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

The kingfishers hunted the fish in the pond, but never again attacked the frogs on the shore. Their small birds grew bigger and eventually vanished from the pond. The frogs ate flies and minnows and anything else that was foolish enough to get too close to them. Flies weren't enough for Leaper anymore, so he hunted mice and other tiny creatures in the woods around the pond. With his white and red head covering and the branch, the other frogs gave him a respect, and a distance, greater than he'd given Old Bull.  


Then the herons arrived and everything changed again.


Leaper expected the single heron that came each year. But this year the trees filled with herons. They stalked through the water eating fish and frog with impunity. The herons wouldn't be scared by Leaper's head covering. Yet again, the frogs cowered under whatever safety they found. The only freedom was found at night when the herons slept.


Chapter 35: The Heronmaster, Part 6