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 focused on his hunt so hard, he almost stepped on the mouse. It squeaked at him and he snapped it up and swallowed without thinking. The sounds carried through the chilled air. Irma's weight shifted as she lifted her head. She knew something was wrong. Her movement told him exactly where she lay. He bounded through the last screen of grass and landed in a crouch in front of her nose. The fire in his belly wanted to rip out her throat. His head wanted answers


"Don't get up," Nick said. "Time we had another little talk." He bared his teeth and growled at the cow moose. She would take a few seconds to get to her feet. Time in which he'd do serious damage. Irma looked at Nick with what he guessed was loathing.


"No." Nick snarled at her and the loathing shifted to something else. "You should have left me out of it and my pack mate would be alive. You knew all along what happened to Bob, and now you are going to tell me."


Chapter 22: Murder in the Woods, Part 8