Authors Gabrielle Lord and Walter Mason launched Carmel Bird’s My Hearts Are Your Hearts and The Michael McGirr Selects Series for Spineless Wonders on July 25 at Berkelouw Books, Leichhardt, Sydney.

My story, ‘We’re All Travellers Here’, won the 2014 Carmel Bird Award, which was presented by Carmel Bird on the night. I was not present but here is the video I recorded before I headed off for some Northern Hemisphere rest and inspiration. Walter sent the ‘psychic waves of thanks’ from those at the launch.

Spineless Wonders is an indie press specialising in short Australian fiction and a special aspect of the event was that it included the launch of a print book and digital books in a physical, or bricks-and-mortar, bookshop.

Gabrielle Lord, who launched Carmel Bird’s collection of twenty new short stories and an essay on their origins, is widely considered Australia’s ‘First Lady of Crime’. She said Carmel’s stories were ‘zesty, sexy and shocking’ and toasted Spineless Wonders, saying it was the leading publisher of short stories in Australia.

My Hearts Are Your Hearts is the first release under Spineless Wonders’ Fiction Plus series. Fiction Plus presents short Australian fiction accompanied by a reflective essay by the author and is designed to be enjoyed by readers and writers. Carmel’s classic book on writing, Dear Writer Revisited, was also published by Spineless Wonders (2013).

The innovative series of digital long stories selected by award-winning writer Michael McGirr was launched by Walter, an Australian blogger, travel writer and creative writing teacher.

Walter, himself a former bookseller, was pleased to be part of the launch. ‘I am so thrilled to see the different traditions in book-selling and publishing coming together,’ he said. ‘I am delighted to help launch something truly unique and again the Australian writing scene proves itself a source of the greatest innovation and resilience.’

Carmel kindly said I was ‘certainly a writer to watch’, that Spineless Wonders was a leader in its field and that Fiction Plus would make a significant mark.

A number of authors from the Michael McGirr Selects series were present, some coming from as far afield as northern New South Wales and the Blue Mountains.

In 2014, the Carmel Bird Award was held for short stories up to 10,000 words. Stories by the twelve finalists, chosen by award judge, Michael McGirr, have been published as a series of digital long stories. The digital series is available as individual long stories from the Spineless Wonders website along with interviews with each author.

Like traditional book launches, the event at Berkelouw Books included readings, book signings, refreshments and an opportunity for readers and writers to mingle.

Photos from the event can be found here.