It's coming up to Three years(!) since we published the short story anthology Life in the Time of Corona.
We'd just come out of our first lockdown here in Melbourne, Australia. Little did we know that there was much more to come - several years' worth, in fact!
But it's really interesting to read those stories now. The observations, the views and the imagination of the writers from Aus, NZ, the UK and Africa - it's important that these things are recorded in books like this. The way the world is rushing on into the 21st Century, I'm sure it won't be very long until the lockdowns and masks and social distancing of 2020/21 become a vague memory and reference point in History.
One of the major contributors to the Life in the Time of Corona anthology is Naomi Shippen. Naomi will shortly have her first book published -
FAR FROM HARM
After receiving a substantial inheritance, thirty-seven-year-old aspiring writer, Theresa , moves to the High Country of Victoria, Australia, to finally write the novel she had always planned. Here, she meets and marries Rick Goodman , a former TV star and local entrepreneur.
More than a decade her senior, Rick is charming and successful, and the most lovingly attentive partner Theresa has ever had. He encourages her dreams to write a novel and rekindles her long-forgotten desire to have a child. Life on their idyllic Alpine property is bliss, until Rick gets a text message from his ex-wife, Anita , the glamorous daughter of a wealthy TV producer. Rick tells Theresa that Anita has run off overseas with her new boyfriend, and that they must care for his teenage daughter, Chloe .
While her efforts to bond with her bewildered and resentful stepdaughter fall flat, Theresa is overjoyed when she finds herself pregnant. But as months go by with no word from Anita, Theresa’s search for answers leads her to the women in Rick’s past, and she must uncover the truth about their lives, in time to save herself and her unborn child.
---
Fantastic news from Naomi and we wish her well on her writing journeys!
To keep up to date with Naomi and her book/s, check out her webpage:
https://www.naomishippen.com/
