The second Keith Murphy Urban Fantasy Thriller hit the shelves yesterday. Revised and revamped since the 2015 release, Frost is a sleeker and tighter short novel than it once was. If you’re on the fence about giving Keith a try, I’ll direct you to my favourite review of the first edition over on Goodreads: This second instalment in Peter Ball’s grubby Gold Coast urban fantasy series is like a perfect lesson in how to frame the middle part of a trilogy –Return of established characters? Check.–Introduction of new characters? Check.–Exploration of the status quo from book 1? Check.–Shake-up of that status quo? Check.–Exploration of the greater world/setting? Check.–Higher stakes and tension than the previous book? Check. If you enjoyed Exile, this is a terrific follow-up that does everything right. (Although I still wish the editing and proofreading was a bit tighter.) If you haven’t read Exile then go away, read it, come back and [[see start of paragraph]]. Review by Patrick O’Duffy You

Print copies of The Seventeen Executions of Signore Don Vashta landed in my mailbox today, and they’ve come up rather beautifully for a thirty-page chapbook. About half the very short print run are already spoken for, heading off to various friends and authors I’m courting for future projects who wanted to see how the chapbooks turned out. The other half are reserved for the handful of folks who might want a personalised print copy, and are willing to order direct from me. I’m not particularly high-tech about these things (at least, not yet). , so the process is as follows. To grab one, paypal me at PeterMBall@gmail.com. Amounts to paypal as follows: One signed copy, on a “give it to me next time we see each other” delivery model: $7.50 One signed copy, posted anywhere in Australia: $9.50  One signed copy, posted overseas: $15 Australian folks can order multiple copies by adding an additional $7.50 to the prices above. Overseas

I just did the Brain Jar Press newsletter and realised I’d put together four new releases across January: Exile, a new short story collection, a new chapbook in the Short Fiction Lab line, and the chapbook edition of The Seventeen Executions of Signore Don Vashta. Amid the chaos of January, some of these didn’t even get announced here on the blog, let alone get talked up on social media. Exile captured the lion’s share of my promotional energy, so I’m going to use this post to catch you all up on what’s being going on. THE LATEST: SHEDDING SKINS (Short Fiction Lab Chapbooks #5) A Brain Jar Press Short Fiction Lab chapbook story, Peter M. Ball’s Shedding Skin is a dark fantasy about snakes, old wounds, and isolation in the heat of the Queensland outback. Things haven’t been right with Mariah ever since the car accident, but Harley knows the problems were seeded long before they drove off the road. Things come