AustLit

'Families can be thorny, especially when the closet's full of skeletons.

'It’s 2019, and Frank and Milo are fulfilling a dream they only recently realised they had – fatherhood. But they’re not only gaining a daughter – they’re inheriting some serious issues from little Lyra’s extended family. Milo is also discovering his own family history isn’t quite what he’s been told. Parenthood. Always full of surprises…

'With all this going on, they’d very much like to not be involved in any more violent crime, thanks.

'However, crime is not quite done with them in the fifth and final book of the Duo Ex Machina series.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Frank and Milo were introduced in Fly By Night (1999), where they got caught up in crime for the first time - smuggling, murder and assault.

'Five years later, on the verge of The Big Time, Frank and Milo were tangled up in murder and kidnapping again in Sacrifice (2004). The first consequence of Milo's experiences was to out himself and Frank as a couple on national television.

'In 2009, Number One Fan explores the full consequences of the events of Sacrifice - anxiety disorders and the derailing of their music career - as well as the new directions Frank and Milo are taking now. Crime still loiters in the wings, however, or a type more often seen in the music industry: a stalker.

'So here we are in 2014, and Frank and Milo are still together, still in love, and with new challenges. They'd very much like to not be involved in any more violent crime, thanks. However, crime seems not to be quite done with them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Five years after a serial killer nearly put an end to Duo Ex Machina, Frank and Milo are still dealing with the aftermath, which includes a breakdown and the derailing of their career. But they're still together, still in love, and still making music.

'A new album is out, and Frank is producing too, helping former pop princess Gabriella Valli relaunch her career. Maybe this will be the comeback they've been looking for.

'Or it could be, if the mysterious letter-writing Number One Fan doesn't turn out to be dangerous as well as obsessed.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It's all about scars and what they mean.

'Old myths made new.

'Poems for those who've passed.

'Tales of the lost and found.

'Rarely seen stories, reprinted.

'Brand new stories - in new places and familiar worlds.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Rome's Burning is a five-piece band with its roots in the 13th century; a line of musicians gifted with the magic-wielding Minstrel Tongue. For hundreds of years, Rome's Burning and its forebears have used music to protect the world from vampires, trolls, zombies, ghosts, banshees, dragons, water demons and other denizens of the dark. But after one hellish night in the suburbs of Budapest, Rome's Burning defeated a nest of vampires at a terrible cost; their lead singer and the love of his life are dead, Rome's Burning is no more. The survivors retreat as far as they can - to Melbourne, Australia - to deal with their grief, decide on their future, find a new leader and, as tradition demands, a new name. Before any of that happens, however, these minstrel-warriors have to find out why the dead keep rising everywhere they go. Everyone has secrets and some of them might explain what's going on. Perhaps the key is in the hands of Kitty Carrasco, the Melbourne funeral home beautician who doesn't know the secrets of her own past. Kitty and Cadaver is a story of grief, love, vampires, music, magic, secrets and the restless dead.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'At the height of the invasion, cities lie in ruins in Banjo's War. The bush is the only safe haven; the co-operation of black fella and white fella the last bastion of hope. This story captures the palpable desperation of the novel, depicting a near too fantastic wish-fulfilment, of an Australia and its many diverse peoples brought together to fight a common, non-human enemy. An alternate reality we'd all like to believe was somehow possible.'

Source: Foreword.

'In a world where wings gives everyone the freedom to fly, an artist born wingless uses her art to show the winged world the wonder of the ground. But when she meets a recently injured police officer who finds himself grounded, they will both learn that there is more than one way to soar.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'John Watson, invalided army doctor and sometimes artist, and Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective, become flatmates and friends in contemporary London. Love grows too, despite past betrayals and present dangers—for where you have Holmes and Watson, there too are Moriarty and Moran. A Dream to Build a Kiss On explores love and family, trust and betrayal, brothers and brothers-in-arms, forgiveness and revenge, in an ongoing tale told 221 words at a time.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Glory is a rock chick. She's fierce. From a distance, she keeps seeing a gorgeous woman with fantastic hair.

'Ness is a hairdresser. She was named for the Loch. She's been admiring the lead singer of Glory Be for ages.

'Fate keeps preventing them from meeting, until the night of the yarnbombing in Melbourne's Treasury Gardens - a night that knits their lives together.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'British soldier, Dr James Sharpe, returned from Afghanistan a changed man.

'Like most war veterans haunted by deadly choices and the horrors of battle, James struggles against his demons.

'Unlike other ex-soldiers, his demons are real. Transformed in the heat of a desert battlefield, James Sharpe is now a vampire.

'Struggling London artist, Gabriel Dare, has his own secrets — like who he really is, and why he lived on the streets before lodging with Dr Sharpe; like the ghosts he used to see, that made others question his sanity.

'James knows Gabriel is the best thing in his life, but questions his ability to love and fears he's a danger to all.

'Gabriel knows there's something different about his enigmatic landlord, but can't deny his attraction.

'When some of Gabriel's street friends go missing, he discovers that London is full of monsters — real, vicious, otherworldly monsters.

'The two men join forces with a clairvoyant cop and a Peer of the Realm to uncover the truth, for it seems the vampire who sired James is back in London — with a diabolical agenda that threatens the entire nation.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A mission to extradite Thomas Reilly, a dangerous criminal, ends in treachery and a crash landing in the Canadian wilderness for Agent Martine Dubois.

'Grizzly bears are the least of Martine's problems as she and Reilly hunt each other through British Columbia's Great Bear Forest.

'Whatever the outcome, Martine is determined to survive and return to Phillip Marsden: top spy, the Grey Ghost, her boss who is also her lover.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

In 19th-century Melbourne, Cato (a shapeshifter) and Moran (a magic-user) undertake dark magic–but are their reasons also dark?

Source:

'Story behind the Story 3', Feathers of the Firebird, 9 January 2017. (https://firebirdfeathers.com/2017/01/09/story-behind-the-story-3-and-then-authors-on-their-contribution/)

'1893. Dr Watson, still in mourning for the death of his great friend Sherlock Holmes, is now triply bereaved, with his wife Mary's death in childbirth. Then a telegram from Melbourne, Australia intrudes into his grief. “Come at once if convenient." Both suspicious and desperate to believe that Holmes may not, after all, be dead, Watson goes as immediately as the sea voyage will allow. Soon Holmes and Watson are together again, on an adventure through Bohemian Melbourne and rural Victoria, following a series of murders linked by a repulsive red leech and one of Moriarty’s lieutenants. But things are not as they were. Too many words lie unsaid between the Great Detective and his biographer. Too much that they feel is a secret. Solve the crime, forgive a friend, rediscover trust and admit to love. Surely that is not beyond that legendary duo, Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Those gorgeous boys, Elliot and Jack, are back in action in their second romantic adventure.

'Their investigation business gets its first paying customer: a suburban housewife wants to know if her daughter is a witch.

'The answer isn't rocket science.

'Elliot at least understands the fundamentals of rocket science.

He knows slightly less about sex, but his long-time love (but only new lover) Jack is giving him a thorough grounding in that too.

'Now, if only they can keep their mouths shut, not walk into danger again, save the day, and actually get paid, they'll be doing well.' (Publication summary)

'Adventures in love in exotic Cairo.

'Alice Taylor Stewart is an engineer.

'Nerida Cordo is a linguist.

'Together, they travel the world building bridges ~ both literal and figurative.

'They also delight in getting up to all kinds of mischief; like a two-woman St Trinians.

'And the other thing in which they take delight?

'Each other.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.