Published...Or Not

Halloween  is a festival of the dead but a possum watches from a garden as plastic props become pollution and lead to the death of real animals in a rhyming illustrated book by Maree Coote’s ‘Possum Tragic: a tale of pumpkins and plastic’. David Greagg takes us on a romp through the practices, language and mores of 15th Century England in his novel, 'Harry the Fifth'. There are anachronisms suggesting how little we have changed and anthropomorphic points of view which also add a touch of variety and spice.

The very notions of reality and perception are challenged in Valerie Ng's debut novel, ‘Driver Driver’, as Oscar embarks on a search for his friend.          Ruth a commercial litigation lawyer with a big case and thinks she is so lucky to have found such a great apartment in an art deco block but when people die and she becomes the suspect her job and her innocence are at stake in Joanna Jenkins social satire ‘Bad Neighbours’.

Love and wine can share a similar vocabulary – the pop of first meeting and then the sit, sip and savour in a good relationship, it’s about quality not quantity, but that’s not all you will learn in this clever romance comedy ‘A Study in Sparkling’ by Jodi McAlister.                'The Hurt' is an elegaic coming-of-age memoir by Catherine de Saint Phalle touching on the relationships and experiences that shape our lives.

'Our Dark Unravelling' is a young adult novel of gothic horror set inside a boarding school by Margot McGovern.Rose has to finish her literary thesis about desire.  She learns a lot about sexual desire and in the journey Rose learns what she wants and who she wants to be, while taking the reader on an erotic romp in ‘Becoming Venus’ by Esme Louise James

Kadir came to Australia with his camels and learns about power and possession, lies and lust. 100 years later Kris wanted a bigger world and filled it with drugs and sex and writing a novel. Christopher Raja has two 21 year olds working towards the future they desire in ‘Eye of the Needle’.A boy disappears in a country town and only some thirty-seven years later does the puzzle of what happened come to light but not before several people come under suspicion in Jason Summers' novel, ‘Red Lake’.

Robyn Dennison constructs an elaborate psychological backdrop of blame and incrimination amongst perpetrators, investigators and victims in her debut crime novel, ‘In Plain Sight’.Leslie is recently divorced. She lost her husband Dennis, but wins an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. Her observations of the people and geography they live in, ignite her wonder as well as her life in Victoria Hannan’s novel ‘I Love the Whole World!’

A plane disappeared and for 40 years stories flourished about why. When wreckage is discovered researchers plan a day trip to a deserted island, but is it? They too are wrecked with a sinister presence, skillfully written by Riley James in ‘The Wreck’.Ralph Jackman speaks of the challenges he faced when teaching at Parkville Secondary College, which is run by the department of corrections, in his memoir, ‘Detention’.

A murder leads to a journey across Australia.  There are other crimes within the story which require solving 100 puzzles such as anagrams, nonograms, morse code, logical deductions, sudoku, cryptic crossword and even using the letters on your mobile phone.   ‘A Puzzling Pursuit’ is a book of murder and mind teasers by Lorena Carrington.‘Imogen in Waiting’ is the story of a mother grappling with an impossible decision—whether or not to bring a daughter just like her into being, by Lindsay Bartels

'I Made This Just for You' is an anthology full of eclectic and intriguing short stories challenging the way we see contemporary life and the way stories are told by Chris Ames.'The Time After Now' is an examination of the ripple effects of decisions made in our youth.

Cyclone Tracy caused havoc and young girls on a camping trip disappeared with no tracks and no bodies until one returns 30 years later, who is it and how did she survive? Their families want answers in Jane R Miles book, ‘Stayed Buried’.The outback of Australia is a rich landscape of people and minerals like diamonds for which many are prepared to kill in 'No Good Deed' by Katherine Kovacic.