A Flash Interruption

My new flash fiction piece, UNBORN LIVES, has just been posted on the online Australian social/political/religious magazine, Eureka Street: http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=6227

Check it out - it'll only take you a few minutes!

Tales of Sin and Madness

My first-ever short story collection is now up for pre-order, from US specialty press Thunderstorm Books.

It's due for publication around mid-year and is $30 for a signed limited hardcover. 550 copies are being published

Tales of Sin and Madness
by Brett McBean

In this, his first-ever collection, Aurealis and Ditmar award nominated horror author Brett McBean (The Last Motel, The Familiar Stranger, The Mother) continues his exploration of the dark side of the human character by bringing you fifteen tales of sin and madness. From zombies roaming the Australian outback, to psychopaths roaming New York City, McBean plunges the depths of human depravity, and delves into a sick and sordid world of serial killers, Manson-like cults, even road kill and cheap souls.

So pull up a seat in front of the campfire, grab a marshmallow or two, and come and take a journey into the heart of darkness with one of Australia's leading voices in dark fiction.

Included in this collection are eleven reprints, and four previously unpublished stories, as well as story notes accompanying each tale.

CONTENTS:
The Beautiful Place
Amanda's Gift
Stolen Lives (new)
The New Religion
Genius of a Sick Mind
Hearing the Ocean in a Seashell (new)
A Question of Belief
The Coffin
The Song Remains The Same
Temptation of the Righteous Path (new)
The Garbage Man
Who Wants to be a Survivor
A Light for Rose
The Cycle
The Project (new)


You can pre-order the book direct from the publisher - http://www.thunderstormbooks.com/mcbean.html

or from the Horror Mall - https://www.horror-mall.com/TALES-OF-SIN-AND-MADNESS-by-Brett-McBean-Limited-Edition-p-17554.html

In Delirium II

Just a quick note, folks: the anthology In Delirium II (containing my story 'The Garbage Man') is now on sale. Go here to order a copy: https://www.horror-mall.com/store/product.php?productid=17321&cat=0&page=1

There are only 274 limited editions, so hurry before they're all gone!

In Delirium II is a sequel to the original In Delirium, which was edited by Brian Keene. As with the first volume, this second one is a tribute anthology to Delirium’s proprietor, Shane Staley, and is composed of stories written by authors who have been previously published by Delirium. The project was conceived and put together by John Everson.

2007 Reading List

A bit late, I know, but I've been busy with the puppy, trying to train her and stop her from biting (she especially loves ankles and hands!).

So, this is a list of all the books I read in 2007* This is the first time I've done such a list, so I hope you enjoy taking a peek into my literary tastes. A quick note: I took a couple of months off mid-year to concentrate on writing, so the number of books read last year was probably slightly less than usual. Anyway, on to the list.

Weaveworld – Clive Barker

She Loves Monsters – Simon Clark (novella)

Pilo Family Circus – Will Elliot

Hunting Zoe – Steve Gerlach (novella)

Survivor – J.F. Gonzalez

Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

The Lazarus Condition – Paul Kane (novella)

Take the Long Way Home – Brian Keene (novella)

Ghoul – Brian Keene

The Crossings – Jack Ketchum (novella)

On Writing – Stephen King (reread)

The Bottoms – Joe Lansdale

Allhallow’s Eve – Richard Laymon (reread)

Once Upon a Halloween – Richard Laymon (reread)

The Woods Are Dark – Richard Laymon (reread)

A Writer’s Tale – Richard Laymon (reread)

Dahmer’s Not Dead – Edward Lee/Elizabeth Steffen

The Memory Tree – John R. Little

Boy’s Life – Robert McCammon

The Road – Cormac McCarthy

Midnight Rain – James Newman

Fight Club – Chuck Palahniuk

Survivor – Chuck Palahniuk

Dark Harvest – Norman Partridge (novella)

Summer of Night – Dan Simmons

Entropy’s Bed at Midnight (novella from the book LoveDeath) – Dan Simmons

Dying in Bangkok (novella from the book LoveDeath) – Dan Simmons

The Pearl – John Steinbeck

The Killer Inside Me – Jim Thompson

Uncle Jack – Tony Williams & Humphrey Price

*Well, as far as I can remember - I didn't keep a list, so this is all by memory. I will be keeping a list from this year though, to make things easier.

Some Updates

I know, I know, I've been slack with my blogging. For that, I apologise. But I have been busy - honestly. But I hope to start blogging more frequently. So, I thought I'd post what I've been up to - why I've been absent from blogging-land. And also, you'll find a writing update and more. So, here we go.

* Someone stole the cherries from our tree! We had a tree full of beautiful ripe cherries, and on Sunday morning my wife comes storming into the bedroom and wakes me up with: "The cherries are gone! Someone stole all our cherries!" I stumbled out of bed, went outside and sure enough, the tree was bare - only the stems remained. Boy were we pissed. Fortunately, we had already eaten a fair amount of the fruit before the theft, and had a tub in the fridge - but still, we haven't been in our new home for two months, and this is the welcome we get! Whatever happened to the Sunbury of old - back when it was host to the pop festival, when, I'm sure, there was peace and love in the air! I wasn't born then, but I bet no one had their cherries stolen while they were stoned, listening to Queen, Max Merritt, or Billy Thorpe. Ah, how the times have changed.

* Yes, we've moved into our first home (no more renting, yay!). And yes, aside from the cherry incident, it's been great. We've still got boxes to unpack, but the place looks and feels like home. Sunbury's got the best of both worlds - it's country enough to have all the country things like lotsa birds and wildlife (we have a blue-tongued lizard that's made a home by our letterbox; it can be seen almost every day, sunning itself on one of the rocks), while still having the creature comforts like Coles, Safeway, The Reject Shop and, well, another, smaller Coles.

*We got our Xmas tree yesterday. We bought it from Oxfam, who delivered it straight to our door. We weren't sure what quality the tree would be - after all, this was bought sight unseen. It turned out to be a beauty! Tall, bushy. Came complete with that lovely pine smell. Only problem was, it didn't come with a stand, and the one we had last year is MIA. Not a problem, the wife and I thought. Sunbury has many hardwarey type places among its two Coles and cherry thieves. One of them will have a nice sturdy stand to place our lovely, tall, bushy tree in. Wrong. Bunnings - getting them in next week. Home Hardware - ordered three weeks ago, still waiting. Big W, Harris Scarfe, Target (Country) - nadda. Not one place had a Xmas tree stand. Not even the boy scouts, who were selling their trees by the side of the road, had any stands to buy. So, currently our lovely, tall, bushy tree is standing in a bucket, with only rocks to keep it from falling over - as it is, it's got a slight lean. Still, we decorated the tree yesterday and, as the song goes, it's beginning to look a lot like Xmas.

* We saw our German Shepherd puppy on the weekend. She's five weeks old and, I don't mind saying it, she's the cutest damn thing I've ever seen. The breeder bought out all three females from the litter and the wife and I spent an hour watching them play, huggin them, wanting so much to take them all home. Each had its own unique personality, but for puppies they were surprisingly well-behaved. Only two weeks until we can bring little Holly home. I'm counting the days (and hours, minutes...).

* What I'm working on. I'm still working on the 'zombie novel' - tentatively titled 'The Awakening'. Been reading a lot about voodoo, so to whoever stole the cherries, watch out - I've put a voodoo curse on those cherries. The explosive diarrhoea should be starting anyday...

Well, that's about it for now. I'm enjoying writing full-time (more about that in the near future), enjoying the semi-country life, and looking forward to Xmas. Gotta love those bad Xmas movies... (speaking of which, did anyone in Oz catch 'Surviving Christmas' last night? - man, what a steaming pile of excrement that was. What was Tony Soprano thinking?).

Until next time, later!

New Review for 'The Mother'

Mark Sieber, horror and exploitation-movie guru, has written a review of my second novel: http://horrordrive-in.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/105-The-Mother,-by-Brett-McBean.html

I'm very humbled and flattered, as this guy knows his stuff. Thanks Mark.

Snapshot Interview

Here

Ned Kelly & I

My novel The Mother has been nominated for a Ned Kelly Award, for best crime novel of 2007. For a full list of the nominees, go here: http://www.crimedownunder.com/nedkellyawards.html