Category Archives: For readers

Ruth Fox’ ‘The White Pavilion’ – now available for pre-order (released 4 Dec)

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Imre is a Dancer of the White Pavilion and a courtesan in training. When she falls when performing the Dance of a Thousand Steps, a dance that has been performed every year for the past 500 years, she believes she has disrupted the will of the Pattern and is responsible for the disasters befalling her world.
Called to the Citadel by the Principe Thaniel she believes she is to be punished for her mistake. But at the Citadel, Imre finds the prince is both more and less than he seems. And even as Imre adjusts to her new life, the Brotherhood tightens its grip over the rotting, rusting metal city from their pedestal in the sky, and Imre finds her heart and loyalties torn between the Prince and Senor Grath, his Adviser.
But on a broken world that moves to the ticking of the Pendulum and the spinning of the Wheel, can Imre prevent her world from being torn apart?

And today ‘Petrichor’ was released to excellent reviews

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Today ‘Petrichor’ was released, and its already been attracting excellent reviews. A very small sample includes:

  • “Petrichor was a quick and entertaining read…Although it was heartbreaking to read at times, this book did an amazing job at transforming it’s characters as the story progressed.” — Andy Fernández
  • “We feel the despair when the rains do not come, the tension within the family, and Clayton trying to make things right-the way things were before Davo died.” –
    @BondiLorraine
  • “I finally found a book that my little sister could read. When ever I’m reading she’s always bugging me and asking if she can read what I read but at last I have found the perfect book.” – 
    @Munsakareads
  • “There is a deeply profound message in this story. One of the inner turmoil and suffering of the loss of family , and the hope that eventually they will overcome the darkness that lies within.” – Karla Kay

and more

‘PETRICHOR’ by Melanie Rees, to be released 15 October 2021.

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Cover of Petrichor, boy on parched paddock, fox spirit and dust demonThe ARCs are out (Advanced Reader Copies)  and we’re busily liaising with Henry Roi PR to get the news out there about the book before the release date.

Between them, the death of Clayton’s older brother, and the drought’s Red King, has almost broken Clayton’s father. Guided by the magical creature Waringa, Clayton embarks on a quest to free the rain spirits captured by the Red King. But his efforts draw the ire of his father, even as memories of Clayton’s role in his brother’s death begin to emerge.

A sample of the book, information, and reviews is available at: https://www.haguepublishing.com/sample/Petrichor.html, and pre-order is now available for both the ebook and paperback.

15% of the publisher’s revenue from the sale of this book will be donated to the charities: Rural Aid and Beyond Blue

 

NOW AVAILABLE – ‘The Wall Between the Worlds’ by Ruth Fox

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The trilogies three covers

Australian author Ruth Fox’s The Bridges’ Trilogy comes to a final, triumphant conclusion with the release of book 3 in the series – The Wall Between the Worlds.

The Bridges’ Trilogy by Ruth Fox

‘On a night of frost and ice, Cari falls from the sky, cast out of her world and into ours – and Australia’s Cassidy Heights will never be the same. For the secrets Cari bears are more dangerous than Jake, Keira, and Mikhal could possibly imagine.’

Praise for previous books in the series

“ … beautifully written with intriguing world building …” Christina – Ensconced in Fiction

“I love … its delicious mix of genres; allegory, family story, fantasy, science fiction. …” Readalot

“I heartily recommend this book at any reader who enjoys something a bit out of the general line.” Sally Odgers, Children’s and Teen Fiction Author

“Recommended for any science fiction or fantasy reader of any age. The author has created a world that is captivating, beautiful and dangerous all at the same time.” Geneva Handleman – Amazon Reviewer

“Here we have a second book of great world building” MartyAnne – Goodreads Reviewer

 

All books are available from your favourite on-line store,
on order from your local bookshop,
or direct from the publisher.

The City of Silver Light – READ SAMPLE
ORDER NOW

Across the Bridge of Ice – READ SAMPLE
ORDER NOW

The Wall Between the Worlds – READ SAMPLE
ORDER NOW


A combined eBook edition
(The Bridges’ Trilogy)
is available from all on-line stores
BUY NOW from Amazon
BUY NOW from Apple iBooks
BUY NOW from KoboBooks
BUY NOW from NookBooksBUY NOW from Hague Publishing

Book 1: The City of Silver Light
paperback (978-0-6485714-7-6)
eBook (978-0-9872652-0-3)

It’s an unusually cold winter, but 15-year-old Jake is more concerned with the ice forming in his dad’s new relationship and the fact the girl he likes is dating his best friend.

And now his elderly neighbour is acting even weirder than usual. Could life get any more confusing?

Then Jake finds Cari, lost and alone. Who is she? What has she got to do with the sudden frost, and the silver city that has appeared in the sky? And what does his elderly neighbour, Mrs Henders, know about it all?

But the secrets Cari bears are more dangerous than Jake can ever imagine. And the fate of our entire world – and that of the City of Silver Light – now rests in their hands.

Book 2: Across the Bridge of Ice
paperback (978-0-6485714-8-3)
eBook (978-0-9872652-9-6)

Keira Leichman spent the night of the wild snowstorm that struck Australia’s Cassidy Heights injured and alone. But what really happened that night? Not even Keira can be sure. What she does know is that she’s been having strange dreams since the accident, and she’s stuck with a broken ankle and the possibility of never playing soccer again. That is, until she finds Jake’s telescope, and is drawn across the bridge of ice to Shar.

Now Keira is marooned in the City of Silver Light with Daniel, Jake’s younger brother, with no way to get home. But that is the least of their worries, for the secrets they discover in Shar are more dangerous than Kiera could ever have imagined.

Cover of 'The Wall Between the Worlds' showing young man playing a guitar in a parkBook 3: The Wall Between the Worlds
paperback (978-0-6485714-9-0)
eBook (978-0-6485714-6-9)

Australia’s Cassidy Heights is still recovering from the freak snowstorm that wreaked so much havoc two months before, but Mikhal has his own problems. All he wants to do is play his guitar but he’s failing every subject at school, and he’s just punched his best friend. And now his friends, Jake and Keira, are hiding something from him.

When Sharna Devon is assigned to tutor him, he can’t think of anything worse – until his mother decides he needs to help out with her charity work. But soon he and Sharna are dragged into the mystery Jake and Keira are working so hard to hide. Cari is still trapped between the worlds, and Cassidy Heights is in terrible danger.

It’s not going to be easy, but they have to stop the boundaries between the worlds collapsing before it’s too late, and perhaps Mikhal’s music may offer the solution.

Cover Reveal: ‘The Wall Between the Worlds’ by Ruth Fox

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To lift everyone’s spirits on this very wet and windy Monday in Perth – the cover reveal for Ruth Fox’ ‘The Wall Between the Worlds’, the last in her ‘Bridges Trilogy’. Available mid-August.
Cover of 'The Wall Between the Worlds' showing young man playing a guitar in a park“Mikhal knows his friends, Jake and Keira, are hiding something from him. He’s got his own problems, though – he’s failing pretty much everything at school, he just punched his best friend, and all he wants to do is play his guitar.
When Sharna Devon is assigned to tutor him, he can’t think of anything worse. Until his mum decides he needs to help out with her charity work. But soon he and Sharna are dragged into the mystery Jake and Keira are working so hard to conceal. Cari is still trapped between the worlds, and Cassidy Heights is in terrible danger. It seems this unlikely group of friends are the only hope that balance between the worlds can be restored.
It’s not going to be easy. What exactly does Mikhal’s music teacher know about Shar, the City of Silver Light? And can they stop the boundaries between the worlds eroding before it’s too late?”
AND as a special bonus all three books will be reissued as paperbacks around the same time.

‘The Unforgotten’ by Shaune Lafferty Webb

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The Unforgotten by Shaune Lafferty Webb – NOW AVAILABLE.

“The final instalment is sensational! A thrilling narrative that does not disappoint.” Ashleigh Armstrong

“A great conclusion to the series” Brenda, Top Goodreads Reviewer.

A long time ago, Rab learned the secret of the planet he calls home. Now, after years of enslavement under the Feathers, Rab considers an escape with Cloud, hoping to find refuge with the few surviving Top-Siders who still live free in the west. But there have been dire warnings of a new breed of predator in the skies and the Kun, leader of the Feathers, has deployed his human captives to fortify the settlement’s defences.

When the child of Rab’s adopted son disappears and the Kun’s settlement comes under siege, an unlikely friend surfaces and events are set in motion that will shatter perceptions and radically shift the course of the future.

Cover of the Unforgotten

What size paperback is best?

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This is a question that I seem to come back to every couple of years. This time I decided to attack the problem properly.

The first paperback Hague Publishing put out was Barry Dean’s The Garden of Emily Washburn. This was sized at 5″ x 7 13/16″ (12.8 x 19.8cm), and from memory was based on a quick visit to our local bookshop to see what they were stocking. When it came time to put out our second book I thought I’d address it a little more scientifically and approached Google for advice on the most popular size for Trade Publications. The answer was a resounding 6″ x 9″, which is the size we’ve generally stuck to for the last couple of years. However, I have never understood why 6×9 is so popular, because it is really too large for comfortable reading, and particularly when a bookseller friend of mine has pointed out on multiple occasions that that format is not a popular size in Australia, and simply won’t fit on his shelves. So with the impending release of Leonie Roger’s Amethyst Pledge, the first book in a new trilogy, I thought I’d dig a little deeper.

The Book Printing Company states that: the most common (trim) sizes for Trade paperbacks  in Australia are:

  • 5 x 8 inches (203 x 127mm)
  • 5.5 x 8.5 inches (216 x 140mm)
  • 6 x 9 inches (229 x 152mm)

After a couple of minutes work I was able to locate examples of the three sizes in my own bookcase.

In my personal opinion, the 5 x 8″ looks by far the better, so why are people using 6 x 9″. Well, unsurprisingly, it all comes down to cost, and the fact that our books tend to have more words in them than they did 20 years ago.

Wikibooks points out that smaller books lose disproportionately more space to margins, increasing the cost. A 6″x 9″ book has nearly 20% more text space. But a 6″x 9″ book costs only about 5% more than a 5.5″ x 8.5″ book. The result is a 15% cost savings.

In reality the difference in printing costs are negligible. As on 5 Nov 2019 Ingram charges $89.20 AUS for 10 paperback books of 230 pages 5″ x 8″, and only $91.55 for a 6″ x 9″ book of the same number of pages. Taking into account that the 6×9 book can hold considerably more words and there you have it.

In Australia we are also restricted to ensuring that the printed book is less than 1.5 cm, to allow us to post it at the cheaper ‘paper rate’ of $5. If the envelope goes over 2cm it falls into the parcel rate of $11.

I’ve now done some preliminary formatting of Amethyst Pledge and it looks like using the same font size, spacing, and margins as we did for the Frontier Series the 5 x 8″ format will still only require 220 pages, and as we can go to 250 pages we can probably tweak the size of the type up a bit to improve readability.

In L.I.E.U. – coming soon

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Librarian, thief, or time-cop? Sometimes, not even those concerned can tell the difference — particularly when time-travel is involved, and things happen in order, out of order, and simultaneously at different times.

Welcome to the time travelling world of L.I.E.U. A future world where nothing is quite as it seems.

Pre-order: available 2 April 2019