We are fast approaching the end of the year and there is an awful lot happening, so much that I’ve almost forgot to tell people about some new releases that feature my stories!
ISOLATION is this year’s Halloween horror anthology by the good people at Fantasia Divinity, full of tales of grisly and psychologically damaging isolation. This anthology features 19 stories that explore the horrors of being left alone with only your own thoughts and fears, in possibly life-threatening situations. What nightmares will your mind conjure? Ranging from mental isolation, to stranded on deserted islands and alien planets, these stories are sure to get under skin and make you never want to be alone again. This collection features one of my stories (which is my first ever horror short story) as well as stories by talented authors including as Eddie D. Moore, Zoey Xolton, Amber M. Simpson, Dan Rice, Holly Rae Garcia, Willow Croft, Steve Carr, Bob Ritchie, Rae Stinger, Dawn DeBraal and Lyman Graves. You can buy it this very moment on Amazon – here is the link for Australia and here is the link for America.
Available on November 1st is A BOND OF WORDS, the latest in Scout Media’s OF WORDS series and features authors from all over the world. In this instalment, the authors delved into multi-genre tales about the importance of, and sometimes the danger of creating bonds with others. My story ETERNALLY MINE is a dark piece that explores the changing relationship between a rather obsessive man and a woman. There are twenty-eight other tales – ranging from comedy, to drama, fantasy, romance, and sci-fi – which explore the strength and frailty of the bonds that may define who we are. Including stories that tackle racism, death row, a first kiss, marriages, and our unavoidable bond with technology, these stories will warm your heart, send shivers down your spine, and tickle your funny bone. Whether to be enlightened, entertained, or momentarily immersed in another world, these selections convey the true spirit of the short story and the complexity of the bonds we make with the people and places of the world around us. A unique option that Scout Media provide is a companion soundtrack, featuring songs selected by the authors which go along with their story. You can only purchase the book with the soundtrack through the Scout Media site, or you can buy it from Amazon (Aus and US).
On November 30th my novella SUMBERGED CITY will be released. It is part of the Drowned Earth series, made up of eight shared-world standalone novellas by eight Australian authors. This was originally scheduled to be released at the end of October, but has been pushed back a month, which gives me an extra couple of weeks to make it as good as possible! SUBMERGED CITY is set in Melbourne, six months after an asteroid hit Antarctica, sending a major tidal wave north and devastating the southern coast of Australia and melting the ice caps. The sea has submerged the central business district and divided the city in two. The mainland is now under martial law, controlled by General Messinger who believes the Rise was God’s retribution against a sinful world. David has escaped the violence of the mainland and lives with a community in the city’s surviving towers. Life in the flooded city is tough, resources are scarce, and the constant raids by the Defence Force keep everyone on edge. But David is determined to survive, protecting the one thing the Rise hasn’t taken from him—his adopted son, Salim. When Salim goes missing, taken during one of Messinger’s raids, David is determined to get him back—even if that means facing the wrath of Messinger and the Australian Defence Force. But he won’t be fighting alone. The pre-order links for SUBMERGED CITY will be up early November, and I cannot wait to share this one with you all!
- Originally published October 2019
Austin P. Sheehan 