Category Archives: Writing

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – ZACHARY O’SHEA

October 11, 2026 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Continuing to stay on Earth (for now), we’re packing our luggage and heading back to the States (jet lag is a bitch) to meet up with Zack O’Shea for Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight. Zack’s name might be familiar with some of you, what with him having appeared in SNAFU previously. Still, he has words and language and things to say.

So, while we’re raiding his fridge and making ourselves completely at home in his abode, Zack will take the mic and do the wordage thing.

Zack O’Shea has spent most of his life telling stories in one form or another. They’re always horror. The subgenres he dabbles in span a pretty wide range, including dark fantasy, folk horror, cosmic horror, creature features, weird westerns, and whatever unpleasant thing happens when a few of those get mixed. He’s especially interested in the heroes caught in these twisted tales. He focuses on flawed characters making the best decisions they can under pressure while trying to hold onto faith, love, dignity, or sometimes just their limbs.

You can find Zack on Bluesky, Insta, and Twitter.

And Zack did not at all hold back for SNAFU: Level Up with his nightmare tale POTTER’S FIELD: Gravedigger Lavinia Potter battles horrors bred by forgotten grief with spade, lantern, and salt, until a discovery off the quest path threatens to alter her fate forever.

Want to read more of Zack’s work? (You should.) His primary focus is the horror series Crimson Threads with three books available now and a fourth on its way. They can be found on Amazon. Next up for Zack is a Ream serial full of swashbuckling cosmic horror, Loathsome Grace, launching this October. Keep an eye out!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – NICK MANNING

October 8, 2026 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

For today’s Author Spotlight from Cohesion Press, we’re heading back Down Under and a little north to the sunshine state to catch up with Nick Manning. Does he know we’re coming? Probably not. But we have suitcases and caffeine and sunblock – we’re good.

While we settle in (ie take over, as we’re wont to do), I’ll invite Nick to the stage to talk about all things Nick. He’s funny, succinct, and has absolutely outdone us when it comes to travelling.

Nick Manning is a Brisbane-based LitRPG author and gamer. He’s travelled to 40+ countries, holds four Guinness World Records, and once got a letter from the Queen.

He’s also a former officer in the Royal Australian Navy. His story in this anthology has kick-ass undersea mechs and monster encounters – two things his actual time in uniform was sadly lacking.

He puts the discrepancy down to an administrative oversight.

For SNAFU: Level Up, Nick dove deep into the depths with NEW HEBRIDES: When a deep-sea rescue goes wrong, an elite naval clearance team must pilot alien mechs through a gauntlet of giant sea monsters to reach the surface.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MALORY

October 7, 2026 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Aaaaaand we’re boarding another plane on Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight, and this time we’re heading over to the UK (we’re truly globe-trotting) to have a wee antipodean chat with Malory. There could be tea. There could be coffee (it’s definitely coffee). But there are always TimTams.

While I clean chocolate from my face (you eat biscuits your way, I’ll gorge them mine), I’ll hand the sparkly mic over to Malory and let him tell you a little sumpin’ sumpin’ about himself.

Malory’s the 2026 winner of the Jim Baen Memorial Short Story Award and a PhD researcher exploring men’s reading habits. He writes LitRPG, sci-fi and progression fantasy, including the Morgan & Merlin and Soar Chronicles series. He’s based in Birmingham, UK.

For SNAFU: Level Up, Malory levelled-up the snark and hit-points with EXPERIENCE POINTS ARE FOR VIRGINS: A British field operative gets a combat HUD bolted to his eyeballs, a squad of streamers for backup, and a Class 4 Reality Breach to clear. The monsters are real, but the experience points are not.

You can find Malory at his website, Substack, Insta, TikTok, Facebook, and on X.

Malory also has some work coming out, which you should definitely get in your eyeballs: Arcane Galaxy Book 3, Disavowed (working title) from Aethon Books should be coming before the end of the year. Book 2, Swashbuckler, out 29 July 2026.

And if that isn’t enough for you? Here’s a free novella link.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – CRAIG DILOUIE

October 4, 2026 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

For today’s Author Spotlight from Cohesion Press, we’re stepping out of the great land Down Under, and heading over to the North America (it’s a bitch of a drive…) to knock on Craig DiLouie’s door and invite him to the stage (and by knock, I mean hammer on that door until he lets us in – I need coffee).

While I get my caffeine-fix, I’ll turn over the mic to Craig, and have him wax lyrical about all things him and writing and books and stuff and things. Shh, caffeine hasn’t kicked in yet.

Take it away, Craig! (The talking, not the coffee.)

Craig DiLouie is a USA Today bestselling American-Canadian horror, sci-fi, and military fiction. Notable works include The Summer Fun Massacre, Episode Thirteen, and The Children of Red Peak, all published by Hachette, and Suffer the Children, published by Simon & Schuster.

For SNAFU: Level Up, Craig penned us the high-octane, holy-shit tale THE GREAT INTERDIMENSIONAL KILL RACE: a man and his crazy brother-in-law join forces in a death race across four of the most dangerous dimensions in the multiverse, hoping to win the life-saving grand prize.

You can find Craig on Facebook.

Want to read more of his work (you really should)? In November 2026, The Yule Day Slaughter—the sequel to The Summer Fun Massacre that concludes the duology—releases from Run For It, Hachette’s horror imprint. In June 2027, People with Taste, described as The Bear with cannibalism, also releases from Hachette.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – SNEZANA KOSANOVIC

October 3, 2026 Amanda J Spedding 1 Comment

On day two of Cohesion Press‘ Author Spotlight, we’re sticking with the Aussie team. This time, we have Snezana Kosanovic making her way into the light from the spookish shadows of her Imaginarium. There are no exits here… well, there is, but you gotta fight your way through monsters first – as it should be.

Right, without further ado—

Snez! Will you just leave that ghoul alone and take the stage?

Snezana Kosanovic is a writer, horror enthusiast, and a Positive Behaviour Support Practitioner based in Melbourne, Australia.

She created Dimly Lit Alleyway as a place to write about film, growing out of a lifelong love of cinema. Her reviews and articles appeared in Infamous Horror, Star Observer, and In The Mix, where she wrote under the pseudonym Tek-Ku.

Her fiction has also earned recognition, with ‘The Forgotten Diary’ placing second in the 2025 Mayday Hills Ghost Story Competition.

She is currently working on her debut psychological horror novel, as well as a non-fiction book looking at artificial intelligence, cinema, and where storytelling might be heading.

For SNAFU: Level Up, Snez kicked fast-paced up the arse and left it in her wake with FRACTURED CONTINUUM: Trapped inside a brutal simulation while haunted by your own deaths, is The Game hiding something far worse than dying?

You can find Snez at her website, and on Bluesky.

And keep an eye out for her psychological-horror novel that will surely be bursting into the world much like Commander Kane’s… ah, baby chest-burster did…

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: LEVEL UP AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – ALAN BAXTER

October 2, 2026 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

We’re kicking off our author spotlight this year with an Aussie (because of course we are), so please welcome to the stage, the inestimable Alan Baxter! A stalwart in the Aussie horror-writing community, Alan is one of the most prolific writers I know – it’s insane. He also has dogs whom one day I will steal (yeah, you heard me, Baxter.)

So, before I divulge all my plans for dog-theft, I will hand over the stage to Al to let him tell you a little sumpin’-sumpin’ about himself. Baxter! Get up here!

Alan Baxter is a multi-award-winning British-Australian author of more than twenty novels and novellas and over one hundred short stories, encompassing horror, weird fiction, dark fantasy, crime and more. This Is Horror podcast calls him “Australia’s master of literary darkness” and the Talking Scared podcast dubbed him “The Lord of Weird Australia.” He’s also a martial artist, whisky lover, motorcyclist, metalhead and dog person. He writes his darkly strange tales deep in the valleys of southern Tasmania.

Baxter penned us quite the macabre story for SNAFU: Level Up – THE LONG SHOT: Desperate people will take any chance, but at what cost?

You can find Baxter at his website, on bluesky, and Insta.

Alan’s latest book The Rise, is out now – it’s book three in the Tales From The Gulp series.

<nudges you> Go on, get over there and have a read.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MARCUS FIELD

October 15, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Roll up! Roll up!

Cohesion Press’ next Author Spotlight is here in the form of Marcus Field! It’s an interesting form, filled with much horror, a touch of terror, and a sprinkling of malevolence. There could be tentacles. Where unsure of his original form at this stage…

Still, he’s completely lovely and most excellent to work with. Just don’t stick your fingers in the cage. You’ve been warned.

Now that I have likely embarrassed us both, I’ll let Marcus tell you a little somethin’ somethin’ about himself.

Marcus Field lives with his partner, son, and dog in Sacramento, California, where he spends too much time doing math and not enough time writing.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Marcus put the math aside (yay!), and penned THE ZOO: Desperate and on the run in this new apocalypse, can sanctuary be found in the zoo?

Once you read this tale, I’m sure you’ll agree that Marcus should give a touch more weight to wordsmithing than mathsmithing (wow, that sounded better in my head)…

PEN ALL THE WORDS! (yeah, that sounded better in my head too. I’ll just go.)

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – RPL JOHNSON

October 13, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

We’re edging close to halfway with our Author Spotlights, with me wanting to spotlight every two days before print publication (ebook and Audible are already available)… which means I’m gonna have to ramp up the blog frequency – the math just ain’t mathing (if you know me, that will come as no surprise).

So, moving on from my clear lack of numeric aptitude… We’ve another Aussie stepping onto Cohesion Press’ stage for Author Spotlight #7, and he’s someone you’ve likely read before. Richard has been in a number of SNAFU editions – the man knows how to freak us the fuck out, and his tale for SNAFU: Contagion is no different.

But let him tell you a little about himself while I skulk off and cry into my calculator…

Richard Johnson is an award-winning short story writer and independent novelist. He won the Gold Award at Writers of the Future in 2011 and the Jim Baen Memorial Award in 2012 and has been a finalist in the Aurealis Awards with one of his many stories for the SNAFU series of military horror anthologies from Cohesion Press.

In addition to his novels and short stories, Richard has also worked closely with Blur Studios in the USA on the Amazon Prime TV show Secret Level, the video game Exodus, and an as yet undisclosed feature for Warner Bros.

He lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two sons.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Richard showed us the fragility of reality with: CONSENSUS BREAK: The hospital wasn’t an asylum, it was a prison for those who—

(See what I did there? 😏)

You can find Richard on his website, Facebook, and Twitter.

If you want to read more of Richard’s work (you really should!) he has a YA sci-fi novel The View from Infinity Beach (I’ve read it, it’s excellent!), and a short story collection, Skull Candy.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – AYSLINE MCGRATH

October 5, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Roll up, roll up!

Our third Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion is here, and we’re trotting over to the other side of the globe to meet Aysline McGrath. I mean, I’ve met her (virtually, of course), and she was brilliant to work with. Now you get to meet her. Huzzah!

So, without further ado, give Aysline a big round of applause as she takes the stage…

Aysline McGrath is an author who calls a quiet Belgian town home, where she crafts stories that span from heart-warming romance to spine-chilling horror. Already established in the Dutch literary scene with a published thriller and feel-good novel, Aysline is expanding her reach with her highly-anticipated English debut.

Her new adult romance, released September 21st, marks an exciting milestone as she introduces her storytelling to English-speaking readers. But romance is just one facet of Aysline’s repertoire. Drawing from a lifelong fascination with action and horror that began in childhood, she seamlessly weaves between genres.

October 2025 will see the release of Echo, her cosmic horror novel that promises to take readers into the darkest corners of the unknown. Whether she’s crafting tender romantic moments or heart-pounding scenes of terror, Aysline McGrath brings the same passion and dedication to every story she tells, proving that the best authors are those unafraid to explore the full spectrum of human emotion and experience.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Aysline very much pulled from horror fascination with her offering: ONE BULLET: An impossible choice – contain an ancient contagion or become the monsters you’re fighting to stop.

You can find Aysline on Instagram, Facebook, and her website.

Her cosmic horror novel Echo is due out at the end of October, and can be preordered here.

Go take a look, you know you want to!

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – MARTIN LIVINGS!

October 1, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Hola!

The countdown for the release of SNAFU: Contagion has begun! And in the lead-up for the October 31 spawning, Cohesion Press is gonna fan-girl (yes, Geoff too) our way through the amazing authors who’ve made Contagion what it is – fucking awesome! (Yes, I do the swears. They’re verbs.)

With SNAFU: Contagion being the biggest edition to date of our flagship series with over four hundred pages of kick-arse military horror and wickedly-cool monsters, there’s much for you to sink your teeth into (toothpicks not provided). And as per my previous post about this tome being nothing without its storytellers, the first of our Author Spotlights is here.

(Just a quick note: the order of the Author Spotlight doesn’t reflect the Table of Contents order – this is more your author lucky dip… and I may just have to rethink that phrasing…)

Ahem.

So.

Making their way to the stage is the first of our Australian authors. So, please give a hearty welcome to MARTIN LIVINGS!!!

Perth writer Martin Livings has had over a hundred short stories in a variety of magazines and anthologies both locally and internationally. His first novel, Carnies, was initially published by Hachette Livre in 2006, and was nominated for both the Aurealis and Ditmar awards, and his short story – collection, Living With the Dead, was published in 2012. Both are now available from Amazon, along with the follow-up collection Light Falling From a Long Dead Star, novellas Rope and The Final Twist, along with his novels Skinsongs, Sleeper Awake, An Ill Wind, The Temp and The Obituary.