Linda Ruth Brooks

Tabby was the tiniest kitten Chelsea ever had. She fed the kitten with a small syringe. Tabby needed so much love. Tabby meowed and cried through the night. Chelsea woke and fed her. It wasn't long before Tabby put weight on. She had a big appetite for a tiny kitten. She also had a talent for mischief. Tabby developed one very alarming habit that nearly made a nervous wreck out of Georgia's Mum. In this ageless story of the love of a girl for her cat, Tabby, we relive our connection with animals, and the joy of childhood. Brooks brings wit and charm to a warm-hearted tale.

I am Madame Iris BigglesworthI'm a Very Important CatIn the kingdom where I liveThere's no dispute about that A humorous poem about a superior cat who has servants: Kyle the butler, and Jemima the maid, something everyone knows if they've ever had a cat.

In this uniquely Australian anthology of short stories we traverse the country known by Australians as the 'wide brown land'. You will be introduced to a Bachelors & Spinsters Ball, memories of yesteryear's Cracker Nights, Aussie nicknames and the dangers of our wildlife, all written by gifted sassy women who have learned to live in a harsh, unforgiving land with irreverent humour, optimism and grace. The women in this collection bring boundless energy and imagination with sharp observation. They skilfully explore life with poignancy, wry humour and a crisp flair for suspense, delivering a lively read that will not disappoint, as the authors embrace life in it's chaos, beauty and hilarity. Features: Christina Batey, Linda Ruth Brooks, Julie Cochrane, Louise Elizabeth, Mary Gabb, Jo Hanrahan, Marilyn Linn, Neridah Kentwell, Jane McLean, Helen Marshall, Victoria Norton, Rina Robinson, Jo Tregellis, Linda Visman, Pauline Young.

In Australia there are a number of iconic buildings and structures, including the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge and a number of churches and town halls. Australian sheds are equally iconic and represent a way of life unique to this country. Our sheds have many forms ranging from hay sheds, farm sheds, chook sheds, backyard sheds. Then there are woolsheds, (also known as shearing sheds) where sheep are fleeced. And, of course, there is that big shed in Canberra, Parliament House, from where the population is fleeced.

They met on New Year's Eve--the most romantic night of the year. Jack Devon is in town to present a prize on the Sydney Harbour foreshore. He's enchanted by a free-spirted woman organising a photo shoot for her friend's catering business. She foils his attempts to charm her and asks if he was named after a ham sandwich. That's when Jack knows he wants her. He's thrilled when Chelsea is the prize winner. Chelsea Prentiss isn't impressed. She's won a prize she doesn't want--a week in Surfer's Paradise on the set of a soap opera she detests. To make matters worse, the man Chelsea has to spend the week with is Jack, an arrogant stuffed shirt who reminds her of her shallow, charming father. Brooks turns romance on its head in the exotic paradise of the Gold Coast of Australia. Humour, passion and enduring love combine to bring Chelsea and Jack's unique story.

The hospital looked like a monument to a bygone era. Northside Private nestled in bushland in a quiet outer suburb of the city. Built early in the 20th Century it resembled the gracious stately homes of the Deep South in America. An essence of charm permeated the three-storey building, from the corridors to the vast verandas that faced north. White veiled sisters sailed serenely, heels clicking efficiently on the highly polished oak floors. The large windows captured the sun's warm rays. Summer was retreating in a triumphant blaze. Too tired for restlessness, the only movement among us in the West-facing classroom of the Nurse Education building was the occasional desultory glance at the clock on the wall. It was a plain, no-nonsense clock, suitable for classrooms of bored students; and on that day it was an extremely slow clock. Brooks is at her finest in this cunning collection of short stories. Her trademark wit and sharp observation is crafted with depth and compassion, as she once again explores the gamut of human experience with fearless clarity and buoyant optimism. Linda gives us an intimate view into a nursing career, with both fiction and non fiction. It is a world of compassion, patience and intuitive regard for others, but encapsulates the humanity of this challenging and often underrated role in the community.

Fraser is a shy frog. He has just moved with his mum and dad to a new pond. Meeting new frogs make him nervous. When he's nervous he hiccups. When he hiccups all sorts of things happen. How will he make new friends?

Earthquake, a National Disaster Area and a volcano are all here. Along with friendships, partings, love and estrangement--the gamut of the human experience. We meet an indigenous family fighting to learn the truth about a loved one's death while serving his country. A son remembers a war-weary father who marched the Kokoda Trail, and a mother shares the joy of her three children. We pay tribute to the Stolen Generation and warriors defending the gentle giants of the sea--our whales. We share the love of a wife requesting her husband's surgeon to take care of her lover's heart and a family's devotion to a disabled son, with a unique gift for poetry, and deep insights into life. We read about the innocent joys of childhood, the love of grandparents and the extended family. So, here we are to share the kitchen pots, the tools of trade, the building of homes, living with hardship and the experience of integrating with other cultures. We hope that you will enjoy these stories and the journey back along memory lane, and realise that we are all a part of life's 'living history'.

The Belmores have it all. A beautiful family, wealth and status. Originally from the country, they built their reputation and business on hard work and social prominence in the community. Angie and James, with their four children, live in the best suburb in the city, but when Angie's mother, Iris, begins to suffer from dementia, family secrets become harder to hide. One by one, the children face their own dramas. Then, little by little, whisper by whisper, the secrets of the past creep up on this "perfect" family, threatening to explode their carefully orchestrated world. It will only take one slip.

A white blanket of snow lay deep on the ground. Blistering cold winds brought sheet after sheet of swirling snowflakes. The 7.45 from Astonville was late. The clanking steam train only came twice a day. The town had once set their clocks by its arrival, but that was before the war. The women who lived in the valley just out of town noticed its lateness first. They put their children to bed by the sound of the whistle and the trail of steam behind the ancient grinding engine. However, they had other things to concern them. Ever since war broke out the routine of their daily lives had become unpredictable in so many ways. Now the war was over, but not the waiting.'Come away from the window, Beth, ' begged her mother in a tired voice. 'You are fogging up the whole front window.'Beth sighed and stepped back a little, eyeing the circles of cloud her breath made on the glass. Grown-ups were so tiresome, she thought. Sometimes they didn't understand anything at all. Her mother had told her a hundred times that looking out that window wouldn't make her father come home any quicker. Truth be told, none of them knew whether Peter Renshaw had even survived the war, much less when he was coming home. Beth was too young to know that it wasn't her tireless vigil that irritated Miriam, her mother, but it was the visible hope that shone on her daughter's face that pained Miriam. A hope that mirrored her own. A hope buried deep inside a woman weary with waiting and exhausted from caring for three children. A woman with the toil-worn hands of a man.

Brady Harcourt returns to his hometown with his teenage daughter, Ebony, three years after the death of his wife. But instead of being the answer to his problems, the seachange looks like unravelling his family. Nothing is the way he remembered it. To make matters worse, he has to deal with Emma, a community nurse who'd give a Bolshevik a run for their money. Fifteen year old Ebony Harcourt is angry with her father. He's turned into Dadzilla. Leaving his corporate job and city life for what? He's obviously lost the plot. Enlisting the help of her feisty friend Jenna, she embarks on a quest to find answers about her mother's death. In their fearless efforts to uncover the truth, the girls stir up the locals and find trouble at every turn. Emma Tesler knows too much about the lives of everyone in the small seaside town of Noarlunga. She keeps their secrets well, although at times she has to bite her tongue. This is no mean feat for open hearted Emma. When Brady Harcourt arrives in town, her composure is sorely tested. Scarlett doesn't live here anymore reaches honestly into the issue of grieving. With her trademark humour and sharp observation, Linda weaves a tale of the adjustment and crossed purposes that come with loss. She brings the narrative to life with a unique cast of interesting characters, that all have their secrets, joys and dilemmas. In this deeply human story, we find peace, redemption, risk and resolution.

Georgia hides under the bracken fern. Her mother hits her to make her good. The nice man down the road gives her lollies that make her sleepy. Sometimes her brother Jackson hides her in his wardrobe. Her best friend Mittens the cat, listens to all her secrets. On her first day at school her special pencils are stolen. Afraid she will be in very big trouble, she runs away to the bracken fern that grows tall by the whispering creek, where the bower bird struts with his prize of blue buttons and the magpie feeds her babies. It is her safe place. She doesn't know about "real" safe places or that these things shouldn't be happening to her. When Miss Nelson, her teacher, finds her hiding place Georgia is even more afraid. Once in every lifetime, we should all see life through the eyes of a five year old child, hear their voice, sense the world through the unique perception of childhood. For to do this, is to perceive what they cannot know, protect them from what they cannot understand, so they don't have to hide. We are all guardians; every one. This book is about what can happen to vulnerable, wounded children in their search for acceptance and real affection. I am privileged to add my support to Linda and this book. It will touch the lives of all who have the courage to read it. Dr Steele Fitchett