Stories

Can an honourable act redeem a criminal’s past?

Nathan and Brohm are granted a precious gift: their unsavoury pasts are wiped clean, allowing them a chance to restart their lives anew. However, fighting against their old habit of using violence to solve problems proves to be a difficult challenge.

To make matters worse, bloodthirsty creatures are emerging from the dark. Their source—an unexpected visitor known only to Nathan and Brohm—forces them to deal with the threat covertly. But the solution is dire, and both are hesitant to carry out such a profound sacrifice.

Hubris: Pilgrimage begins the story of Crowe, a young practitioner on a great journey to find Monad, to free his people from enslavement. Along the way he encounters Barghast, an eight foot tall wolfman, the lycan who has left his clan in the desert for a life in the North. Separated by culture and language but linked together by the beginnings of an unbreakable bond, the two lost souls travel to the cursed town of Timberford. There Crowe will meet his first test? With the help of Barghast can Crowe save the trapped villagers or will they perish?

It's springtime in the mighty Andiol Empire. Despite the apparent tranquillity and prosperity, all is not well in the realm. There is a never-ending war on the eastern border, the power-hungry Shadow Cross is plotting, and the emperor has not been seen in public for years. And something far more dangerous is quietly gathering strength.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Josel and his friends are leading normal young lives in their hometown Paidos, in the peaceful south of Andiol. But a dark shadow hangs over the town, and strange secrets creep into Josel's life. Suddenly, Paidos is no longer a safe place to live, and Josel finds himself on the run.

Lyoth and Stawren head in one direction, as Phentrom is taken in another. Fonith goes on a universe-spanning hunt, and Captain Suoki makes a new friend. Chaos ensues in different ways for each of them. Will they all ever be reunited?

A place for my poems.

Meeting for the first time in Boarding school, Oscar Q Kingston settles down to life away from his country home town, until an incident with one of his friends, while at home on a boarders weekend had him ending up in a hospital and afterwards changing schools and living with his grandparents on the outer north-east suburbs, where he finds new friends.

Months later he bumps into two of his former friends from his old school and after a bumpy start, they form a close friendship that lasts for many years to come, where they go their own separate ways after school ends, and reunite later for a common cause.

Jacob continues his journey to form new bonds with his brothers while struggling to find his place after awakening to a brand new world. Will newfound friendships be broken? Will his first real love be lost? Those are the heart-wrenching questions Jacob must face with the ever-present fear of losing himself to light and shadow.

Liam Mwangi leaves his home in Kenya for the prestigious Arkwright University in America, expecting a rigorous academic challenge. However, he soon finds himself drawn into the enigmatic world of The Covenant, a secretive society with deep roots in the university's history. As Liam navigates the complex social landscape and delves into Arkwright's traditions, he must unravel the mysteries surrounding The Covenant while determining his place within it. Will his quest for knowledge reveal more than he bargained for?

Book Two of The Last Statue follows on from Heart of Black Ice Bay and traces the lives of five new characters across roughly similar timelines.

• Marica is almost duped by a night caller accelerating her future plan to escape the palace;
• Jasmar's instincts tells him to accompany Marica’s siblings on their escape to Loq;
• Tad, a menial in Aulderly, stumbles upon the missing Lore of Invocation;
• Brokerman has to help deal with an emerald explosion that rips through the grounds of the Aulderly;
• Duke Ervine holds together a fragmented empire while a new ruler is being agreed upon.

A collection of poems for NaPoWriMo 2024.