Moonlight Plains Launch

So last night we had a fabulous launch for MOONLIGHT PLAINS at Tableland Books in Atherton. I'm looking a bit serious here, but we had lots of laughs.

Tablelanders are such warm and genuinely supportive people and so many of them are talented and interested in all forms of the Arts.

Do you have someone in your family who fell in love with a serviceman during WW2. On Helene Young's Blog, I talk about the inspiration behind the historical thread in this book and there's a chance to win a giveaway.



Moonlight Plains is now for sale at amazon, Booktopia, itunes and all good book stores. Actually... psst..  it's on sale at BIG W at a great discount.

My next book from Penguin...

Here's the gorgeous cover for my next release... I'm so thrilled with it. Release day August 27th!!

And here's the back cover blurb...

In 1942, as the Japanese sweep towards northern Australia and allied troops swarm into Townsville, Kitty Martin is sent inland to the safety of Moonlight Plains. But when two American airmen crash on the isolated property, she is forced to grow up fast, coming face to face with tragedy, with love . . . and with heartbreak.

Years on, and Sally Piper, a young journalist, is sent to Moonlight Plains to cover the story of a cattleman turned builder who is restoring his grandmother's forgotten homestead. Sparks fly between them, but Sally is struggling to let go of the past, and Luke has his eyes fixed firmly on the future.

What they uncover together is a shocking secret that has been kept safe for more than seventy years. Now the entire family's happiness is at stake – or does the truth about the past hold a valuable lesson for the future?

From the internationally acclaimed and award-winning romance writer Barbara Hannay comes this breathtaking novel about finding love against all the odds. It will have you captivated from beginning to end.

Manga Magic....

Outback with the Boss is now available as a Manga comic ebook in English. Woohoo! Mangas are so cool. Now I really will have to drag myself out of the dark ages and get myself a kindle or ipad.

My mum meets her newest great grandson...

Nan Beryl and Jasper.

Mary Stewart...

On hearing the recent news of Mary Stewart's death, I was gripped by a nostalgic urge to re-read her books, but sadly, after several moves and donations of books at various times, she was no longer on my shelves. Thanks to the Book Depository that loss is being rectified. I think Airs Above the Ground was the first of her books that I read and I might start with that one again. I remember it inspired a favourite painting that I did when I was studying art in high school. Do you have a vivid Mary Stewart memory?

But the big draw card that took us from home...

We were also on our way south because our daughter Vicki was expecting her first baby. Vicki and her husband Matt had chosen not to know the sex of their baby before the birth and because almost everyone knows beforehand these days, the anticipation was especially exciting.

Jasper Elliot Tomkins was born on May 4th -- a beautiful Sunday afternoon, although his mother was too busy to notice. We were all able to visit the birthing suite on that first night, however, and what a thrill that was to see our tired, proud daughter and her beautiful baby boy -- while the new dad was overflowing with happiness and awe from the whole birthing process.

The pic below shows my two beautiful grandsons Tom and Jasper. You might guess the pic is very special for me...

After this, we also had a great holiday at Noosa, although I still had to proofread Moonlight Plains my next book from Penguin, which will be released at the end of August.

And I'm also working on proofreading pages for the next Mills & Boon -- A Very Special Holiday Gift, which has a November release date.

Oh, and we've also had five days babysitting our Townsville granddaughters, which has been lovely. The girls had a lot of fun yesterday, making paper cut out Russian ballerinas.

So what I have I been doing for the past month or so....?

We've been away from home for almost a month, travelling first to Townsville where the project that my husband has been working on for the past six years has finally been completed. Working with a Community Trust, he was part of the team that turned the Jezzine Barracks site on Kissing Point at the end of Townsville's Strand into a wonderful public open space with artwork representing the two relevant cultures -- the Traditional Owners and The army's Kennedy regiment.    

                       

An unscheduled week away...

I'm home again after a week down south helping my elderly and increasingly frail mum prepare for the difficult move from her beautiful acreage garden into a retirement home. I've had no internet access, which felt VERY strange. I've been so used to feeling connected... How are you all? I hope the heat and fires haven't been too terrible for you.
Here's a photo from the past... from one of the happiest days of Mum's long life...

A happy start for the new year....

Lovely news.

Miracle in Bellaroo Creek has been nominated for an Australian Romance Readers Award. I'm thrilled and so grateful to the wonderful readers who've bought my books and nominated Ed and Milla's story.
I'm also grateful to Michelle Douglas and Soraya Lane who were so great to work with when we were planning the Bellaroo Creek trilogy.

Meanwhile, I've started writing another M and B, my first for a while, because I was busy with the third Penguin for most of last year and then I took much needed time off over Christmas.

I love going back to my short romances in between the longer books. This is a boss, secretary, baby story. I know, I know, it's been done to death, but these are my characters and my unique situation and the story feels fresh and different to me, so while I've only just started, I love it. I'm having so much fun!!!

A wrinkle in time...

My daughter unearthed this photo of DH when he first became editor of the Townsville Daily Bulletin. Still working on typewriters!! Computers and all the industrial hassles that came with their introduction were just around the corner.