G’day – and thanks for dropping in!

I write contemporary literary fiction with an Aussie twist. My stories have been included in the inaugural Minds Shine Bright anthology Confidence and longlisted for the Peter Carey Short Story Awards.

I’ve included a couple of samples here to give you a taste. There’s a full-length story ‘The Jack Shaw Dossier’ and a vignette ‘Gurnang’.

You’ll find many more stories in my weekly storyletter Tall and Tiny Tales (scroll down for links) and on my Medium page. For up-to-date news, be sure to follow my Facebook page.

The Jack Shaw Dossier – short story

Jack Shaw – ex-MI6 intelligence analyst, ex-Brit, ex-husband – leads a quiet, orderly life in Australia. By day he’s a technical translator and behind-the-scenes environmental activist; by night he’s a musician in a bluegrass band. Then along comes Ashleigh, a young blues singer, and messes with Jack’s head and heart.

Read ‘The Jack Shaw Dossier’ (30 minutes) for free.

The Jack Shaw Files

A story about trust – and what happens when we lose it

Gurnang – short story

‘Gurnang’ gives a voice to the little creek that runs near my house. It’s narrow enough to jump across, yet has seen much drama over the centuries. Let Gurnang tell you about the First People and their stolen birthright; about the struggle of one small watercourse to survive in the modern world of intensive agriculture and urban sprawl.

Read ‘Gurnang’ (five minutes) for free.

Gurnang

Life story of a creek

Tall and Tiny Tales

Tall and Tiny Tales is my serial fiction project: a weekly ‘storyletter’ of episodes from my latest fiction, including a podcast and original artwork. A new episode comes out free every Tuesday.

For those who like a longer read, there’s the Friday Novella, which comes out – you guessed it – every Friday ($5 / month subscription).

These are the stories so far on Tall and Tiny Tales:

Acheron

Winery manager Pan Nikolopoulos looks back fondly on his schooldays and his first love in Victoria’s tranquil Acheron Valley. Yet true love’s path was rarely predictable or safe with Áine Doyle …

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8

Astrid

A woman on holiday falls in love with a delapidated wooden schooner. ‘Astrid’ takes the reader on a voyage spanning half the globe and half a lifetime.

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8

Badger Hill

A young woman suffers an injury on the first day of a walk in the rugged Otways hills. She finds herself stranded at a lonely campsite. Events soon take a sinister turn.

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3

Lethe

A darkly humorous story of love, forgetting and cups of tea. And who is that in the woodshed?

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3

Naming Calls

Tucked away in the rugged High Country, sculptor Tom embarks on a monumental woodcarving. But something is not quite right … A tale of guilt, atonement and love.

Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5

Writer’s Retreat

A novelist hopes for a productive winter in an isolated coastal cottage. She finds that she has more company than she bargained for.