Over on The Writing Bloc, where I am a contributor, we have big plans, starting with an Anthology we are releasing in the New Year. On 1 January 2019 we are publishing Escape! An Anthology featuring twenty diverse stories by a great cohort of writers.

"As readers, we open books ready to be swept out of our seats and deposited in a world entirely new and exciting. Reading is an escape from our normal lives and thoughts," says Michael Haase, founder of Writing Bloc.

Inside the book, you can expect contemporary fiction, westerns, science fiction, fantasy, paranormal fiction, as well as genre-bending tales. We have stories by published authors such as Tahani Nelson, author of The Last Faoii, Jason Pomerance, author of Women Like Us, and Patrick Edwards, author of Space Tripping. We also have stories from a number of talented emerging writers who you'll want to get to know. You can read the full press release here.

Today, I'm excited to reveal our cover! 

ARC Giveaway

Would you like to receive one of 100 free advanced reader copies we're giving away? You can sign up on this form here.

I like to collect quotes, in particular about writing, and I'm going to share a series of them on the blog here. 

I love this quote and keep coming back to it. It's from Valis, and the complete quote is:

"For each person there is a sentence — a series of words — which has the power to destroy him … another sentence exists, another series of words, which will heal the person. If you're lucky you will get the second; but you can be certain of getting the first: that is the way it works. On their own, without training, individuals know how to deal out the lethal sentence, but training is required to deal out the second." Philip K Dick, Valis.

Do you have a favorite quote?

Check out more of my favorite quotes in my quotes category.

Note: I received an advance copy of The Phantom Forest by Liz Kerin to review. However, I had already pre-ordered it and have attempted to be unbiased in my review.

The Phantom Forest is a supernatural story set in a complex world of blended cultures. It takes place in Khronasa: a small spiritual nation without modern technology conquered by a post-industrial empire. The narrative follows Seicha, a young woman who lost her parents during the invasion and has since raised her younger brother. She’s resolute and resourceful, but also naïve. Seicha’s story is epic, though to describe much of her experiences here would be spoileriffic. What I will say is that events pit her not just against the invading empire, but the very underworld itself.

I've been sharing some of my favorite quotes on social media for a while and I've decided to bring them to the blog as well! We're starting with this classic Kurt Vonnegut quote.

“Science is magic that works.” Kurt Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle.

If you liked this, check out my other favourite quotes.

Over on The Writing Bloc we've posted our favourite reads of the month. For me, this month's was LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff. Check out the Writing Bloc post with all three recommendations here, or see my comments on LIFEL1K3 below.

Lifelike by Jay Kristoff

On an island junkyard beneath a cigarette sky, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn’t looking for secrets; she’s already too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building is a smoking wreck, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive was the handful of credits she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she’s discovered she can destroy machines with nothing more than her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size. If she’s ever had a worse day, Eve can’t remember it.

This is my first Kristoff novel and it will not be the last. Wow. This book was so good it blew my mind. There’s a lot of Idiocracy in the world, but… darker. Much darker. In inexperienced hands, this could have come off cheesy, but it doesn’t. The characters are a sarcy delight and the story is an intense rollercoaster. And that ending… Holy Hell.

(Also, Kristoff just recently tweeted he’s finished the sequel.)

Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads.

Before you go

Why don't you look at my other recommendations? 

I dropped by ABC Hobart radio to chat about my Writing Bloc post about the books that influence our writing.

You can hear it here (starts at 2:07:55).