We are mere weeks away from launching our first book…the text is in the proofread stage, the cover designer is working hard, we’re lining up our distributors, we’re getting our ebook formats sorted out (ePub, primarily).

We’re very pleased to have attracted the attention of a few Australian SF readers already despite a lack of advertising (no point advertising until we have a product…). If you, like them, have stumbled on this site and would like to receive a gentle reminder of our existence when our first release comes out in February, email us at general@winterbournepublishing.com.au.

You can also subscribe to our feed (bottom right-hand corner) to receive update notifications every time we post some news, or as a compromise between the two options, subscribe to our newsletter, which will let you know about new releases every few months.

We’ve also started receiving submissions from authors, again even though we have yet to put out a formal call via various writing networks (again because we want a product to show off first). If you’re one of them, please be patient with us. There’s only a few of us, and, as you can imagine, there’s a lot to be done right now.

We’re also trying to get our shopping cart system sorted, for direct sales to supplement the sales through the large retailers like Amazon. So if, while browsing, you come across a few pages that seem weird, that’s just us, experimenting.

So, what about that first release? Its genre, loosely, is fantasy, though it’s neither high nor epic — there’s little to no magic, no tolkeinesque creatures, and they’re fighting with muskets, not swords (there’s a rapier or two). You might call it noir fantasy, or you might call it an adventure-romance-bromance which happens to be set in a fictional 1700s world where a strangely sex- and country-specific virus holds sway.

Here’s its blurb:

Bastard’s Grace by Wendy Palmer

An implacable virus spreads across the kingdom of Aspermonde, transforming women into beautiful creatures called Mosaics and stealing their minds, souls, and voices. Mosaics are alien, eerie — and collectable.

Lieutenant Simon Cant collects Mosaics for the king. He is war-scarred and unpredictable, held steady only by his loyal sergeant, Hal. Their latest acquisition, Augusta, is proving difficult: she hasn’t yet lost her mind and willpower to the virus.

Maybe it’s a miracle…and maybe it’s just a sackful of trouble for Simon.

All he wants is to get back to Skysend and hand Augusta — and the problem she represents — over to his king. Meanwhile, rebels want to rescue her, a covetous merchant wants to collect her, her sister wants to castrate Simon, and Augusta herself has designs of her own…

If that whets your fancy, we’ll soon have excerpts and with any luck a cover to further entice you…