AustLit

'Set in Queensland, this debut crime novel Double Madness by Caroline de Costa, takes us into a sordid underbelly of psycho-sexual depravity.

'As local residents and authorities in Far North Queensland assess the damage in the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi, a woman's body is found in bizarre circumstances deep in the rainforest.

'Cass Diamond of Cairns CIB is on the team investigating the murder of fashionista Odile Janvier and it's not long before she uncovers a disturbing connection between the victim and the local medical profession.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of short stories about the Outback is the result of the sixth writing competition for the Outback Writers’ Festival held in Winton on 22–24 June 2021.

'The winner was announced at the Festival. Boolarong Press sponsored the under 18 section. The best stories are in this book.

'See www.outbackwritersfestival.com.au and Facebook for the results. Follow us on Facebook and let us know whether you think the judges got it right.

'All royalties go to the Festival to assist in attracting great Australian authors to the festival in Winton.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Against a magical background of coral flowers and seaweed gardens, Little Pago and his friends set out on an adventurous journey in search for food. However, not everything floating in the ocean is safe for a baby turtle to eat. This children’s fiction picture book, with an environmental and sustainable focus is written and illustrated for 2-5 year-olds to share with their parents, carers and pre-school teachers. Little Pago is an imaginative, compelling and inspiring story about friendship, perseverance and the important role each of us can play in keeping one of our oceans most ancient and endangered sea creatures safe for future generations.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'In this powerful book Lisa Constantine reveals her compelling journey from victim to victor after a tragic car accident that nearly claimed her life 20 years ago. This optimistic story demonstrates how to make sense of horrific injuries and rise above life’s challenges and adversities. Today Lisa’s recovery is still on going. Her story is a reminder of how life can change in a split second and that everyday should be lived with intention and the importance in life to know who you are.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Growing up with all of the modern comforts of Sydney in the 1950s and 60s, young Jocelyn joins the glamorous life of an Ansett hostess flying around Australia’s vast country. On a station holiday with a friend, Jocelyn is awe struck by the magic, the colour and remoteness of the Kimberley country.

'It is not only the Kimberley that captures Jocelyn’s attention; stockman, Timothy Doran, has ridden into her life.

'Back in Sydney unreciprocated love takes its toll, but the Kimberley still calls.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Set in pre-historic times, Triz is the story of a small gliding lizard. Entrusted by his good friend Marjorie, to babysit her unhatched egg for the day, things don’t quite go quite as planned. Faced with challenge after challenge and staring death in the face at every turn, does he give up? Not a chance.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Poor old Grandfather Emu can hardly walk or see. Of all the bush animals, who will lead old Weij to the creek for food and water? In this fun Aboriginal Dreaming story, children learn how Mother Yonga Kangaroo got her pouch, and the importance of taking the time to help.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Parents and children will LAUGH OUT LOUD reading this hilarious book about the natural occurrence of fluffs that happen to all human and animal species. Children follow a monkey in a cowboy hat as he teaches children the circumstances of when it is appropriate and not so appropriate to fluff with this great rhyming story.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'It seems a perfect beach in tropical north Queensland, yet a sign marks the site where fifteen Aboriginal people were massacred more than a century before. Then on a sunny morning in 2002 the body of a young Aboriginal woman washes up on the sand. Accident … or murder?

'Close by lives Cairns forensic pathologist Leah Rookwood, on the island handed down through four generations of Rookwoods. As Leah’s colleague Detective Leslie Fernando investigates the modern- day death, Leah discovers some dubious history in her own family. Are the distant events and the current tragedy linked?'

Source : publisher's blurb

'The novel, set in Chicago, Wuhan, and Sydney, investigates the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, and weaves a tapestry of intrigue with the threads of many factual events happening around the globe. It follows the exploits of a Chinese virologist, studying at an American university where he meets an American lawyer, who follows him back to Wuhan in China. He deliberately cultivates a friendship with an Australian virologist, resulting in a fetish-driven relationship pursued lifelong.

'The novel explores the intentions of the protagonists who undertake actions for different reasons which are incompatible with each other. This incompatibility requires them to make moral judgments and twisted choices.' (Publication summary)

'When wool is gold and wedgies are on the nose, Roxy Bolton, feisty defender of the wildlife enlists her father's help to create an on-property sanctuary. Local graziers are not happy with this interference in the culling of these so-called pests. Trouble is brewing.' (Publication summary)

'From Aubergine to Zemi, this whimsical, non-phonetic tour of the English alphabet features the intricate quilts of Virginia artist Eleanor Labiosa. An alphabet book with a difference, your child will learn new words and will try and find the hidden letters on the beautiful quilt.' (Publication summary)

'This collection of short stories about the Outback is the result of the fifth writing competition for the Outback Writers’ Festival held in Winton. Owing to Covid-19 the festival was cancelled. All royalties go to the festival to assist attracting great Australian authors to the festival in Winton.'

Source: publisher's blurb

'The water in the Yaba River is low, the country is in a drought, the waterbirds are hungry.

'Bila the Spoonbill knows he must do something to help.

'A rain dance could be the answer. But will Bila be able to bring together the waterbird mob? And can he lead them in a grand enough dance to make the rain fall again?

'Delve into this story of empathy, community and perseverance to find out!'

'In 2014, Jeremy Ward began to research and collate information with the aim of writing his family history. The result was Dressmakers, Preachers and Cockies, a Family History Memoir (Boolarong Press, Brisbane, Australia, 2018). When searching through family records, Jeremy came across a diary kept by his mother, Mena Ward, during the first four years of her marriage to Jeremy’s father, Bryan Ward, an Anglican parish Rector in Ingham, North Queensland, prior to World War II. Reading the entries, Jeremy saw his mother’s personality, humour and caustic turn of phrase leap out at him, but was surprised by how open and emotionally revealing his mother was, as she recorded her struggles to come to terms with her new life. She was far away from metropolitan Sydney, where she had trained to become a nurse, and even further from Urana in rural NSW, where she had spent her childhood. In Dressmakers, Preachers and Cockies, Jeremy quoted extensively from his mother’s diary and, while doing so, came to see the importance of bringing the whole diary to a wider readership. The result is his annotated transcription, Mena’s Diary: An Anglican Rector’s Wife in Ingham, North Queensland 1937–1940. Jeremy doubts that his mother, who died in 1974, would approve of his bringing her personal diary out in the open, but believes the dearth of stories about the life experiences of women like Mena justifies his decision. He is happy to live with the feeling of her sitting on his shoulder and scoffing at why he would think anyone would be interested.'

Source: publisher's blurb

'Cobber is a cassowary living in the Wet Tropics region of Northern Australia.

'Cobber’s father had told him that cassowaries had a special purpose for being in the rainforest, but he forgot to tell him exactly WHAT it was.

'“All I do is eat and poo,” Cobber thinks to himself. “I must find my real purpose for being in the rainforest.”

'So Cobber sets out on an adventure to find his true purpose.

'Follow Cobber through the rainforest as he asks the many creatures that he meets along the way, but none are able to answer him.

'Cobber is enlightened by a wise owl who explains how VERY important Cobber’s purpose is in the rainforest and that the answer had been right behind him all the time!

'Can you guess what the answer was?'

Source: publisher's blurb

'Fergus McMaster started with nothing and with his brothers built a sprawling pastoral empire in western Queensland.

'Following his return from World War I, a chance meeting outside Cloncurry with Lieutenant Paul McGinness took him on a new path. With Lieutenant Hudson Fysh, the three men followed the young airmen’s dream of establishing an airline. McMaster knew it was never going to be easy. Aviation was still very much in its infancy.

'McMaster threw his whole weight behind the enterprise, scouring the length and breadth of the country drumming up support. As the founding chairman of QANTAS he guided the infant airline with a steady hand through its most turbulent and colourful years of establishment, internationalisation, WW2 and ultimately the government take-over.

'Always intensely patriotic, he saw his role in QANTAS as a service to the nation and took little in the way of fees or salary.

'It is fitting in this centenary year of QANTAS to pay tribute to his legacy.'

'Duncan, a young Scott came to Australia in the hope of adventure and a good life. This is the story of him and his descendants who restored and built a good property. Surviving drought, flooding rains and rivers, as well as life’s disappointments, but who also enjoyed glorious landscapes, wildlife, and the good seasons.

'This was a family who cared deeply for and allied with the Aborigines, as well as the sometimes harsh environment. This is a unique story of historical heritage in Queensland’s semi-arid western region, of the Channel Country, from 1860 to 1998, including old photographs.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'The overwhelming statistics of the First World War can often make the true calamity of the conflict, and its effect on the individuals who lived it, difficult to comprehend. This book personalises the war through the experiences of the Fryer family from Springsure in Central Queensland. The rich archive held at the Fryer Library allows for an unusually intimate perspective of an ordinary family caught in a global catastrophe.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)