From Wellies and Chapped Legs to Brogues

Ten-year-old David’s life is not easy, living in dire circumstances with his alcoholic mother in a wreck of a home. His one true friend is Rebecca, the other children tolerate or make fun of him.

Following an accident, he is befriended by Hobo, who moves in and out of the village with his belongings in a pram.

When David’s mother dies over the Christmas period, he spends time at Rebecca’s home and is then taken into care. He escapes, seeks solace with Hobo and together they escape the village, and in time, David is sent to live with Hobo’s brother on the South Coast, where he learns Hobo’s story.

Here, David's life changes completely, but there are still setbacks and challenges along the way before he returns to the village and his life becomes entwined once again with Rebecca.

Emma's Rock

Meet siblings Deli and Emma. Emma never procrastinates. Her to-do list is tiny. She has an array of tools to ensure that no task ever gets left behind. Deli, however, delays everything. He wants immediate pleasure, doing easy activities, just to avoid the pain that comes with working on the hard stuff. Follow the course of their contrasting lives. How does Emma get started and then always deliver? Can Deli rescue himself from the harmful consequences of his behaviour? And as you read, ask yourself, are you more Emma or more Deli? Do you habitually put things off? Is it adversely affecting your life? What can you do about it?

Emersyn

The Whiley family have survived a whole lot of misadventures but now that Mason is in charge of the dynasty, he is hell bent on changing their checkered past. Mason feels like there is a deep calling to move out of the early centuries and be more modern. Soon a conflict develops between him and his mom about a business decision he has to make. Val, his sister, convinces him to go with his instincts and as a result, the past converges with the present and all hell breaks loose. Will their family be able to survive the betrayal and the deception? Will love overcome their sins?

Draw Me a Fish

The world was falling into a downward spiral and there seemed to be no stopping to it. The news was bad on TV and the radio all the time. People from the city were getting sicker and sicker with illnesses that didn’t have a name yet.
Needless to say that the village’s infrastructure could not bear the load of more new arrivals. The fresh settlers were using the lake as, a public swimming pool, a bathtub and as a washroom, and the streets as a playground for their children.
Does this image stir some odd feelings inside of you?
Do you believe that we can just sit back and let go?
Well, I don’t!
What about another chance to turn the odds towards a better tomorrow, one that resembles our children books’ images, a place where it is still possible to dream of pink clouds in a blue sky.
What about teaching our children to do so, in an easy and smooth way. If we start today, before tomorrow, we have better chances to make that dream come true.

Dog's Conundrum

Dog has a problem. His beautiful world is in crisis – again! Should he let events take their course, or should he interfere?

This book is an invitation to see planet Earth through the eyes of Dog and Mother Nature, from the era of the dinosaurs, though times of plenty, to our current and future crises. Who’s to blame? Is it us? Is it them?

This magical read takes us on an insightful journey where individual stories from around the world blend and unfold as Dog’s intimate understanding of the big picture grows. Despite the gremlins, can humans recognise what it is really that matters? Will the warmth and humour of the sprites be strong enough to help people rediscover the wisdom in their souls when faced with fear of losing everything they hold dear… or will Mother Nature not be prepared to wait any longer?

The best and worst of human nature is exposed here. Our assumptions are challenged as this book digs deep into ideas which will resonate with many.

Dodgson’s Dodo

This is the story of six characters, all birds. What begins as a quirky woodland tale evolves into a challenge to the mismanagement of the environment by humans, and their abuse of power over all other species. There’s banter between the birds, information about the natural world, there’s serious debate and there’s satire. It’s fun and it’s thought-provoking.

The title refers to the fact that Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) immortalised the otherwise extinct dodo in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. The dodo was yesterday’s bird, but what will be the fate of tomorrow’s birds, of tomorrow’s humans and of our fragile, suffering planet?

The hero of ‘Dodgson’s Dodo’ is a feisty rook, Rachel, who plays a smart role in this fascinating, imaginative and beautifully realised story. All the birds are real characters, and everyone reading it will be both entertained and better informed. It’s witty and memorable, but above all it’s topical and relevant. Its message is urgent.

“It should be prescribed reading for high school Biology students.”    Anne Kendall - retired high school science teacher.

Destiny Ruled by Mind

There are no evil people, the same as there are no virtuous ones. Everyone is born with an inherent sense of good as well as with the evil reflected from the society. There are weak, strong, and extremely strong people. The existing conditions surrounding him impel a weak person to display all his weaknesses, while a strong person demonstrates his positive side despite adverse circumstances. And all the while, the strongest person creates his surroundings himself.

Don’t allow your fear to shatter your faith because it’s the struggle between fear and faith that determines one’s fate. And the outcome of their battle is one’s destiny.

Many can be kind when things are fine, but it’s important to show how kind you are when you have a reason to be resentful or bitter. Satan was an angel before his fall. It is the fall that proves if one really deserved being at the top.

Death of a Living God

A lifetime spent fighting for his country has left Pharaoh Ramesses the Third with enemies both within and outside his court. When a plot to take his life emerges, it is up to a naïve young girl from an outlying district of his kingdom to uncover the conspiracy. As she delves deeper, she encounters shuddering horror and perilous danger, but she also finds unexpected allies: one bound by duty, and one driven by love.

But will their efforts be enough to save the Living God? With those sworn to protect him turning against him, Ramesses is more vulnerable than ever before. Can he trust anyone, even those who have professed their loyalty and love? Find out in this gripping tale of political intrigue and dangerous secrets.

Dear Maggie

What value can an old man have, who no longer leaves his bed and seldom leaves his room located in the attic of his retirement home?

He’s irascible and impatient with his room-mate and any other residents who happen to call by his room.

Inside his head are memories which are alive. Life in a country town after migrating from Scotland at the age of five. Of his birth family he is the last man standing; there is no one who remembers things quite the way that he does. To Andy, his parents, his brothers and his cousins live on, if only in his memory.

For eighty years he lived a full life, but a runaway horse ten years ago, put a stop to his meanderings beside Sydney Harbour. He feels all but forgotten by all his own kith and kin who are busy living their own lives.

This might have been the end of his story, if not for the arrival of Maggie who inspires Andy to write again.

Daughter of Light

Kitty Katz’s mind is as crowded as Piccadilly Circus, the constant hubbub of conversation in her brain a relentless background to her own thoughts. Lying in hospital with concussion, a voice reaches out to her, forcing out the steady clamour of noise as it connects with her mind.

Dominic Peverell is a Guardian desperately seeking his soul twin to prevent his inevitable transformation into a demon. Dominic brings peace to Kitty’s chaotic mind – but he also brings danger. Unbeknown to Kitty, only she can prevent Dominic’s descent into darkness – and now evil forces have turned their attention towards her, intent on destroying her before she can save him.

Secretly shadowing Kitty is Dominic’s brother, Conan, a newly turned demon.  Kitty stands between the brothers and Conan is determined to destroy her.  However, Kitty is not as easily destroyed as he and his fellow demons assume…

Dante Fog

While other boys celebrated their raging hormones by scragging each other from one end of the sports field to the other, Angus Fog was the solitary figure that watched. While other boys played rugby in winter, tagged and bombed each other at the town pool in summer, he sat and did nothing because in his twelfth year, Angus lost his passion. He subconsciously suppressed the why and when the event took place but the repercussions would significantly impact his life.

Angus works for ten years as a theatre designer and builder in Wellington, New Zealand, before his mother, frustrated with his lack of artistic success, buys him a ticket to London. There he creates an alter-ego from the clique bohemian art world. He changes his appearance and name and becomes the successful artist, Dante Fog.

Dante’s initial subject matter is the beauty in other people’s childhoods. Later, he searches for beauty in the adult world but fails to find it, until he falls in love with Bronagh.

When Dante wakes on the floor of his studio hungover and fearing he may, in a jealous rage, have killed Bronagh or her suspected ‘new lover’ or both of them, the magnitude of that unknown childhood event resurfaces. Dante must return to New Zealand as Angus to uncover what he suppressed all those years ago.

Crab Apples

The Last Lady De’Ath is determined to keep her estates and villages as they have been for centuries. Her lion and tiger are not going anywhere either. She eventually theoretically sells out to a company that tells her they want to buy up historic sites, but all is not what it seems on the surface, neither in the villages nor in the company.

Battle lines are drawn at the Village Fete and war is waged in the High Court. The village and Lady De’Ath emerge triumphant as victory is based on hidden skills and by not judging books by their covers.