Showing results by publisher "Wavesound from W. F. Howes Ltd" in Biographies & Memoirs

A dying town, a missing man. One of Australia's greatest mysteries - two whodunnits, twisted together. Larrimah: hot, barren, a speck of dust in the centre of the nothingness of Outback Australia. Where you might find a death adder in the bar and a spider or 10 in the toaster. Maybe it's stupid to write a love letter to a town that looks like this, especially when it's someone else's town.

Gold Logie-nominated TV personality and food icon Melissa Leong bites down on her demons in this searing memoir, exploring themes of abuse in the hospitality industry, racism, mental health and, for a light palate cleanser, the thrill of mouth-wateringly memorable food. Most of all, she inspires the courage to create a life you really, really want.

What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology, compiled by award-winning author Anita Heiss, showcases many diverse voices, experiences and stories in order to answer that question. Accounts from well-known authors and high-profile identities sit alongside those from newly discovered writers of all ages. All of the contributors speak from the heart - sometimes calling for empathy, oftentimes challenging stereotypes, always demanding respect.

On 7 February 2009, Roger Wood was the police officer in charge of Kinglake, at the epicentre of the worst ever bushfire disaster in Australia's history, Black Saturday. As the firestorm engulfed the community, he risked his life again and again to try to save people. When he phoned home to warn his wife what was coming, she screamed that the fire had already hit their property. Then the line went dead.

In this essential, illuminating book, award-winning writer Charlotte Wood shares the insights she has gained over a career paying close attention to her own creativity, to the world around her and the working methods of leading artists in many fields. Drawing on research and decades of observant conversation and immersive reading, Charlotte shares what artists can teach the rest of us about inspiration and hard work, how to pursue truth in art and life, and how to find courage during the difficult times.

An unprecedented spate of murders in the 1990s earned Goulburn Jail the ominous name 'The Killing Fields'. Inmates sentenced or transferred to the 130-year-old towering menace declared they had been given death sentences. Serial killer Ivan Milat, the 'Terror Five' militants who plotted attacks across Sydney in 2005, Brothers 4 Life founder Bassam Hamzy and gang rapist Bilal Skaf are just a few of the inmates inside Australia's most murderous prison. Meet them all here in Phelps' best-selling audiobook.

Leisel Jones is regarded as one of the greatest breaststrokers ever. At just 15 she won two silver medals at the Sydney Olympics and went on to win gold at Athens and Beijing. For the first time, Leisel candidly describes being thrust into the limelight so young and reveals the constant pressure she was under. Despite the highs of stardom, she suffered severe depression. Body Lengths is the inspiring story of an Australian sportsperson told with humour, optimism and style.

In April 2020, as the world began to lock down due to COVID-19, Sophie began her own form of extreme social distancing. From April 2020-December 2021 she walked with her five camels from the most westerly point of Australia to the most easterly, with a six-month break in Coober Pedy when the conditions grew too hot to continue. Along the way she met hundreds of kind strangers—she required permission to cross every single piece of land, and often they'd make the effort to meet her with additional supplies to support her journey.

Dumped by her husband of twenty-five years, Jo Peck—smart, successful, and sixty—is totally floored. There's the complete bombshell of the news, the cliché of a younger woman—a much younger woman—there's the disappointment of cancelled retirement travel plans, and there's the foundation-rocking loss of her sense of identity—if she's no longer Rex's wife, who the hell is she?

Kevin ‘Dasher’ Wheatley, VC, is one of the most extraordinary characters in Australian history. Dasher was a husband, father, champion footballer and one of the finest soldiers this country has ever produced. The story of his sacrifice is used by the ADF as a perfect example of valour and mateship to this day. Although he is one of the most famous Victoria Cross recipients of all time, his story has never been fully told. Until now.

This is the true story of Keith Banks, one of Queensland's most decorated police officers, and his journey into the drug scene as an undercover operative in the 1980s. In an era of corruption, often alone, with no backup, he and other undercover cops quickly learned to blend into the drug scene, smoking dope and drinking with targets, buying drugs and having dealers arrested. Very quickly, the lines were blurred between his identity as a police officer and the life he pretended to be part of.

Raw, moving and savagely funny, What You Into? is Josh Fox's autobiographical account of his spiral into the Grindr world of casual sex, hook-ups and dating apps following the break-up of his marriage. He documents this journey diary-style, chronicling the often weird, at times dark world of casual sex as he navigates his grief and anger through the consumption of men—only to discover that he too is being consumed by the process.

Rita is an escort, one of the best in Australia. It all began on a whim at 18, after she rang the number on a sign looking for nude models. Always the outsider, she quickly learns the sex industry is comprised of many other people just like her and she becomes immersed in this world: the drugs, the late nights, the glamour, being an outcast, the attention and validation from men. Mostly she thrives on how taboo her life has become.

Havoc-06 is the call sign of former Australian Combat Controller Troy Knight. As a Royal Australian Air Force Airfield Defence Guard, Troy had not found the military adventure he sought: combat operations. His thirst for overseas deployment saw him privately contract his services in Iraq and South East Asia, but when he got whiff that the Australian Defence Force was raising a new defence capability, he couldn’t help but want to be part of it.

July 2014, a lonely road at twilight outside Croppa Creek, New South Wales: 80-year-old farmer Ian Turnbull takes out a .22 and shoots environmental officer Glen Turner in the back. On one side, a farmer hoping to secure his family’s wealth on the richest agricultural soil in the country. On the other, his obsession: the government man trying to apply environmental laws.

From teenage fumblings in the back of a car in Wagga Wagga (teen pregnancy capital of Australia), to performing with Aunty Donna and her own sell-out comedy shows, comedian Michelle Brasier invites you into the highs (seeing Jason Momoa drinking a Guinness next a classic car in SoHo) and the lows (getting dumped ¾ of the way through Pirates of the Caribbean). It's an examination of the tiny things and the big things—how much it hurts to be a woman and a person, and how funny it is to try and get into shapewear and how funerals are silly. It's self help for those of us who hate self help.

Todd and Jeff have had enough of the city. Sick of the daily grind and workaday corporate shenanigans, they throw caution to the wind and buy 100 acres in the Hunter Valley, intent on living a golden bucolic life and building a fabulous B&B, where they can offer the joys of country life to heart-weary souls. Todd will cook; Jeff will renovate. They can make wine and grow their own food and live the dream. How hard can it be?

As Australia sank into the darkest days of the Great Depression, a succession of bloody mysteries grabbed headlines and gripped the country. The Hammer Horror, The Bungendore Bones, The Park Demon, The Human Glove and The Pyjama Girl—these were just some of the grisly cases that had to be solved by the Sydney detectives of The Murder Squad. The Murder Squad reopens the files on Australia's most chilling forgotten crimes to ask who was guilty, who was innocent, and whether some cops were as dangerous as the monsters they were hunting.

From acclaimed true crime author and podcaster Emily Webb comes a gripping collection of chilling cases from Australia and beyond. This volume delves into both well-known and obscure crimes, revealing the dark underbelly lurking beneath seemingly peaceful neighbourhoods.

Keith Banks was a member of the Queensland Police Force when not everyone with a badge could be trusted. After serving as an undercover cop and declining an opportunity to participate in a lucrative and totally corrupt enterprise, Keith found himself sidelined from the drug squad. In 1984, he was transferred to the Taringa Criminal Investigation Branch as a detective senior constable. That had its moments, but he wanted more. He missed the adrenaline charge of his days as an undercover cop.