There’s some exciting stuff happening over at Australian publisher, Clan Destine Press.

Going back a few months ago, Lindy Cameron (head honcho at CDP) sent out an invitation to a number of Australian genre writers to a brand new anthology she was putting together.

Lindy’s idea was to collect a bunch of adventure stories for a Great Big Book of Adventure Tales. The kind of stories that have the reader flipping pages fast, dying to know what happens next, what dire straits would the author throw their characters into, and how would they overcome it. How would they find the stolen artwork, the missing space ship, the ancient relic hidden deep beneath the island grotto in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle while swinging from a bi-plane?

So, the title And Then…The Great Big Book of Adventure Tales was born. Along with the invitation came some guidelines. Clan Destine wanted not one, but TWO main characters. Not a hero and sidekick kind of deal, but two real protagonists; best buddies, comrades, siblings or colleagues. The characters didn’t have to be human, but they did have to be equal. The stories also had to have an Australian flavour to them.

Lots of writerly folk got excited. Lindy was encouraging writers to think outside the box, to write away or within or between their ‘usual’ genres. She wanted the authors to play. She also offered them far more words than is usual in a short story anthology to tell their stories in – five to fifteen thousand. Fifteen thousand! That’s novella size, rather than short.

I was lucky enough to be one of the writers invited. My story, Come Now, Traveller is actually one of the shorter tales to be accepted in And Then… While I generally write crime, or, more recently science fiction, this time I got to delve into a nautical steam-punkish kind of world, with some fantasy thrown in for good measure.

Come Now, Traveller is the story of a ship – The Davee Trader – her captain and the next in line. There’s a surgery scene, opiates, fights, jealousy and lust. There’s the Davee’s own brand of history, mythology and family dysfunction. But most of all, it’s about The Davee Lady, the carved timber figurehead that leads the Trader through the sea, told by the two who love her.

Of all the short stories I’ve written, this one was the biggest challenge for me personally. It’s also (now) my favourite world to play in. So…I’d love to see it in print.

And that’s where all the authors, Clan Destine Press and Lindy need your help. You see, when writers are given a huge maximum word count like fifteen thousand words, we generally use it. So LOTS of the invited writers have written big adventure tales for this big book. In fact, so many of us did just that – there’ll now be two gorgeous volumes to sit side by side in your shelf (or e-reader).

But here’s the thing: Clan Destine has to pay us. We didn’t quite come in under budget. So they’re running an Indiegogo campaign to get things moving. For contributors to the campaign, there’s SO many goodies as reward, including of course, the two huge paperback volumes with stories from over thirty of Australia’s ‘finest genre fictioneers’ for only $50. Yep, serious. Fifty bucks for two bricks of books.

Lindy has also enlisted the services of fabulous illustrator, Vicky Pratt. You can see here the utterly gorgeous work she has done of my own Davee Lady Figurehead. She’s so perfect, I must admit the first time I saw her, I might have shed a tear. Every story in the collection will have its own illustration and title page. And, just check out this Table of Contents and the authors involved. There’s some huge Australian names in there:

 

Peter M Ball – Deadbeats

Alan Baxter – Golden Fortune, Dragon Jade

Mary Borsellino – The Australian Gang

Lindy Cameron – The Medusa Code

Kat Clay – In the Company of Rogues

Emilie Collyer – The Panther’s Paw

Jack Dann – The Talking Sword

Sarah Evans – Plumbing the Depths

Jason Franks – Exli and the Dragon

James Hopwood – The Lost Loot of Lima

Kelly Gardiner – Boots and the Bushranger

David Greagg & Kerry Greenwood – Cruel Sister

Narrelle M Harris – Moran & Cato: Virgin Soil

Maria Lewis – The Bushwalker Butcher

Sophie Masson – The Romanov Opal

Keith McArdle – The Demon’s Cave

Jason Nahrung – The Mermaid Club

Andrew Nette – Save a Last Kiss for Satan

Amanda Pillar – It

Michael Pryor – Cross Purposes

Dan Rabarts – Tipuna Tapu

Tansy Rayner Roberts – Death at the Dragon Circus

Finn J Ross – Genemesis

Tor Roxburgh – The Boudicca Society

Amanda Wrangles – Come Now, Traveller

Alison Goodman – The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Sulari Gentill – The Stranding

Lucy Sussex – Sabah

Cameron Ashley – Dogs Leave Home to Die

Evelyn Tsitas – Stealing Back the Relics

 

So, head on over and check out the Indiegogo campaign. Contributions can start from as little as $5.

Hope you can join us on this wild adventure ride!