Books & Writing

Divorced from her high-school sweetheart at twenty-seven, Laura Baker finds herself single for the first time in her adult life, her now-gay ex-husband the only man she’s ever slept with.

Looking for a fresh start, Laura moves into an apartment on Sydney's Northern Beaches where her two new eclectic roommates convince her that she needs to get herself out there and start dating (and sleeping with) as many men as possible.

But as Laura’s fun new lifestyle kicks off, her work ethic begins to slip. Her mum won’t stop pestering her about her biological clock and trying to set her up with Eric from the pub. And to make things even worse, the volleyball-playing guy with the sky-blue eyes and rippling muscles that Laura has become infatuated with is hiding a secret that could shatter her world.

Amidst all the change in her life, Laura is forced to confront one crucial question: does she even know who she is anymore or how to be happy?

Weeks out from beginning her new job, Laura’s life seems to finally be falling into place. But when Ben, her flatmate, disappears with his crazy new girlfriend, everyone agrees he’s definitely in trouble.

Laura and Kalina track Ben to Byron Bay but struggle to pinpoint his location. And with time running out to find him, Laura finds herself being seduced by Byron’s laidback culture, beautiful beach, and the yoga-teaching tantric sex instructor they’re sharing a house with.

But beneath the serenity of Byron Bay lurks a sinister underbelly, something that seems centred around the new Yogatainable resort. And the danger stretches beyond Ben, as Laura risks losing herself …

Will she return to Sydney and her old life? Or is Byron where she truly belongs?

Laura Baker has returned from Byron Bay ready to declare her feelings for Lucas. But, slight problem; he’s back together with his ex-girlfriend, and so clearly not in love with her. But it’s fine. Laura knows she can just be friends with him. It can’t be that hard to fall out of love with someone, can it?

Luckily, she has a new career to distract herself, working on the feature film Trigger. But Laura’s high expectations of working on a glamorous movie set are quickly shattered by the realities of her new job; not only is she promoted to Locations Manager on her first day (with no training), she quickly realises that this project is far lower-budget than she thought. Between out-running park rangers and dealing with Shouty Sex Man from over the fence, Laura’s in for one hell of a time.

But working on the set of Trigger introduces Laura to more new ideas than film terminology, and Laura begins to wonder why she’s always felt heterosexual. Could the secret to getting over Lucas be found amongst the pansexual crew members and their intriguing philosophies?

With time running out to resolve her feelings for Lucas and a possible new job luring her away, Laura has some tough decisions to make. Can she gain what she needs to be happy and forge a new career at the same time?

A collection of my short stories are published on The Short Stories Club website and can be found here. My two personal favourites are the fantasy short stories “The Institution” and “The Hunter”.