Uncle Charles (aka Chuck McKenzie) does a fabulous spooky reading of my story “In the Light of the Lamp” on his YouTube channel “A Touch of Terrors“. This story originally appeared in Terror Australis (ed. Leigh Blackmore), Hodder & Stoughton, my first mass market paperback publication back in 1993.
In addition to my story, he reads lots of other horror stories by some fantastic writers, old and new, on “A Touch of Terrors“. Here’s the introduction to his channel:
Hello children. Uncle Charles here, with another…dreadtime story for you. Are we all tucked up comfortably? Feet up and under the covers, away from whatever lurks beneath the bed? Excellent. Then we’ll begin. Maybe a classic horror tale? A modern masterpiece of the macabre? Whatever tonight’s selection may be, we do hope it brings you…unpleasant dreams.
I am thrilled to share the news that IFWG Publishing Australia has acquired the rights to my new YA Historical Fantasy novel The Dream Weaver for publication next year. Here’s what readers can look forward to:
Anatolia – Autumn, 1405 AD.
The Ottoman Sultan and the barbaric Turko-Mongol conqueror Timur Lenk are both dead.
The empire is on the verge of collapse, caught up in bloody civil war. And dark powers are rising, employing Uzbeg mercenaries and blood magic to wrest control of the country.
In a small Mediterranean coastal town, a street-wise sixteen-year-old orphan named Ali starts to have uncontrollable nightmares he thinks are predicting the future, only to learn they are creating the future.
His dreams attract unwanted attention, and in an attempt to rid himself of them, Ali sets off on a quest to find a mythical sage called Luman, pursued by the evil men who killed his mother and will stop at nothing to capture him and corrupt his unwanted powers with gemeye blood magic.
An historical adventure/fantasy/romance story for Young Adults that will appeal to readers young and old.
The publisher says:
IFWG has had a long and fruitful relationship with the very talented Australian author, Steve Paulsen, including publishing a collection of his weird and dark fiction, Shadows on the Wall, as well as publishing some of his short fiction in flagship anthologies over recent years. It is with great pleasure that we can announce the acquisition of his Young Adult historical fantasy novel, The Dream Weaver, which will put on display another dimension to Paulsen’s already significant literary repertoire, and which also adds to IFWG’s YA catalogue, which is growing in respect and acclaim.
Dream Weaver will be released in the second quarter of 2023. Stay tuned for more information about this upcoming title.
It was fun and liberating to talk to fans and catch up with other writers and artists, and we did book signings and a panel event, with Christopher Sequeira and myself representing CDDU3, and writers Janeen Webb, Charles Spiteri and Tracie McBride there as contributors to Spawn. Janeen Webb also too the opportunity to announce her forthcoming alternative history novel (written in collaboration with Andrew Enstice), Five Star Republic, the first book in their “City of the Sun” trilogy, due for publication on 1st September, 2021.
On Stage and Book Signing Table photos courtesy of Anna Spiteri.
My tale takes place on the docks and waterfront of Darling Harbour and Millers Point in 1925, after a Norwegian sailor named Gustaf Johansen (from H. P. Lovecraft’s 1928 short story “The Call of Cthulhu”) arrives in Sydney with a mysterious artefact. He is the sole suvivor on a ship named The Alert, a disabled island trader that is brought into port after being shot to pieces.
The publisher, Gerry Huntman, says the anthology brings together “some of the greatest scribes of the weird and startling from the land down under bring you brand new stories in the Lovecraftian genre, taking you from the realms of contemporary Australian cities, to the blood-soaked, post-colonial past (touching the powerful original cultures of the land), and even hinting at the disturbing future of Terra Australis.”
I’m proud to be included in this book as the Table of Contents includes some of my favourite Australian SpecFic writers:
Introduction – Cat Rambo
All the Long Way Down – Alf Simpson
Farewell to Elephant – Cat Sparks
The Third Party Doctrine – Steve Proposch
Come His Children – Alan Baxter
The Depiction – Julie Ditrich
The Key to Eternity – Steven Paulsen
They Are Impatient – Maurice Xanthos
Dead Language – Steve Kilbey
Asleep Beneath the Dripping – Jason Fischer
Supersymmetry Blues – David Conyers
Afterword – Jack Dann
The book is being released on 1st May, 2021 in Australia and 30th June, 2021 in North America. It will be available through all the normal retail bookselling channels, and wholesale distribution is through: (Australia/NZ) Novella Distributors; (North America) SPU/IPG; (UK/Europe) Gazelle; (elsewhere) Neilsen/Ingram.
I’m delighted to have “Two Tomorrow” a short story from my collection, Shadows on the Wall (IFWG Publishing Australia), reprinted in The Ampersand Issue 2. The print edition of this magazine is distributed free throughout the Mornington Peninsula tourist locations and hotels in Melbourne.
The Ampersand is published by djprojects, a multi layered creative arts business run by Julie Collins and Derek John, who also established the & Gallery. The gallery initially operated as a pop-up feature in Spencer Street, Melbourne and is now a permanent contemporary gallery in Sorrento, Victoria.
The magazine including my story “Two Tomorrow” is available free to read online here.
Steven Paulsen 