Short Stories

The initial idea for THE TOE TAG QUINTET came from author Matthew Condon's editor at The Courier Mail in Brisbane, who wanted a series of novella's in the newspaper over the Christmas / New Year period. Combine that idea with the chance meeting of an old mate, a now retired NSW senior policeman, with a story about walking past an old gangster and you get, with a lot of work in the middle, those five novella's now published in one volume.

Each story is a separate outing for the central protagonist, an unnamed former homicide detective, scouting for, and eventually moving into the Gold Coast retirement home of their dreams, whilst long suffering wife Peg's holds hearth and home together. Starting out in a caravan park whilst Peg's at home in NSW packing up and getting organised for the move, our hero's post-retirement adventures begin with that gangster chance encounter which leads to sinister notes under doors, and an increasing amount of argy-bargy. A pattern that, with adjustment of the details, continues through all five stories.

Each novella does follow a well-trodden path, with something providing any excuse for our hero to dodge the inevitable boredom and relevance deprivation of retirement. Whilst that's particularly obvious as a result of the sequential reading of the novella's, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I will admit that I did attempt mitigation by imposing a short delay between each short story, but it was hard not to just keep reading as each outing involved a growing number of bandages on the noggin, an increasingly eccentric cast of opponents, frequent and bizarre near death experiences, and a fair amount of extra bodily damage of varying types / severity. There's also the very nice touch of a bit of philosophising on a rickety old banana lounge, a lot of deep sighing on the part of the seemingly unflappable Peg and an obsession with Kombi's that certainly clears up any lingering doubt about the likelihood of long-term damage from that much noggin bashing.

Set on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, our hero strides across his canvas in what seems like the perfect uniform for a displaced Southerner - garish Hawaiian shirts and bare, pale, slightly bandy hairy legs below shorts, above slightly scruffy runners, regardless of the venue. He's gloriously unaware of the environs in which he's moving, although the reader is allowed to feel a real connection with the surrounds (granted the beauty of the bell tower and its connections to the action might be lost on someone tied up awaiting that final bell toll..).

Needless to say, we are obviously talking funny. Laugh out loud, frequently hilarious, with a touch of a darker underbelly. Our hero is proud of his hard-nut capacity, his ability to stick with a problem, his beloved vintage Peugeot no matter how much smoke it belches at him. He's also fighting the good fight that will resound markedly with a lot of people of a certain age - "Do not go gentle into that good night" - go kicking, screaming and creating a huge ruckus. Buried within was a message about the way that retirement isn't a comfortable place for a lot of people, and the idea of looking back at a life, family, and relationships with others can be a sobering experience. The novellas might start out with the tidying up of a few gangsters, but they progress. In 'Murder on the Vine' he loses an old friend; in 'Murder, She Tweeted', a long lost contact, compatriot and priest; and finally in 'The Good Murder Guide' he is forced to confront the truth of the murder of his long-term mentor in the NSW Police. All of these experiences, wrapped up in the humour, and lunacy of the now, explore disconnection.

THE TOE TAG QUINTET worked as a comedy, as a selection of short stories and as sheer entertainment. What I didn't expect, probably unfairly, is how much of a thought provoker it's remained.
 

Discovered this little grab of two short stories whilst wandering around the KOBO site recently (love love love my Android Tablet and the way I can have multiple bookshops at my fingertips), but I saw this and thought I've not read any early Val McDermid stories for a long time, so why not.

The best thing about this is that idea of going back to the starting out of a character and a series. I don't think, by any stretch of the imagination, that you could suggest these are the most indepth, intricate and complicated plots that you've ever read in crime fiction, but they certainly were enjoyable little stocking fillers, ideal for a quick read over a stinking hot post-Christmas period.

Buried in the darkest corners, or glittering away in the brightest hotspots there are bits and pieces of everyone's Australia being scribbled down on the back of beer mats, place mats, table cloths and menu cards. There are people writing great dollops of city based, mean gritty, and bright clean suburban streets based fiction. There are people out here in the hot, dry bits - Greater Australia as we all like to think of it - that are sitting in pubs, coffee shops and on the sides of dusty gravel roads weaving tales that are filled with a sense of who, what and where we all come from.

When people like the good ones at THE CRIME FACTORY haul a bunch of these sorts of stories into a collection like HARD LABOUR it almost feels like they have heard my pleading, begging and hoping like hell for more and more of these sorts of collections. It also doesn't hurt that the collection starts off on a particularly high note with a fantastic Wyatt entry by Garry Disher (if you don't know who Wyatt is then seriously - get thee to your favourite bookstore or library immediately)!

One of the best things about this set of stories is the way that many of the authors, known for their series, or particular style of novel writing, have stepped outside those strictures and tried something different. The ones that come immediately to mind are Leigh Redhead who has moved about as far from her Simone Kirsch series as she could probably get, and still be in the same country. Same with Angela Savage whose story set in a rural town had me hyperventilating quietly about the fate of peacocks, of which I'm particularly fond (and more than a bit keen to add to the zoo hereabouts). Others who aren't so well known to me seemed to have stepped out into some challenging subjects, styles and subject matter, all sticking to the noir, darker side of the spectrum.

Regardless of which stories become your own particular favourites, it's not too much of a stretch to promise that any fans of noir, or of tight, taut Australian storytelling will find gems in what is a most welcome addition to the short story options in Australia. It's absolutely fantastic to see this collection hit the streets. It will be even better when I'm happily contemplating the next, and then the one after that and the one after that. To wave a cliché under your noses "Do yourselves a favour". Supporting this sort of collection, and these sorts of publishers also does other readers a favour - ensuring what's really good and strong in Australian crime fiction writing gets an outing. You never know, it might also make a few more publishers sit up and smell the obvious as it bleeds all over those streets of theirs.
 

This is exactly what I like about short story collections. This is particularly what I like as it's made up of a series of stories from authors all over the world.

Whilst there is no particular theme, the collection really gives you a feel for interpretations of crime fiction in a lot of different countries and cultures.

As always, ones that worked beautifully, ones that weren't for me, others from authors I already knew about, many from new to me authors who promptly made it onto the "book watch" list.

Right, here it is. I want more short story collections.

There aren't enough thriller / crime fiction short story collections being published.

I don't care if I'm not a "normal reader" or if they aren't very popular or whatever other weasel words you want to chuck around. I LIKE short story collections.

Part of the reason I like them is because they give a reader a chance to find new authors with storytelling styles that appeal, or even to revisit favourite authors.

They work regardless of whether there is a theme, or they are simply a collection of the editor's favourites.

Plus, perfectly formed short story writing is tricky, and there are some excellent examples of the art in THE FIRST SHIFT which were seriously clever.

Some may not appeal so much to some readers, and there were a few in here that weren't exactly my cup of tea - but that's the point. Gave me a really good chance to have a little wander around in some writing from authors I might not necessarily have sought out.

But that's the whole point of a short story collection - you get to dip your toe into a whole lot of deep, shallow, rough, smooth and lovely ripply ponds.

THE FIRST SHIFT is a good combination of the hard and soft, tough and softer, clever and not so appealing.

Want more short story collections like it.

Want them now please.

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