Read on Wattpad - Serialized Novel
From September 11, 2014 - October 30, 2014.
Read one chapter/day.
Click on cover to read the first five chapters.
I am excited to report that I have my first science fiction, adult-audience, short story published!
Last year, I attended a retreat in Oregon with Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch as the main instructors. They own WMG Publishing, and one on-going project is a monthly short-story anthology. I was invited to submit, it was accepted and is not in a bookstore near you! Fiction River #8: The Universe Between collects original stories by a wide range of authors. My favorite is the first story by Lee Allred, who writes scripts for DC, Marvel, and Image Comics, among other credits. “Slow Answer” is about an alien race who takes over Earth, providing a near utopia for humans; the twist is WHY they’d taken over Earth, and the answer is why you should read this anthology.
My own story, “Are We Alone in the Universe?”, is also a science fiction story about first contact with an alien race. I wrote it as back story for the trilogy that I’m working on right now. The story is about the parents of my main character: how they met, how they fell in love, and the fallout of a forbidden love. I was thrilled when the story was accepted because it’s my first short story ever published, my first adult-audience story ever published, and my first science fiction story ever published. That triple-whammy makes it exciting.
The Fiction River Anthology is available as an ebook, paperback, or Audible audiobook.
Support the Fiction River Anthology
Even more exciting today, though, is the Fiction River Kickstarter Project. To keep alive a short story collection publication, WMG Publishing established a Kickstarter, or crowd-funding, project. With 17/30 days left, they have already met their $5000 goal, AND their 10,000 Stretch Goal, and are going for gold.
Like many of the other Fiction River authors, I donated books for the Kickstarter project. I urge you to look over the project and think about contributing; even small contributions of $10 are welcome and helpful. However, if you’re really interested in helping, some of the rewards that involve my books are still available:
- Pledge $60 or more
E-UNIVERSE BETWEEN AUTHORS PACKAGE: Receive a one-year electronic subscription to Fiction River, plus an electronic edition of Fiction River: Universe Between. You’ll also get electronic copies of books by some of the contributing authors of Universe Between. You’ll receive The Unjust, Dust, and Hope by Rob Vagle; The Haunted Bones by Phaedra Weldon; Body Check by D.H. Hendrickson; Kell, the Alien (a children’s book) by Darcy Pattison; and Love, Venusian Style by Richard Alan Dickson. Plus, your name printed in the acknowledgements section of each Fiction River volume for a year and on the Fiction River website with a special thank you for your kind support. Limited (1 of 1 remaining)
- Pledge $125 or more
PRINT UNIVERSE BETWEEN AUTHORS PACKAGE: Receive a one-year print subscription to Fiction River, plus a print edition of Fiction River: Universe Between. You’ll also receive SIGNED print copies of books by some of the contributing authors to Universe Between. You’ll get Body Check by D.H. Hendrickson; Kell, the Alien (a children’s book) by Darcy Pattison; The Unjust, Dust, and Hope by Rob Vagle; and Love, Venusian Style by Richard Alan Dickson. Plus, your name printed in the acknowledgements section of each Fiction River volume for a year and on the Fiction River website with a special thank you for your kind support. Limited (1 of 1 remaining)
- Pledge $500 or more
PAPER BANG FOR YOUR BUCK PACKAGE: All the print volumes of Fiction River from Volume 1 through the end of year three! But wait, there’s more! In addition, you will receive a SIGNED print copy of a book from each of the following authors who have contributed a print book to this Kickstarter: Mary Jo Putney, Marcelle Dube´, JC Andrijeski, Laura Resnick, Annie Reed, Kris Nelscott, Leah Cutter, Dean Wesley Smith, M.L. Buchman, Juliet Nordeen, Michele Lang, Melissa Yi, Ryan M. Williams, Sharon Joss, Brian Herbert and Jan Herbert, Jeffrey A. Ballard, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Darcy Pattison, Lisa Silverthorne, Richard Alan Dickson, Brigid Collins, Karen L. Abrahamson, Thomas K. Carpenter, D.H. Hendrickson, Travis Heermann, Scott William Carter, Stephanie Writt, Joe Cron, Barton Grover Howe, Rebecca S.W. Bates, Richard Bowes, Louise Marley, Brendan DuBois, Ray Vukcevich, Carole Nelson Douglas, Julie Hyzy, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Kara Legend, John Helfers, Kerrie L. Hughes, Rob Vagle, Laura Ware, Patrick O’Sullivan, Dayle A. Dermatis, Kevin J. Anderson and David Farland. Plus, your name printed in the acknowledgements section of each Fiction River volume for a year and on the Fiction River website with a special thank you for your kind support. Limited (1 of 1 remaining)
Don’t think that big donations are the only way to go. Every level of support–even $1–is appreciated, and it’s helpful! Read more about the Fiction River Kickstarter Project.
READ the Fiction River Anthology — including my short story!
The Curioseum: Collected Stories of the Odd and Marvellous edited by Adrienne Jansen, ill. Sarah Laing, Te Papa Press
This is an appealing little book. The blurb on the back cover says: Extraordinary writers, weird and wonderful museum objects, and fantastic tales for kids... Apparently the writers were invited into the Te Papa Museum to look around and be inspired by the wonderful things they saw in drawers and boxes and displays. The resulting book contains 22 short stories and poems. The selection of writers is interesting - it spans scriptwriters, film-makers, actors, graphic novelists, poets, journalists - and authors (including such luminaries as Joy Cowley, Mandy Hager, Elizabeth Knox, Kyle Mewburn, and Barbara Else).The stories are stunning in their originality and variety. There’s one written from the point of view of a rat on board the waka that first sailed to New Zealand. Another is about a boy who turns into a beetle. Another describes Grandpa’s memories of Gallipoli (including the rifle with a mirror). Some are funny (the children in the samurai armour) and some are sad (the Jewish family fleeing their home). All are intensely readable. Sarah Laing’s fine-lined pen and ink drawings add a humorous tone to the book, and definitely make it more approachable.
I can see this anthology being useful to primary teachers for reading aloud and inspiring discussions in the classroom. It deserves to be in every library.
See links about the book, authors, and where to buy it. ISBN 978 1 877385 92 6 $29.99 Pb
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman
Stories for 6 Year Olds, Random House NZ
Stories for 7 Year Olds, Random House NZ
I’m going to get something out of my system. I still mourn the passing of Random House NZ’s previous series of short story anthologies, edited by Barbara Else and illustrated by Philip Webb. They were truly handsome books, sturdily hard-backed, well designed and illustrated, and given a personal touch by the input of a skilled editor. They still have an imposing presence on my bookshelves.
So I’m trying not to be too tough on this new series of short stories. Each volume contains 25 excellent stories from a bunch of authors ranging from extremely well-known (eg. Margaret Mahy, Patricia Grace, David Hill, Kate de Goldi) through solid and trusted authors (eg. Janice Marriott, Elizabeth Pulford) , to names that aren’t quite so familiar. I read all the stories, and was impressed by their whimsical and humorous tone, as well as by the strong New Zealand flavour. I suspect some of the more entertaining stories were inspired by real events...Note that these anthologies are only available in paperback and e-book. There is no named editor. The cover and illustrations are done in a very casual, childlike style of drawing. One eye-catching feature is the use of large print for the 7 year-olds and extra-large print for the 6 year-olds. I found this rather disconcerting - but I’m not the target audience, of course. I’m looking forward to reading this book with my 6 year-old grandson to see if the large print makes his reading experience more pleasurable... In the meantime, I’m sure primary teachers will find the stories just about perfect for reading aloud to a class.
ISBN 978 1 77553 612 3 $19.99 Pb
ISBN 978 1 77553 614 7 $19.99 Pb
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman
Super Finn by Leonie Agnew, Scholastic NZ
Last year this appealing story won the Tom Fitzgibbon Award for a junior novel by an unpublished author (awarded by the Storylines Foundation). Finn is one of those kids who’s always trying to do the right thing – but manages to get into more and more trouble because things never turn out the way he plans. The story begins with Finn trying to achieve two goals: 1) to turn himself into a superhero, and 2) to earn enough money to sponsor a World Vision child in Africa. Unfortunately for Finn (and fortunately for the reader!) his ideas result in some very funny disaster scenes. In an attempt to give himself super vision he overdoses on carrots and ends up with carotene poisoning. This episode is followed by a brilliant plan to raise money – he and his mate Brain smuggle lollies into school and sell them to the other kids. But what happens when they have to go to P.E. before they’ve managed to remove the bags of lollies taped around their waists... This is a genuinely funny, warm-hearted easy-reading story suitable for upper primary and intermediate ages, especially boys. It would also be great as a classroom read-aloud.
Tom Fitzgibbon Award winning book!
ISBN 978 1 86943 999 6 RRP $19.50
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman
Just One More, by Joy Cowley, illus. Gavin Bishop, Gecko Press
This is another delightful feel-good book from Gecko Press, with its luxurious paper, fold-over cover flaps, attractive endpapers, and excellent design. Not to mention Gavin Bishop’s bold and colourful illustrations which pop up everywhere (I’ve got the paperback version but a little bird told me to check inside the jacket on the hardback edition). Over half the stories were originally published as educational readers by Shortland Publishers and Wendy Pye Group – which gives a good indication of the age level of the intended audience. They could be enjoyed by newly-confident readers, but the book is possibly more useful as a read-aloud for primary teachers. The stories vary in length, the shortest being one page and the longest about six pages. They’re all funny and definitely a bit quirky (how does she think them up?) and they cover subjects such as a moving hole, a horse in a department store, a grumpysaurus, and a travelling bath. Definitely a book to share with my grandchildren.
ISBN 978 1 877467 67 7 RRP $22.99
Reviewed by Lorraine Orman
The Lost Tohunga by David Hair, HarperCollins NZ
This is Book Three in the series which began with The Bone Tiki and continued in The Taniwha’s Tear. The ending is slightly open, so I wouldn’t be surprised if another title in the series comes along. The Maori Gothic genre is an acquired taste, and I do have
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