Inspired Stories from Australian Authors Scenes from the Second Storey is an anthology that pays homage to an album that Morrigan Books’ publisher, Mark S. Deniz, believes is one of the greatest of all time; Scenes from the Second Storey, by The God Machine. Each story in this collection has been inspired by a track from the album. Quirky, dark, insightful and sometimes downright disturbing, these tales reflect the emotions and images our authors experienced when they heard ‘their’ song from Scenes from the Second Storey. In Scenes, you will meet a girl struggling to find cleanliness in a world full of corruption with Kaaron Warren; follow the twisted mental pathways of the egocentric with Robert Hood; watch two men search for enlightenment down a dark path with Paul Haines; and dance with a girl struggling to find her role within society with Cat Sparks. These snippets are a mere taste of what you will discover between the covers of this anthology. If you love The God Machine or are looking for a collection that boasts a stable of talented Australian writers, you must grab a copy of Scenes. Scenes from the Second Storey Stories: Dream Machine - David Conyers She Said - Kirstyn McDermott The Blind Man - Felicity Dowker I’ve Seen The Man - Paul Haines The Desert Song - Andrew J. McKiernan Home - Martin Livings It’s All Over - L.J. Hayward Temptation - Trent Jamieson Out - Stephen Dedman Ego - Robert Hood Seven - Stephanie Campisi Purity - Kaaron Warren The Piano Song - Cat Sparks
Authors
I wanted to be a writer from a very young age, and wrote my first proper short story at 14. I also wrote a novel that year, called “Skin Deep”‘, which I really need to type up. I started sending stories out when I was about 23, and sold my first one, “White Bed”", in 1993. Since then I’ve sold about 70 short stories, two short story collections and three novels. I’m an avid and broad reader but I also like reality TV so don’t always expect intelligent conversation from me.
Paul Haines was raised in the 1970s in the wrong part of Auckland, New Zealand and moved to Australia in the 1990s. Having vowed to never call it home, he now lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughter. His first two collections were shortlisted for Australian speculative fiction awards, and one of them managed to nab the New Zealand award for Best Collection and the other the Australian Ditmar for Best Collection. His third collection is due out in 2010. Paul survived the inaugural Clarion South in 2004 and has won the Aurealis, Ditmar and Sir Julius Vogel awards for his writing. Lately he has been fighting cancer...
Cat Sparks is a multi-award-winning Australian author, editor and artist whose former employment has included: media monitor, political and archaeological photographer, graphic designer, Fiction Editor of Cosmos Magazine and Manager of Agog! Press. A 2012 Australia Council grant sent her to Florida to participate in Margaret Atwood’s The Time Machine Doorway workshop. She’s currently finishing a PhD in sci fi and cli fi. Her short story collection The Bride Price was published in 2013. Her debut novel, Lotus Blue, was published by Skyhorse in March 2017.
