Melbourne, 1970 – bustling, cosmopolitan and undeniably exciting for a young woman fresh from the Apple Isle. But beneath the veneer of a city on the move is a sinister underbelly of cops on the take, standover thugs and illegal gambling dens into which a confident but naïve Constance O’Hara unwittingly falls.
Stuck in a spiral of crime and violence, Constance’s attempts to break free result in a brutal attack…and the belief she has killed her assailant.
Hunted and in constant fear for her life, Constance assumes a new identity and flees across the continent to Western Australia’s Goldfields to start a new life. But the past has long shadows and when her old life catches up with her, Constance must fight to save herself, the life she has created and those she loves.
Editorial Review: From the Derwent to Lygon Street to the dust and flies of Kalgoorlie and the deep loam of the Swan Valley, K.A. Hudson has created an enthralling story with a wonderfully authentic and likable main character, whose plight grips our hearts and seizes our attention. Hudson’s sense of the dramatic, as well as her feel for the Australian character and landscape makes this an irrepressible read. – Eddie Albrecht, Pickawoowoo Publishing Group.

Targeted Age Group:: Adults

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The 1970's in Australia was a politically volatile era, with demonstrations and grassroot protests around the Vietnam war, fantastic rock music and bell-bottoms, the rise of disco and social change, but it was also an era of economic struggle, cultural change and technological innovation. The underbelly criminal life in Melbourne thrived unchecked. The perfect era for my characters to emerge from the depths of my mind and forge a new and exciting life.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
The world and my imagination are full of characters begging for their stories to be shared. I based some aspects of their personalities on people I have known, but mostly they come to me fully formed.

Book Sample
Chapter One
Today mother gave me an ultimatum. Marry Eugene Gallagher or enter a convent and take vows.
Mother, a resolute woman, ran her family and her multitude of local committees with the same degree of rigid control. The matriarch of all she surveyed. Her word was law. I had just upset that world and disagreed with her plans for me.
She waved a rigid forefinger in my face and said, ‘Constance Lee O’Hara, I’ve had just about enough of you. There’s nothing wrong with Eugene, he’s a delightful man. Rich and with a profitable business, we’d want for nothing.’ White globs of spittle formed in the corner of her lips as she emphasised her words. ‘Why can’t you be more like Sarah? She never created a fuss when
I set her up with Frank. In fact, you should be happy Eugene is willing to take you on.’
‘Well, I’m not happy, not for myself or Sarah. Frank is a self-centred, egotistical git who will never love her the way she deserves. As for Eugene, he spits when he talks, combs his sad excuse for hair over his bald patch, and he’s old,Mother. Good grief, his wife only died six months ago –probably from boredom.’
‘Constance, that’s a dreadful thing to say. Eugene is not boring…why he has the most wonderful stamp collection.’
‘Well, you marry him then,’ I snapped. A stupid thing to say, I know, but I was determined not to buckle under the pressure this time.My whole future was at stake. ‘Good god,Mother, its 1970
not the eighteen hundreds, girls don’t marry some old bloke just because their parent has designs on his bank account. I won’t do it.’ I pulled my shoulders back and stared at her in defiance.
She took a step forward, pushed her face close to mine and glared. The pupils in her eyes were so large they appeared black instead of their normal gooseberry green.
‘While you live under my roof, young lady, you will obey me. I set the rules around here.’
I took an involuntary step back from her intensity and sucked in my breath. It was now or never. ‘Fine,’ I said, ‘straight after Sarah’s wedding, I’m taking option three.’
Her eyelids closed and opened in a long slow blink of surprise.
‘Option three? There’s no option three.’
‘Yes, there is…and it doesn’t involve taking vows at some mouldy old convent or getting married to some even mouldier old man. I’m packing up and moving to the mainland.’ I held my breath and waited for the full extent of her wrath to be unleashed. Mother’s mouth dropped open. She turned purple in the face, the ultimate weapon for getting her own way. The flap of loose skin that hung below her chin quivered and her round piggy eyes bulged. It only needed steam to blow out her ears to complete the picture.
Chubby fingers rose to her breastbone. ‘Tom…’ she gasped, waving her other hand around, reaching blindly for a chair.
Dad, who’d been trying to merge into the leather of his armchair and avoid the argument, rose and guided her to a seat. Mother moaned, rolled her eyes as if about to faint.
‘Tom…’ she wheezed, ‘my heart…it won’t take the stress. Speak to your daughter – I don’t have the strength.’
My father is the light of my life, and I would do anything he asked. He was also mother’s greatest weapon against me. Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
‘Daddy, please…don’t make me…,’ I whispered.
Mother groaned, drawing in a shaky breath.My head dropped as I saw my future snatched away.
‘Prue, stop this at once.’
My head shot up, surprised at my father’s
tone. In all my twenty-one years, I’d never heard him raise his voice or defy my mother.
‘Let Constance enjoy her life. If you don’t, I will never forgive you.’
My heart swelled, so full of love for my father who risked even more misery for himself by standing up against her bullying me into a life I did not want.
* * *
Finally, I was out of there. I’d given up arguing with Mother about the dress, hat and gloves she’d insisted I wear. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Sarah. She and Frank were on their honeymoon and mother told me to stay away. Some honeymoon. Frank took her camping and fishing at Seal Beach two kilometres from home. He’d insisted they rough it in a tent and not waste
money on a motel, the cheapskate. That’s certainly not the honeymoon I know Sarah had dreamt about. When I said so in mother’s hearing, she told me to mind my own business.
‘Sarah’s married and Frank makes all the decisions concerning her,’ she said, taking up her usual domineering stance, hands on hips, breasts thrust forward. I cocked my left eyebrow and said, ‘Yeah, but it wouldn’t have hurt him to give her a pleasant holiday to start their life together.’
‘It’s your silly ideas on life that are your downfall,’ she snapped
Yeah, poke away mother, it only makes me more determined to get away.
I heard from one of my friends that Frank invited a couple of his mates to join him and Sarah. The men spent the entire time fishing and drinking while she sat and froze on the beach. What a horse’s arse.
* * *
‘Goodbye, Mother,’ I said, giving her a dutiful peck on the cheek.
She leant forward as though to hug me and whispered, ‘You’ve made your bed, young lady, now lie in it. Never darken my doorstep again.’ So much for motherly love.
Dad drove me to the airport. It was quiet in the car. Mother’s last words still stung me. Staring out the passenger window, I watched the apple orchards flicker by and wondered if the fruit on the mainland would taste as fresh as here. Soft rain gathered in large skittering trails along the glass. My vision blurred and I realised not all the moisture was on the window. I rubbed the unshed tears from my eyes. With a heavy heart, I turned my head and studied my father’s
strong fingers as they gripped the steering wheel.
‘Daddy?’
‘Yes, my precious girl?’
‘You will look after Sarah, won’t you? I don’t think Frank’s a very nice man.’
He reached over and patted my knee. ‘I’ll do my best, Constance.’
At the Hobart Airport departure door, I clung to my father as he wrapped his muscular arms around me in a big bear hug.
‘Constance,
I love you…very much. Be careful…it’s a dangerous world out there.’ He kissed both my cheeks and took a small step back. ‘Now go, enjoy your life.’
‘Daddy, why don’t you come with me, we can run away together.’
He straightened his shoulders and placed a gentle hand on my
cheek. ‘Tempting…but no. I need to stay to look after your sister. Now, do you have everything?’ He began patting his pockets. ‘Money, do you have enough money?’
‘You’ve already given me plenty,’ I said, covering his searching hand with mine.
He looked at me and smiled. His emerald-green eyes crinkled at the corners. I reached up and stroked his smooth cheek, memorising the look and feel. He gave me a whimsical smile, so I nailed him with a big raspberry kiss.
‘Daddy, you’re such a fusspot. I’m going to be fine. I’ll write to you and Sarah every week, I promise.’ My eyes stung with unshed tears. I flapped my hand towards the car. ‘Go, before the traffic across the Tasman Bridge gets bad.’
The memory I took away with me was of my father jumping rain puddles like a little kid as he trotted back to the Cortina. A last wave and he was gone.
I dumped my hat and gloves in the rubbish bin.
* * *
As I climbed off the plane, Melbourne’s summer knocked me for six. Wavy lines of heat rose from the tarmac. A hot breeze carrying the strong smell of aviation fuel stung my cheeks. The sun’s rays had a bite that burned on contact and sucked the moisture from my skin. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and hustled over to the relative cool of the terminal. Uncle Richard and Aunty Gladys had promised to pick me up. They weren’t really my aunt and uncle, but old friends of mother’s. She was still trying to maintain her control and had organised for me to billet with them and their daughter Betty. Living with them would do for now. I pushed my way through the large clutch of people waiting to greet their loved ones, studying the faces milling around me. I spotted Uncle Richard, tall and smiling. I lifted my hand to wave and hurried over. He hadn’t changed much over the years since I’d last seen him. His back was still ramrod straight, a few more wrinkles maybe and less hair, but on the whole he looked fit and well. Aunty Gladys was a bit of a shock though, no longer skinny, she now resembled a large, round ball and didn’t walk so much as rolled from left to right to get around. Scooping me up, she pulled me into a big motherly hug that wrapped her breasts around my face, nearly suffocating me.
With a clang and a rattle, the ragged conveyor belt started its endless circling. Baggage spewed from a hole in the wall. I pointed to my small white case and Uncle Richard plucked it up as if it weighed nothing. We ploughed through the press of people still waiting for their luggage and shot out the first door that led to the car park. The soles of my shoes squelched and stuck to the sun softened bitumen as we hurried over to the car. Aunty Gladys wriggled her bum backward and squeezed into the front seat of the red Toyota Corona. Her large bosom filled the cab of the sedan. With tightly permed grey hair she looked like an overproofed muffin that had exploded at the top.
Uncle Richard loaded my suitcase and denim backpack into the boot, slid neatly behind the wheel and smiled grimly at me in the rear-vision mirror. He applied his long slender fingers in a death grip to the steering wheel and carefully steered the vehicle out into the traffic. It was a forty-minute drive to Elsternwick where they lived, and I don’t think he blinked for the entire journey.
Aunty Gladys, chubby face wreathed in a cheerful smile, leant her head back on the car seat, seeming to speak to the ceiling.
In a high-pitched squeaky voice, she said, ‘It’s lovely to see you, Constance. How’s your mum? Is she keeping everything in order back home?’
‘Oh, you know mother,’ I replied, not wanting to say too much on that subject.
‘Yes, love, I do,’ was Aunt Gladys’s enigmatic reply. ‘We’re so pleased you’ve come to stay. Now the other children have left home it is so quiet…you’ll be good company for Betty. You remember our Betty?’
I nodded, and she continued to prattle on. ‘Betty was sorry she couldn’t come to meet your plane, but she had to work. She works on the perfume and cosmetics counter at the Myer Emporium in the city. They’re having some sort of sale at the moment, something to do with clearing stock left over from Christmas. Betty wasn’t happy about not getting the time off but one has to earn a living. I understand she’s organised a sales assistant position for you – but I’ll leave that for her to tell you about.’
‘Oh, that’s excellent, aunty. I wasn’t looking forward to traipsing around the city, job hunting in this heat.’ I watched the wavy heat haze hover over the bitumen road through the windscreen. ‘Is it always hot like this?’
‘Well, love, it is summer.’ Aunty Gladys gave a chuckle. At odds with her speaking voice, her laugh was soft and musical. ‘Victoria has much warmer weather than you’re used to in Tasmania – but overall it’s been a reasonably pleasant summer this year. I suppose others would call it hot, but I don’t notice the heat anymore. I hope you won’t find it too unbearable.’
Lifting my shoulder in a quick shrug, I said, ‘Well, like anything, Aunty Gladys, I’m sure I’ll get used to it. So, how’re the grandkids?’
Aunty Gladys smiled at the mention of her favourite subject. For the rest of the trip, she chattered on, filling me in on all her family news. Uncle Richard stoically drove on with a hunted look on his long angular face, fingers welded to the steering wheel.

Author Bio:
K.A. Hudson was born in New South Wales. As a child her family moved around Australia, living and working in a variety of mining towns. She met her husband and they continued to follow the family tradition for many years. This has given her a wealth of experiences and characters to draw upon when crafting her novels.

Author Home Page Link

Links to Purchase Print Books
Buy Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within Print Edition at Amazon
Buy Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within Print Edition at Barnes and Noble
Buy Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within Print book at Dymocks Australia

Links to Purchase eBooks
Link To Buy Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within On Amazon
Link to Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within on Barnes and Noble
Link to Constant Fear: Strength Comes From Within eBook for sale on Kobo

Social Media:
Facebook
Goodreads

Have you read this book? Tell us in the comments how you liked it!

Kindle edition avaiable as free download.
This is the first in a series of short fictional detective stories set in the 1930s, so if you are a lover of mystery books, then this story is for you. The Rislington Murders (Simply Not Just Cricket) is set in the fictional village of Rislington in the United Kingdom with a unique twist in the plot, combining the philandering of a local woman, an extramarital affair and childhood rejection. Although the setting for this murder mystery begins at the local cricket club, the plot thickens when it becomes evident that the bases for all the murders are far from the cricket club.

Buy The Rislington Murders on Amazon.com Here
Buy The Rislington Murders on Amazon.UK Here

Follow Mike Willcox on Facebook

FREE book promo!

“Will blow you away!” – Cozy Mystery Book Reviews.

A journey through a magic portal to an enchanted land. Sassy cats, a zany annoyed witch, a mysterious family she never knew she had. Hayden is enamored with the enchantments of Destiny Falls. But it is tainted by danger. Can she remove the threat and embrace her magical new life in this captivating world?

Buy Falling into Magic Here

Elizabeth Pantley’s Website
Follow Elizabeth Pantley on Facebook
Elizabeth Pantley’s GoodReads Profile

The Princelings of the East Books 1-3 by Jemima Pett

A time tunnel, a pirate king, a lost city. In three separate adventures, Princelings Fred and George set out to solve trifling problems, and uncover dangerous and sometimes desperate foes, each with his or her own agenda, threatening the peace of the Realms.

The Princelings of the East: the saga starts with Fred and George leaving their cosy Castle in the Marsh. They encounter the mysterious cola vendor Hugo, the playboy Prince Lupin, and the over-worked innkeeper Victor, and have to use their own wits to decide who to trust, and how to prevent their ordered society descending into chaos.

The Princelings and the Pirates sees our heroes setting out to discover what has gone wrong at Castle Dimerie. It’s a simple errand that ends in kidnap, shipwreck, and a battle in which no quarter is given. Princeling Fred rescues a damsel in distress, not that she thinks she is.

The Princelings and the Lost City introduces George to the delights of flying, and Fred to the tortures of true love. Their inventions and experiments take a back seat as the puzzle of the Lost City and its all-female society lead to questions that may be too difficult to solve.

And having experienced a time paradox in the first adventure, George is under pressure to achieve a new method of providing the world with energy from strawberry juice. It’s a project that, for all the benefits it brings, creates far-reaching changes in their ordered society.

Praise for the books

“Princelings of the East is a suspense-filled mystery strong on character development, with a deliciously complex and engaging plot, that is sure to be enjoyed by older tweens and adults alike.” (Mother Daughter Book Reviews)

“The plot is absolutely brilliant. It’s sci-fi mixed with mystery and action, and I would recommend it to everyone!!!!” (Joshua A, aged 13, for Published Bestsellers)

“Another hazardous adventure, complete with swashbuckling pirates and beautiful princesses. As in the first book, the story is narrated in a fun and engaging style. The writing throughout is top quality and I love the witty chapter sub-headings.” (Wendy Leighton-Porter, author of the Shadows from the Past series)

“Lost City, book 3 in the [series], is a great read for those who love fantasy with young male protagonists. The plot is new, interesting, and will engage your mind in the story. A great work was created by the author with this trilogy. (Anna Dye, Readers’ Favorite)

These three adventures are also available as standalone ebooks, paperbacks and now as audiobooks (no 3 is in preparation).
This is a revised box set edition of the three titles, complete with their chapter illustrations, updated to match the audiobooks.

Targeted Age Group:: Age ten and upwards
Heat/Violence Level: Heat Level 2 – PG

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
The idea for three stories came from my guinea pigs, Fred and George. I blame them for inspiring the idea of a world running on strawberry juice, but I decided on the pirate and lost city adventures as they seemed exciting. And they were!
Princelings of the East (book 1) was my first published book, and several people have commented that I hit my stride with book 2. And then the characters wouldn't lie down, so the series ran until book 10, Princelings Revolution.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?
If you have animals, you know they have distinct characters. With four guinea pigs sitting near my desk, it was easy to develop their roles in the books; Fred, George, Victor the chirpy youngster, and the baddie in book 1: Hugo. Then Hugo complained he didn't have a big enough part, so he got his own book at number 4. That started an avalanche of later pets demanding their own adventures. But I didn't have enough females at hand (or with friends) to base my women characters on. Kira (the damsel in distress) is how I wish I could be. She's definitely my heroine.
I find once you put the character in a situation, they do what they want, rather than following your carefully designed plot. It's probably better that way.

Book Sample
*Some way into book 2, Fred, George, and several others have escaped from the pirates, Fred rescuing Kira on the way, as she'd been held hostage by them. They have taken refuge in a deserted castle, and are searching for their friends who planned to come here.*

They set out on their quests, Fred, George and Kira leaving through the door near the fireplace after the others had gone back down the stairs.
“What if they are between the ground level and this one?” Kira asked.
“I think we could cover that if we think we hear them,” Fred answered. They went quietly along the main passageway, looking around corners before they moved into the open, and stopping every now and then to listen. Eventually they came to what they thought must be the end of the castle at that level.
“Shall we go up here?” George pointed to a stair spiralling up inside a tower.
“Might as well,” Fred replied, and they went forward, Kira following Fred, then George in the rear. The stair curved round the wall and occasionally there was a slit window where they looked out on the surrounding countryside. “We ought to watch for pirates as well,” Fred commented and they nodded in agreement.
They skipped one floor and went along the corridor on the next. It had a low ceiling and they thought they were probably pretty much on the top floor.
“Stand still,” George hissed. They stood, and listened, but could hear nothing. Fred and Kira looked at George questioningly. He shrugged. “I thought I heard something.”
They walked on, but George stopped again and turned round. They all stopped, and George looked carefully behind them. “Swap over,” he whispered to Fred, and they changed places so that George led on and Fred brought up the rear. They went a few more paces then Fred stopped and turned round. He looked carefully, then waved at George and nodded. He pointed to an archway a little further ahead; they crept forward to it and stepped out of the corridor itself. Fred stood in front of Kira, but she looked over his shoulder, not wanting to miss anything. They could all hear a quiet shuffling noise now they had stopped.
Slowly the noise came closer.
“Is it a ghost?” Kira breathed in Fred’s ear.
Fred shook his head, no, and said nothing. His heart was beating very fast. He didn’t know whether it was scared of the shuffling noise or excited by Kira so close to him.
The shuffling noise went past them and then disappeared.
“Did you see that?” whispered George, puzzled.
“What?” Fred responded, equally quietly. “I didn’t see anything, except it all went fuzzy for a moment.”
“Exactly,” George whispered. The brothers looked at each other, then at Kira.
“I couldn’t see a thing,” she breathed.
They cautiously looked out of their alcove. There seemed to be an obstruction in the corridor, but they couldn’t make out what.
“It’s beginning to get dark,” Fred whispered, “We’d better get back to the others.”
Their alcove seemed to have a set of narrow stairs in the corner. They decided to go down two levels and hope to get back to their own hall rather more quickly that way. They seemed to be in quite a hurry to get down the stairs and they crowded up against each other until they got back to the hall they had started in. Once there they relaxed by the fireplace. The others were not yet back.
“Umm, did we see something odd upstairs?” Fred asked once they had sat there a while.
“Er, yes, I think so,” George said. “I don’t know what it was, and I don’t really want to find out.”
Night had fallen, and they looked at the fireplace wishing it had a nice comforting fire in it.
“We really need a nice comforting fire,” Fred said, wistfully.
A small glow appeared in the fireplace and grew to a small sized log fire, all of its own accord. Kira started shaking.
“What is it, Kira?” Fred asked, going over to her and putting his arm round her shoulders.
She pointed at the fireplace. “H-how d-did that g-get there,” she stammered.
“Well, it’s just something that’s been happening to me lately at my home castle, and I just thought it was worth a try here,” he said, squeezing her and rubbing her shoulders comfortingly.
“Good idea,” George said. “How about saying we need to find Baden?”
“I don’t think I’ll push my luck.” Fred grinned and let Kira go. “I wonder where the others are?”
“You know we were doing this search till sundown and then coming back here?” he said after a while.
“Er, the others aren’t back, are they?” George said, and they looked at each other in the dark room, their faces only visible in the light from the little log fire.
“Oh, dear,” said Kira.

Links to Purchase eBook version – Click links for book samples, reviews and to purchase
Buy this eBook on Barnes and Noble for Nook
Buy this eBook on iBooks
Buy this eBook on Kobo
Buy this eBook on Smashwords
Buy this eBook on Scribd

About the Author

Please join this author’s email list
Learn more about the author on their website
Follow the author on Amazon

Follow the author on Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Pinterest
Instagram
YouTube Channel

All information was provided by the author and not edited by us. This is so you get to know the author better.