Congratulations and a long happy writer’s journey to Robin Shortt, whose smashing original debut novel Wellside opens a door into our universe today!

Wildly inventive, a rousing adventure with unforgettable characters (only some of whom are human), Wellside is a tour de force of subgenre fusion that just cries out to become an immersive movie directed by someone with the visual flair of Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro.  Or, as Aurealis-winning fantasy author Leife Shallcross says, “Luc Besson meets Labyrinth, but better!”  Here’s a reminder of the novel’s mouthwatering premise:

Ben is stuck in a backwater town, his parents have broken up, and he’s facing jail time for some very poor choices.

Essa is stuck in a backwater world, trapped by a vengeful ex-lover and cut off from the Well, the infinite pit lined with doors to countless realities.

An accident frees Essa and they find themselves in the Well, with its invisible lizards, cities hung from cats’-cradles, and Library made of sand.

Essa wants revenge. Ben wants a way home. The awakening of an ancient threat to the Well puts both their plans on hold. They learn an ancient threat to the Well is rising. On the run their only allies a clockwork spider and a girl made of iron, they’ll have to work together to save all the worlds.

Robin was born in Canberra and lives in Vancouver. His stories have previously appeared in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild anthology Winds of Change. He recently shared a key source of his inspiration for Wellside at Leife Shallcross’ blog.

Wellside is featured prominently at The Qwillery, where an interview with Robin is now up, and where you can vote for your favorite book cover starting June 15 (hint!). It’s also among the books listed as eagerly awaited at Paranormal Cravings. Last but decidedly not least, Wellside received an ecstatic review in Foreword. The review will appear in their July/August issue, but here’s an excerpt:

“This absolutely enthralling fantasy tests the limits of imagination. // Well thought out and complicated world-building is achieved seamlessly and supports the story line beautifully. Characters are compelling, and waiting for their fate to be determined makes the book difficult to put down. // Wellside is not a journey that has been taken before; anyone who enjoys fantasy should be excited about this book.” — Catherine Thureson

Wellside is available on Amazon, B&N, Kobo – and of course on our website, where buying the lovingly prepared trade paperback also brings along the full digital bundle (PDF, Epub and Mobi). As a reminder, it will take a couple of days post-launch for full linkage between print and digital versions on Amazon and B&N, and all C&G ebooks are DRM-free.  The magnificent cover is by Jenny Zemanek of Seedlings Design.