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

When night fell, Leaper took the branch he used to hunt birds and mice, then swam to the other side and scouted out the new territory. Even as the head of the pond he didn't come here much; swimming with his one good leg was slow and cumbersome. He set out his web and took up position below a large lily pad. This was much more risky. If the bird saw him, it would snap him up as easily as it would eat a tadpole.


"What are you doing here?" Hopper floated over to Leaper. "Aren't you content with ruling the pond, must you hunt my territory too?"


"How much hunting have you done since the herons arrived?" Leaper paddled until he looked the other frog in the eye.


"Not enough." Hopper's eye took on a predatory gleam. "You aren't as scary in the water."


Leaper swung his branch until it just touched Hopper below the eye.


"I don't want to eat you, it would slow me down. I'm after bigger prey."


Chapter 36: The Heronmaster, Part 7