Eurasian Monsters is Live

Which internet law is it that says, as soon as you apologise to everyone for something being delayed, it will resolve and all will be well? 

Timing is Nelson in this image.

Anyway, as I was posting the previous blog, I was emailed by the POD supplier to say they are happy with the files, so I have just approved Eurasian Monsters for publication and sale. It may take a few days to appear on all the amazons, but it is a go and I will be ordering author and artist copies tomorrow, after doing the numbers. 

Congratulations and thank you to everyone involved in this book specifically, and more widely the Monsters project. Margret was quite wonderfully recognised with the Starburst Brave New Words awards on Pacific Monsters, but it acknowledged, in my opinion, her dedication through out this series in bringing new, and own voices to the fore. Putting not only the monsters and myths of different continents in front of us as readers, but also as much as possible, the writers and artists. This series has taken a massive amount of work, dedication and perseverance from Margret, it’s an incredible feat. 

Eurasian Monsters is the last book in a seven year project, it has followed tradition by running to the 11th hour and beyond and not being straight forward, and I couldn’t be more proud of this book and the people involved in it.

As collections they barely scratch the surface of what each continent has to offer, but they have changed me as a reader. I more actively seek out the less familiar now in my reading. I have a new appreciation for how narrow our reading can become with no malice or intent, just through habit, and comfort and availability. I hope, that this series and all these stories will bring you something new and unexpected and for some of you maybe be the gateway to new worlds to explore.

 

News from Iona Winter

Foxy folk, we are delighted to pass on this announcement from Iona Winter who you may remember joined the Skulk with the release of Pacific Monsters.
 
Iona Winter is of Māori and Pākehā descent and lives in KaritaneAotearoa New Zealand. Her writing has appeared in HeadlandHaloCentum PressReflex FictionFlash Frontier, and various online publications.In 2016 Iona was awarded the Headland Frontier Prize, and performed at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She was also long-listed to the Bath Flash Fiction Award. Her story in Pacific Monsters is based on the myth of TePouākai, the extinct Haast Eagle. The largest eagle to have ever existed, it inhabited TeWaipounamu, the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand.
 
Now the message from Iona
***
 
Kia ora koutou katoa
 
I’m delighted to share that then the wind came (Steele Roberts Aotearoa) my debut collection of short fiction and poetry, is set to be launched on December 14th 2018. For those of you in or near Ōtepoti Dunedin, I’d love you to join me at the Dunedin Athenaeum Library that evening (more details to follow).
 
Whakawhetai ki a koutou, huge thanks to Siobhan Harvey, Tina Makereti, Sue Wootton and Thom Conroy for reading the manuscript – and to Roger Steele for accepting it. Aroha nui ki a koutou, much love to everyone who has supported me as a writer – be that edits, reading through screeds of heavily notated paper, or the gift of honest feedback. Thank you to everyone who has published my writing, and invited me to attend festivals and events to perform my work – some previously published and performed pieces are contained within the book. And of course, my advance gratitude to everyone who might buy a copy of then the wind came.
 
I look forward to sharing then the wind came with you. Kia pai tō rā, have a beautiful day,
Iona