Short short stories: Night Parrot Press debut publication

I met Laura through our local Buy Nothing group. She was collecting a gold vase I was given, filled with flowers, on the arrival of my second baby. 

As she walked up the steps to my house, I opened the door and stood with vase in hand, and despite my covered-in-milk pyjamas, bed hair and general scruffiness, Laura humoured me in conversation for a while longer than the usual stranger. She seemed nice, and upon discovering she also had a relatively new daughter and was literary-minded, I gave her my business card and encouraged her to meet me for coffee sometime. 

I may have come across a bit desperate, but friend-dating as a mum is like that.

Fast forward to last night (18th January 2020), and I'm behind a table selling stacks of books for Laura and her co-editor Linda at a cute bar in Perth.

Once: A selection of short short stories, is the first publication for Laura and Linda's Night Parrot Press publishing house. The publication is the perfect size for dipping into, and packed with prose to entertain (and I've only read a quarter of the stories).

The stories fit the flash fiction format, and the beautiful book was printed in Perth. 

The Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis) is a nocturnal and mostly ground-dwelling parrot endemic to Australia. They are usually found in arid or semi-arid grasslands that are dominated by spinifex, and sadly are critically endangered in WA. 

I will be reading my copy of Once using the Hakea & Grevillea bookmark for the full night parrot experience. This arid landscape is covered in tufts of spinifex, as shown along the bottom edge of the bookmark.

Get a copy for yourself. They're available direct from Night Parrot Press while stocks last.