Narelda Joy lives surrounded by beautiful flora and fauna in the Blue Mountains, Australia. She has two dogs and a cat, as well as lots of native birds who visit her garden daily.
Narelda’s picture book Message in a Sock with Kaye Baillie was published in May 2018.
MidnightSun has acquired world rights to playwright and radio dramatist D M Cameron’s debut novel Beneath the Mother Tree for publication in 2018.
Beneath the Mother Tree is a ‘fast-paced’ mystery and love story set in an Australian town similar to the one in which Cameron grew up, and uses Indigenous and Irish mythology to create a spiritual subtext.
‘We are thrilled to have won the rights to this exciting novel, which generated a great deal of interest as a manuscript,’ said MidnightSun publishing director Anna Solding. ‘There were several other publishing contracts on the table, and we had to fight for this book!’
Solding said she sees ‘potential’ for the novel in the international market. ‘We anticipate Beneath the Mother Tree will garner interest overseas, with its Australian setting, contemporary love story and universal themes,’ said Solding. ‘We will be taking it to both London and Frankfurt Book Fairs.’
PB 256 | 198 x 128 | ISBN: 9781925227345
$26.99 | Fiction | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | November 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Peer through the windows and doors on Plane Tree Drive to find a streetscape that is humorous, heartbreaking, real and surreal. Here, the loneliness of domestic isolation and the joy of connection weave together to form an interlaced map of suburban life.
‘With each story in this complex fresco, layers are peeled away and others added, slowly revealing a delicate portrait of hurts and hopes, vulnerability and strength. Plane Tree Drive is a stunning and sensitive exploration of people, place and relationships.’
–Michelle Wright, author of Fine
Edited by Simone Corletto, Amy T. Matthews, Jess M. Miller and Lynette Washington
PB 368 | 198 x 128 | ISBN: 9781925227307
$26.99 | Fiction | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | September 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Bursting with affection, wit, loss, sex and a whole lot of love, the authors in this collection face the burning beauty of love and write of both the blaze and the ashes left behind. Crush will quicken the pulses of cynics and believers alike as it reimagines everything that makes the heart leap.
‘A delicious and captivating look at love in all its wonderful and varied forms. I’d love to read more from these fresh voices!’
–Rachael Johns
by Jane Jolly and Sally Heinrich
HB 32 | 300 x 250 | ISBN 9781925227291
$27.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | October 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Another stunning picture book from the
award-winning team who brought you One
Step at a Time, Honour Book in the CBCA
Awards 2016.
Papa Sky sits where earth meets sky, until one night the wind blows him down, down, down through the cloud forest, where he lands with a bump.
What will happen next? Who will help him? Continue reading Papa Sky
The MidnightSun team would like to congratulate Lucy Durneen on her win for best short story collection at the Saboteur Awards in the UK. We are so proud of her and of the collection, Wild Gestures, that is finding enthusiastic readers around the globe. Such wonderful news!
http://sabotagereviews.com/2017/05/14/saboteur-awards-2017-the-results/
Hear what the award voters had to say about Wild Gestures:
Lucy’s work is nothing less than exceptional. Her words and content take my breath away. She is also a hard working full-time academic, single-mother of four, who somehow still finds the time to dream and write. This alone should be worthy of an award.
Lucy’s collection is a tremendous work of humanity at its best and worst, its strongest and most vulnerable. Every story is packed with beautiful, unexpected and original imagery — to the point of enabling the reader to perceive a fresh perspective on their own life predicaments. This is a rare achievement in recent times and must be recognised and commended in the wider arena.
Because this is one off the most exquisite short story collections ever published. It is funny, sad, tender, cheeky, insightful and so, so clever. Lucy Durneen may be a new star in the literature hall-of-fame but she is certainly there to stay.
MidnightSun launched Kristin Weidenbach‘s and Timothy Ide‘s gorgeous picture book King of the Outback yesterday. The hall was packed, the speech by Dyan Blacklock was strong and supportive, but most importantly the vibe was great! So many friendly faces in the crowd, many of them friends from the writing community. Thank you so much for once again supporting a local writer and publisher. Without you, there would be no books!
‘Stunning, evocative, thought-provoking.’
Another amazing review for Olivia’s Voice. Congratulations Mike and Jennifer!
It doesn’t really get much better than that.
PB 144 | 198 x 128 | ISBN: 9781925227253
$17.99 | Fiction Ages 8-14 | Also available as ebook
MidnightSun Publishing | June 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Jorge lives in a shanty town on the outskirts of Paris. Bill, a controller, has an army of child thieves at his command—and Jorge is one of them.
But soon Jorge faces an even bigger threat. His home is to be bulldozed. Where will Jorge sleep? What will happen to his Continue reading A Cardboard Palace
Timothy Ide is an Adelaide-based illustrator. He is best known locally for his work as a sketch artist for the TV News, capturing some of South Australia’s most notorious cases over the last thirty years.
Timothy has also illustrated a number of children’s books, one of which, Tom the Outback Mailman written by Kristin Weidenbach and published by Hachette in 2012 won the Eve Pownall CBCA award in 2013. His most recent children’s books are Continue reading Timothy Ide
MidnightSun published her children’s book Olivia’s Voice in March 2017 and Vanishing in November 2018, both written by Mike Lucas.
Mike Lucas is the author of several collections of humorous poetry for children and has had work published in anthologies and literary magazines. Originally from the UK, he now lives in Adelaide, where he works as an engineer and runs an independent book store with his wife, Becky. He has a passion for encouraging children to use imagination and creativity to produce original stories and poetry.
MidnightSun published his children’s book Olivia’s Voice in March 2017 and Vanishing in November 2018, both beautifully illustrated by Jennifer Harrison.
written by Mike Lucas,
Illustrated by Jennifer Harrison
HB 32 | 210 x 297 | ISBN: 9781925227192
$26.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | March 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Today, like all days, Olivia wakes to a silent world. Outside her window, birds dance upon the branches of the giant gum tree. She follows the delicious smell of breakfast downstairs, walks to school with her friends and is greeted by her favourite teachers. In the music room, everyone knows which instrument she will choose. Continue reading Olivia’s Voice
From the award-winning writer/illustrator team who brought you Tom the Outback Mailman.
by Kristin Weidenbach,
Illustrated by Timothy Ide
HB 32 | 260 x 290 | ISBN 9781925227246
$26.99 | Non-fiction picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | May 2017
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Sidney Kidman runs away from home at thirteen and travels to the outback on a one-eyed horse. He finds stray cows in the scrub, swims across rivers by hanging on to a bullock’s tail and dreams of having the biggest herd of cattle in Australia.
Many years later, when the workers on Sid’s cattle station organise a giant rodeo for Sid’s birthday party the cattle from the bush take fright in the city. People panic and horses bolt. Can the Kidman stockmen save the day? Continue reading King of the Outback
Allayne is the author of 10 books for young people. Her novel Selfie is currently shortlisted in the prestigious 2024 NSW Premier’s Awards for the Ethel Turner Prize for Young Adult Literature. In 2023, Allayne won an international prize: IBBY Outstanding Book for Young People with Disabilities for her novel Sensitive.
Allayne is a SA Premier’s Reading Challenge Ambassador, multiple arts grants winner, she sings and plays guitar, and sometimes she illustrates. Her books have been awarded in the: CBCA, Davitt Crime Awards, Australian Speech Pathology Awards, Children’s Peace Prize for Literature, Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature — to name a few. A Cardboard Palace (MidnightSun) was a CBCA Notable book and is published in Sweden.
