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

"Now you can talk to each other, for as long as you live. So, you may have all the words you need, I've given you the human's language. You may not find it a blessing." She walked away and left the two alone.


"I am Leaper." He leaned on his branch, spear his mind corrected him.


"Spearbeak" the heron stretched tall and spread his wings.


"Why did you herons come in such numbers to my pond?"


"A fish almost ate one of your flock last summer."


"Scratchlegs," Spearbeak said. "He told us of his battle."


"He escaped," Spearbeak said, shaking her head. "If he'd won, he'd have eaten fish for a lifetime."


"We called it Leviathan," Leaper sat on a rock. "A giant creature came and caught it after a long fight and dragged it off into the woods."


"A human." The heron fell silent for a long time. "I wondered when I saw the hat you wore."


Chapter 39: The Heronmaster, Part 10