Books
Villain or Hero?
Anthology – Speculative, Historical & Contemporary Fiction One person’s villain can be another’s hero. Delve into the pasts, thoughts, and alternate worlds of character types we’re supposed to hate. Meet the real witches and scoundrels of our childhood tales, the archetypal religious fanatic, the brilliant mastermind, the evil ex-spouse, the meddling housekeeper, even the monsters… Continue reading Villain or Hero?
Rhapsody
Lyrics are magical – they can instantly impact our emotions, entice our bodies to move, and… inspire other artists! Feel your way through this highly imaginative anthology of stories and songs, all inspired by lyrics, rhymes and chants from such diverse sources as U2, Dire Straits, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Hollies, The Eagles, Shakespeare, Les Misérables, Florence and the Machine, Moby and Muse. Creative minds connecting to invent and conjure, cast and delight!
Of Beasts & Butterflies
Meet the beasts hidden in plain sight, and the butterflies who soar above them. In this exciting collection of modernised fairytales, all sprinkled with dashes of Australiana, twelve amazing stories challenge archetypes, reflect the sentiments of today, and offer magical insight on prominent issues. It’s time to believe again!
A Noise on an Island
What would you do if a long-abandoned quarry near you started emitting a strange noise? When things go wrong, we all react differently. Some things and people we will always care about. Others, not so much.One island, one noise, twelve authors – what could possibly go wrong?
A Fearsome Engine
Who is the master and who the machine? This collection of twenty stories by the Northern Beaches Writers’ Group explores this question with horror, humour, pathos and philosophy. Whether it be in our own place and time, far in the future, the past, or in a universe of their own making, our authors grapple with the interface between humanity and its machines. Are the things we make ours to command? Will they always be? And who, exactly, is making whom?
Into Tordon
Only Champions Dare To Enter! Thirteen-year-old Beth has been waiting for weeks to play in the championship of her favourite online game, Tordon. Now tribes of beastmen roar through her speakers. Game on! She plays to win, until her gaming nemesis Zane challenges her to a real-life risk that has them sucked into a strange world. Here they must push their skills to the limit just to survive! Faced with riddles, a multitude of dangerous creatures, exotic cultures and scientific impossibilities, Beth and Zane are forced to take on challenge after challenge if they’re ever to return home.
Scribbles in the Dark
Fourteen year old Callum has long wondered what happened to his father… Callum has lived with his grandparents above their pub in Australia’s outback since his father disappeared, six years ago. Then the rains came. Along with his foster brother Jake, Callum and his dinosaur sculpture are transported to another world, where questions are answered, and lives changed. Why is Jake scared of the scribbly gumtrees? Who is the mysterious girl? Is there any way home?
A Dolphin for Naia
When thirteen-year-old Mason’s parents left him to live on the other side of the country, he swore he would never forgive them, or the invention that kept them so busy… Now they’ve called him back, promising they can be a family again. But when Mase and his grandmother arrive, the caravan in the shadow of the giant dam is silent and his parents are gone. All that remains is a cryptic message begging him to bring their strange dolphin-like creation to the coast. Mase suddenly finds himself caught in a race where the price of failure is higher than he could ever have imagined. Will he ever see his parents again?
Rider & the Hummingbird
Fourteen-year-old Lan is a computer genius… and a prisoner. After poking around in exactly the wrong websites, Lan’s interest in drones has landed him in the High Country Youth Correctional Facility. Not a good start. Lan is resigned to his fate until he discovers that the mysterious hacktivist who framed him is part of a plot to kill thousands of people, including his mum and dad. With the help of Monk and his ferret, Lan breaks out of jail, and races to prevent a disaster that could change the face of Australia forever…
The Time of the Jade Spider
Fourteen-year-old Fingal O’Grady is convicted of theft and transported to Australia in the 1820s.Almost two centuries later, fourteen-year-old would-be beautician Abigail Harrington finds a mysterious spider amulet and their two worlds collide. When both children are kidnapped they realise they’re in possession of an object with enormous power. The Peacock Spider of Tien Shan leads them on an exciting and dangerous journey where nothing is what it seems.
The Guitar Wizard
Fifteen-year-old Emerald O’Shea and her mother, Catherine, make a living wrangling their lion, Dhoruba, who’s been hired to appear at a rock concert. But when an anti-music group, the Aletheia, send Jack to steal the rock star’s guitar, Emerald’s true calling is discovered. If she doesn’t accept the unwanted gift she’s been given, and leave her comfort zone, music and everything on which it depends will disappear. All life. All people. All existence. The entire universe as we know it…