One Free Woman is now available.

Hannah Rigby was a poor Liverpool seamstress, a prisoner and a serial thief. Exiled from her homeland, oppressed by poverty and rigid social mores, used and discarded by a series of men. An “exemplary” servant who was fond of a lark – and a single mother determined to keep her family together.
One Free Woman tells the compelling true story of the only female convict to stay in Moreton Bay when the penal settlement closed – a woman who notoriously served three separate sentences of transportation, including two at one of the harshest establishments in the country.
It is a heartbreaking and sensitively told story of a life that was typical of many women of the time struggling against poverty and gender inequality – women whose voices throughout history have seldom been heard.
‘One Free Woman’ reveals new information and celebrates a remarkable woman who, despite a lifetime of immeasurable suffering and loss, could still summon the joy to dance until she dropped. 

Buy from Amazon https://www.amazon.com.au/One-Free-Woman-Convict-Hannah-ebook/dp/B0DQLNSG99
or Booktopia https://www.booktopia.com.au/one-free-woman-jane-smith/book/9781923144712.html
​or Big W or any bookstore!

One Free Woman was researched and written with the help of a Visiting Fellowship with the Harry Gentle Resource Centre (Griffith University).

... or HE will be very soon, with a brand-new look!
The sell-out Captain Starlight: The Strange But True Story of A Bushranger, Impostor and Murderer will be re-released by Big Sky Publishing on 3 January with a brand-new look! And just like its subject, who was fond of an alias, the book has a new name: The Killer's Game. 

Here's a teaser:
​
When a respectable public servant dies suddenly under suspicious circumstances, the authorities are baffled. Who really was the dead man? Was he an Irish nobleman fallen on hard times – or a conman, a forger, a serial impostor, a killer?

Sarah on Goodreads says: 'His story is as intriguing as it is bizarre, and if all history was presented this way, I would consume more of it.'

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

'Digging up the Past': Historical research and writing
Sat 4 March 10am - 1pm

• Learn about sources to use in your research and how to turn them into writing
• Suitable for authors of fiction and non-fiction
• Practical components to help you with your own projects

BOOK HERE

and

​'Editing for Writers'
Sun 5 March 10am - 12 noon

• Discover the different types of editing and which might be the best for you
• Learn how to get the best value from your editor and the technical skills to help you
• Learn how to avoid common errors

BOOK HERE

What a day! On Tue 25 October I had the honour of launching a book I wrote celebrating the 100th anniversary of St Vincent's Private Hospital Toowoomba: ​Generations of Care: St Vincent's Private Hospital in Pictures 1922-2022.

We launched the book at the wonderful Cobb+Co Museum, and at the same time celebrated the opening of an exhibition about St Vincent's.

​A beautiful celebration of a fine institution.