A Tale of Two Reviews

Over on Twitter, Paul Feeney has reviewed The Woods, the anthology containing my story, The Iron Curve of Thorns. Here's a wee bit on what he had to say about my story.

Beautifully written and heartbreaking. Gorgeous imagery and a haunting tale that keeps surprising.

And, over at his blog, Paul Finch has reviewed The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors, containing my story, The Fullness of her Belly.

in Cate Gardner's The Fullness of Her Belly, in which we meet Ella, a mental outpatient who can only satisfy her constant craving to be pregnant by making cushion babies and stuffing them up her dress.

The blog also lists the TOC for The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors 2, which includes Paul's story, What did you see?

Review - These Foolish & Harmful Delights

Over at Ginger Nuts of Horror, Eric J. Guignard has reviewed my collection These Foolish & Harmful Delights. Here's a wee excerpt:

These Foolish & Harmful Delights by Cate Gardner is an engaging collection of dark fantasy tales that range in subject matter from Hell-borne Punch and Judy dolls, to haunted asylums for the condemned, to demons and monsters in love.

You can buy my book over at Amazon in ebook or paperback.

Review - THE WOODS

DLS Reviews has posted a fabulous review of the anthology 'The Woods'. I am so proud to be a part of this little anthology, which (in my biased opinion) is superb. Here are some words on my story:

It's as haunting as it is beautiful. A heart-wrenching exploration of a troubled mind delivered with mind-boggling imagery. The sheer creativity in the story is nothing short of exquisite. 

These Foolish & Harmful Delights Review

The first review of my collection These Foolish & Harmful Delights is in and it is exceptional. Many thanks to Paul Holmes over at The Eloquent Page.

There is an introspective, almost intimate quality to each entry in the collection. Gardner’s powerful writing brings together tales of love and loss, rebellion and empowerment. You can read the rest of the review over at The Eloquent Page.

There is also a link to a review Paul did for a previous book of mine, Theatre of Curious Acts. A book that is still in print despite being a whopping 9-years-old. I'm very proud of that little book.

Made for the Dark - John Llewellyn Probert

A new year's resolution - to review more of the books I read. That said, here is a review of the first book I have read this year.

MADE FOR THE DARK by JOHN LLEWELLYN PROBERT

‘There lived a girl who was the recipient of the grief of all mankind’. Each story in this collection begins with a Twilight Zone style introduction and it’s very effective (especially when you imagine it read with JLP’s enthusiasm). The story ‘Scattered Ashes’ opens the collection. ‘The girl was beautiful, at the beginning…’ Four mysterious men hire a private detective in this wicked tale of murder and revenge. Favourite stories include ‘It Begins at Home’, questioning what you would do to make ‘There lived a girl who was the recipient of the grief of all mankind’. Each story in this collection begins with a Twilight Zone style introduction and it’s very effective (especially when you imagine it read with JLP’s enthusiasm). The story ‘Scattered Ashes’ opens the collection. ‘The girl was beautiful, at the beginning…’ Four mysterious men hire a private detective in this wicked tale of murder and revenge. Favourite stories include ‘It Begins at Home’, questioning what you would do to make money in extreme financial circumstances. A tale full of dread. The creepy ‘A Taste of Honey, A Horror of Stone’ that left me thinking freaking hell. Seriously, dude. In contrast, ‘The Life Inspector’ is quite light-hearted for me if not for the character. ‘Girlfriend School’ is about a first date that goes very badly. In ‘The Girl with no Face’ we find that sometimes the people we meet are more dangerous than we are. Finally, ‘The Girl in the Glass’, my favourite of favourite stories in the collection, an unnerving tale of an unusual haunting. * I would link to where you can buy it - Black Shuck Books - but I suspect that all 50 copies of this limited edition are long gone.

Concrete Review

On Amazon, there's a wee review for the above Snowbooks anthology of Industrial Horror, Thread of the Infinite, which contains my story In the City of Concrete Dandelions (gosh, that's a lot of italics).

Here be a snippet: (incl. more italics)

Entertaining and thought provoking stories painting bleak post apocalyptic landscapes and some more personal intimate takes with children as the protagonists. Cate Gardner's 'In the City of Concrete Dandelions' was heartbreaking, powerful and drew me right in.

Scary Children

Suffer Little Children by Penny Jones is part of Black Shuck Books Shadows series - a continuing series of mini collections from some of the hottest, upcoming and established names working in horror fiction today.

And in the tradition of small things (my hubby* is five-one if he's lucky), here is a mini review of the collection:

Penny Jones’ “Suffer Little Children” is a collection of six stories centered around children, the horrors of childhood, and the horrors that are children.

It is very well written, engaging, and sometimes twisty, from the traumatic “Beneath Still Waters” through to the heartbreaking “Waxing”. Coincidentally, they were my favourite stories in a collection that has no duds.

I look forward to reading a longer collection of Penny’s stories in the near-future.

*cheated and put a link in for my hubby's Black Shuck Books** mini-collection (sorry, Penny).

**did it again

Alchemy Press Book of Horrors Review

The Alchemy Press Book of Horrors was launched at the Fantasycon convention in Chester last October. Peter Coleborn & Jan Edwards (the editors and owners of the press) provided the authors and those who purchased the book with free bat biscuits.

Well that's just bats!

I'll leave now.

Anyway, to the purpose of the post and all that, the British Fantasy Society published a review of the anthology yesterday. Here's a snippet off what they said about my story, Fullness of her Belly...

"Other stories that are worth a mention are -Cate Gardener’s (sic) Fullness Of Her Belly.... However, as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for."

Be careful what you wish for... Now isn't that the truth?

Burp!

 A couple of links for this Monday afternoon post...

Daily Science Fiction has posted its forthcoming stories for July and my story, The Mechanical Heart of Him, will be emailed to subscribers on July 18th. It's a tale of woe.

Sam Tomaino has reviewed The Journal of Entomology for SFRevu and has good things to say about the stories. I'm incognito in the review.

I feel I should have a third link because good things usually come in threes. Someone should send me awesome news like now...waiting...waiting....waiting. Ah man, best finish the post then. Most of the time I'm convinced that Gmail is eating my emails. Plus, I'm nervously biting my fingers (there are no nails left) waiting to hear if a story has made it into one of the most awesome magazines in the universe and I'm sure Gmail is laughing at me and thinking, 'I so ate that one last week.' In fact, I think Gmail just burped.

Currently working on a short story that is hopefully unsettling and definitely has a dose of woe. It's the same story I mentioned last week (false love, tattoos and the Devil) with an extra dose of awesome tattooness. In my opinion. My opinion is often wrong. I am (or will be when I've posted this blog) finishing off the second draft before I slice and dice with a pen sharper than the knife I left in my protagonist's hand.

(Never) Slept in Sunday

I am spending the day with dead people... We're destroying things and breaking hearts. We've also lost a sock. If found destroy it.

In other news, there's a lovely review of my story collection Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits over at Bloody Bookish. Thank to Mary Rajotte for that.

Some Theatrical Belly Flips

You may have witnessed a wee bit of butt-shaking excitement last night when I discovered that Theatre of Curious Acts (the hardback) is available to pre-order on Amazon (just the US site at the moment). Oh my!

The book will be available as a hardback, paperback, and ebook and they'll all be released (fingers crossed, things going to plan etc etc) on December 21st or thereabouts.

And there was more butt shaking this lunchtime when I read Pablo Cheesecake's review over at The Eloquent Page..."From the battlefields of Europe, to the end of the world, this novel is a seamless blend of physical and psychological horror that will leave a distinct impression..." It's a seriously awesome review. Me and my boys can battle anything now - dragons, war, death.


Theatre means so much to me - I love Barbed Wire Hearts and Strange Men but both those books had easy rides to publication (or at least that's how it felt - or rather, a magical ride) whereas poor Theatre often felt like the book that would never be until it landed on Hadley Rille's shores. Have I said how much I love the book. And my boys, especially Daniel & Swan and poor, poor Ken. Ken breaks my heart so don't you dare hate him (okay, you can if you want). Assuming you read their story that is. I hope you do. And if you do, let me know if you love Ken (and if you don't, it's all my fault and not his).

Curious Things Afoot

Some Theatre of Curious Acts news this Tuesday. Although the book isn't released until mid-December we already have two reviews. The first review is from Lee Thompson...

"This is a simply deceiving story, complicated and intricate beneath the humor and darkness. She weaves a strong web and populates the story with quirky and likeable characters" - you can read the rest of the review over at The Crow's Caw.

The second review is by Caroline E Willis...

"The aesthetic of this 40,000 word novella evokes theater and circuses and other strange, false places that tell true stories. It’s a cross between Gaiman’s Neverwear, Maguire’s Wicked and Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and if you enjoy any of those, you will enjoy the “Theatre of Curious Acts." - you can read the rest of the review over at Tangent Online.

I'm currently writing a little collection of flash stories/biographical accounts of events that happened (according to some rather dubious folk including a Mr. Folk) to some rather unfortunate and some wicked creatures who populate the outskirts and the dark unseen corners of the Theatre. I'm hoping to use them for a blog tour in December or January - thinking January may be better being that it is the season of frost and staying-in-ness and plus 2012 has that whole apocalyptic vibe going for it.

And that is all my news, I think... Ooh, except I'm venturing out into the world this weekend to attend a wee event in my home town and then I'm scurrying home to cower back under my duvet.

The Whisper Jar by Carole Lanham

There are secrets hidden within The Whisper Jar. 

These are not the sort of secrets you can whisper into jam jars, twist the lid and know (or hope) they'll stay hidden; these are secrets that spill out across the pages of Carole Lanham's debut collection, which weaves tales that prove just how un-innocent childhood can sometimes be.

There are vampires and maybe vampires, and werewolves and fairies, and macabre torture devices that may or may not kill depending on the flick of a switch. There are the rhyming tales - the title story The Whisper Jar and the tragic The Adventures of Velvet Honeybone, Girl Werewuff - tales of woe, of childhood friendship, and how the magic dies with approaching adulthood. Each story is a delight, and the tales are told in Lanham's unique and compelling voice.

Although some secrets should stay hidden, Carole Lanham's The Whisper Jar should not. The ebook is available to pre-order from Morrigan Books and the book is released on October 31st.

Then there were nine...

Check out my contributor copies of Nowhere Hall. Ten beautiful copies all for me. Okay, we're down to nine now because my mum snatched the first copy and well... so she should. And I doubt I'll have nine copies for long but I do for now... So that means there are 100 signed and numbered editions out in the wild, my ten and I know a handful of promo copies have made there way to secret locations. That makes me incredibly happy (and possibly incredibly sad). Simon Marshall Jones has done a fabulous job and if you have a copy (or if one is on its way to you) you'll know how superb the quality is.

In other Nowhere Hall news. Three more reviews have appeared online...

The first from Jim McLeod... This is an extremely layered and complex story, that keeps the readers interest, with the use of some extremely good writing... You can read the rest of the review over at the Ginger Nuts of Horror site. While over at Dark Musings, Anthony Watson said... It's a beautifully written piece and absolutely maintains the high standards already set by Spectral Press's previous publications. And finally, Walt Hicks of Page Horrific... If you're looking for a dark funhouse ride through the fragile human psyche, led by a talented and impressive tour guide, NOWHERE HALL is your ticket.


Now I feel like I should wash my mouth out with soap or something because the above seems all look at me, look at me, so apologies for that. I shall shush now. Or maybe I'll just scream rather loudly one more time...

In other news... You may have heard me mention how awesome Robert Shearman's stories are, well you can read some (eventually 100 of them) for free over at his One Hundred Stories blog. 

Passing through... The Vestibule

Did you know that before Dante made it into Hell proper he had to pass through the vestibule, a nowhere place? And, did you know that uncommitted souls lie on the banks of the river Acheron? And did you know that my niece starts almost every sentence with 'and did you know?'


Well now you do. Or perhaps, you already did.

In other Nowhere Hall news, the chapbook has been printed and copies are either in the mail or due to go out in the mail. If you bought it (thank you) then the chapbook should be with you shortly and if you ordered a copy via me I'll email you when my copies arrive and send one scurrying on its way to you. Another (fabulous) review has appeared online, this time by Colum McKnight of Dreadful Tales.

Gardner obviously takes her time crafting these images and emotions... A whirlwind of greatness is contained with the pages of yet another brilliant Spectral Press release.


You can read the rest of the review here.

And as it's Wednesday, I should mention my WIP. It's draft number 745 of Grim Glass Vein. I've fallen back in love with the story. I guess we just needed a break.

This may all be a dream...

The signature sheets for 'Barbed Wire Hearts' (Delirium Books, Nov 2011) arrived today, and the signature sheets for 'Nowhere Hall' (Spectral Press, any day now) should arrive tomorrow. I've pinched myself a dozen times. I'm sure it's a misprint or I'm trapped in a dream or some other such nonsense. This isn't real life.

In other news. Two more reviews of Nowhere Hall have appeared on the web...

Brilliant! I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like this before. It is original, thought provoking, and makes me crave her upcoming Delirium Books release... It is a layered and tightly woven chapbook that has more depth than many novellas I've read this year. You can read the full review by Jassen Bailey at The Crow's Caw.

Nowhere Hall struck me as a very intimate tale. The writer exposes Ron's emotional core, his inner most thoughts and feelings are laid bare...Spectral Press has delivered another classic tale. You can read the full review by Pablo Cheescake  at The Eloquent Page.

Thank you to both Jassen and Pablo for reading my wee story.

My short story 'His Name Carved on Empty Space' was due to be published at Every Day Fiction today but the site is moving servers so the story will (I believe) now be appearing in September, which is probably a good thing as I don't think I can take any more awesomeness today. Heck, I even got a free smellies set in work today.

Seriously, pinch me.

Tiny Deaths by Robert Shearman

A one sentence review of Tiny Deaths by Robert Shearman would be...

A fekking brilliant short story collection. 


A two sentence review would look like this...

A fekking brilliant short story collection. Or to put it eloquently - bloody marvellous. 


And a slightly longer review...

I loved this book so much. I never re-read short stories or books, at least not since I was a kid, because there are so many books in my to read pile, and so many books I need to buy, and so many stories online, but I've found myself picking up Tiny Deaths again and again and trying to examine its brilliance.

The thing that stood out for me was the characterisation, sure the stories were weird and brilliant (but I read lots of weird, brilliant stories and write lots of weird stories), but the author had a knack of making me care about the protagonists and antagonists almost immediately, like within a paragraph. A damn paragraph and I'm already rooting for them. Now that's talent. He even made me love Hitler's dog.

Yeah, that's right, Hitler's dog.

Favourite stories were Mortal Coil, Perfect, Ashes to Ash, Stuff We Leave Behind, Favourite and Tiny Deaths. The book shall be leaving my greasy hands tomorrow because I need to pass on its magic. I suspect it's travelling to a worthy home. Of course, that's if I remember to put it in my bag.

Goodreads - How do you score?

I'm a fan of Goodreads - you can find me here.

Goodreads is a great place to get exposure for your books by way of competitions and also to find new books to read. Although, it might be an idea to stay away from the Never-Ending Book Quiz because it quite frankly, never ends. So far I've answered 1448 questions (how sad is that). Anyway, this blog post isn't about time wasting quizzes or discovering what an extraordinary guesser you are, it's about how you score books on Goodreads.

I personally follow Goodreads own markers for each star ie

★  didn't like it
★★  it was okay
★★★  liked it
★★★★ really liked it
★★★★★ it was amazing

...seems sensible to me. When I'm considering buying a book, I tend to check the reviews on Goodreads rather than Amazon, first off checking if any of my friends have read it and what they thought, and I'm constantly surprised by potential readers comments to three star reviews (and I'm not talking about anyone who visits here - that I'm aware of :D), alot of folk seem to think a three star review means the book isn't worth picking up. In my world it is. It means I liked it. Sure, I'm not going to rave about the book like I would a book I awarded five stars too, but hell, I'd sure pick up the author's next book or something from their back catalogue.

Actually, I'm likely to pick up another book from an author whose book I only gave 2 stars too because I rarely like everything an author has written ie I gave Stephen King's Desperation ★★★★★ and Dreamcatcher ★.

So, I was curious, how do you score?

And in other news, another fabulous review of Strange Men has appeared online, this time in Morpheus Tales and by Brett Taylor. Here's an extract (you'll can read the full review over at Morpheus Tales - page 9.

So who is Cate Gardner? A dotty eccentric of the English countryside, roaming the garden in search of fairies and magic moths? Or only a clever young lady amusing herself with her flights of fancy? Either way, Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and Other Curious Things is worth a look. It shows mixing whimsy and the bizarre can be a higher art than just rewriting old classics with zombie jokes.

Did you notice the word young?

Flying Saucer Eyes

Things that have happened this week...which is a strange sort of post for a Thursday, but then I'm an odd sort of gal.

Most important news first. There's an excellent review of my story collection, Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits, by Peter Tennant in the current issue of Black Static. I was so nervous about this review because it's a) Peter Tennant and b) Black Static and c) I'm nervous about every review.

Here's an excerpt from the review: ...is a smorgasbord of the surreal with strands of absurdity ripping through its core, each quirky story riffing on an internal logic with echoes of Monty Python at its most bizarre and informed by a delight in language that matches the exuberance of Bradbury at the height of his powers... There is an addictive quality to these stories, so that as soon as you finish one you want to rush on to the next...

You can read the rest of the review in Black Static. I shall have to secure my subscription copy behind glass when it arrives.

Next up... My story The Sound of Sharp Voices which appears in The Tangled Bank anthology is now available in print. The book originally appeared as an ebook last February and I'm really happy to be able to add the print version to my 'me' shelf. Yep, I have a me shelf. I guess my me shelf is an ego shelf and thus my ego is small.

And talking of Tangled... A Disney Store bag* freaked me out. It's one of those big numbers with a huge saucer eyed Rapunzel on the front and I'd left the darn thing hanging over the back of my door. It got dark. I hadn't drawn my blinds because I often don't. Something caught my eye in the window. EEK! For a millisecond I thought a giant eyed something was staring at me through the window. Thank god, I didn't pick up a Mickey Mouse bag.

*Note to concerned readers - the bag contains pressies for my talented niece and swashbuckling nephew and isn't a fashion accessory.

WIP Wednesday - There's an Ego-Sized Hole in my Ceiling

A couple of lines from my current WIP - With Ghost Butterflies in her Hair.

"Since the accident, the world as seen through her glasses appeared cockeyed. Aunt Jane said the world always looked that way to her and not to fuss..."

Which leads me into news of a delightful review of 'Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits' by Sheila M. Merritt over at Hellnotes.

Reading Cate Gardner’s short stories is like watching The Twilight Zone hosted by Franz Kafka, with adaptations by Lewis Carroll. This isn’t run of the mill writing. In the collection Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits and Other Curious Things, Gardner’s highly unusual fiction is displayed in all its bizarre glory. Calling her work odd is an understatement; it doesn’t do justice to her great imagination.  Read the rest of the review here.

Kate Shaw also reviewed Strange Men over at Skunk Cat Book Reviews.

Once I did pick it up, though, I devoured it utterly. The stories are quick-paced, varied, and full of the mischievous and odd characters that people Gardner's writing and make it so unique.

Thanks so much Kate (and Sheila).

Okay back to the sarcophagus and its concealed secrets.