Cirrus@Austlit

'The remains of a rifle buried in the sand and dust of an outback cattle station in North-west Queensland became the centre of an ongoing story of four brothers running the remote property. Who once owned the weapon? What was it doing hidden in the earth? Was it used in a violent encounter?'  (Publication summary)

'Television viewers know what is going on in front of the cameras because they see the finished result of the effort that goes into making programmes covering news, sport, current affairs, quiz shows, building renovations, drama, comedy and anything new different producers can come up with. Fans are brought up to date with the private lives of those they see on their TV screens – the romances, affairs, weddings, babies, break-ups, scandals, which are all covered in women’s magazines.

But what about where all of this originates?

The stations, what goes on behind the walls? What of the lives of producers, directors, management, make-up, even the company boards of directors that have a controlling interest? While board members might make the news now and again, very little is known about the rest – the staff – from the station manager right down to the gardeners. What of their lives?

This story will take you behind the scenes of an independent television station (Ind.1), which is not aligned with any network, and reveal what goes on day to day.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

A man builds a successful life post-war, but always feels there is something missing in his life, a particular woman. His friends try to help him out in this regard but nothing works as he feels the years slipping away and hours of his life being stolen in time. 
A parallel love story takes place at the same time with several players in the romantic drama travelling to such disparate places as Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia and Pago Pago in the Pacific. (Source: Publisher's blurb)

A magistrate who belongs to a suburban bowling club finds himself playing against members of another club who recently appeared in front of him at court on a variety of charges. This causes embarrassment on both sides. Twin female lawyers find themselves in the middle of a world awash in drugs of all kinds and having to defend and advise clients many who have been hurt by partners using cannabis, cocaine, ice or fantasy, to name a few. A gang of ex-bikies meet secretly to plan their illegal moves, renting a Sunday school hall as an unlikely cover. (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Set in today's Hollywood, and narrated by screenwriter, Clint Westwood, The Screenplay takes you on the journey of the making of a film. From the initial story concept, drawn from the screenwriter's own life, through the complex processes of raising finance, appointing the director and key personnel, casting, and logistical organisation, The Screenplay gives you an insight into the exciting as well as the not-so-glamorous sides of movie-making in Hollywood. At the same time, the writer is embarking on another project, a novel, in which the hero sets off on an odyssey in search of great wines around the world. Supported by his loving but long-suffering wife Kate, Clint copes with the ever-changing demands of the director and producer for re-writes, but a few glasses of wine at the end of the day makes it all worthwhile.' (Publication summary)

'A young family relocates from inner-city Sydney to the outskirts of Brisbane, settling in an area of small farms and open spaces. Gavin, who is a lawyer, feels totally out of place in his new home, the wholesale palm and foliage plant nursery (open to the public) that his wife Tess had had her heart set on. Tess on the other hand knows everything there is to know about the natural world of plants; she takes her husband in hand and educates him almost daily on his new duties as a grower. To make ends meet while they establish their business, Gavin takes a part-time job with BWS Lawyers, headed by the bullying Mr Bunbury, where his workmate in the office is the temptingly beautiful Zara, further complicating matters. It's a life divided between legal problems and growing seasons. Little daughter, Missy, grows up in a wonderful child's world of flowers, small animals, birds and her very own strawberry bed.' (Publication summary)

Senior partners Bunbury, Wolfe and Swindley, together make up the firm, BWS Lawyers. 'Mr Bunbury is the CEO, known to the workers in the office as the slave driver. The other two partners spend as little time as possible in the office, preferring golf and racecourses, where they contend they pick up many clients. Of the two junior lawyers, Cyril still lives at home with his parents, a situation which causes much hilarity among the females in the office. Ranichar is a lodger at the home of Mr and Mrs Singh, proprietors of Singh’s No.1 Curry House. Together they all become involved in the many legal problems that society throws at them.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Two different eras are covered in this story of small mines in Australia. The first, just after the Second World War is located in the Northern Territory and the second, about mining on a small lease as it is today in North West Queensland.

Two very different times with initially, pick and shovel, hand drilling, gelignite use and hand winches the order of the day. The latter half depicts today’s mining when heavy machinery and new technology is available even in small mines.

There is danger too as mine sites can be a volatile environment. In either time, human spirit is engaged in a physical struggle with nature to wrest treasures from the earth.

A story of the men and women involved in perhaps mankind’s last great physical challenge in an ever-increasing digital-dominated world.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'This novel is about a historical adventure/love story that occurred in the 1840s being made into a film and all the human heartaches and day to day problems encountered.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'It’s a heady mixture when you put the magnificent nubile wahines of Tahiti with brash, inexperienced young men fresh from England. No matter that these young men were Christian missionaries. It was the year 1797 and the strangely named ship, Duff, carried thirty volunteers from the London Missionary Society to the exotic and little-known South Seas. Eighteen of them stayed on Tahiti and the balance sailed off to Tonga.  

Most of the missionaries who elected to stay in Tahiti were married and accompanied by their wives and children. Two of the originals were unattached single men. The coming of the missionaries to the area is a well-documented fact. What happened to them in this novel is fiction; although with the free and easy life in Tahiti in those years it might well have happened anyway.

The restrictions imposed by the Christian way of life collide head-on with the sybaritic lifestyle of the well-endowed and willing Polynesian wahines. A great adventure of a time not so long ago.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

A young British naval officer, Lieutenant William Beatty, first officer on the navy frigate HMS Challenger, falls in love with Farida, a female slave. Set in 1811 during the Napoleonic wars, story takes the reader from England to the East Indies, New Holland (Australia), the infant colony of New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), New Zealand and back to England.

'To capture the hard life of sailors in the wooden sailing ships of the eighteenth century much of the story is seen through the eyes of a young woman who, disguised as a lad wins a place in the crew of a ship that is bound for the South Seas.  

In those day women as crew on ships was unheard of particularly on naval vessels. It was thought that women on ships could only cause trouble. She does this to get away from her life in Portsmouth, England, in which she sees no future but a bleak existence in a cold climate.  

She and the rest of the crew set out on an amazing adventure where they experience the customs and love life of the Polynesian people, they learn about tribal warfare, cannibalism and a way of life completely different to that in Europe. They are caught up in a mutiny and two of the crew are marooned on an island in the Fijis from which they manage to escape aided by a survivor from one of the earlier Captain Cook voyages. The three take part in a harrowing canoe trip back to Samoa with only the stars to guide them. They are eventually rescued by the Pandora which had actually been sent from England to search for the Bounty mutineers.  

Our heroine survives it all and arrives back in cold old England glad to be home after all. A tale of tall ships, rascals, a love story and as always, survivors against all the odds.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)

'Getting into a full-on fight with actor Burt Lancaster was the author’s introduction to the film industry. It has been a long journey, taking him from World War II to mining, journalism, advertising, movies, television and back to mining. It covers the era from black and white television and its transition to colour. It looks at the beginning of sports production at TCN-Channel 9, Sydney. A period in Hollywood and experience with many movies stars of the time. There is an in-depth look at Film Australia, the Australian Film Commission and its marketing operations. 
A life involved in the movie and television industries can be a rollercoaster ride with many highs and lows; frustrating, but always fascinating. The book captures the roles of less well-known producers, directors and those behind the scenes – writers, cameramen, technicians and distributors. Gordon Carr is a member of the Australian Cinema Pioneers society and is a justice of the peace. He believes that we should follow our dreams because one never knows where they might lead. On the other hand, he likes to quote the words of Bill Gates: Life is not fair – get used to it.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)