Showing results by author "Sally Cook" in All Categories

This story tells of a massive plane explosion over the Tasman Sea and how three women survivors are affected over the next 15 years, supporting each other as they individually confront the effects of post traumatic stress disorder, stroke, aging, and autism.

This story is about a special boy's imagination and memory where he sees far more than everyday situations. His enthusiasm will take you on an amusing and enlightened journey as he enjoys his everyday adventures.

A man my mother considered her boyfriend during World War II was killed at point blank range escaping from Stalag Luft III. His name was Jack Francis Williams and he was shot by the Gestapo 12 days after participating in the Great Escape. This story examines the actual letters and cards he sent my mother, and with that, the building of an unexpected story.

This story tells of my pioneer colonist forebears and their arrival and settlement in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1838 after many difficult months at sea. They landed only a year after the proclamation of the city of Adelaide. At this time houses were made from reeds from the banks of Adelaide's Torrens River, the port of Adelaide was surrounded by swamp with the area referred to in those early days as "Mudholia" or "Dustholia".

I have survived a plane which caught on fire over the Tasman, have lived with a tribe in pre-Indenpendence Papua New Guinea. I have hugged a three-toed sloth in Colombia and worked for an antiquated group of newspapers in London where I covered murder trials, magistrates courts, and cinema and theatre reviews. I have been stuck in mud in Tayrona National Park in Colombia, accompanied by shrieking monkeys, a mirthful friend and guide.

Beach Tidings tells of the spreading of ashes - the mystery of their journey, the link with a Great Escaper from Stalag Luft III, and the intertwinement with beach rhythms during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The central character, Mara, is drawn to the beach, as an ongoing pandemic escape, along with her two dogs and husband. Their souls are alleviated by walking through shallow waves, but Mara has to contend with images of drowning.

This story tells of a powerful older woman who has maintained her life through the war years and beyond via her love of reading and poetry. But 88-year-old Harriet is something of an enigma even to her daughters and granddaughter. Unusual events happen during this tale of love and loss even beyond Harriet's eventual death.

Melody's Radar tells the story of a downtrodden single mother who is sick of being pushed around and takes matters into her own hands. She tries to set a good example for her five-year-old daughter Amelia but the trouble is that Melody doesn't know when to stop. Her intensity becomes scary for anyone who is on her radar but her lack of personal understanding means she doesn't fully grasp the affect she is having, sometimes causing menacing ripples.

This story tells of a twenty-year-old girl who is house-sitting for six months in a seemingly calm and pleasant neighborhood where nothing peculiar seems to happen. That is, until Mandy hears screaming in the night, hears wailing and moaning during a heavy thunderstorm, feels an earth tremor beneath her feet and feels a man breathing over her in the night. And she has no one to confide in. She may be hypersensitive but does she catastrophize events or are they really happening and not very far below the surface?

Rhythm of Fire tells the story of 11-year-old twin boys who inadvertently kill an old woman. She dies of smoke inhalation in her rural shop crammed with Christmas decorations, A complex story unfolds leading to her identity and some unexpected developments following her tragic death.

Cafe Noir tells the story of an intimate online friendship between two artistic women who never meet but sustain each other emotionally during the rigors of COVID lockdowns. They share so many highs, lows and confidences from one personal bubble to another. It seems the perfect sustainable friendship until something goes wrong, with only one of the women truly understanding what is happening.