bOOKS BY MY FRIENDS

Or "Help Out A Mate" whatever sounds better. These aren't reviews or recommendations, just a list of books by my friends. These folks have been important to me in so many ways.

(And yes, this is a work in progress, as always! Not ordered in any way other than what popped up on my social media feed at the time... I havent forgotten anyone, just updating quietly along the way.)

Lotus Blue - Cat Sparks

 "Powerful war machines of the far-future collide across a barren desert world in this post-apocalyptic debut novel from award-winning Australian author Cat Sparks."

Deep in a restaurant in the Melbourne river precinct of Southbank, we talked over the mechanics of submitting and publishing this one while it was still in contention with editors and publishers. (Eventually Talos/Skyhorse bought the rights to publish, and the photo Cat took of me across the table is now my Tumblr avatar.) 

in the dark spaces - cally black

"A genre-smashing kidnapping drama about Tamara, who's faced with an impossible choice when she falls for her captors."

Cally - really Bren - wrote and edited this SF YA novel next to me during our short-lived Goathouse Friday writing sessions. Unfortunately the Elsternwick café where we met to do writing changed their wine list and after a few months, the Goat was no more! This book won the Ampersand Prize for an unpublished manuscript.

Madigan mine - kirstyn mcdermott

"Alex doesn't know what he wants to do, how to connect with people or what's good for him. He drifts his way through dead-end jobs and fumbled relationships, unable to find a way out of the rut his life has become. Then he runs into Madigan Sargood and everything changes."

I don't make a secret that this is probably going to be one of my favourite books on this list, I'm a sucker for dark gothic ghost stories. Kirstyn, one of our SuperNOVA retreat veterans has written other books but her debut is a great place to start.

BLOOD AND DUST (vAMPIRES IN THE SUNBURNT COUNTRY #1) - JASON NAHRUNG

"Kevin Matheson works at his family’s service station in the Queensland outback. Life is all about cricket, fishing, the pub, his girlfriend. Then it all gets blown to hell – he’s caught up in a hideous, unbelievable world of cops and monsters in which two rival gangs of vampires vie for control, all while maintaining a charade of humanity."

Jason is Kirstyn's partner in literary crime, and another retreat/ SuperNOVA/ Convention buddy. He does a lot of shorter fiction, and this was the first in a series of Australian Vampire novels written in a Vampire heyday.

trucksong - Andrew mcrae

"In a post-apocalyptic Australian landscape dominated by free-wheeling cyborgs, a young man searches for his lost lover who has been kidnapped by a rogue AI truck, the Brumby King. Along the way, he teams with Sinnerman, a cyborg truck with its own reasons for hating the Brumby King."

Like Cat, Andrew was in my Clarion South class back in 2004. Always wore a trucker hat. So far he's only written one book (awww) which bears a lot of similarities to Lotus Blue, I think, having post-apocalyptic themes and AI. He let me borrow his kitchen (and face) for a small movie years ago, and knows a good typewriter. Truck Song gets an extra star for being a favourite "friend book".

The Beast's Heart - Leife Shallcross

 "A sumptuously magical, brand new take on a tale as old as time—read the Beast's side of the story at long last.
I am neither monster nor man—yet I am both.
I am the Beast."

An awesome book from an awesome chick. She's listened for hours to me bellyache about shitty publishing experiences and writerly disappointments! Sometimes that's the most important thing. The Beast's Heart caused a bit of a stir as it had been acquired through a publisher Open Door, proving these things do happen...

magrit - lee battersby

"Magrit lives in an abandoned cemetery with her friend and advisor, Master Puppet, whom she built from bones and bits of graveyard junk. One night as Magrit and Master Puppet sit atop of their crumbling chapel, a passing stork drops a baby into the graveyard. "

Lee lives in the Outback now, but once we drove the same model of shitty car and met in a Perth convention when he was the GOH. This was his third novel - an MG rather than an adult, from Walker Books. Like Leife, his previous adult Fantasy novels had been Open Door acquisitions, so these things do occasionally bear fruit!

bound - alan baxter

"Alex Caine, a fighter by trade, is drawn into a world he never knew existed - a world he wishes he'd never found."

This book survived the cage match of going out for its first publishing run of having AU/NZ territory rights only and with a rather dodgy cover. This cover is a lot better! Alan and I met over our shared experience with a magazine's over-the-top editor. He also knows the riddle of steel.

the godless (children # 1) - ben peek

"The Gods are dying. Fifteen thousand years after the end of their war, their bodies can still be found across the world. They kneel in forests, lie beneath mountains, and rest at the bottom of the world's ocean."

Ben's a grumpy dude who doesn't turn up to enough conventions nowadays but we both like Transformers comics and psychogeography so I guess that buys me brownie points. He's one of the rare writers who've spoken obviously about big-advance book projects not earning out, which is a shame because he wrote a pretty intelligent epic fantasy series here. This is the "non person" cover to The Godless, classic burning sword!

Unwrapped Sky (Caeli-Amur #1) - Rjurik Davidson

"Caeli-Amur: an ancient city perched on white cliffs overlooking the sea; a city ruled by three Houses, fighting internecine wars; a city which harbours ancient technology and hidden mysteries."

This is actually up there in my favourite "friend book" section and happened to be by the same publisher as Ben's, but around the same time that a lot of friends with more-than-decent books were crashing and burning. This really had China Meiville, steampunk undertones, and yes, a bit of Wind-Up girl too. Honestly, it should have done the biggest business. I do believe he shared an agent with Ben?

Anyway, this is not a book about Minotaurs, but one feels it should have been.

secret ones - nicole murphy

  "Maggie Shaunessy is used to keeping secrets. She's a fantastic teacher, but she's also gadda, part of a hidden, powerful race - and she has a habit of annoying the wrong people. Until Lucas Valeroso meets Maggie, he had no idea what awaited him: super-human powers, a smart and beautiful woman interested in more than unlocking his new abilities and, above all, a sense of belonging. "

This is the start of Nicole's big urban fantasy trilogy​... it was acquired through Harper Voyager's Open Door as well I think. Last time I met Nicole she sat on my iPad and it kept ringing and I couldn't find it for 15 minutes.  Nicole is one of the unluckiest people I know when it comes to writer covers - this screams "Paranormal Romance" does it not? No? Well, there is an occupational hazard!

City of Lies (Poison Wars #1)

 "Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he's a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery."

An "on my Kindle" read! We've known each other online for a while but only met in "meatspace" in Conflux last year.