CROSS, Mary Talbot

ISBN 978-1-923214-64-4
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The Foundling

A tale of the Burra Burra Mine

With Fortune’s Fool: The road beyond Eureka

Re-published as a single volume, The Foundling and Fortune’s Fool paint an authentic picture of South Australia and Victoria in the formative years of European settlement, and describe a young woman’s compelling journey of self-discovery from the social injustices of the Burra Burra to the challenges of Ballaarat and beyond.

THE FOUNDLING. Abandoned as a baby, taunted as a child, Julia Stephen – the Foundling of the title – learns to survive in the West Country of England until her adoptive Methodist family sets sail for South Australia in the earliest years of European settlement, in search of a better life.

Necessity takes them north, to work for the South Australian Mining Association of the Burra Burra, whose regime rates the workforce far below the appeal of profi ts. When Julia settles in the Company township called Kooringa, her past returns to haunt her.

Who is the mysterious packman from Julia’s Devon childhood who follows her through the streets of Kooringa township? What is the grim secret she uncovers in the dank squalor of a dugout in the Burra Burra Creek?

FORTUNE’S FOOL. Ballaarat in the goldrush of the early 1850s. A place of glittering promise and deep despair; where hidden resentments will swell into open rebellion against the colonial government in December 1854.

Into this male-dominated sex-starved shantytown comes Miss Julia Stephen, seeking her Cornish lover. Quick-witted, resourceful – and unscrupulous – she becomes one of the most successful women on the Victorian diggings. When tensions erupt into bloody rebellion at Eureka, Julia Stephen’s life is transformed beyond her wildest dreams.

About the Author

Mary Talbot Cross was born in Devon, England, and is a graduate of Scotland’s Aberdeen University. She has written four novels set in historical times; in addition to The Foundling and Fortune’s Fool, Fate Knows No Tears tells the story of the Edwardian poet ‘Laurence Hope,’ while Resurgence is the author’s tribute to South-west France. Mary Talbot Cross is the pseudonym of the historian Jennifer M.T. Carter. She lives in Burra.

SHARMA, Terri-lee

ISBN 978-1-923214-55-2
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Citrus Hues

 

Can fate preclude destiny?

The girls listened tentatively as Maatla told them about the tangelo, the clementine and his favourite, the honeybell, which is a mix of a sweet tangerine flavour and the sour flavour of the tart grapefruit.

“The honeybell is like life,” he said, “a mix of sweet and sour. We can feel hope and love, yet sometimes we experience hate and despair.”

Rows of citrus trees laden with colourful fruit create the perfect playground for Janco and Naledi, two young children who are inseparable friends. But Piet, Janco’s father and the owner of the South African estate, does not want his son mingling with the farm workers’ children. Piet’s upbringing and deeply ingrained prejudice lead him to make it clear that a lion and a zebra do not drink from the same waterhole.

But over the years, the children’s friendship blossoms into forbidden love. Janco explains to Naledi that every snowflake is unique and destined to fall where it is meant to: they are meant to be together. Then a series of events changes everything. Naledi ends up far away in Australia, a land filled with opportunities and new connections. She refuses to let her past shackle her and is determined to live her life to the fullest. Along the way, she learns that sometimes decisions are taken away from you, but you need to keep moving forward in life to discover what can be. And the choices you make and the chances you take will lead you in the direction in which you need to go.

R

ISBN 978-1-923156-87-6 
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Empathic Love and Beauty

my heart kisses her blood red roses

I am an empath.

A dreamer. A romantic.

In the first of a series of six, I am sharing my life within my dreams with you.

I will introduce my dear friends — my gorgeous lovers.

I love and worship the beautiful women in my life, as I believe in the majesty of the female as the highest authority in the universe.

I am a man who willingly embraces all that is loving, beautiful and playful, though the suffering and screams of children continue to haunt me.

This is my spiritual journey of love and conflict.

Visit his website: https://empathicloveandbeauty.com/

ISBN 978-1-923265-23-3
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Empathic Love and Beauty 2

Sixxy loves Rustina

“Teach only love,

and learn that love is yours

and you are love.

When you want only love

you will see nothing else.”

~ A Course In Miracles

When staring inside the mirror Wonderful

Please be Gentle Please be Kind

Blessings Happiness Inspirational

My whisperings Spiritual

I’m Beautiful I’m Beautiful I’m Beautiful

Deep within my Heart Deep within my Soul

Here I Stand and Here I See

A female staring back at me

…and she is, I am… Beautiful

Visit his website: https://empathicloveandbeauty.com/

COLLINS, KA

ISBN 978-1-922890-85-6
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A Token Gift

A thriller about counterfeit men under robes of righteousness

After a life of tragedy, Alana joins the Australian Federal Police and soon meets CIA operative Nathan Collins, the man she expected to spend her life with, though that too turned to tragedy. Nathan contacts his estranged wife for assistance after three years apart when he is deployed to Spain and Morocco for an extremely dangerous assignment. One involving the staged assassination of the leader of a system not made accountable for a multitude of crimes performed by counterfeit men under cloaks of righteousness over the centuries. The threads of sexual and religious tension weave between Nathan and Alana, brought back together to execute this audacious plan.

Will the assassination attempt of the most powerful religious leader in the world bring the distraction required to detain them? Could this be the bridge they need to revisit their marriage, something they both secretly desire?

A Token Gift is threaded with political, religious, and historical facts.

BRUCE, Relly

ISBN 978-1-922803-65-8
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Rude Boy

Based on true events

“Don’t waste time looking back, that’s not the direction you’re going anyway.”

Utter Nonsense, consisting of 7 members, was formed in 1980 and played gigs around Melbourne until they released their first EP in 1983, before touring the country.

After the release of “Changes Must Be Made”, they became a household name and were featured on several variety television programs nationwide before disappearing.

Mitchell Truce formed a Ska band with his high school friends and chose to drop out of school and follow his dreams. Starting in grungy, underground venues and pubs, Utter Nonsense was fast known as the ‘all- inclusive’ fun, new band with a UK sound. Their loyal fans, the Rude Boys are in danger of becoming overrun by the racist and violent National Front skinheads.

To complicate things even further, Mitch finds out that it is his girlfriend’s brother who is heading the local Nazi regime and causing most of the trouble at their gigs. The band tour the country focusing on their music and climbing the charts all the while facing the highs and lows of friendship, success, fame, and brotherhood.

Within 24 hours of celebrating an international tour opportunity, tragedy strikes the band, and all their dreams are left blowing in the wind.

ISBN 978-1-923156-02-9
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Violet is Blue

Love that changes everything

In 1942, at age 16, Violet Middleton falls in love with an older man and in turn falls pregnant. Violet never disclosed to her parents who the baby’s father was and they are devestated that their squeaky-clean reputation in the small town they reside in will be tarnished forever so Violet is sent to a maternity home in Sydney where she is forced to give up her baby.

Violet spends the remainder of her years hurdling tragic events in search for her daughter. Violet’s search appears to be at a dead end, until an unlikely visitor shows up during Violet’s last living days and offers to help with the search but what she discovers will leave you questioning every personal relationship you have ever had.

ISBN 978-1-923214-46-0
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Bloody Sword

Four modern day Australian scuba divers come across an old rum barrel; they drink from it and find themselves in England, 1818. In hopes to find their way back home they board a tall ship but soon realize they are under the command of “Benito Bloody Sword Bonito” the most blood thirst pirate on the high seas.

GREWAL, Amar

ISBN 978-1-922722-37-9
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The Girl From Ireland

After one year he came to this city, he was hospitalised with chest pain. The doctor who treated him believed it was a stroke and was muddled that strokes are not possible at this age. He then decided to change things around and to focus on his life, as he mentioned.

“She is everything to me and I would do anything to put a smile on her face. However, if something happens to me, she will never come to know. The sufferings will only occur to my family and it is not their fault that I failed.”

This book is about a guy who starts a ‘social media’ relationship and his willing to meet a girl in person. What are the reasons, facts and mistakes behind the actions of these two people from different worlds. Remember: actions speak louder than words. I hope the readers can relate to the story and can learn a important lesson from it. Read on…

Amar Grewal Author

About the Author

Intimate relationships are rare and how huge is the need of sharing one’s struggles and hopes with someone. That was the fuel for an online search during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author is just a friend of a guy who wants to disclosure a contemporaneous experience that had highs and lows. However, he still believes life is worth living when there is one to ride this journey together.