It is summer in Australia.  We have just come out of a record breaking four days over 40C and have already experienced the first bushfires of the season.

The hot weather reminded me of a story I wrote two years ago, while fires were burning in the hills east of Adelaide.

Firesticks is based on an Aboriginal myth about lightning and the discovery of fire.

Summary : The First Fire

Fire was brought to earth by two members of a tribe of people who lived in the sky near the two brightest stars, (their campfires). They came to earth to hunt possums for food but while they were busy hunting, the firesticks got bored and started to play ‘chase,’ starting fires wherever they touched the ground.  Some Aboriginal people saw the fires and were afraid, however then they realised how useful fire could be and lit some firesticks for themselves.

You can find the story in my (free) Beach Apples collection.

I read Cursed Times-Now What? in about two days. I loved it! Being that I sort of feel like a brainless writer–meaning that I would love to write historical fiction if I weren’t so lazy–I was blown away by the amount of research and attention to detail that Lina put into this book. Rightfully so, […]

Source: Cursed Times, Now What? by @lina_hanson – Elicia Hyder

In January, I’m doing a workshop on How to Write a Regency Romance for Savvy Authors and so I’ve been thinking about the workshop. I want to cover some of the basic information–stuff you need to know to write a book set in the Regency, but I also want to talk about writing (as in getting the book done), plausibility, and the most critical factor, which is to keep it simple.

Source: Writing Workshop

I have created a new page called Free Reads on my site.

From time to time, I will post either a short story or a chapter from one of my books for you to read.

I wrote this story, A Zombie Christmas, for a 2014 anthology of science fiction stories to celebrate the holiday season.  I hope you enjoy it 🙂

Final Promotion

Star Clash – A Space Anthology, is FREE again during 19th and 20th September, (US time) on Amazon. This will be the final FREE promotion in the Amazon KDP program. Star Clash will become available from other ebook stores from October.

Click here for your free copy.

Star Clash – A Space Anthology is FREE this weekend on Amazon.

Click here for your free copy.

“Perfectly happy in our tertiary star system, its thirteen life sustaining worlds more than sufficient to house our modest population of almost eighty billion, we thought we were untouchable.
Then they came. Humans. They looked like us, walked like us and the technology they possessed allowed them to talk like us. That is where the similarities ended. Never have such a brutal, bastard race existed and it is the sincerest hope of myself and every single surviving member of my species that never will such a race exist again.” Star Clash.
From galactic war to a zombie apocalypse, this anthology is a collection of science fiction short stories, each one set in a different world.

Available for pre-order now from Amazon for $1.99

Live from 1st July 2015

My new book, Star Clash – A Space Anthology, should be available soon.

Here is a glimpse of the cover, designed by EJ Kellan Premade Covers

My current project is something a bit different from a regency romance. I am compiling a selection of my science fiction short stories, written over the last couple of years, and brought together in this anthology.

Many of them were written as entries for various Smackdowns. A Smackdown is an elimination-round competition, where the participants are provided with a series of prompts—anything from pictures, to quotations to song lyrics— a sub-genre, and a word limit.
Smackdowns are a lot of fun, as well as suggesting plots and characters which are outside a writer’s usual comfort zone.

At this stage I am planning to release the book in July 2015. Watch this space!

My latest book, Beach Apples, is now available from all major ebook stores. It is a short collection of stories, some contemporary, a mystery and a few science fiction, but all with an Australian flavour. The stories were inspired by various competitions I’ve entered over the last couple of years – so much fun – and I have dedicated the book to my fellow participants. Keep writing!

The book is FREE on most sites although there may be a small charge of 99c if you purchase it from Amazon.

Click on the title of your favourite store for the link.

Amazon

Apple

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Smashwords