IFWG Australia have revealed the cover for my forthcoming short story collection Shadows on the Wall. It’s based on a fabulous piece of art by the multi-talented artist, Shaun Tan. Check it out, I’m thrilled!

The publisher wrote: Earlier this year we informed you that we had the great pleasure to have acquired Steven Paulsen’s dark collection of stories, Shadows on the Wall. This will be released on 1 January 2018, but in the meantime we are very excited to reveal the front cover of the collection, with original artwork by Academy award-winning artist and animator, Shaun Tan (Elizabeth Lang, designer).

More information can be found here on IFWG Publishing Australia’s web site:

Cover Reveal: Shadows on the Wall by Steven Paulsen

I have a new novelette called “Harold the Hero and the Talking Sword” written in collaboration with Jack Dann in the forthcoming cross-genre anthology And Then… (ed. Ruth Wykes and Kylie Fox), from Clan Destine Press early in 2017.

Jack Dann and I had been talking for a while about doing a project together when the opportunity to write a story for the Clan Destine Press And Then… anthology came up. He showed his story “The Talking Sword” to Lindy Cameron and she loved it, but suggested it be expanded because the theme of the anthology was for stories with two protagonists, and the demon sword held sway over his “sidekick” in Jack’s original tale.

As Jack and I talked about it, we soon found ourselves brainstorming the further adventures of not just the time-travelling sword, but having his unlikely wielder, Harold the Hero, come to the fore. We took our inspiration from Homer’s Odyssey, and asked ourselves what would happen if the sword somehow lost its powers. The result was “Harold the Hero and the Talking Sword”. It was great fun to write and hopefully great fun to read.

Last night’s Words Out Loud at the Babushka Lounge in Ballarat was a blast! People from all walks of life coming together to share their stories and poems. Great company, it was friendly, warm and welcoming. Drop in next time if you’re in neighbourhood.

Entry is free, though a gold coin donation would be appreciated for this non-profit, community event.

Keep up to date at the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/wordsoutloud/.

Hell’s Bells, stories of festive fear written by members of the Australian Horror Writers Association was published this week.

The Christmas-inspired ghostly anthology of flash fiction contains forty works from emerging and established Aussie authors, and includes my little ghost story Christmas Morning.