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Life threw a few hardballs at me while I wrote some of the stories for this anthology. My wife gave birth to our son, who was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. He had open-heart surgery only a week into his life, and spent the next few weeks recovering. We couldn’t take him away from hospital until after his second surgery, five months later. In that time, normal life stood at a standstill while we spent each day just existing and doing what we needed to do to survive the ordeal.
Jonathan is doing as well as can be expected, but will need another major surgery to save his life in a few years.
I couldn’t have possibly done any of it without the love and support of my wife, Jessica, our daughter, Liesel, and all our family and friends who helped us get by.
Thank you also to the huge team of medical staff at Buderim Private Hospital, Mater Hospital Brisbane, and Queensland Children’s Hospital. Without you, we wouldn’t have Jonathan in our lives.
The stories that hold this anthology together came from a variety of inspiration sources. Writing them helped me get through some hard days and took my mind to places darker than our reality. In doing this, it helped make the real world a less shitty place.
Some of these stories appeared first in other anthologies, and I’d like to thank the editors for their hard work collating them.
Atheria first appeared in Specul8 Publishing’s dragon-themed anthology, Hoards of the Great Fire Wyrms, edited by TC Phillips.
Fire Escape first appeared in Dragon Faerie Creative Enterprise’s charity anthology, Challenge Accepted, edited by Stephanie Barr.
Insomnia first appeared in Specul8 Publishing’s demon-themed anthology, Fire and Brimstone: A Demonic Compendium of the Wicked, Fallen and Accursed, edited by TC Phillips.
If you’ve read this far, thank you. You’re awesome. That’s why you’re my favourite. Don’t tell the others; it’ll be our little secret.
I hope you enjoyed reading Shadows In The Flames. I would love if you could share your thoughts as a review on your favourite sales platform or Goodreads, even if they are just a few words and a star rating. Every review helps new readers find my work.
Please feel free to chat with me on social media. I love to connect with my readers; you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, WordPress or Twitter, where you will find news on upcoming stories and releases.
Until next time.
