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A journey from devastation to inspiration.

International authors and parents Jim and Lisa Valavanis share their inspirational story of what they went through and how they coped and survived when a family crisis struck down their son Sam.

Sam was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma at just 12 weeks of age and they thought his life was over before it had even begun. They didn't know what it meant to him for now, let alone the future. How would he and they as a family get through this ordeal and what kind of life would he have? This book will help lift the haze that may come over other families or individuals facing a personal traumatic experience and give them not only a sense of direction but also of hope for the future.

You'll learn:

- Why cancer or disability does not mean the end

- How an ordinary family survived through an extraordinary situation

- How parents can help their child cope with grief and loss

- How the power of positive thinking can help you deal with a traumatic life-changing experience

- You can rise up from the depths of despair to live the life you deserve

- Essential networks and support groups available to assist you through the difficult times

- Where to from here? Living a joyous and fulfilling life with a disability

Re-prioritise what is important in your life today.

10% of sales go to the Starlight Children's Foundation.

This novel centres on the lifelong passion of a man to own his own country property. Clive Patterson finally achieves his dream and becomes obsessed with developing his 145 square miles (37554.8 hectares) of land in the Australian Outback. His wife, Jane, begins to realise Clive is obsessed with his land and has lost interest in her. The tension between them develops when Clive hires a stockman, Robert, to help on the property. Will Jane, feeling neglected, switch her allegiance to Robert?

 

Author Jacques Horringa brings his four years' experience working in the Outback to this novel. Like Another Woman, his second published book, following Saskia, published in 2019.

In reading the book, parts of Howitt's character made my skin crawl, but the uncovering of his life was revelatory ... I believe the publication of Line of Blood will be at a very pertinent time. - Bruce Pascoe

Line of Blood tells the full story of Australia's so-called 'ablest anthropologist'; the botanist, geologist, senior public servant and explorer Alfred Howitt - and ancestor of the author, Craig Horne.
That Howitt was an extraordinary polymath is not challenged. And yet, his anthropological conclusions, coupled with his social and political influences, legitimised the murderous advance of white settlement upon the Australian landscape.
For Howitt, the 'line of blood' that followed white settlement was nothing more than the iron law of replacement, whereby an 'inferior race' is inevitably usurped by a 'superior civilisation'. His disastrously racist ideologies facilitated a pattern of neglect and dismissal of Australia's First Nations peoples - the conseqences of which reverberate today.

'An exceptional book about extraordinary people living in extraordinary times. My only regret on completing it is that I have not met any of them personally.' Christopher Bantick

A biography of Lonek Lew, the author's father, told through the lives of over twenty people he was friendly or associated with, a number of whom were historical figures.

Using his father's clear and detailed accounts of his life in pre-war Poland, the Holocaust and his colourful life in Melbourne, as well as personal meetings and memories, the author assembles portraits of extraordinary people living through extraordinary events.

Little Sower Samuel loves to garden. When he looks around and sees that his city does not have enough of the greenness he loves, Samuel embarks on a mission of sharing, by giving seedlings and joy to all around.

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 a 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.

Little Star is the fifth and last book in Narrelle M Harris' Duo Ex Machina series, which includes Fly By Night and Sacrifice (nominees for the 2004 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel) and Number One Fan and Kiss and Cry.

Sue and Roger attempt to resolve family conflicts and improve their living standards by migrating with their two small children from England to the warmer Great Southern Land to become 'fair dinkum Aussies'.

 

Set from the 1970s, buckle up for a bittersweet roller-coast ride as they encounter the British Australia House, a homicidal charter flight to Australia, an immigration hostel, and befriend true blue Aussies who are suspicious of 'ten pound poms' and anyone who whinges or drinks tea, rather than coffee or beer! Their adventure takes an unexpected right turn as they experience life in a Pacific Archipelago for a while.

 

This is an inspirational, laugh-out-loud story of one small family's triumph over unbelievable odds. Their adventures and challenges of job satisfaction, fishing, family, cultural differences, and death is told with a self-deprecating humour - as Roger and Sue inherit the Aussie witticism.

'If there's doubt, I can't help but worry. It's life or death. It's not as simple as the flick of a coin.'

Stephanie dreams of being accepted into art school but questions her talent. She has a major crush on the hottest boy in school and is desperate for him to notice her. But when Steph's mother unexpectedly becomes ill, Steph meets Richard and feels an instant attraction, but he is damaged and finds it difficult to share the events surrounding his brother's death.

Steph struggles to work through the complexities of life, love and death. She becomes increasingly obsessed with helping her mother before it's too late. When things spin out of control, she thinks she's going crazy...

"... an effective page-turner that personalises and dramatises the important social issue of organ donation, in a very readable, resonant style." - Stephen Measday, author

"... focuses on the important issues of organ donation and transplantation without overloading it with too much information." - Julie Edwards, Transplant Australia

"Overall, an excellent way to introduce a difficult subject in a sensitive way." - Dr Robert Brooks

Quiet, unassuming Meg Thorne is practically invisible. But this retired philosophy professor has plenty of opinions - like, why do people dismiss little old ladies as harmless?
Meg and her two friends, the tough-as-nails Dorothy Arden and the boisterous Lila Gatti, have decided to be a Force for Good with their Grey Ghosts Agency: because little old ladies can go undercover where other detectives can't.
Their new case is the infiltration of Sunnyvale Residential and Care Home to learn why their client's mother, Sara, is suddenly so afraid but won't talk. It's Meg's job to check into Sunnyvale for 'a short rest' and uncover the truth.
Meg will have to confront her own fears of ageing while also investigating why Sara's friend Jenny is being held in isolation, why an old enemy is popping up, what one of the other residents knows about the fate of Lila Gatti's disabled son, and whether the other residents are truly prepared for Meg's timely lecture on philosophy and responsibility.
Dangers lurk in Sunnyvale, but nobody counted on an unfolding global pandemic being one of them.
Will Meg be able to leave with the truth, or will she be trapped in a lockdown with those who mean her harm?

From the author of Wild Cat Falling and Balga Boy Jackson comes this novel from 1979:

 

Every revolution needs a leader and there is no question in Alan’s mind that he is that leader. For inspiration he goes to Noorak, the law holder of his people, and hears the heroic tales of Sandawara, the last of the warriors, who died defending his land and his people against the white man in the Kimberleys. So Alan names himself and becomes the new Sandawara and the rest of the unemployed teenage Aborigines of his mob take the names of Sandawara’s followers. In his crash pad, a broken-down old house, the new Sandawara plots and schemes the revolution.

 

The story of this mob of anti-heroes, of a farcical inefficient revolution, gives a vivid portrayal of the new and frightening world of rootless youth, who lack identity and purpose and shoot as easily as they love because neither act has meaning.

Love is to the spiritual Universe as gravity is to the physical world. An understanding of love as the only true power, the fundamental and basic structure of all life and being, leads to a new view of life and truth that leads to wholeness, happiness and healing.

 

Love Equals Power provides an entertaining and compelling discussion of the big questions of life, offering answers that are both radical and inspiring. Drawing on her own lifelong experience with spiritual healing as well as her wide-ranging research of different spiritual practices and theories, Eileen McBride argues that all true knowledge lies within us and is accessed through love. Love Equals Power provides not only the ideas but also the practical strategies to harness all the power needed to find spiritual solutions to human problems, to heal our bodies and lives, and to create the life we truly desire.

Peach Avenel is a broken woman. She thought she had a loving marriage. She thought she would be starting a family. She thought she had a successful career... Peach was wrong. She has a life that no longer fits, filled with broken dreams. When a tumbled down house with a neglected garden comes into her life by serendipitous circumstances, Peach feels something stir within her and although she prefers Jimmy Choo shoes to gum boots, she is drawn to the house and the garden. What unfolds is a story of humour and love. Of cupcakes and cactus. And of a young woman learning about herself and finding out sometimes you need to break open to find who you really are.

Create the healthy life you desire, whatever your age!

Wellbeing educator and speaker Janni Goss shares decades worth of experience and expertise in outsmarting stress and improving health and wellbeing. Wisdom comes with age, knowledge is power and freedom provides choice. If you are serious about achieving a long, healthy life, this book will guide you to improve with age. Take responsibility for your health and wellbeing to increase your enjoyment of life and improve your chances of healthy longevity.

You will discover:

- The art and science of wellbeing

- Why laughter is the best medicine and how to enjoy more of it

- How positive emotions - love, gratitude, kindness and optimis, contribute to longevity

- Why you need to take responsibility for your health and wellbeing and to respect, love and nurture body, mind and spirit

- How chronic stress can harm your health and wellbeing - learn to outsmart stress and calm your nervous system

- Top tips for longevity from the centenarians of the blue zones

- Essential things to avoid to enjoy healthy longevity

Start your journey to healthy longevity today!

Love, regardless—the second collection from Melbourne-based Barbara Kamler—is an enthralling gallery of poetic portraits celebrating love that endures. It features a unique mode of storytelling, whereby interviews with fourteen couples are poetically crafted into rhythmic, syllabic verse. For each couple, each poem explores the intimacy of first connecting and the various complications negotiated along the way – crushing pressures of sexual or racial norms, the challenge of chronic illness or disparate histories, and demands of extended family, geographic distance or migration. Yet these are sanguine stories that transcend the trials of the everyday, making real the possibility of mutual love and joy over a lifetime.

This candidly written memoir, enlivened by the author's impish sense of humour, narrates the way in which, by chance and circumstance, Tom Lowenstein placed his career at the service of the Australian art world. The book describes Lowenstein's numerous David and Goliath battles with the Australian Government and the Australian Tax Office for a greater understanding and fairer treatment of the unique set of circumstances and numerous challenges faced by the country's creative sectors.
Lowenstein's interactions with his colourful and gregarious clients took him frequently out of the comfort of the corporate environment into the artists' homes and studios. The personalities of Charles Blackman, Colin Lanceley, Margaret Olley, John Olsen, Garry Shead, Tim Storrier, and many other luminaries of the art world are vividly brought out with unique insights and unexpected angles.
The book is richly illustrated with photographs from Lowenstein's personal archives documenting his long-standing friendships and reflecting its heady mixture of accounting, art, and wine.