A COLLECTION of previously published stories spanning two decades of a Ballarat author\u2019s career is set for launch later this month.<\/p>\n
Following its release in July, writer Kirstyn McDermott will host a launch event for her short story anthology Hard Places.<\/p>\n
The event will take place at 4pm on Saturday, 22 October at Everybody Knows Books on Peel Street in Ballarat, and McDermott said she\u2019s excited to talk about her works.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to see these stories collected like this. It\u2019s a really nice way to provide an overview of my writing from that nearly-20-year period,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s broadly horror, and there\u2019s a real variety with straight-down-the-line horror fiction, contemporary gothic, historical fiction, ghost stories, weird stories, a whole bunch of things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all across the darker end of speculative fiction, hence the title.\u201d<\/p>\n
Released through JournalStone\u2019s Trepidatio Publishing imprint, Hard Places contains 14 stories written as far back as 2001, with the title novella written in 2019 specifically for the collection.<\/p>\n
The launch will feature a short reading as well as a discussion between McDermott and local author Steven Paulsen.<\/p>\n
McDermott said Hard Places showcases her development as an author.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really interesting to see how I\u2019ve changed as a writer in terms of style, direct influence and subject matter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the later work I can see how I\u2019ve developed a lot stronger with my own voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept for the title story, they\u2019ve of course all been published somewhere before but sometimes the magazines disappear so it\u2019s really good to have them in this book.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith one or two exceptions not included, they\u2019re probably the best stories I\u2019ve written over that time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A COLLECTION of previously published stories spanning two decades of a Ballarat author\u2019s career is set for launch later this month. Following its release in July, writer Kirstyn McDermott will host a launch event for her short story anthology Hard Places. The event will take place at 4pm on Saturday, 22 October at Everybody Knows […]<\/p>\n