Sylvia Petter

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About Sylvia Petter

Australian in Austria. Writer of short, long, serious, sexy and fun. The story collection, The Past Present, was published in 2000/2001 in paperback and ebook formats by IUMIX, UK. Back Burning won the IP Picks Best Fiction Prize and was published in 2007 by IP, Australia. Mercury Blobs was published by Raging Aardvark, Australia in 2013, and stories appear in German translation in Geflimmer der Vergangenheit in 2014. Stories also appear in the charity anthologies, 100 Stories for Haiti, 50 Stories for Pakistan, A Pint and a Haircut - True Irish Stories, 100 Stories for Queensland, New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan, and Refugees Welcome.

Writing as AstridL, erotic tales may be found at amazon.com/author/astridl

And here´s what a reader in France says in a 4-star review of Mercury Blobs: "You can't take one without the other!
Some stories remind us that everyone leads two lives. Mix and match Sylvia Petter's 'Mercury Blobs' with AstridL's 'Consuming the Muse and you'll see why. A Home is a Home and nice to get back to even after a Picnic at Niagara.
The Christmas Goose may not seem as exciting as a Cherry Strudel but it can sometimes help you get over what was Just Lunch.
Giggles? Laughter? The odd tear or two? I am now sure that The Ways of Love and The Wages of Bliss are the two sides of the same coin."

Tamsyn Muir

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Author Updates

Titles By Sylvia Petter

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Stories of Hope: Bushfire Relief Anthology Feb 27, 2020

by Aussie Speculative Fiction, A. P. Morse, Alan Whelan, Alby Grace, Alice Lam, Amanda McLeod, Amani Gunawardana, Barbara Smith, Belinda Brady, Cage Dunn, Evelien Clarke, Carolyn Young, Helen Lyne, Clare Rhoden, Deanne Seigle-Buyat, DJ Elton, Eleanor Whitworth, Emilie Morscheck, Eva Leppard, Fallacious Rose, Fiona Lohrbaecher, Frank Prem, Gordon Clarke, Heather Ewings, Helena McAuley, Holly Sydelle, Ian Harrison, Ishmael Soledad, Jacqui Greaves, Jessica Drake, Jessica A. McMinn, Jo Davidson, Jon Ray, J. Hepburn, Judy Peters, K. B. Elijah, Kingsley Benjamin, L R Johnson, Lachlan Walter, Laurie Bell, L. J. Kendall, Maggie Veness, Manna Clarke, Margie Riley, Maureen Flynn, Melony R Boseley, Natasja Rose, Neen Cohen, Nikky Lee, Paul Mannering, Philip Barker, Phil Hore, Phoenix Addison, R. A. Goli, Rachel J Fenton, Rebecca Bowyer, R. J. Rodda, Rhiannon Bird, Roger Patulny, S. F. Flanigan, S. John Davis, Sarah Gover, Sasha Hanton, Sean Bellairs, Shannon Kelly, Shay Laurent, Silvia Brown, Stacey Jaine McIntosh, Suzannah Rowntree, Sylvia Petter, Victoria Greenaway, Zena Shapter, Zoey Xolton, Alanah Andrews

( 12 )

$3.99

100,000 words of hope.

This year, many Australian communities have been affected by bushfires. People—and animals—have lost their lives and their homes. The Australian Speculative Fiction community asked the question, ‘What can we do to help?’

‘Stories of Hope’ was born from the smoke and ashes, an anthology of fantasy and science fiction tales based on the theme of ‘hope.’ All money raised from the sales of this book will be donated to WWF's Australian Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund and the Red Cross Disaster Relief & Recovery Fund.

This is no ordinary anthology, it’s a message of hope for the future.

Winds of Change: a novelette in Flash Apr 7, 2021

by Sylvia Petter

$2.99

This is the story of how ordinary people react and adapt to political change. With the background of Chemnitz in the Eastern part of Germany it follows the lives of Dieter S., a Stasi operative, and Kai T. the man on whom he spies over the duration of the life of the GDR to which both are loyal because of its creation in opposition to fascism.

“Sylvia Petter has captured with wonderful brevity and efficiency a weird bit of history that came and went in a relatively short time, yet caused incalculable havoc to ordinary people’s lives in the most absurd and petty ways. She tells it in flash form but the story lingers long after you’ve read it.” - Simon Edge, author of The Hopkins Conundrum

“Sylvia Petter’s timely novel in flash evokes perfectly the letters sent, intercepted, and finally received, through which this story of fragmented yet enduring love and hope is told. Set against the backdrop of Chemnitz before and after the fall of the Berlin wall, Petter’s precise prose brings to life in crisp, vivid detail a not too distant past that rings eerily true to the present. A portent.” - Rachel J Fenton, author of Beerstorming with Charlotte Brontë in New York

“Who can you love? Who can you trust? Boldly reimagining the flash fiction form, Sylvia Petter has created an epic tale in a compressed space, a compelling, powerful, poetic retelling of history filled with secrets, dissidents, revolution, redemption and the indiscriminating winds of political change that touch us all.” - Nancy Stohlman, Going Short: An Invitation to Flash Fiction

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

A Test of Time (Children's Anthology Book 3) Nov 26, 2013

by Vanessa Wester, Jules Anne Ironside, Katherine Hetzel, Malcolm Beanland, Matthew Willis, Britta Jensen, Madeline Dyer, Sara Price, Stephen Mark, Karen Ginnane

( 2 )

$2.99

A TEST OF TIME is inspired by the theme of past, present and future.

Lose yourself in stories that bring together different generations through time travel as well as exploring futuristic ideas. Explore worlds where determination and resolve overcome impossible feats. Let your imagination go as you read about adventures under the sea, a magician's chair, dragons, and mischievous girls on a mission to prank their teacher. Dip into our world of short stories...

All monies raised from sales of this book will go directly to Foodbank, which provides emergency food for local people in crisis.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

All the Beautiful Liars Mar 16, 2020

by Sylvia Petter

( 10 )

$8.99

How true are the family histories that tell us who we are and where we come from? Who knows how much all the beautiful liars have embargoed or embellished the truth?During a long flight from Europe to Sydney to bury her mother, Australian expat Katrina Klain reviews the fading narrative of her family and her long quest to understand her true origins. This has already taken her to Vienna, where she met her Uncle Harald who embezzled the Austrian government out of millions, as well as Carl Sokorny, the godson of one of Hitler’s most notorious generals, and then on to Geneva and Madrid. Not only were her family caught up with the Nazis, they also turn out to have been involved with the Stasi in post-war East Germany.It’s a lot to come to terms with, but there are more revelations in store. After the funeral, she finds letters that reveal a dramatic twist which means her own identity must take a radical shift. Will these discoveries enable her to complete the puzzle of her family’s past?Inspired by her own life story, Sylvia Petter’s richly imaginative debut novel, set between the new world and the old, is a powerful tale about making peace with the past and finding closure for the future.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

With One Eye on the Cows: Bath Flash Fiction Volume Four (Bath Flash Fiction Award) Nov 27, 2020

by Bath Flash Fiction Award, Jude Higgins

$7.97

This anthology, the fourth from the Bath Flash Fiction Awards, contains 137 micro fictions of 300 words or under by writers from all over the world. The stories cover many topics: relationships in all their forms, familiar, strange, tragic or benign; war and displacement; the climate emergency; historical subjects; the fantastical and surreal. So many different styles and themes. So much to enjoy, make you think, and inspire you to write your own stories.

“From lush description to plot surprises to current events and complicated relationships of all kinds... a wonderful cross-section of flash fiction.”

~Nancy Stohlman, author of Madam Velvet’s Cabaret of Oddities

“There’s humor and pathos in these stories, conventional plots alongside innovative structures... personal stories and those concerning larger cultural themes.”

~Christopher Allen author of Other Household Toxins

“A real cornucopia of flash skills...all sparking joy.”

~Vanessa Gebbie author of The Coward’s Tale

Ripening: 2018 National Flash-Fiction Day Anthology Jun 11, 2018

by Santino Prinzi, Calum Kerr, Tim Stevenson, Kevlin Henney, F.J. Morris, Angela Readman, Meg Pokrass, Jennifer Harvey, Alison Powell

$3.99

This seventh annual instalment of the National Flash-Fiction Day (UK) anthology is overflowing with food-themed flashes. Satiate your hunger for fiction with these delicious stories by new and established flash fiction writers. The authors have cooked up a smorgasbord of entertaining, moving and tantalising flashes for your reading delight. From fudge to oysters, apples to mangoes, gingerbread to (of course!) cake, there’s something in this anthology for everyone to sink their teeth into. Authors include: Alison Powell, A. E. Weisgerber, Abi Hynes, Alan Beard, Alicia Bakewell, Amanda O'Callaghan, Angela Readman, Anita Goveas, Anna Rymer, Anne Summerfield, Calum Kerr, Catherine Edmunds, Charlotte Wührer, Charmaine Wilkerson, Christopher Allen, Christopher M Drew, Claire Polders, Damhnait Monaghan, David Cook, Deborah Meltvedt, Diane Simmons, E. P. Chiew, Elaine Dillon, Emily Devane, Emma Harding, Erica Plouffe Lazure, Fiona J. Mackintosh, FJ Morris, Frankie McMillan, Gay Degani, Gemma Govier, H Anthony Hildebrand, Helen Rye, Ingrid Jendrzejewski, Ioanna Mavrou, J. E. Kennedy, Jacqueline Saville, Jan Kaneen, Jennifer Harvey, Joanna Campbell, Jude Higgins, Judy Darley, Kevlin Henney, KM Elkes, Kymm Coveny, Laura Pearson, Leonora Desar, Lisa Ferranti, Meg Pokrass, Megan Giddings, Nadia Stone, Nan Wigington, Nancy Stohlman, Nuala O'Connor, Olga Wojtas, Philip Charter, Poppy O'Neill, Rachael Dunlop, Rebecca Field, Robert Scotellaro, Ros Woolner, Sal Page, Santino Prinzi, Sara Chansarkar, Sarah Evans, Sharon Telfer, Sophie van Llewyn, Stephanie Hutton, Sylvia Petter, Tara Laskowski, Tim Stevenson, TM Upchurch. The editors are Santino Prinzi and Alison Powell.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Just Off Message: a 20th Anniversary Anthology Oct 14, 2017

by David P Reiter

$9.99

From the ashes of the Penguin Australia Poetry Series, a new publishing house took wing. New and emerging creators, as well as established voices sought an independent publishing house with a global vision and an innovative approach. They found IP.

Now, 20 years on, more than forty creators return to celebrate the survival of this maverick venture with the very best of work past, current and future. Their message to you is that independent publishing houses like IP are, and always will be, an essential part of the cultural landscape even in the face of globalisation and aspiring robots.

Who are these daring writers whose work is Just off Message?

You know how to find them.

Other Formats: Paperback

Stories for Homes: Volume Two Sep 28, 2017

by Jacqueline Ward, J.A. Ironside, Lorraine Wilson, Shell Bromley, Catherine Assheton, John Taylor, Sally Swingewood, Debi Alper

( 12 )

$7.99

“Stories give our imaginations a home. It's good to see them helping to give people shelter in the real world, too...”
- Joanne Harris, author of 'Chocolat'

“A cornucopia of witty, tragic, elegant, raw, heart-warming and terrifying stories that take the idea of Home, play with it as only truly talented writers can, and all to help those who have no home at all."
- Emma Darwin, author of 'The Mathematics of Love'

A home is something most of us have the luxury of taking for granted but for many it is a grim struggle to obtain what should be a basic necessity. Stories for Homes is a collection of witty, poignant, funny and heartbreaking short stories by fifty five authors, both established and emerging, reflecting the connection between the immediacy of housing crisis and the stories people tell about their lives around and within it. Volume Two of the anthology includes stories, poems and flash fiction and again all proceeds will be donated to Shelter, the charity for housing and homelessness.

Other Formats: Paperback

The Refugees Welcome Feb 25, 2016

by Greg McQueen

$13.36

This book is an invite to participate in a mutual act of kindness. The money raised by this book is donated to the British Red Cross to support their work for the refugee crisis.
In return, what you get, is a book packed full of great short stories donated by some of best writers around today.
This book was put together by a dedicated team of volunteers who believe that now, more than ever, we live in a time where simple acts of kindness matter.
We sincerely hope you will accept this opportunity to join us in this mutual act of kindness by purchasing and enjoying the stories in this book.

Geflimmer der Vergangenheit (German Edition) Jun 13, 2014

by Sylvia Petter

$15.06

Erzählungen, die zum Träumen und Nachdenken einladen
Kommen Sie mit auf eine multikulturelle Reise der Emotionen, vom alten Kontinent zum neueren und zurück. Durch Linsen der Trennung und Entfernung führen die Erzählungen Sylvia Petters durch Einsichten über ein Leben der Beziehungen, von der Jugend und dem Erwachsensein bis zu einem Erwachen im Alter. Vielleicht finden Sie sich in den Einsichten der dargestellten Figuren wieder – Einsichten über Liebe, Leidenschaft, geschichtliche und politische Wahrnehmungen, Karriere und Tod. Erforschen Sie Abzweigungen in die freie und unvorhersehbare Welt der Phantasie der Mitspielenden.
Erleben Sie Überraschungen beim Lesen dieser im englischsprachigen Raum preisgekrönten Erzählungen. Die Reise ist es wert.

Other Formats: Perfect Paperback

Mercury Blobs Apr 25, 2013

by Sylvia Petter, Sharon Ratheiser, Nik Perring

( 4 )

$3.00

A collection of flash fiction which will challenge and delight readers. All over the place in the space of a mind.

“The brilliant stories in Sylvia Petter’s Mercury Blobs are sometimes very funny and sometimes very moving, and often they are both at once, which is one of the best tests of a truly serious writer. Moreover, she is a master of the very short fictional forms that have become a crucial expressive medium of the 21st-century sensibility. This is a splendid collection from a gifted writer

–Robert Olen Butler, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan Jun 8, 2012

by Annie Evett, Michelle Goode, Sylvia Petter, Vaishali Shroff

( 4 )

$5.00

New Sun Rising: Stories for Japan is an anthology of stories, flash fiction, poems, haibun, haiku and artwork and photography donated by over 60 creators from all over the world to support those in Japan still affected by the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami and earthquake. All monies go the Japanese Red Cross.

This anthology was prepared by an international team of volunteers and includes the donation of a poem in German with English translation by award-winning Austrian poet and writer, Friederike Mayröcker.

Greg Mc Queen, founder of 100 Stories for Haiti and 50 Stories for Pakistan says this:

"You're holding a book that beat the odds. A book made from determination. From compassion. And by holding it - buying it - reading it - telling others about it - you stand with the writers and artists who created it: ordinary people who watched the lives of strangers destroyed and decided that they needed to help."

Celebrate with us Japan and its people.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

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