Published...Or Not

‘Six Summers of Tash and Leopold’ by Danielle Binks is a beautiful middle-grade novel for contemporary tmes.Zoe’s Elevator Pitch to her agent says it all…….“A thriller writer who starts dating a celebrity has to deal with a psycho fan who uses everything in her first book against her. The police can’t help her, nobody can help her…except maybe the man she loves “ or can he? in Pip Drysdale’s crime novel ‘The Close-Up’.

Darren Rix and Craig Cormick have co-authored ‘Warra Warra Wai’. It is a richly researched book telling of Captain Cook’s Endeavour visit and what happened then, from both historical records and indigenous story telling. Writers block can be a very debilitating condition made all the more problematic when stranded on a remote island where the mythology of the landscape and fellow attendees with suspicious pasts make knowing who to trust a challenging exercise. This is the world into which Brooke Hardwick takes us in 'The Fog'.

'Little Puggle's Christmas' is a beautiful Christmas book by Vikki Conley with an Australian setting.The 70's were a time of social revolution and one of the epicentres of the ferment was London where Grace has travelled. Her meeting with Marigold is pivotal to her journey of self discovery which is all revealed in Mira Robertson's novel, 'Grace and Marigold'.

Rosalie Ham completes her trilogy of The Dressmaker with ‘Molly’, the mother who challenged society’s norms in wanting changes, fairness for women in the work place and sensible underwear. A humorous and well-crafted story which explains how her daughter, Tilly Dunnage, grew up in Dungatar.Yannick Thoraval’s book ‘The Marriage Gap’ challenges the conventional notions of marriage and prompts reads to question what truly makes a relationship successful and fulfilling.

As ‘The 113th Assistant Librarian’ Oliver’s life now has seven cats, hundreds of deadly books and he has to learn how to stop people dying in the library.  Stuart Wilson has written a magical tome for parents to enjoy reading to their primary aged kids and remember books can be dangerous!  After reading Gabriel Bermoser's novel, The Hitchhiker, you will forever reconsider assisting strangers waiting by the roadside. With everyone having a secret and individual's having macabre agendas, you never know who will be sitting in the seat beside you.

Managing a boutique hotel overlooking a surf beach in Sri Lanka sounds like paradise. Dasha Ross writes about the joy and disasters of trying to do this with her husband John Pinder in ‘Big Trouble Coming’. Tigest Girma creates a world where mortals and vampires coexist in 'Immortal Dark' where betrayal, violence and romance are intertwined and life is tenuous.

Lynette Clarke has written about strangers in London sharing rooms with no personal space. Some will find work, fall in love and forge friendships but one will be driven to violence in ‘The Rat Cage’. Finding time to be yourself given the travails of life besetting you is at the core of Sophie Green's novel, 'Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel'.

Guilt, hope and recrimination are at play in Matthew Hooper's debut novel, A Cold Season.The Little Clothes by Deborah Callaghan is about grabbing onto life and claiming your place in it.are

Casey Nott has written a novel about motherhood, identity and loss in ‘Forgotten’.Fay works as a translator but it is her choice of lover and employer that lead to betrayal, ambition and questioning what love means in Jessie Tu’s ‘The Honeyeater’.

Amanda Willimott has written an historical thriller, based on an actual trial of a werewolf. ‘Winter of the Wolf' is also about the power of law and religion for educated men while many women had no voice at all for fear of being charged with witchcraft.Keshe Chow takes us back to imperial China and the notion that behind every mirror lies an alternate universe waiting to escape their duty of mimicking reality in, 'The Girl With No Reflection'.