Published...Or Not

Simon Plant takes us into the intriguing life of George Coppin and his theatrical touring party of Shakespeare specialists who went to Civil War America in the 1860's in his book, Entertaining Mr Coppin - an Antipodean Showman in Civil War America. (Theatre Heritage Australia publication)Heather Rose has been inspired by true events in this historical fiction of a women who travelled alone from Lo...

The Run Club has popularity because of the social media hits following a blossoming relationship, but these two only got together in a pretend situation, will it stay that way as there are many hurdles in their training for a marathon. ‘In the Long Run’ is a romance novel that does go the distance by Emma Mugglestone. Katherine Pollock’s ‘Starry Eyed’ romantic comedy meets science fiction meets fa...

Makayla wants to make up for lost time after her divorce but her list of no regrets detailing things yet to be done leads to complications she didn't quite foresee in Holly Brunnbauer's novel, What Did I Miss? The Empress Murders is a razor-sharp whodunit by Toby Schmitz.

Noel Harcourt writes about his job for 33 years as one of the zoo keepers at Melbourne Zoo in his memoir ‘For Keeps’.Philomena McCarthy is compromised in her role as a police officer because she is the daughter of one of London's crime bosses. How then does she investigate and solve the robberies and murders on her beat in 'The White Crow'? Michael Rowbotham makes it all clear in his latest crime...

George Ivanoff gives us 'Prehistoric Peril' in the latest choose your own adventure where virtual reality, mad scientists and you, as the reader, decides what will happen next. A heist, a robbery, a theft planned and undertaken to not only save the Earth, but even refugees from another planet.  Science Fiction at its most dramatic, absurd and humorous for kids and their parents to read in the ‘Hei...

Pip Smith explores the emotional and psychological consequences of the refugee vessel, The Janga, that crashed into Christmas Island in her fictionalised account of that event, The Pull of the Moon.

 Monica Raszewski's, 'Crimson Light, Polished Wood', explores the intersecting lives of three generations of women and their connection over time. The love of literature from Then as 17 year olds to Now, 20 years later may lead to a new chapter in this rom-com ‘Love Overdue’ by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus. 

 Our social contract with the world, our very purpose in the digital age is brought into question in the novel, 'Arborescence', by Rhett Davis Martha has ideas but she is shy. Can she show her friends, family and classmates who she really is and what she is capable of?   Jo Dabrowski is the author, and ‘The Making of Martha Mayfield’ is her book. 

Toni Jordan’s book ‘Ternderfoot’ is a coming of age story set in the 70’s. A. L. Booth’s crime novel, ’Death at Booroomba’ includes a mysterious inheritance, a violent murder, a hint of romance and a large dollop of country town gossip. 

If you had the power to change history would you dare? ‘The Turing Protocol’ by Nick Croydon.'King Tide' is Luke Johnson's debut novel set in a small coastal town where a mutilated body of an adolescent is found. Added to that, a child disappeared some five years before. Are the events linked and who is responsible? An American war hero with harsh life experiences and a naïve Melbourne socialite a...

Matt Rogers takes us on a nhilistic journey of murder and corruption with equal parts of philosophy and asceticism in his novel, 'The Forsaken'.Jayne Tuttle's memoir is an exploration of creativity, motherhood and Paris.

Dmetri Kakmi's novel, The Woman In the Well, blends the spiritualism associated with numerous faiths; Christianity, Islam and indigenous belief. Not even a respectable job digging graves can keep an ex-con from a form of corruption that could put him behind bars once again. This is the world of guilt and suspicion that Mark Brandi explores in his latest novel, Eden, 

Amie Kaufman's, 'Lady's Knight' features the tournament of the dragon slayers and is a sapphic fairytale. A couple grapple with the breakdown of their relationship on a road trip in the southwest of America where the environmental degredation of the landscape is apparent in Madeleine Watts' novel, "Elegy, Southwest"

You have to be smart to be in academia and so is this romance fiction by Jodi McAlister. 'An Academic Affair' has characters and situations which are humorous and not so predictable. In Lucy Nelson's debut short story collection 'Wait Here' the theme is women who will never be mothers: who can't, who don't or won't have children. Both authors also talk about getting published under different wings...

Lawyers and politicians were involved with both Federation and the trial and hanging of Jimmy Governor in the historical true crime novel of ‘The Last Outlaws’ by Katherine Biber. The regrets and indiscretions of our past and our present day poor judgement are a continual presence in our lives that, perhaps, only a psychic can give us licence to address. Samantha Byres touches on much of this in h...

The intriguing elements of seances and criminal conduct behind the writing of Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde come to the fore as Belinda Lyons-Lee explores the life of Robert Louis Stevenson as narrated by his wife, Fanny Osbourne in 'The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson'.Shokoofeh Azar's book 'The Gowkaran Tree in the Middle of Our Kitchen' spans fifty years in the history of modern Iran, and many centuri...

Thomas Vowles' novel, 'Our New Gods' is a psychological thriller where sinsiter sexuality and murder coincide amongst the queer scene of Melbourne. Elle McFadzean's, The Potion Experiment, is a middle grade fantasy about science and magic. 

‘The Last Egg’ is a picture story book by Sofie Laguna. It is about love, kindness and loyalty with a fantastical end. Lili Wilkinson has Titch the mouse on an epic journey of magic, heroism and loyal friendship in ‘Bravepaw and the Clawstone of Rotwood Mire’‘Music Camp’ by Penny Tangey is a big hearted story about finding your way when you’re twelve. These primary school nerds have music in commo...

 A much loved daughter could ruin a family and just what is it, that this family have to hide? Anna Snoekstra has written a very well crafted mystery in ‘The Ones We Love’. Robbie Coburn's verse narrative, 'The Foal in the Wire', is a coming of age tale about survival and the bonds between individuals that both undermine and affirm. 

Audrey has left her husband and career in advertising. Now she bakes cakes and fortune cookies that tell the bitter truth, but can she start a business with her motley lot of new friends in Catherine Greer’s ‘The Bitter Sweet Bakery Café’. 

A grandson tries to learn a family story in Andre Dao’s ‘Anam’.                         Murder and mayhem on the waterfront, marihuana cigarettes and a turf war over brothels, thankfully the Tea Ladies can solve crimes and cement friendships in this, the third book of the series, ‘The Deadly Dispute’ by Amanda Hampson. 

 He wants to be a successful and acclaimed writer. He wants to know all the truths and write her biography even if it requires deceit.  Dominic Amerena has written this crafty book about literary theft in ‘I want Everything’. Mystery surrounds a new pandemic that takes the lives of those reaching their ninth birthday in Chris Flynn's, ‘Orpehus Nine’. The resulting conspiracy theories, riots, funda...

 The bond of friendship can unravel when doubt and superstition start to take hold. And the spiritual comfort we seek in such circumstances can also lead to our undoing. Christine Keighery delves into these notions in her novel, 'We're Not Us Without You'.The gold rush made the city of Melbourne rich but women’s lives and choices were still very limited.  Madeleine Cleary has written a historical...

‘Salty, Spiced and a Little Bit Nice’ has Ellie a type 1 diabetic wanting independence from her controlling family but not wanting to be hurt again by her teenage crush in this romantic comedy by Cynthia Timoti.  Gregory Day's anthology of poetry, Southsightedness, connects creativity, the landscape and the artist as a collective whole in verse that is imaginative and unique.   

Food blogger, Chloe, is competing for an interview with a famous chef in Victoria Brownlee's novel, 'Eat Your Heart Out'.Doctor Hannah Wright must balance her personal and professional life as she treats psychiatric patients at the Menzies Hospital in the latest novel, The Glass House, by Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion.