Tag Archives: Young adult fiction

Fan the Flames

Blog, , , , , , , , ,

For those who have watched the movie “Mom’s Night Out“, remember that line by Sarah Drew’s character: “I am a mommy blogger”? (For those of you who haven’t seen this movie yet, get out from under your mushroom and go find a streaming point! Total classic.) Well, today I’m having to do the same, only with a slightly different bent: “I am an author blogger”— because right now I have FAILED my loyal readers and blog followers.

(Insert copious tears, wails and general sounds of sorrow.)

YOU should have been the first to know I HAVE A NEW RELEASE!!!! Shamedly, I only announced it only on social media and a GUEST CWD blog, before making general reference on my welcome page. I’m so SOOOORRRY!!!!!

To catch you up, I have FINALLY released Jett Faraday’s story, Flare Up. This cracking conspiracy adventure crosses gym culture with unrequited love, in a superhero origins-esque science fiction ride that will make the wait so worthwhile. At least, I think so … but I might be a little biased. And the cover designed by my author friend KA Hart, is AMAZING!!!!!

In making this announcement official, I went back and revisited a previous blog on fitness and bodybuilding, which are Jett’s passions—that, and ice cream. Which takes me back to the three and a half years I dropped dairy (and other things) from my diet … Let’s just say the world is a better place with dairy in it, especially ice cream … but I digress …

Below is a link to that interview with real life fitness and bodybuilding guru, Matt Betts, who after all this time is still a fitness legend and all too familiar with the reality of “… [e]nough bronzer to suffocate a cat …” (to quote Sophie—not that we’re suffocating anything here, to be clear).

So, make sure you get your hands on a copy of Flare Up, read it, and leave a review for your trouble. (When you give an author some love, they do fun things like write more stories. Woohoo! 🥳) I hope you love reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And don’t forget to check out that interview with Matt below. Ciao!

Fit Out

Copy That

Blog, , , , ,

This week I was preparing for another out-of-town event. As I sorted stock, I realised I was opening my last box of Replicate paperbacks. (Apologies for the terrible post title pun … but, hey, replicate … copy … Ahhh, how about we move on … lol.) For those who aren’t familiar with the Blaine Colton trilogy, I’ll drop a Replicate marketing tile below as a refresher. 🙂

The day was warm, but as I packed books and loaded the car for my trip, it didn’t take long for me to start sweating uncomfortably. While travelling to the city where that event was being held, I watched the external temperature climb on the car thermometer through some regions, hitting the Queensland-typical heights our state is known for during this spring to summer transition season. That’s when we usually see our most spectacular storms, which you’ll also read about in Replicate, given it’s set in the lead up to Christmas and through into the New Year.

In that moment I had a flash back to a day in late December, all but ten years ago. It had been a hot season and I was at the midpoint of the Replicate manuscript, pressing towards a completion deadline. I was sitting in a chair, sweat beading down my body, wetting my clothing and chair seat. The temperature was hovering around 43/44 degrees Celsius (109.4 to 111.2 Fahrenheit for the Americans out there). There was no air-conditioning where I was writing, and barely a breeze. I’d spent some days wrangling with Blaine and Jett, writing out their ‘bromance adventure’ to the Sunshine Coast. Five thousand words later, after letting them lead the related scenes, we were no closer to the pivot point that would catalyse the next part of the story.

I tried many different versions of that scene sequence until, finally, I realised there was only one thing that would back Blaine into such a tight a corner to make him resolved enough to enact the plan critical to hitting the remaining plots points and reaching the story resolution, within my target word count. And it was not an option I really wanted to entertain. (Many of you know what I’m talking about …)

This leads me to an exciting (and considerably more uplifting, for those who have read the trilogy) announcement. As you may remember, I have been chipping away at Jett’s story over the past few years. I refer to it as book 1.5 in relation to the trilogy, as it sits between Integrate (book one) and into the first half of Replicate. Well, that manuscript is completed and I’m finally at a point where I feel like this novella might become a reality in the coming period.

So, keep you ears tuned for more news on this, and like Blaine in Replicate I hope you’re starting to get in a festive spirit leading up to Christmas 2024. It won’t be long before we’re singing carols and stringing up tinsel. Enjoy! 🙂

Questions of Faith and Science Fiction

Blog, , , , , ,

The very first review of Signal Erased was reasonably generous, but the reviewer questioned “… a religious tone that may be unexpected for some readers …”

Is there a place for God in science fiction?

The reviewer’s tone made it clear they found “godly rhetoric” in the story uncomfortable, highlighting a scene when the heroine, Anna, asks her potential rescuer, Rennie, whether he’s ever asked God about healing for his long-term health condition. The lead to this highlight was “unfortunately”. And that’s fair, given that is the reviewer’s opinion, but clearly they find the idea of supernatural healing and intervention peculiar.

I actually welcome discussions with readers about my stories, including questions of why certain elements or incidents have been included. That said, I admit when writing Signal Erased, I hesitated depicting Anna’s worldview as being openly Jesus-centred, given how this might be received by some of my readers.

Given I write near-science fiction, my stories encompass futuristic technologies threaded around contemporary scenarios. I suppose I could be more allegorical and nuanced, but I allow my characters to wrestle with big life-questions we all encounter. These questions include faith, identity, self-worth, loss, relationship breakdown, health crises and more. To me, these are fundamental questions we all must answer for ourselves.  However, my past heroes have come from a sceptical position when it comes to faith and “God questions”.

Anna is the first character I’ve written who has settled her spirituality. Yet, she has also misconstrued her beliefs to cover a gaping wound of denied grief, instead, constantly striving to be the ultra-good girl. But why include the “Jesus love stuff” (as Rennie calls it), knowing it may raise brows and maybe even lose me some readers?

Whether we know it or not, we all have beliefs, faith and a worldview we live by. I understand not every person’s religious experiences are positive—some are crushingly detrimental. It makes me sad, even angry, when I learn of a searching heart who has been taken advantage of in what has become termed spiritual abuse. So why broach spirituality in my stories?

The fact is we are spiritual beings—whether people ration this as a survival mechanism, supernatural, or otherwise. It is my experience we are heard, seen and known; purposed in this moment of time by a higher power, who delights in spending time with us and sharing his heart in a very personal way. But, I believe, often our God-image gets distorted by our human filters and put in a box of regulations and restrictions we are comfortable with. Like Anna’s “always play it safe” perspective.

To purposely exclude this from a story would be to me, well, unnatural. And yet, we often do. In Anna’s case, it is very much a part of who she is and she simply wouldn’t have been the same character without this.

Something I find curious is readers seldom question or experience discomfort when an author includes spirituality from a non-Christian or even occultic angle. Although this is still embracing the supernatural and depicting faith (in powers of darkness), I personally find these stories difficult, having heard accounts of people who have suffered through devastating ritual abuse. And yet, the fact there is such acceptance of these stories reiterates our acceptance of the supernatural and spirituality as an intrinsic part of our make-up.

Let’s be honest—no one likes “preachy”. If I’m writing a scene where a character is wrestling with spiritual questions, I try letting it flow in a way that is natural and accessible, whilst consistent with the character. I don’t always get this balance right, but I am comfortable letting my characters explore these issues, even if they remain unresolved. After all, they’re still figuring out life for themselves.

That said, I’ve seen too much to not believe there is more to life than the physical world around us. What about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts

Integrate Re-Release

Blog, , , ,

Yesterday was an exciting day. With the focus on the release of Immortal Mistake, this date kind of slipped by without much accolade, but it was the re-release (second edition) of my debut novel Integrate. Yay!

Now, I love Blaine as a character and I loved writing his adventures the first time around. However, what people may not realise is when I first wrote Integrate, it was not planned as a trilogy. Replicate only happened right before the first release of this novel. I managed to get out a draft of Replicate before Integrate was published, but I would have liked to go back and draw out certain elements for some characters, foreshadowing, and logistical-legislative aspects.

I never thought I would get the chance, but then … Second edition!!!! 😊

This was like the ultimate redo. As I reworked the novel, I realized I still loved it and the characters, but I was being given an opportunity to make it even better. As I said at a recent function, Integrate first edition was “good”, but the second edition is “gooderer”.

If you’ve not yet read this story and would like to purchase a copy of Integrate, 2nd Edn, it’s available from many bricks and mortar stores and e-book sellers:

And if your country or favourite bookstore isn’t in this list, grab the ISBN number and search for Integrate 2nd Edn in a store near you. 😊

Finally, you can also purchase my novels direct from Rhiza Edge Press. I know you’ll love this re-release as much as I enjoyed revisiting Blaine’s beginnings. ❤️

The Narrow Path to Freedom

Blog, , , , , , , ,
Sound of Freedom, Image Credit: IMDb

Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ll know Sound of Freedom feature film starring Jim Caviezel has hit cinema screens at a blockbuster rate. Worldwide, an estimated 21 million people are trafficked for profit today, yielding an estimated profit of US$150 billion (yes, BILLION!). That includes wealthy and industrialised countries like Australia.

“Australia linked to human trafficking?” you might ask. A 2022 report released by the Australian Federal Police revealed human trafficking and slavery statistics had increased to the highest ever reported. Child trafficking represented around 7% of those figures—and that’s only Australian statistics.

This largely hidden crime of child trafficking is a key plot element of my new novel Immortal Mistake. You may wonder why I would write about this issue in a young adult novel (along with youth crime, domestic violence, substance abuse, neglect … yep, there’s a lot in it). To be honest, I didn’t set out with this purpose, but the thread kept growing until it become a integral key to the story. Now, five years after finalising that first draft, it’s increasingly apparent how relevant the themes in this novel are.

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Stefan Keller

Human trade is a wide-scale problem that crosses international boundaries, with Australia one of many destination countries for trafficked victims. It’s a brutal issue and it was difficult to write about, especially in an age-appropriate manner. Although Immortal Mistake is science fiction, there are real scientific entities commoditising human products from children in research, whether freshly/live harvested organs (as explored in previous posts) and extracts etc through abortion or child trafficking. That is before venturing down the more seditious road of ritualistic and other abuses known to occur (which the book does not broach, but I believe the movie exposes aspects of this perverse industry).

Again, though fictional and angled to a different purpose, one of the villains in the novel justifies their technological uses with a flippant dismissal of the children being “unwanted waste”. It’s perverse and angering, and yet, it’s how some yet-to-be-born children (right up to birth, and even two weeks beyond in some places) can be viewed. In a way this parallels the  conflicted situational and subjective (relative) moral criteria our society can apply to define when a person achieves a state of value, or not, as a means of rationalising ethically challenging issues.

Photo Credit: Pixabay, PublicDomainPictures

I haven’t yet watched Sound of Freedom, but I understand cinema attendees have been left sombre and silent after viewing this confronting film based on the life of Tim Ballard, who is to this day rescuing trafficked children. This same reaction is reflected in a scene in the novel where the truth of what Rennie has accidentally discovered is fully unveiled. It’s a reality so removed from many of our lives, I suspect we struggle to even imagine it, let alone grasp the gravity of what that means for the life of millions in our world.

In no way is trafficking an easy issue with easy solutions, but I hope after reading this novel or watching the movie we do not have a sombre/reflective moment and then just move on. The only way to expel darkness is by bringing it to the light. Acknowledgement, conversations, public support and advocacy for those without a voice are crucial. There are also many organisations that are active in rescuing children from this living hell, which we can get behind. Feel free to drop some recommendations in the comments below so others who may not know can get onboard. Let’s not forget the unseen ones.