hard kiss on her mouth. “And don’t you dare rat me out.”

Isola knew ways out onto Crust that the bosses didn’t, and she avoided all primary passageways through the dilapidated factory. Her parents had been junkies here, and she’d lived with this gang for most of her life. They’d died when Ruby was young — their mother bled out around an improperly inserted jack, and their father lost his mind to a strong Pionic Flare — so Isola cared for her the only way she knew how; keeping out of the bosses’ sight whenever she could, and teaching Ruby to scavenge for weapons and tech so they were both too useful to be forcefully wired.

It’d worked well enough, until they’d stumbled on a Legate Drone, and her sister — not as fast, not as nimble — had been caught.

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Light Touch Paper Stand Clear is due for release in June — it will hopefully be launched at Continuum in Melbourne. Edited by Edwina Harvey and Simon Petrie, and published by Peggy Bright Books, I was intrigued by its concept from the very beginning: “Nothing happens without some initial impetus or spark. But it’s also impossible to predict exactly what will happen once that spark is struck, that match lit. Will the rocket shoot skywards? Will the dragon shoot flames from its mouth if provoked by one more jab from the rusty sword? Will the fireworks display appease, or at least distract, the ruthless, jaded emperor?”

What is the spark? What happens once it’s struck?

I’m curious to see how my fellow writers have been inspired by this, I can only imagine the variety of stories we’re going to see in this anthology.

‘The Bone Chime Song’ is my answer. It’s part dark-fantasy / murder- mystery, part doomed romance. There are Necromancers, windchimes, dead Gods and mangroves. The spark? Well, I think there are two. There’s a murder, and the lengths one character will go to solve it. But there’s a second spark, personal and private, the slow-burn of a love kept hidden over many, many years.

What happens once these sparks are struck?… Well, here’s a bit of a taste.

First, the Song.

Those bones were singing before Casimir brought them to me. I heard their jumbled and discordant notes through wood and calico lining, through security spells and spirit wards, as far away as the centre of town. I appreciated the warning; it gave me time to compose myself before I opened the shop to him.

He stood a little too straight, dark waistcoat emblazoned with an eye in gold thread, crisp white shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows in the heat. His loosely clubbed hair was iron grey, and the Summoner scars across his cheeks stood out as though they were fresh.

Five years since I last saw him, and he had aged far more than he should have. The war was long over and he was married now, with three apparently beautiful children. Not that I’d ever seen them—I had no desire to put myself through that particular torture. What right did he have to come here now, looking so tired and old?

“Casimir,” I said, stepped back to let him enter, and prided myself on the steadiness of my tone.

“Zvonimir.” He entered stiffly, with none of his usual sharp soldier’s step. “I come requesting help.”

I jammed the shop door open, and was surprised to see his dark Watchman’s carriage waiting, surrounded by half a dozen or so of his UnderWatch Necromancers. They scowled back at me, white robes bright in the midday sun. What could their fearless Watchman—war hero, powerful Summoner and wholesome family man—want with a poor, middle-aged craftsman like me?

Continue reading »]]> How good is this? Two fantastic cover images and two amazing TOCs for two anthologies… and I’m in ‘em!

The cover image for Epilogue, from FableCroft has just been revealed. Gaze on it in awe!

Epilogue

“A memory trapped in light” by Joanne Anderton

“Time and tide” by Lyn Battersby

“Fireflies” by Steve Cameron

“Sleeping Beauty” by Thoraiya Dyer

“The Fletcher Test” by Dirk Flinthart

“Ghosts” by Stephanie Gunn

“Sleepers” by Kaia Landelius

“Solitary” by Dave Luckett

“Cold comfort” by David McDonald

“The Mornington Ride” by Jason Nahrung

“What books survive” by Tansy Rayner Roberts

“The last good town” by Elizabeth Tan

Now, maintain that awe for…

Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear

Joanne Anderton,  ‘The Bone Chime Song’

Adam Browne,  ‘The D____d’

Sue Bursztynski,  ‘Five Ways to Start a War’

Brenda Cooper,  ‘Between Lines’

Katherine Cummings,  ‘The Travelling Salesman and the Farmer’s Daughter’

Thoraiya Dyer,  ‘Faet’s Fire’

Kathleen Jennings,  ‘Kindling’

Dave Luckett,  ‘History: Theory and Practice’

Ian McHugh,  ‘The Godbreaker and Unggubudh the Mountain’

Sean McMullen,  ‘Hard Cases’

Ripley Patton,  ‘Mary Had a Unicorn’

Rob Porteous,  ‘The Subjunctive Case’

Anna Tambour,  ‘Murder at the Tip’

Both anthologies have really different but interesting concepts behind them. Both are just full of amazing writers. I’m honoured to share these TOCs with them.

Altogether pretty nifty, wouldn’t you say!

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Once upon a time, stories ended happily ever after. Or did they?

Like your fairy tales a little bit… different? My friend Rabia has released a collection of retold fairy tales on the Kindle and Nook. Shattered: broken fairy tales is a great collection — I know this because I’ve been lucky enough to read it already.

Beta reader privileges rock!

It also has a beautiful cover image, designed by Robin Gale Cornett.

Anyway, do go and check it out!

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There’s lots of love going around for Ticonderoga’s Dead Red Heart.

Sixteen of the stories were included on Ellen Datlow’s Honorable Mention List for the Best of Horror 2011. And I’m thrilled that ‘The Sea at Night’ was one of them!

The anthology also received an epic review from Black Static Magazine, and every single story gets a mention!

“In ‘The Sea at Night’ by Joanne Anderton bum Joe intrigues the vampire Gideon, with an act prompted by curiosity seen as kindness and leading to a form of friendship, the underlying emotion that of loneliness, both human and vampire …  an overall excellent collection, one in which nearly all of the stories are unusual and offer different slants on the idea of the vampire, while retaining an essentially Australian feel.”

So congrats to Ticonderoga and everyone in this great anthology!

Continue reading »]]> Things are afoot in short story land!

I’m very excited to announce that my story, ‘A Memory Trapped in Light’ will be joining some truly amazing company in Epilogue, an anthology from Fablecroft Press (wow, check out that TOC!). And this ain’t just any short story, let me tell you. ‘A Memory Trapped in Light’ is a post-apocalyptic story set in the Debris universe. The world and the characters might not look all that familiar… well, not yet. But there are some hints and spoilers hidden in this story. Important characters that have yet to raise their game-changing heads. Also, giant undead machine spider things. All good, right?

I’ve also had another story, called ‘The Bone Chime Song’, accepted into a Peggy Bright Books anthology called Light Touch Paper, Stand Clear. Isn’t that just the coolest name for an anthology? The TOC has yet to be announced, but I’ve seen a few folks talking about this around the interwebs, and I think this is going to be a very exciting anthology. I’m thrilled to be involved!

And… another one! My dark flash fiction piece, ‘Dredging’ will appear in 100 Lightnings from Paroxysm Press. This story was inspired by the old bloke who wades through the not-so-pleasant ponds on our local golf course, searching for stray golfballs. You’ll be surprised to hear they aren’t golfballs anymore in the story…

Last, but not least (phew, right!) a rather nice review of ‘Tied To the Waste’ recently published in Tales of the Talisman:

“In a future, broken world, where humanity has been reduced to wind, sand, and scrap, the reader finds a little magic. Tied to the Waste by Joanne Anderton was beautiful with hope.”

What a nice thing to say.

Continue reading »]]> This post shouldn’t be so hard to write. I’ve already written and deleted half a dozen poor attempts at humour, all because I find it a bit uncomfortable. So I’m going to be straight about it. Deep breath.

“It’s Ditmar time again and I have some eligible work and if you liked that work maybe you could nominate or vote for it?”

Phew.

The Ditmars are fan-voted Aussie spec fic awards, any active fan or member of Continuum can nominate. There’s a massive list of eligible work here (wow, we’re a pretty amazing and prolific bunch, aren’t we!) and the nomination form and rules and such are here.

Sooo… my eligible works are:

Best Novel

Debris, Angry Robot Books

Best Short Story

“Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden”, in Hope, Kayelle Press
“From the Dry Heart to the Sea”, in After the Rain, FableCroft Publishing
“Out Hunting For Teeth”, in Midnight Echo 6, AHWA
“The Sea at Night”, in Dead Red Heart, Ticonderoga Publications.

And… err… I’m eligible for Best New Talent.

So, there we go. That wasn’t so hard after all! You know what I’m going to do now? Nominate my favourite books and short stories from 2011! Now THAT’s fun. I encourage you to do the same

Continue reading »]]> Exciting news this evening! The Aurealis Award shortlists have been announced and I’m on there… twice!

Debris has been shortlisted for best fantasy novel!

‘Flowers in the Shadow of the Garden’ (from the Hope anthology) has been shortlisted for best science fiction short story. (I’ve started work on a novel based on this short story, which makes me extra happy!)

CONGRATS to everyone on the short lists! The lists are packed full of incredible talent, and I’m absolutely blown away to be there. This calls for a drink and a party! Come join us if you can!