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Reinforcing the Meeks Family Bubble, Against People with Sharp Pins
Mr. Meeks is practically giddy: he’s finally won back the woman of his dreams. Together, they embark on a brand-new adventure, continually adding joy to their close-knit family bubble. Mr. Meeks, once doubtful he’d ever know the joys of fatherhood, now finds himself relishing the unexpected bliss of being both a father and a grandfather.
Life for the Meeks Family is brimming with good fortune: from a lucky raffle win to a swiftly expanding business, and from rediscovering a forgotten holiday home to uncovering the spoils of a long-ago bank robbery. Yet, amidst the highs, life throws its challenges their way. Three funerals and a rushed wedding leave the family clinging to each other for support, navigating the waves of emotion together.
Through it all, the Meeks Family exemplifies love, honour, and remembrance for those no longer with them while eagerly supporting those yet to come. This heartwarming tale is a celebration of life, love, and family – a poignant reminder to cherish what we have and to hold tight to those we love, never letting go.
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Unexpected Endings
There are said to be two types of writers: those who meticulously plot their stories before ever setting pen to paper, and those who dive headfirst into a blank page, trusting that meaning will emerge through the process. I firmly belong to the latter group.
When I began writing proper short stories – rather than scribbles on the backs of bus tickets – I never imagined they would one day form a collection. But as the stories accumulated, I realized there might be enough to satisfy the growing number of readers who had enjoyed them and were eager for more.
My imagination is a restless and untamed force, often pulling me in unexpected directions, making each story a new adventure in creativity. I delight in experimenting with words, stretching and reshaping them into fresh contexts. Unexpected Endings is driven by this love of storytelling, blending my interests in science and folklore – two endless sources of inspiration.
In this collection, you’ll find stories like Azrael, where a goldfinch holds far more meaning than meets the eye, and Light and Dark, where nothing is quite what it seems.
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A Coastal Shelf
Eddie Hart, a devoted officer at Langdon Fire Station, grapples with the lingering grief over his mother’s demise and the burdensome secret he harbors concerning her death, a truth he finds impossible to share with his seemingly detached father. At the firehouse, he faces the challenge of appeasing senior managers hell-bent on either reining in his Watch or disbanding it altogether, all while guiding the new recruit through the demanding facets of the profession. Amidst the workplace turmoil, the ghost of a past romance resurfaces: Jane, his high school sweetheart, now wed to the imposing Nev, but the lingering connection between them persists.
As the disparate threads of Eddie’s life converge towards a pinnacle, the pressure mounts. Will he navigate the tempest of professional challenges, mend the rift with his father, and reconcile the embers of a bygone love? Or will the surmounting adversities cause his life to unravel into chaos?
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Parvon Zin Koban Hunter Book 3: Day of the Dinosaurs
The Anunnaki have returned, and they’re ready to reclaim control. The rebellious Adamu must be eliminated, making way for the new, genetically engineered and more compliant Adamex. But there’s a catch: how to accomplish this without demolishing the planet’s valuable infrastructure?
Their solution? Unleash a relentless onslaught: millions of genetically modified Koban, pre-formed as dinosaurs, are sent to ravage the Earth. And just to raise the stakes, they plunge the world into darkness. Let the chaos begin.
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A Million Times through the War Zone
Wafa Aisha’s parents emigrated to Australia from the war torn West Bank to start a better life. Wafa is an aspiring actor whose goals after leaving school are to escape the clutches of her strict Muslim parents and to secure a lead role in a film.
David Miller is a Sydney filmmaker whose production company is floundering. One day, out of the blue, he is approached by a white knight who offers him a large sum of money to make a film depicting Middle Eastern culture. When Wafa gets an opportunity to star in this production, she truly believes that fame and stardom have come knocking at her door. Coaxed into travelling to the West Bank by Rayad, the white knight who is bankrolling the film, she is tricked into marrying him. Feeling trapped and with no one to turn to, her instinct is to run. But Rayad has her passport as well as her mobile phone. Without these things, escaping this war-torn land seems almost impossible. In desperation, she assumes a new identity and joins the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, caring for wounded soldiers, all the while trying to figure out a way to somehow get back to Australia.
Never in her wildest dreams could Wafa have imagined the obstacles she would have to face and the desperate measures she would need to take in order to achieve what she so desperately wants. Along the way, she becomes a member of Hamas and briefly works as a drug mule in order to get money. To complicate matters, she falls in love with a young soldier and has to decide whether to stay with the man of her dreams or continue her quest to return home. Juggling her confusing feelings becomes an overpowering emotion, which might just end up breaking her.
‘A Million Times through the War Zone’ is a story of survival and never giving up on what you desperately want, no matter what life throws at you.
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Ruins
What came before the wastelands was almost entirely forgotten when the skies turned dark, the days cold and the nights colder. Ash fell like snow and falls still. Sunlight, clean air, clear water, healthy crops and civil society are all becoming things of the past.
Some cling to what was and rake over the ashes looking for embers to warm themselves. Some want to burn what remains to the ground.
When rumours surface of an intact entrance to the underground cities of the ancient dwarves, the dying sparks of hope erupt into a flame. Sustainable sunless settlements left untouched, ripe for research and perhaps even replication.
But first the entrance must be reached. To face a long journey across the wastes. Surviving its treacherous environment and inhabitants. A dangerous undertaking, true, but perhaps the most important since the rising cold. After all, it appears that the best chance for the world’s recovery lies in its ruins.
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Times Like These
In the wake of her husband’s sudden death, Annie is left with two young children and a heart full of unanswered questions. Determined to rebuild her life, she channels her grief into a new passion: gardening. Starting with small plots for friends and neighbours, she soon cultivates a thriving market garden business in the magical setting of a walled garden on her friend Matt’s farm.
Matt has always harboured feelings for Annie, but her lingering love for her late husband makes their situation complex. As they navigate the challenges of working side-by-side, an unimaginable crisis grips the world – the pandemic. Life as they know it is disrupted, and a critical illness threatens to shatter their newfound stability, leaving one to shoulder the weight of two businesses and the care of the children.
Set against the backdrop of our recent history, this powerful and engaging story explores themes of love, loss, and resilience in turbulent times. Will Annie and Matt find solace and a chance for love amidst the upheaval? Or will the weight of the past and the uncertainty of the future prove too much to bear?
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To You
To You is an assortment of letters that reminisce what once was and holds dear to everyone left behind. On foreign land, these letters symbolized a home retold. They have no address or name attached, but they are written to you and are for you. Within them is a discovery of hope, of ease, of self-love that would prevail over the loneliness of being far and alone. When there came days when she could not confide in anyone, these pages were her voice, and now they are yours.
To You was written to remember, to dream, to forget, but mainly to understand that hurdles come, that aches just like fear is only passing, that anxiety is real, but happiness is too. It’s here to remind you to love and to feel wholeheartedly because life is an experience and your part in itis not an anomaly. The poet promises to pour her heart out and knows she has done so in the right hands.
Cover illustration by Noor Al Asadi.
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Little Girl Lost
“Barbie doesn’t want hugs any more, hugs could be bad and sometimes hugs can hurt”
Growing up too soon isn’t always a good thing. Meet one little girl and travel with her through the loss of her childhood because of rape. The burden of keeping it a secret which leads her through a descent into darkness. The only escape she can find is to drink alcohol. But the alcohol doesn’t save her, and the story tells of her reaching rock bottom. Rock bottom is different for every person.
For her it is when she decides life is something she can no longer take. The choice to die or start living again are her only options. With no one to rescue her she must rescue herself. To do this she must face up to and accept what has happened. To face the demons inside her head, accept what has been lost and look to her future.
For some secrets only have power over you when they are kept secrets. This author has bared all and allowed the reader to see her world through her eyes in this captivating but heartbreaking tale of life, loss and redemption.
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Blackwattle
In the tranquil Australian outback town of Blackwattle, childhood friends Bill and Mick find their lives forever altered by a love triangle and the irredeemable arson that destroys the town’s historical structures. Murder, love, betrayal, and a mining incursion onto sacred Aboriginal land set the stage for the downward spiral of this once peaceful community. The turmoil threatens the reputations, livelihoods, and bonds of each of the town’s residents, unraveling the fabric of Blackwattle itself.
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The Covert Captivity
Discover the extraordinary within the ordinary where the boundary between reality and the metaphysical blurs. This extraordinary novel invites you on an enigmatic journey into the hidden depths of a beautiful, educated woman’s life, transformed in unimaginable ways through a series of mysterious events. These perplexing twists lead her into a labyrinth of despair and humiliation, which science neither explains nor remedies. Just when all hope seems lost, she receives divine guidance, setting her on a breathtaking journey into a hidden realm that intersects with our own – a realm many dismiss as mere fantasy.
In this uncharted territory, she uncovers the root causes of her struggles, gaining transformative insights that empower her to confront her challenges. As her story unfolds, you may ponder: haven’t we all, at some point, faced inexplicable twists in our own lives? Explore a new awareness that could profoundly change your understanding of life itself.
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Zuca
Saving lives in the centre of London is a difficult job, but paramedics Zeb and Sirena share the burden together. When working in different areas of the service, they find each other, bringing the promise of a fulfilling life together. However, this line of work can be unpredictable. Will their new love survive the test of a tragic event? Will heartache lead to heartbreak? This is a story of two people that find new love, and a hope for a bright future tested to levels that they could not have imagined. Do either of them have the strength to survive?
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