The Water Seer by HMC - A Stylish, Supernatural Thriller.

The Water Seer by H.M.C.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MOUSE is a seer. She’s had a vision of a little boy’s death, and it's someone she knows and loves. But how could a champion, junior nipper drown in a calm ocean when he swims better than most adults?

When a strange woman comes to town, her allure is undeniable, but something is off. Mouse’s visions are frequent and vivid, children she works with go missing, and the past, present, and future blur together. Her new enemy is a Bruja Del Agua – Water Witch, who not only drowns her victims, but tortures them for eternity.
 
With the help of her dead Aunt Catalina, her best friend, Trent, and a Wiccan called Anna, Mouse must use her power and wit to defeat the most powerful Bruja she’s ever seen.

The Water Seer is a vivid tale of witchcraft and the supernatural that blends effortlessly with a modern day, Australian narrative about a young woman who is juggling two very different roles in her life.

Author Hayley Clearihan's writing is visually stimulating and satisfyingly intense. Her grasp of the action and the supernatural were, at times, pulse pounding and I found myself quite anxious to see what was going to happen next. The most effective quality of her writing however was the earthy realism Clearihan brought to her narrative. It drew me in immediately and could see myself inhabiting the places and the situations that possessed a unmistakably Australian feel.

Her characters, led by the enigmatic "Seer" Mouse are dynamic and nuanced and Clearihan gives you time to get to know them well and the space to invest yourself in them without bogging the narrative down. Given that this book was quite compact, that was something that impressed me a lot. I found the mythical elements of the story particularly fascinating and I liked the way Hayley brought specific elements of witchcraft and mythology together to create something really original.

The Water Seer is an effective supernatural thriller and a stylish addition to Hayley Clearihan's body of work.

From her home on Queensland's Gold Coast, Hayley Clearihan (HMC) balances her career as an author with teaching while raising her two children with her "motorbike-loving Viking" partner. HMC recounts that she writes for the pure pleasure of being able to express herself and to think critically about issues that are passionate to her.

HMC says - "I blog about asylum seekers, gay rights, tattooed professionals, robot dancing, baby poo, and so on … you know, the juicy stuff. I’m sometimes serious, but mostly not."

Read my recent feature "Seeing Hayley" here.

DFA.

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Seeing Hayley - Previewing The Water Seer by HMC Writer.

Continuing on my path of profiling talented Australian artisans, musicians and writers, this week, I'd like to share with you a sublime scribe in Queensland based author Hayley Coates, who goes by the moniker HMC.

(image credit: HMC Writer & Cristal Bettany).

I first encountered Hayley back in 2012 when we collaborated on - and were featured in - an anthology of Australian writers called "Great Southern Land - Tales from Australia". Her contribution to that anthology was a earthy character piece titled 'Bobby, Be Good' which I regarded, at the time, as being perhaps the strongest entry in the book. 

Soon after that anthology, HMC published "White Walls" - a taut, psychological thriller set right here in Australia that, to my mind, cemented HMC as an author to watch. Her command of the genre in White Walls was gripping and it garnered universal praise for its involving story, vivid characterizations and mind bending concepts. 

(image credit: HMC Writer.)

In amongst an impressive body of subsequent short stories, anthology contributions and thought provoking essays, HMC has been working away diligently on a new project called 'The Water Seer'. And now that project is about to see an international release in digital format in September this year, with a print release to follow in October.

The Water Seer promises more of HMC's signature style that has so captivated readers to date but it also promises to showcase HMC's ability to cross genres and meander into themes and situations that are unique and fresh.

(image credit: HMC Writer.)

MOUSE is a seer. She’s had a vision of a little boy’s death, and it’s someone she knows and loves. But how could a champion, junior nipper drown in a calm ocean when he swims better than most adults?

When a strange woman comes to town, her allure is undeniable, but something is off. Mouse’s visions are frequent and vivid, children she works with go missing, and the past, present, and future blur together. Her new enemy is a Bruja Del Agua – Water Witch, who not only drowns her victims, but tortures them for eternity.

With the help of her dead Aunt Catalina, her best friend, Trent, and a Wiccan called Anna, Mouse must use her power and wit to defeat the most powerful Bruja she’s ever seen.

From her home on Queensland's Gold Coast, HMC balances her career as an author with teaching while raising her two children with her "motorbike-loving Viking" partner. HMC recounts that she writes for the pure pleasure of being able to express herself and to think critically about issues that are passionate to her. 

HMC says - "I blog about asylum seekers, gay rights, tattooed professionals, robot dancing, baby poo, and so on … you know, the juicy stuff. I’m sometimes serious, but mostly not."

There is bohemian quality to HMC that I find really attractive. Her stories challenge a literary orthodoxy, presenting people and situations that far removed from mere "paint by numbers" genre pieces. They are absorbing and thought provoking.

HMC is most definitely, an author you should know.

Visit HMC here.

Goodreads HMC here.

Connect with HMC here.

Tweet HMC here.

DFA.

Dean Mayes To Feature In Landmark Australian Anthology.

I'm pleased to announce the news here that on September 27th, 2013, a landmark anthology of Australian Writers telling Australian stories will be released internationally by Satalyte Publishing. 

From the official release by co-editor Stephen Ormsby, 

"Journey into visions of the Great Southern Land by eight unique and exciting Australian authors.

Each novelette in this landmark anthology will take you along arcane paths into the fantastic Australias of the imagination"

Stories that will feature in the anthology include;

Disciple of the Torrent by *Lee Battersby

This Corner of the Earth by Dean Mayes

Acts of Chivalry by **Sean McMullen

Bobby, Be Good by H.M.C

Dreams Didgeridoo by Salwa Samra

After the Red Dust by Charmaine Clancy

Jaylin by A. Finlay

Set Your Face Toward the Darkness by ***David McDonald

*Aurealis and Ditmar Award Winning Author.

** Aurealis and Ditmar Award Winning Author.

*** Ditmar Award Winning Author.

Lee Battersby.

Sean McMullen

Dean Mayes / A. Finlay

Charmaine Clancy

Salwa Samra

David McDonald

HMC

With a foreword by Greg Barron (author of Savage Tides and Rotten Gods) and featuring Aurealis and Ditmar Award winning authors, along with some exciting new writing talent, Great Southern Land - Tales of Australia promises to showcase a unique and eclectic blend of imagination and fiction.  

Tales of Australia - Great Southern Land is available for pre-order now from Satalyte Publishing. 

“…These stories are compulsively readable…”