Gullaweer

A drought that never ends, a hidden realm, an evil lurking behind the face of innocence; time is running out for the people of Goonaderra in country Australia, and the only one who can save them is a lonely ten-year-old girl who’s afraid of the dark. Ellie Johnson didn’t ask for The Gift. She doesn’t even know how to use it. With the help of one potty-mouthed old man, an aging magpie with an attitude problem, and a dying race of invisible beings, how can she ever hope to defeat an evil fiend with the power to destroy an entire world? Who will live? Who will die? And will Ellie’s annoying little brother ever stop saying that green ice-blocks are made of boogers?

A great little story for anyone who thinks the natural world is more mysterious and dangerous than people give it credit for.

Cheryl Fitzell grew up on a free-range pig farm in Central Western NSW, Australia. She wrote her first book of (terrible) poetry at age seven. For the next 20-odd years she did everything except become a writer because everyone said it wasn’t a proper job. In that time, she herded emus, answered phones, sold vinyl wall-siding door-to-door, worked as a university researcher, TV presenter and voiceover artist, learnt to weld and drive a crane, and did a stint as a bricky’s labourer. In 1999, after completing a university degree, someone kindly offered her a job as an advertising copywriter. She now runs her own copywriting/marketing business, and still needs to pinch herself every now and then. Gullaweer is Cheryl’s first published book.