Elizabeth and her parents etched out a living on the flats of the Hawkesbury River in the early 1800s. And then tragedy struck. Her father was killed by river pirates during a robbery. In Elizabeth's Garden, author Phillip Leighton-Daly narrates a historical fiction story that represents the lawlessness that typified the Hawkesbury River region during the early years of its colonial history. Settlements in the sparsely settled environs in colonial New South Wales were ravaged by escaped convicts, cedar cutters, and associated criminal elements. Two teenage children, including Elizabeth, assisted the missionary in ferrying orphaned children along the waterway. Such interference was not appreciated and led to reprisals from the lawless element. Based on Leighton-Daly's research, no mission operated on the Hawkesbury River during the early 1800s, but the events of the period are factual and supported by documentation. Aboriginal missions operated at Lake Macquarie eighty miles to the north for fifteen years during this same period. The geographical place names, the Aboriginal freedom fighters, and sympathetic white settlers of the era are authentic. Documentation in the Police and Justice Museum at Circular Quay, Sydney, leaves no doubt the police force was corrupt from the Governor Macquarie era (circa 1822) until the 1880s, when good leadership finally brought respectability into the police force.

Probes were dispatched from the planet Earth in 2080. Two planets orbiting around a sun were adjudged suitable for colonization in deep space. Just as the Quakers and Pilgrims established colonies in the New World, a Galilean religious sect colonized the two planets named Kaire and Greyce. Having resisted the influence of the early church, the Galileans lived similarly to Christ's apostles 2000 years ago, as sheepherders, carpenters and fishermen. They sought a new beginning free from prejudice, hatred and suffering.

Fifty years after colonization, the two sects no longer bore any similarity to the other - a trajectory not lost on the scans of a dangerous militant civilization intent on colonization. After the self-proclaimed prophet and leader of Greyce is lured aboard a shuttlecraft by glamorous envoys, the colony's parishioners quickly follow and vanish. Can Kaire resist the inglorious fate of their neighbor?

The Crinkling on Poisoned Pies explores today's values of wealth, materialism, religion, youthfulness and status through a fable set in space.

Probes were dispatched from the planet Earth in 2080. Two planets orbiting around a sun were adjudged suitable for colonization in deep space. Just as the Quakers and Pilgrims established colonies in the New World, a Galilean religious sect colonized the two planets named Kaire and Greyce. Having resisted the influence of the early church, the Galileans lived similarly to Christ's apostles 2000 years ago, as sheepherders, carpenters and fishermen. They sought a new beginning free from prejudice, hatred and suffering.

Fifty years after colonization, the two sects no longer bore any similarity to the other - a trajectory not lost on the scans of a dangerous militant civilization intent on colonization. After the self-proclaimed prophet and leader of Greyce is lured aboard a shuttlecraft by glamorous envoys, the colony's parishioners quickly follow and vanish. Can Kaire resist the inglorious fate of their neighbor?

The Crinkling on Poisoned Pies explores today's values of wealth, materialism, religion, youthfulness and status through a fable set in space.

The Foundlings and the Fisherman from Tumby chronicles the remarkable and meaningful lives of John and Margaret Treves, a couple beset by daunting challenges and tragedies. Despite their setbacks, the couple contribute whole-heartedly to the needs of the children at the mission and the lepers from the colony. Amidst the duality of light and darkness, land and sea, and the eternal conflict between good and evil, readers are invited to explore the profound meaning of selflessness and sacrifice. The writing is rich in allegory. John Treves's interaction with the tyrannical merqueen is analogous to the wicked, corrupt elements in our world today. The charity of John and Margaret transforms Tumby into a special place where surely they are remembered for their selfless contributions to society as opposed to the merqueen's insatiable thirst for power and wealth.

The Foundlings and the Fisherman from Tumby chronicles the remarkable and meaningful lives of John and Margaret Treves, a couple beset by daunting challenges and tragedies. Despite their setbacks, the couple contribute whole-heartedly to the needs of the children at the mission and the lepers from the colony. Amidst the duality of light and darkness, land and sea, and the eternal conflict between good and evil, readers are invited to explore the profound meaning of selflessness and sacrifice. The writing is rich in allegory. John Treves's interaction with the tyrannical merqueen is analogous to the wicked, corrupt elements in our world today. The charity of John and Margaret transforms Tumby into a special place where surely they are remembered for their selfless contributions to society as opposed to the merqueen's insatiable thirst for power and wealth.

The prince of Gomorrah desperately seeks eternal life. With a large entourage, he sets off into the desert to find the wise sage, Wisdom. The prince is certain Wisdom can help. In exchange for the secret to living forever, the prince offers the man and his family wealth, pomp and pageantry, debauchery and drunkenness, and even mystical insights into the human soul. Nothing works. The prince resorts to intimidation, threatening to destroy Wisdom's stronghold and enslave his daughters. Wisdom stands firmly in his decision and drives the prince and his entourage into the desert. After three days, they encounter the Dark Lord who offers the prince eternal life for an exorbitantly high price. The prince accepts, and the Dark Lord delivers. The prince must live with the catastrophic outcome of his choices.

An old fisherman lives alone on a craggy, windswept coastline. His home is built from the wreckage of long-gone ships. Each day, he embarks on a treacherous path to the sea where he collects the fishes that he delivers to the leper colony to help feed the homeless children at the mission. He is a kind and caring widower. While on his daily journey, he encounters a wounded merchild, but he doesn't know the child has been left as bait for him by the merfolk queen. She wishes to use his bones to decorate her palace. She also believes that being kind and caring is a weakness. The old man works to keep the merchild safe and to resist the queen. A fairy-tale for children, The Fisherman and His Foundlings shares a story about the importance of being kind and caring.

Far away in the beautiful Orion constellation, a blind-mute and her Labrador dog blundered about in treacherous mountain terrain. To fully understand this travesty of justice, we must visit the primitive civilization of Soot. Herein lies the blind-mute Lucidia's story, as related by her friends.

Far away in the beautiful Orion constellation, a blind-mute and her Labrador dog blundered about in treacherous mountain terrain. To fully understand this travesty of justice, we must visit the primitive civilization of Soot. Herein lies the blind-mute Lucidia's story, as related by her friends.

A corrupt, capitalistic government devises a devious plan to replace national parks with casinos, gaming houses and convention centres. Whereas wildlife sanctuaries deliver little financial return, casinos generate great wealth. In obtaining its end, the government assigns an army of feral pests to wipe out the native animals. It is believed that national parks will lose much appeal if all native animals are driven into extinction. The ferals quickly rally to the government's cause, but a feral war is the last thing that the country needs. Amidst a rapidly deteriorating climate, increased deforestation and industrialization threatens to send the planet spiralling towards destruction.

A corrupt, capitalistic government devises a devious plan to replace national parks with casinos, gaming houses and convention centres. Whereas wildlife sanctuaries deliver little financial return, casinos generate great wealth. In obtaining its end, the government assigns an army of feral pests to wipe out the native animals. It is believed that national parks will lose much appeal if all native animals are driven into extinction. The ferals quickly rally to the government's cause, but a feral war is the last thing that the country needs. Amidst a rapidly deteriorating climate, increased deforestation and industrialization threatens to send the planet spiralling towards destruction.

In the year 2050, probes are launched into deep space. Two dwarf planets orbiting around a sun are adjudged suitable for colonization. Just as the Quakers and Pilgrim Fathers established colonies in the New World, two religious sects, Greyce and Kaire, settle in space. Both sects originate from the great teacher Christos, but fifty years later, each has evolved to bear little resemblance to the other-a trajectory not lost on a dangerous, militant civilization that has been scanning and observing the planets. Envoys are dispatched with devious intentions of colonizing Greyce and Kaire. After the self-proclaimed prophet and leader of Greyce is lured by the glamorous envoys into their shuttlecraft, all the colony's parishioners quickly follow and vanish forever. Can Kaire resist this fate and progress toward a different future? The Crinkling on the Pie explores today's values of wealth, materialism, pleasure, youthfulness, and status through a fable set in space.

Elizabeth and her parents etched out a living on the flats of the Hawkesbury River in the early 1800s. And then tragedy struck. Her father was killed by river pirates during a robbery. In Elizabeth's Garden, author Phillip Leighton-Daly narrates a historical fiction story that represents the lawlessness that typified the Hawkesbury River region during the early years of its colonial history. Settlements in the sparsely settled environs in colonial New South Wales were ravaged by escaped convicts, cedar cutters, and associated criminal elements. Two teenage children, including Elizabeth, assisted the missionary in ferrying orphaned children along the waterway. Such interference was not appreciated and led to reprisals from the lawless element. Based on Leighton-Daly's research, no mission operated on the Hawkesbury River during the early 1800s, but the events of the period are factual and supported by documentation. Aboriginal missions operated at Lake Macquarie eighty miles to the north for fifteen years during this same period. The geographical place names, the Aboriginal freedom fighters, and sympathetic white settlers of the era are authentic. Documentation in the Police and Justice Museum at Circular Quay, Sydney, leaves no doubt the police force was corrupt from the Governor Macquarie era (circa 1822) until the 1880s, when good leadership finally brought respectability into the police force.

Twin brothers Joshua and Joseph contracted leprosy in their youth and have spent the last thirty years in the leper colony, where they were nursed by the wife of an old fisherman. Following his death, the brothers move into the old man's house and fish off the rocky shelves to feed themselves. But it seems the wicked mermaid queen is angry. She intended to display the old man's bones in her palace but has been deprived of that treasure. When she sees Joshua and Joseph working in the fisherman's place, she sends her two most powerful warriors, Brawn and Sinew, to take the brothers and their dingo so that she can exhibit their skeletons in her undersea palace. The merfolk's plans go awry, and though the brothers manage to escape, they soon find themselves embroiled with some murderous bushrangers. Now Joshua and Joseph must face a new set of trials that exact a harsh toll from them-and an even greater one from the evil lawbreakers who have captured them. This short story follows the perilous journey of twin brothers who encounter a series of tribulations at the hands of evildoers.