Thursday 26 November 2015

Glimpses of Light Anthology

Christian Writers Downunder is excited to announce the cover reveal of the Glimpses of Light anthology.  




(The cover photo Scawfell Sunset is used with permission from Australian romantic suspense author Helene Young http://www.heleneyoung.com/)

Like most years, 2015 has been a year of contrasts with its fair share of victories, challenges and tragedies. And while it hasn’t received much fanfare – it has also been dubbed the International Year of Light.

Sometime last year, I spoke to Nola Passmore about the concept of producing an anthology to celebrate the Year of Light with profits going a charity like CBM Australia (formerly Christian Blind Mission). At first we put it in the ‘too hard basket’, but the idea just wouldn’t go away. So I was excited when Nola agreed to partner with me in conjunction with Christian Writers Downunder to produce the anthology.

At the beginning of the year (16 January) we invited contributions for the Glimpses of Light anthology to Christian Writers Downunder members. We were thrilled at the response. We have also appreciated our support team, including our back-up judges, editors and proof-readers – Jo-Anne Berthelsen, Lynne Stringer, Christina Aitken and Paula Vince. We’d also like to thank Helene Young for allowing us to use her gorgeous photo for the cover.

While we didn’t accept every submission, we were pleased with the creativity and quality of the entries and delighted that our contributors were prepared to work with us in two rounds of editing plus proofing.

The anthology includes short stories, poems, flash fiction and creative non-fiction on the theme of glimpses of light (light in dark places). I was delighted with the number of speculative fiction entries, Nola was relieved that not all the short stories were as long as many of the fantasy pieces and enjoyed the poetry and creative non-fiction (though she just may be convert to spec fic).

Glimpses of Light is in the process of being typeset and with one final round of proofing, should be available as a print book and e-book on (or before) the 17th December.

The contributions are:
Ben-Shachar  Naomi Edwards (short story)
Faith of Birds Jeanette Grant-Thomson (creative non-fiction)
The Last Blood Moon Charis Joy Jackson (short story)
Night Turns to Day Jo Wanmer (poem)
Kaleidoscope Adele Jones (short story)
The Window Seat Ellen Carr (poem)
Ruhanna's Flight Jeanette O’Hagan (short story)
Risk Jo Wanmer (flash fiction)
The Follower Nola Passmore (short story)
Moon People Paula Vince (creative non-fiction)
My Light, My Love Robyn Campbell (short story)
A Light From Heaven Mazzy Adams (poem)
From Darkness Lynne Stringer (short story)
The Prayer Ellen Carr (poem)
Where Are You From? Mimi Emmanuel (flash fiction)
A Dream Realised Anusha Atukorala (short story)
God’s Woollen Blanket Josephine-Anne Griffiths (poem)
Edward: On Going Alone Catriona McKeown (short story)
Beating Around the Bushel Bush Nola Passmore (flash fiction)
The Puzzle Robyn Campbell (poem)
A Light to My Path Adam Collings (short story)
The Temple Pamela Hemskeerk (poem)
The Journey Mazzy Adams (poem)
Stone Bearer Kirsten Hart (short story)
Sight Sue Jeffrey (poem)
Revelation Jo-Anne Berthelsen (creative non-fiction)


Congratulations to all our contributors and a big thank you from Nola and myself to everyone who has worked towards making the anthology a reality. I can’t wait to hold Glimpses of Light in my hands and once again enjoy the stories and poems of inspiration and hope it contains. 

Jeanette O'Hagan

Jeanette (Jenny) and Nola at the recent Toowomba Writers Festival


19 comments:

  1. So excited for this!! Can't wait to hold it in my hands too!!

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  2. It all looks excellent, Jeanette and Nola--what a great job you've done in seeing this project through! Thank you so much to you both--and it's an honour to have been included. I know I'll be excited not only to hold those copies in my hands but also to share them with others. I think they will sell well in all sorts of venues where I have sold anthologies in the past, alongside my own books.

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    1. Thank you Jo-Anne. We've appreciated each one's input :) And yes, I can't wait to share the anthology with others. It will be wonderful if you can sell them alongside your own books.

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  3. It's the culmination of a lot of hard work, and so exciting to see such a wonderful variety of contributions combined in one theme. I'm looking forward to getting hold of a few copies too. Jenny and Nola, you've helped us stretch our creativity.

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    1. Thanks Paula. I think we have stretched ourselves as well. I'm very thankful for God's grace and provision.

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  4. Excellent job, Jenny and Nola. Waiting to hold the book in my hands. Sounds like a very interesting mix of short stories, non fiction and poems. Thanks for all you have done for us CWD writers and may it do its magic in the world and bring glory to our God! :)

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    1. Thanks Anusha - yes, it is a great mix and wonderful to share God's love and light :)

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  5. How exciting, Jenny & Nola. Congratulations to everyone involved. Wonderful idea. I look forward to grabbing a copy when it's available.

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  6. Thanks Jenny & Nola for your vision, and for all the hard work you've put in to make it a reality. I know what I'm giving for Christmas presents this year :)

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    1. Thanks Adam. Yes, I think a few of us have that idea :)

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  7. Thanks everyone for your lovely comments. I'm really pleased with the collection - there are some great stories and poems. Thank you to all of our wonderful contributors who not only sent in great material to start with, but were also gracious about all of those pedantic revisions we suggested. And a huge cheer for Jenny. It was her vision to start with and she has done tons of work to make this happen. And yes Jenny, you may have converted me to fantasy fiction :)

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    1. Yay! Another fantasy fic covert :) I know the long hours you've put into this project too Nola, I couldn't have done it without you. Thank you :)

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  8. Congratulations to you both - it looks great. When can I order a copy? ( I'll start small as I am packing.)

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    1. It should be up on Amazon before Christmas Jeanette. We'll announce it on CWD and in the GOL forum (as well as in a million spots on Facebook :) )

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