If you could come back and live your life over who would you become?

Blueprint is a delightful romp into the possibilities of what life has to offer and why we have the lives we do.

Arielle lives in Heaven and will soom be reincarnating to Earth. At a dinnerparty, her friends brainstorm themes suitable for Arielle's Blueprint (the contract made between God and the soul before any incarnation). As the evening progresses and more wine consumed, the guests' senarios become more and more bizarre ranging from child prodigy, street vagabond to a transsexual.

After days of deliberation, Arielle chooses a theme then holds another party to cast her friends into various roles. However, the Council appear advising Arielle that she must leave for Earth that very night. With no fina; Blueprint in place, it is up to her soul mate and friends to complete it for her, of course with many surtprises. But who better than your closest friends to write the details of your next life—right?

There were times when I would sit in a park, staring into the distance. Alone. My heart grew dry and small. It was a little bit of death, closing in upon me and my soul would flutter.’
 
Just a Little Bit of Death intrigues the reader as it traces Anne’s journey from childhood in Germany to marriage and her life in Australia. Cruelly rejected by her mother, Anne is taken from the selfless love of her Grandmother by a vindictive father. Alone, and in the face of adversity, the strong and determined child excels at school, and then travels to England and France to complete her language degree. 

 

Just a Little Bit of Death is shocking in its portrayal of a woman’s struggle to find her place in a world where she is completely alone. It traverses the full spectrum of human emotion, exposing the paradoxes, vulnerability and power struggles that exist in relationships and the lengths we go to in order to control both ourselves and others; just a little bit of death.

The year is 2035 and Global Warming has transformed Sydney from an affluent and vibrant city to a third world slum.

A drought lasting thirty years has parched cities and farmlands alike, and a war in the Middle East has left the Western World bankrupt. In a strange twist of climatic fate, Africa now has abundant rainfall, and is the new economic power.

Living in Sydney’s poor Inner West, Melissa and Olivia struggle for survival amidst unemployment, illness and sexual infidelity. Their once strong friendship becomes strained under the pressure of mistrust as they become entangled in an underworld conspiracy. Raindance is a poignant story of love and betrayal set against the backdrop of political corruption and climate change.

Raindance demands of every reader: When the world changes—what will you do?

I came to Life's Way after reading Echoes I and II, having being charmed by the warmth, good humour and honesty of their author, Charlotte Clayton Maramis. So I was not surprised at my strong emotional response to these tales of people she'd met on her own life's journey. As I read their stories, set in places familiar as well as exotic, I found myself experiencing sadness at fractures in family relationships, empathy with those in need of identity or belonging and joy at boundless love. While I recoiled from the actions of some, I was restored by the strength of those oppressed and by the heroic lives led by ordinary people. I left Life's Way entrusted with the secrets of its characters. And I think of them still.
Paulette Kay
Bali Hati Foundation representative and member of AIA

The Dame Drain is set in London and Naples in 2001. England is governed by women, the Prime Minister has a serious political problem—the Dames are following the Brains, and leaving to live in countries that are governed by men—or, at the very least, to live where the guys are more attractive than the home grown variety. To add to her problems, there is a criminal gang operating out of Naples, kidnapping rather plain English and American girls. When girls from the embassies start disappearing, it causes major problems for the P.M. and her government.
She sends her best Italian detective experts, Morally Straight and her colleague Caldo Cosa off to Italy to discover who is responsible for the criminal disappearances—but all is not as it seems in the land of pasta and amore.
This is a satire on the world of Bush, Blair and post 9/11 attitudes to men, women, love and the whole damned thing.

Überstar is a black comedy that explores the myths of modern media and the world it creates.

Set in a fictitious reality-television show, Überstar takes you behind-the-scenes of production and publicity as eleven young hopefuls try to go from anonymous stranger to household name—a name to join the likes of Blanchett, Crowe and Kidman on the silver screen.

The events are taken from high-level insider sources from many reality-television shows, and with sex and drugs being as commonplace in this workplace as emails and coffee, the story exposes the manipulations that go into making 'the next big thing' in an industry where there are no hard rules for success.

The greatest enemy to the truth is not the lie, but the myth.

In 1974, Rugby League was different …

Young Gilgandra half-back Steve Thurling, tough, talented and good looking to boot, dreams of playing the game in the big league. After starring for the Western District Goannas in the 1973 Country Championships, Steve is selected to trial with Sydney’s glamour team, the North City Condors.

On the field, Steve shows what a talent he is, but off-field dramas land him in trouble with the highly paid import Bryan McGarrety …

A Meeting in Rome and Other Stories is a stunning new collection in the literary world.
Set in the European cities in which the author has lived and worked
—Florence, Paris, London and Lisbon, the stories are a must or any reader
of quality fiction.

One Summer in Naples
Tells of a love affair between a foreign man and a Neapolitan Princess in one of the world’s most romantic, glamorous and dangerous cities. The story springs from the author’s unique combination of wit, romance, intrigue and clever twists.

Dead? Sister Marie Claire? But she was only a girl! What have they done with the bodies?
Burnt them all, Simon said with a calculated brutality. Catherine shivered.

On Madison Avenue and Other Stories
A collection of stories, set in cities in the United State, including the notorious The Diary of a Washington Penis about the Clinton years. In the title story, an old girl friend from Melbourne arrives on the doorstep of a grotty apartment in New York.

Some days, Lilly said, I just put on my ten thousnad dollar mink coat and walk down Fifth Avenue with nothing else on at all.

And is this one of those days? Nick asked.

Lilly dropped the coat.

In a world of chaos, Cathy McBride encounters horrific circumstances when her journalist lover is murdered. As the situation deteriorates, a pregnant Cathy has to endure the ordeal of prison and an attempt on her life. Only with the help of a few trusted friends can Cathy find her lover’s killers and expose the synddicate that hunts her with a ruthless passion.