Writing Award 2022

Cats are better than sex, or at least that is what veterinary nurse Meg thinks after her husband dumps her. The life of a veterinary nurse, with a bit of romance, a few tears and rather a lot of wine make up the novel, Puppy Breath.

A talented thief buries her old life in a dull, safe one, until mischance forces her to run. Befriended by a bizarre circus, she must battle illusion and reality in two worlds to save her life, and others, whilst being pursued for a stolen fortune in diamonds, and wanted for terrorism and murder.

When a warrior trained girl struggling with self-belief makes an ancient Choice in Stonehenge on her eighteenth birthday, she sets in motion a hunt across two worlds to find her; she must trust herself if she is to survive and discover her true destiny.

In 1906 Boston, a married heiress, fascinated with making miniatures to help unravel unexplained deaths, secretly plunges into the male-dominated world of criminal investigation by living a double life as an unmarried pathologist, finding love, adventure and her true life's passion along the way.

Caitlin was only eleven when she killed Darren’s young daughter, Riley. Ten years on and he’s searching for her. If he finds her, what will he do?

ROLY, a grieving mother, must choose between her climate change-denier husband and loyalty to the memory of her dead environmentalist son, who appears to her after his death and instructs her to continue his work.

In late 1999, teen mom Talitha has far more to worry about than a world-wide computer crash that could halt the economy. Her two sons are hungry and she has enough money for a cup of oatmeal, but nowhere to call home. Worse, she’s on the run from the boys’ father, who may be on the hunt for them.

Colt Hawkins and the men and women of Task Force 24 aid a defecting Chinese scientist. A former Russian government mercenary and an Iranian radical extremist responsible for the Texas bombings are also watching. Colt leads TF24 into Russia to obtain a stealth missile as the president abandons them.

A teenage girl who gambles her own life to save her dying sister, wakes trapped in a future where she has no human rights and her sister is missing. NEVER LET ME GO meets SEE HOW THEY LIE with a hint of THE HANDMAID’S TALE.

A Star In Her Crown introduces Brenda Sue Barrington, a washed-up foreign correspondent whose hometown coverage of a backwoods congressional race in Florida’s Big Bend puts her back in the national spotlight—and in a killer’s crosshairs.

A physically massive teenager named James must choose between attending two competing high schools. The schools will fight for their reputation and eventual actual survival.

Misha wanted adventure, but thanks to the Winter Queen, she found more than she bargained for. With the help of some magic she can barely control, an idiot crow, and a cursed sword, she might win. But to save the world from the Winter Queen, Misha has to let her own beloved die by her enemy’s hand.

An agent working undercover in the global prison system condemns himself by saving a city from an extraordinary attack.

A mixed collection of short stories and poems written in a variety of genres, exploring relationships, traditions and/or beliefs and observations of daily life.

Synopsis.
With One Eye Open
Lorraine Brockbank

With One Eye Open is a coming-of-age drama based in a sleepy New Zealand town at the turn of the twenty-first century. Rocked by a series of disturbing events, the town is awakened from its complacency and propelled into action.

Based on a true story, everything depends on Raymond coming home, but war stands between him and every promise he’s ever made.

Twenty-seven year old Rita Vegas starts a new job, only to find herself in the frame for murder. She must find and chase down the villain to clear her name, and stay alive.
[This is Book 1 of The Vegas Trilogy]

Before history began, the creators of humanity fought a civil war for the souls of humanity and that war never ended. Millennia later, on an archeological quest deep beneath the Sphynx, the last memory of the creators is awakened in the lost Library of Thoth. Now that war can be brutally concluded.

Student Void stumbles on the girl of his dreams, yet all is not as it appears. And when she vanishes, everything changes. Shocked, Void has to decide if risking his future is worth becoming entangled in his girlfriend’s thrilling secret life. Can he discover her truth before she's lost for all time

This is a feel-good tale, an outside-the-box book. Moira shapeshifts through the Burning Times, the Black Death and the zany world of modern witchcraft, with its squabblesome moon meetings and its glitzy witchy accessories bought on eBay. Jump on your broomstick and come along for the bumpy ride!