Liz Filleul

Another excellent selection of award winning short stories from the Sisters in Crime Australia's annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards.  For the past 18 years the Australian Sisters in Crime have been awarding a range of prizes for short stories (the categories have shifted around over the years), and THE SECOND CUT is the (not all that surprisingly!) the second time that many of the prize winners have been compiled into a single volume and published.

Again, you'll find an interesting combination of known and published authors, and new and upcoming (hopefully to be published) authors.  One of the things that's particularly interesting about this collection is the authors have stepped outside what they are normally known for writing, heading into different territory completely.  The other thing that's particularly interesting is that this time there are multiple entries in the Verse category.  This particularly category was setup and is still sponsored by the estate of the wonderful Dorothy Porter, much missed Sister in Crime, and as anyone who ever came near me when her book EL DORADO was published, would know a huge writing hero of mine.  Because of the effect of that book I was particularly keen to read these entries in this collection - and there were no disappointments.

There are some fantastic entries in this book, and it was personally heartening to come across some with a decidedly rural bent, and whilst I can't really single out any stories, let's just say I've been a bit leery of handmade candle stalls at the local markets since reading TALLOW, and I have to confess to absolutely crying with laughter over COLD COMFORT (okay, so I grew up on a farm with a little grey Fergie and a rather "unpredictable" grandfather myself...).

As with the first collection, THE SECOND CUT covers a huge range of subject matters, contexts and styles.  The Scarlet Stiletto Awards are such a fantastic initiative and these publications are not just a logical extension, but a perfect adjunct.  They encourage our female writers (including up and coming junior writers), and they consistently unearth some incredibly clever story telling.

THE SECOND CUT is available in paperback, ebook and Amazon format via Clan Destine Press - http://www.clandestinepress.com.au

Getting to generate the ebooks for Clan Destine Press has its advantages.  Not the least of which is the "checking" phase which basically is code for a good read.  And, despite this being my second reading of THE FIRST CUT, it was a very good read.

For the past 18 years the Australian Sisters in Crime have been awarding a range of prizes for short stories (the categories have shifted around over the years), and THE FIRST CUT was the first time that many of the prize winners were compiled into a single volume and published.  (The current Clan Destine version is new edition).

It's a worthwhile collection to read for the sake of the stories included, as well as to discover some "name" authors who have since gone on to get books published, or have felt that they got a real kickstart from the Scarlet Stiletto Awards.  You'll find stories here from some authors you may recognise (Tara Moss and Cate Kennedy for example), and some authors who have gone on to have books published (Liz Filleul and Josephine Pennicott come to mind immediately).  This is a great way to find upcoming authors who are writing at the same standard!

One of the interesting things about THE FIRST CUT is the diversity of subject matters, and the sorts of categories that the stories fall into.  Submission rules call for an active woman protagonist, a crime/mystery theme and that the story must be an original, unpublished work - from there there are a range of categories, including Verse, Malice Domestic, Possible Film Treatments and so on. 

Every year there are submissions from a range of authors, previous winners, previous participants and brand new writers who give the competition a go.  The judging is blind (I was lucky enough to be involved in this year's judging weekend), we have no idea who has written what, and can't find out until all stories have been read, and all deliberations completed and winners finalised.

THE FIRST CUT takes the reader through a wide gambit of styles, subject matters and contexts.  There's humorous, twisting, scarey, odd and quite surprising.  Given that these are all short stories, the variety is outstanding.  As is the writing.  Although sometimes it could make you wonder about who you're sharing dinner and a drink with before a Sisters in Crime Monthly event!

THE FIRST CUT is available in paperback, ebook and Amazon format via Clan Destine Press - http://www.clandestinepress.com.au

I often wonder why authors get involved in True Crime writing.  Surely there must be a component of it that's just soul destroying.  Writing about the sad, mad, bad, idiot, evil, opportunist criminals who commit the most senseless acts.  Then again, there are a lot of us that read True Crime.  I know there's all the analysis of "why" - the voyeurism, the thrill, readers getting a glimpse into a world that luckily most won't ever experience first hand, the readers searching for the why behind so many acts.

OUTSIDE THE LAW 2 fits into the middle of the three current OUTSIDE THE LAW books neatly.  It's the first of the books edited by Lindy Cameron, and it features stories by a wide range of well known true crime writers such as Robin Bowles, John Kerr, Vikki Petraitis, Paul Kidd, Dr Shelley Robertson and more.

This set of books is made up of a series of chapters, each one touching on an individual event / story.  There are some lighter hearted moments, and definitely a wide variety of styles of story-telling and of the stories being told.  There isn't necessarily a theme to what's included, and there's a wide range of timeframes for when the crimes were committed.  It's that aspect that I find so particularly interesting - the way that no matter how "advanced" our society allegedly becomes - the more things supposedly "improve" - the more so much of it stays the same.  Those sad, mad, bad, idiot, evil and opportunistic people are still out there - commmitting acts that just make you wonder.

If you're a fan of True Crime, the whole of the OUTSIDE THE LAW series comes highly recommended.