So, I have two bits of anthology-related news. The first is that The Draft: Stories from the Warwick MA in Writing is now available for Kindle. If you like short fiction and want to support new voices, please have a look! It contains my story ‘Mr Wei Takes the Train’ and an assortment of other short tales by my amazing class from Warwick – with a diverse range of genres and cultural influences. The terrifyingly brilliant AL Kennedy says of The Draft: “There is a fierce joy about the pieces here: a sense that authors are revelling in making the impossible believable” (I’m still reeling a little from how lovely her afterword is, to be honest).  So that’s all exciting!

Anyway, if you decide to give it a try, or if you’ve already read the dead-tree edition, I would be incredibly grateful if you’d consider giving it a review. An honest one – no need to only say nice things! When I’m looking at books on Amazon, I know I prefer to see a mix of opinions in the reviews – it lets me make my own informed decision. Whereas if every review is 5-star I get a little suspicious. It would just be ace to see some conversation going on around the book, and it’ll mean our stories have a better chance of being noticed. Thank you!

To second piece of news, then: Verge 2011: The Unknowable is out from Monash University Publishing. Look at the pretty:

This anthology contains my story ‘Four Pairs of Marco Polo’, which is me doing realism. It’s sort of about Bangkok and the Western gaze, and sort of about the weird, weird world of SEO writing. Verge also has stories from some great friends and writers, including Jon Mycroft and Mikey Atienza. Mikey’s the person responsible for turning me on to Philippine speculative fiction, and she’s an awesome writer. Really, I think people should get this book just so they can read her story, which is a gorgeously understated post-apocalyptic tale-in-fragments, set in a ruined library. It is quite pricey, I know, especially with the shipping cost if you don’t live in Australia – but there’s supposed to be an e-book at some point, which I’ll post about if it materialises.

Meanwhile, the novel’s piecing itself together – I’m off to the British Library today for some research – and I’ve got some new short story ideas simmering in the brainpan.

I leave you with my review of Steam-Powered II: More Lesbian Steampunk Stories, which is the most badass anthology I’ve read in a good while. You should buy it.