Ice King by Geoff Woodland

Thanks to Geoff Woodland for his fanastic review of my last book, Journey from Walara.

Journey from Walara

After reading Wind from Danyari I had to read the sequel, Journey from Walara, by West Australian author, Laurel Lamperd.
The Hennessy boys go to war, Danny to England to be trained as a bomber pilot, and Will joins the Australian Army and is sent to New Guinea. The story begins in the time of innocence in Australia of 1939. The author showed me the lives of people in outback Australia of that time, and how their innocence changed as the war progressed.
Lamperd has the knack of describing the conditions of north west Australia to such an extent that she has my mouth dry from wind blown sand, only to be washed clean in the next chapter by watered down beer in a London pub on a damp wet night, after a bombing raid over Germany. Her description of the Kakoda trail, the mud, the tropical heat and rain, with the expectation of fighting the Japanese brings to life the bestiality of man when at war.
It is not a story of war, but a story of a family caught up in a war. How relationships are made and broken, some deliberate others beyond control of the character. I read the book on a Kindle and after I’d finished, the characters and the locations stuck in my mind for days, even though I was travelling and seeing new places. A well told story.

If you want to discover more about Geoff and his latest book, 'Ice King' check out his website www.geoffwoodland.com

'Ice King' A saga set during the dying days of the African slave trade.

The Japanese Grandmother

Love Came at Christmas, a short story, is my free read this week. Two homeless teenagers meet at Christmas. Read the complete story on my website at www.authorsden.com/laurellamperd

The park was small and on the edge of the city block. Further down the hill, the river could be glimpsed, blue and sparkling in the morning sunshine. Three yachts, their white sails gleaming, followed each other like sentries on guard.

Yesterday, the girl had sat on the same bench in the park, watching the last minute rush of Christmas shoppers. They all seemed to have a destination to go to and carried their brightly coloured Christmas bags with a jaunty air.

Now, the city was almost deserted except for the boy stretched out seemingly asleep on a bench a few metres away. He was a tall rangy boy, too thin for his height. Fifteen minutes earlier, he'd been eating a pie. The girl had felt a twinge of hunger watching him. She wasn't a pie eater but she was hungry enough to eat anything.  

As if conscious of her watching him, the boy sat up. "Hi," he called across the small area of grass between them. "What's new?"

"Nothing much." She didn't feel like talking to him. She didn't feel like talking to anyone.

Download, The Japanese Grandmother, my anthology of my short stories & poetry, from www.apple-ebooks.com

Phytophthora dieback which causes the most severe and widespread damage to native plants in Western Australia. The most susceptible of the indigenous species most affected belong to four families - PROTEACEAE, FABACEAE, ERICACEAE, MYTACEAE 

Death of a Species 

Southwards

To the west country

he said he was going.

The petrol gurgled in the tank.

In place of heat waves

Above the saltbush

came visions of forest country

moss and lichen

running water.

Once my country. 

Dieback's got the jarrah

He said

as he handed me fifty dollars

and roared off in the BMW. 

I thought how dreams could change

From soft green to stark grey. 

Laurel Lamperd

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Download from www.smashwords.com

Six fantasy and animal stories suitable for children 4 - 9. 

Read my short short story, Walking to School at my website www.authorsden.com/laurellamperd  excerpt below

The rain, which her mother said would hold off, didn’t. It came on an angle, striking her eight year old legs like a thousand little whips.

She looked desolate, a bundle of red trudging along the dirt road. Her long raincoat, two sizes too big, protected her brown skirt and jumper but not her shoes and socks as she squelched in the mud, avoiding the puddles appearing magically before her.

The car stopped: a black car with grey blinds at the little square-shaped windows. She especially noted the little fringes on the blinds. Even after the vehicle had stopped, the little fringes still danced.

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Download my novel, Crossroads at Isca, from www.smashwords.com

Set in Roman Britain, Crossroads at Isca is the story of two British girls whose lives are changed forever when they meet two young Roman tribunes from the great Roman fort on the plain.

Epilogue of a Romance

EPILOGUE OF A ROMANCE 

Narcissus

    Camellia

        Prunus 

Three flowers of spring

The Chinese said

symbols of new life

new beginnings. 

They ate plums

The deep wine fruit

Oozing upon the lips.

She carried daffodils

dripping with bridal creeper.

He wore a pink camellia

in his lapel. 

When winter struck

Baring the branches of the plum

He was living with a divorcee

in Joondalup.

She had gone home to mother. 

Laurel Lamperd

           
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www.barnesandnoble.com
When Detective Matt Allenby arrives in the hamlet of Taylors Crossing to investigate a murder, he expects it would be a straightforward case. Then he finds he is falling in love with one of his suspects.

Read Little Egypt, my short story on my website www.authorsden.com/laurellamperd

Two unscruplous men plan to trick Little Egypt, a girl from the suburbs. Excerpt below...

Hubble was always going on about the belly dancer who fleeced his granddaddy in Cairo when he was there with the Anzacs though there was some doubt whether his grandfather ever got to Gallipoli. I heard he'd stayed behind in the fleshpots of Cairo where he made the Hubble fortune even though the belly dancer, Little Egypt, managed to get her fingers into some of it.

I met Hubble at his favourite bar, well known for its high betting poker games that I'd discovered to my cost. I sat down opposite Hubble.

"Ready for another game of poker?" Hubble said with a snigger when I greeted him.

I shook my head and hid my nasty thoughts. "I've come about something else. I found a belly dancer for you, Hubble."

Hubble's eyes sparkled with expectation.

So there was something of his granddaddy still left in Hubble. "She's straight from the fleshpots of Cairo. Her name is Little Egypt."

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Download The Japanese Grandmother, short fiction & poetry
www.sonybooks.com

Calamty's Corner May

May Calamity's Corner is now available for free download from calam@live.com.au

 Calamity's Corner is a lighthearted monthly newsletter to interest readers, writers and movie buffs. So ask Calamity to be added to her emailing list.

But Calamity's Corner isn't all lightheartedness. Thriller writer, Carlo J Vella has written a story featuring photos and descriptions of the tragic silent village of Belchite, once a small vibrant town in Aragon, Spain, before Franco's Forces bombed the town in 1937. 5000 people were killed and buried in a mass grave. A lone cross marks the place.

You can join in Calamity's Corner by sending a review of a movie or a book, or a feature about your pet.


And more in this month's Calamity Corner.