Author:
Alex McGilvery has been reading since before he can remember, and writing almost that long. He has published 18 books and is author and editor at his imprint Celticfrog Publishing. He lives in Kamloops with his dog and the stories clawing their way out of his head.

The Heronmaster includes the title story, which is the tale of Leaper who grows from a tadpole to become a legend. Murder in the Woods is a noir style mystery with animals rather than people. Nick, a young wolf, is forced to seek out the answer to Bob the moose's disappearance. Sammy is a the story of a young man on a cruise with his new car, the elderly man he takes with him and a red balloon. Madison's Meteor tells the story of Frank Madison, a farmer outside of the town of Madison which has fallen on hard times with the closing of the plant - the main employer for the town. Frank finds a meteor one night and changes start in both him and the town.

The Heronmaster

He forced his way back into the brush and followed the trail from where he was out of sight. It was slower going here, as he needed to weave over and under and around trees and stumps and fallen branches. Both smells were getting stronger easer to follow. At the spot where the beaver had been, something had dragged it into the water. Where the beaver had been, was a large bone with bits of meat still on it. Moose meat, That other smell was strongest here too.


Jen's scent went right up to the bone as Nick would have expected it to, but then it changed to blood and fear. Her trail led into the trees just ahead of where he was. He crouched and forced himself to go on. He didn't need to go very far before he found her, or at least what was left of her; something had cut off her head and paws and stripped her of her skin.


Chapter 21: Murder in the Woods, Part 7