Author: Gerry Huntman

spec-fic writer and publisher

Publication News

I’ve been slack of late, so to make up for it, here’s a list of my recent publications. As a full-time publisher and also having other important roles in life, I’m pretty proud of being able to get some creative output going of late. I don’t plan to stop.

  • Guardian of the Sky Realms (IFWG Publishing International – reprint). This book has seen several publishers and has settled nicely with IFWG which has a track record with middle grade (and up) fiction. While not a teen writer specialist, this was a genuine pleasure to write, and I’m very glad to see it out there in the publishing world.
  • Champion of the Sky Realms (IFWG Publishing International). The sequel, and logically concluding an important thread that had begun in Guardian of the Sky Realms. Again, a pleasure to write.
  • ‘Finding Utopia’ in the anthology The Time Machine: Australia Bound (PS Publishing, eds Steve Proposch and Christopher Sequeira). One of my favourite short stories that flowed quickly and seamlessly. An historical science fiction, which, while obviously about time travel, is really about love.
  • ‘Hill-Runner and the Enemy From Behind the Curtain Of Stars’ in the anthology Into the Cthulhu-Universe: Lovecraftian Horrors in Other Literary Realities (IFWG Publishing International, eds Steven Paulsen and Christopher Sequeira). Another story easy to write, that explores the concept that a proto-North American tribe has existed for thousands of years in what we now call the Americas, whose task is to protect all people from Mythos-based enemies.

All of these books have been globally released over recent months and are available from all good bookstores, online and bricks and mortar, in print and ebook formats.

Short story, Finding Utopia, to be published in The Time Machine: Australia Bound

Very pleased to have my short story, ‘Finding Utopia’, be part of an excellent anthology, The Time Machine: Australia Bound, to be published by PS Publishing in coming months. Edited by the very capable Steve Proposch and Christopher Sequeira.

It was an easy write as it captured my imagination immediately, and the words just delightfully flowed out. All the other contributors are amazing writers, so I see this anthology will make very positive waves in the speculative fiction community.

The preorders page for trade paperback is here.

And the preorder for the signed limited edition.

I’m sure the ebook version will have preorders as well.

News: New Sky Realm Arrangements and a Cover Reveal!

I’m extremely happy to announce that IFWG Publishing International has taken on the publishing rights of Guardian of the Sky Realms, as well as the new sequel, Champion of the Sky Realms!

I should begin by saying that the previous publishers of Guardian were great to work with, but in each case, middle grade fantasy wasn’t strongly entrenched in their publishing branding, and so they reluctantly let go of the books and I made the decision to pick them up with my own publishing company. This is something I would not normally do, but given that two respectable publishing houses wanted to publish my first book, and one of them wanted to publish the second, I feel that the two titles ‘earned’ there way into my own business. And I’m excited!

I negotiated the retention of the cover art and most of the design of Guardian by the previous publisher because I absolutely loved it and I couldn’t see it being executed better. And, miracle of miracles, I got the same artist to do the artwork for Champion: kudos to Do Hung Hoang who is a masterful artist.

Hoang perfectly captured the essence of an important episode in Champions in this cover art, including a beautiful Sumerian vista far below the confrontation between Mirriam and her earlier incarnation, many thousands of years ago. Here is the full cover art, less the design:

IFWG will be announcing the release dates in coming weeks, but I thought I would get in early with the nuances of the publishing rights, as well as the sneak peeks!

Author copies received: Bullet Points 2

Had the pleasure of receiving author copies of Bullet Points 2, a military sci fi anthology edited by Nathan W. Toronto. My story, ‘Fred Has a Productive Day’ is in it, a tiny piece exploring AI in a post-apocalyptic future (it was first published in Battlespace: A Military Science Fiction Anthology by The SciFi Show some years ago. This is a quality anthology, not glorifying war but using literature to bring veterans and non-veterans together. A worthy cause. It is also pretty cool to share my story in a volume with so many great authors, most notably Joe Haldeman.

News: Guardian of the Sky Realms is released

I’m very pleased indeed to announce that my middle grade fantasy novel, Guardian of the Sky Realms, is now released through Meerkat Press.

To celebrate the release, my publisher has organised an extensive blog tour – I’m enjoying it already, and there’s lots about me and the title that will be revealed – please take a look.

On a personal note, I can’t thank Trish Reeks, Managing Director of Meerkat, enough for her support and effort to get my book out, and ticking every box imaginable, in doing it right for the middle grade readership. I also look forward to having the book’s sequel, Champion of the Sky Realms, released next year. There’s so much story to tell…

Upcoming Release: Guardian of the Sky Realms

In four days my young teen fantasy novel, Guardian of the Sky Realms, will be released world-wide through Meerkat Press.

I will be participating in a blog tour this time round and I look forward to talking about the novel, what inspired me to write it, and perhaps drop an easter egg or two about the upcoming sequel, Champion of the Sky Realms (out next year).

For those of you who want to purchase early, here’s some links to Guardian of the Sky Realms, including preorders:

Amazon print (anywhere)
Amazon kindle (US)
Barnes and Noble (print or Nook Book)

The following sites have preorder facilities as well, but are catching up getting the cover graphic:
The Book Depository
Boomerang Books (Australia)
Booktopia (Australia)

Of course, this book is also available through all good bricks and mortar stores.

A Life-Changing Event

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On 1 July 2020 my life will change forever, and many of my dreams and aspirations will actually come to fruition: I will become a full-time writer and publisher.

2020 has been a bad year for a bunch of reasons, the main one being of course the pandemic, which has touched on virtually every person on this planet. It has affected me and my family as well. And yet, through hard work and good fortune, my plans to move to full time writing and publishing from 2021, has actually turned into an ‘early mark’.

Over recent years my ‘day job’ was a good one, one where I had developed great professional relationships and where I believe I made a good contribution to my employer. As long as I was in this job my writing and publishing efforts had to be second in the queue, or where I had to find those extra hours at the oddest of times. It did take its toll on my health. Now this is no longer the case.

The biggest transition for me, moving forward, is to set up my new routines, where my new day job is split between writing and running my two publishing imprints, and of course, having more time to spend with my family (who have always been my highest priority in life). This is a challenge that I look forward to, and it will be a delight. I also look forward to attending more industry conventions, in Australia and overseas.

2021 is going to be another watershed time for me and my family, as we plan to find our ‘forever home’ and it is likely to be up north a fair way (we live in Melbourne, Victoria, and we will either move to NSW or Queensland). There is no rush with this, and we want to do this right.

So… you are reading the mutterings of a very happy writer and publisher. I so very much hope that your dreams will also come true for you.

Book Review: The Invisible by Seb Doubinsky

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Note: I received an ARC copy of this book from Seb Doubinsky without any strings attached. I am a friend of Seb’s and he knew I was interested in reading it.

The Invisible, by Seb Doubinsky, will be released in May 2020. I had the good luck to receive an early copy and dive into Doubinsky’s New Babylon universe (The City-States Cycle).

The book was a godsend for me, as I had just had elective surgery and I needed something to distract me from a painful post-operative recovery. Doubinsky has a poet’s style to his writing, infusing poetry or poetic-prose where he can, and writing in an extremely lean, precise manner. And yes, it works. It carries vibrant descriptions, staccato-style scene changes, and a mathematical (yet natural) heartbeat pace. As is often the case, the author effortlessly marries his poetic prose with a rich noir setting and tone, an anarchist’s ear for politics (always triggered through a dystopian narrative), and an ever-present undercurrent of weird. The weird is the key for me – what makes his work particularly original, and which often maintains an uneasiness for the reader, even at a story’s conclusion – and most certainly in the case of The Invisible.

I will refrain from providing details of the plot as it is something that needs to be experienced totally fresh, but it is a delightful slice of his magnificent world building, allowing the reader to taste, smell, feel the grimy city of New Babylon, both on the streets as well as in the off-colour halls of power. There are twists and secret societies, betrayal and love and friendship. There were moments when I thought the love was too good, too well conceived, but I’m sure that this was deliberately constructed to add to the uneasiness of the reader, ever-wondering that there will be disappointment, adding empathy for the protagonist, Ratner. Masterful in my opinion. The story stands alone but is clearly only a stepping stone to the next book in the City-States Cycle – this too was well crafted, with the aid of a cat’s bum (you have to read it to understand).

New Release: The Body Parts Room

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Just came out of the virtual Launch Party for the Aussie Speculative Fiction group’s anthology, Journeys, where my horror piece, ‘The Body Parts Room’, is one among many stories included. All of them are excellent! The ASF did a great job – a very active group.

This story is about a journey, like all 15 in the anthology, but this one is about a man’s tragic story, intertwined with an event that occurred in the early 20th century, which is still journeying to this day. Say no more.

This is a good link to purchase this ebook. www.books2read.com/u/4AxBVe