The Lanternist

4 May, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

by Stephen Orr, illustrated by Timothy Ide

1901. The slide clunks into the lantern, and Phantoms come alive on the wall. The father-and-son Magic Lantern team of Bert and Tom Eliot are masters of The Art of the Story. The only problem is that they are missing a wife and mother. Then one morning eleven-year-old Tom wakes to find his father missing, too. Continue reading The Lanternist →

Author

Stephen Orr

4 May, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Stephen Orr has published eight novels, a book of short stories, as well as essays, columns and other scribblings. Thankfully, he has never written a poem, ever. He has taught Science and English in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia and, to be honest, has learnt more in schools than he’s taught (especially how to get pen refills to stick into ceiling tiles). He’s come second (or third or fourth) in many awards and competitions, so now believes that winning is overrated (although his vegetable soup did help the 1st Hillcrest Scouts win the 1979 Cohen Cup for best bush cooks!).

Title

The Colour of Music

4 May, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Lisa Tiffen, illustrated by Matt Ottley

HB 32 | 210 x 297 | ISBN: 9781925227871
$29.99 | Picture book
June 2021 | MidnightSun Publishing
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Molly can see the music. Colours flash brilliantly as she listens. The music takes her on a journey into places filled with colour, revealing connections between music, emotions, and the world we live in. Continue reading The Colour of Music →

Author

Matt Ottley

4 May, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Matt Ottley is an award-winning multi-modal artist, working equally across the fields of literature, visual arts and music. Matt has had 37 picture books published and his work also appears in more than thirty nonfiction books.

His awards include the CBCA Picture Book of the Year and both the Queensland & NSW Premier’s Awards for literature. His international awards include Ibby Honour Book for Australia and a White Ravens listing, Bologna. He has recorded his music with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Choir.

Author

Lisa Tiffen

4 May, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Lisa Tiffen is a children’s picture book author, illustrator and composer. She has previously published a family of four quirky books; Grumps, Lovelies, Sorrows and Frights.

A piano teacher for many years, Lisa has recently commenced writing orchestral music to accompany her books. Being able to combine her love of music, art and writing makes her heart sing.

Title

The Plastic Throne

28 April, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Amani Uduman, illustrated by Kera Bruton

HB 32 | 210 x 210 | ISBN: 9781925227802
$24.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | March 2021
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Denver flushes all kinds of things down the toilet but never stops to think about what happens to them once they are gone. One night, while he sleeps, the ocean begins to stir, no longer able to suppress its fury over how it’s being treated. Can Denver and his sister Maisy make things right before it’s too late? Continue reading The Plastic Throne →

Author

Kera Bruton

28 April, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Kera Bruton lives on the south coast of New South Wales with her husband, two sons and Italian water dog Alfonzo. From a young age art has always been a major part of Kera’s life. Her previous careers saw her working as a special-effects make-up artist and milliner.

Kera loves creating illustrations that allow the viewer to enter a new world away from their own, where dreams can come true and new friends can be found. Kera loves to experiment with all mediums and uses multiple creative techniques in her illustrations. The Plastic Throne is her first picture book.

Author

Amani Uduman

28 April, 2021 Editor-in-Chief

Amani Uduman is a children’s author and primary school teacher from Melbourne. In addition to her teaching degree, Amani has graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Science, Health Promotion from Deakin University. She has numerous titles published by a non-profit organisation called Library for All, Australia, and her work has been included in many fundraising anthologies.

In her spare time, Amani enjoys reading, writing, walking and listening to R&B music. She also has a keen interest in metaphysics.

Book Club Questions

Book Club Questions – The Breaking

9 March, 2021 Site Manager

The Breaking – Book Club Conversation Starters (pdf, 451 kb)

Title

The Breaking

19 December, 2020 Editor-in-Chief 1 Comment

by Irma Gold

Hannah Bird has just arrived in Thailand. Disoriented and out of her depth, she meets Deven, a fierce and gutsy Australian expat who sweeps her into thrilling adventures rescuing elephants.

As they head deeper and deeper into the fraught world of elephant tourism, their lives become tangled in ways Hannah never imagined. But how far will they go to save a life? Continue reading The Breaking →

Author

Irma Gold

1 December, 2020 Editor-in-Chief

Irma Gold is an author, freelance editor and podcaster. Her works include a novel, The Breaking, a short fiction collection, Two Steps Forward, and five children’s books. Her short fiction has been widely published in literary journals, and her next children’s book, Come Home, Bigibila, co- written with Kamilaroi man Corey Tutt, is forthcoming with Allen & Unwin. Shift is Irma’s second novel published by MidnightSun. She is also the founder and co-host of the writing podcast Secrets from the Green Room. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne.

Title

The Ghost Squad

18 November, 2020 Editor-in-Chief 1 Comment

by Sophie Masson

Imagine a world where all seems normal and yet nothing is — a world very much like our own, yet jarringly unlike. A world where two clandestine organisations, the Ghost Squad and the Base, are engaged in a secret battle for control of information so dangerous it could literally change life as humans have always known it… Continue reading The Ghost Squad →

Author

Sophie Masson

2 November, 2020 Editor-in-Chief

Sophie Masson AM was born in Indonesia of French parents, and brought up in France and Australia, and now lives in regional NSW. She is the award-winning and internationally-published author of over 60 books for children, young adults and adults. A former chair of the Australian Society of Authors and chair of the New England Writers’ Centre, in 2019 received an AM award in the Order of Australia honours list for her significant service to literature. Continue reading →

Books

The Making of Ling Li’s Lantern

18 September, 2020 Random Editor 2 Comments

As an intern at MidnightSun Publishing, every day brings something different. No two books are the same and so neither is the publishing process. I have the wonderful opportunity to get a glimpse behind the curtain, so to speak, to be a small part of every process involved in taking a project from its genesis as a humble manuscript, to its completion as a published and tangible book that people will hold in their hands and lose themselves in.

Ling Li's Lantern cover — Ling Li’s Lantern cover

For children’s book author Steve Heron and illustrator Benjamin Johnston, that process is finally complete, with their masterpiece, Ling Li’s Lantern published on 1^st September 2020. I had a chat with Steve and Ben about the making of their book and what the different stages of the journey looked like for them.

As with many fantastic books, the beginning of Ling Li’s journey was almost also the end. Ling Li’s Lantern was sent to many different publishing houses before MidnightSun fell in love with her story. Finally, after months of hearing ‘nothing but crickets and rejections’, as Steve puts it, from publishers other than MidnightSun, his manuscript was finally Continue reading The Making of Ling Li’s Lantern →

Title

Mountain Arrow

1 September, 2020 Editor-in-Chief

by Rachel Hennessy

The second book in The Burning Days series

The River People and the Mountain People have survived for another season. But at what cost? Pandora has returned to her village. She is haunted both by her failure to bring her friend home and the vision she has seen of the last days, The Burning, when creatures swarmed the city. How did these monsters come into being in the first place? And are the last remnants of humanity really safe from them? Continue reading Mountain Arrow →

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