Hello there!

Well, the world has gone mad but at least we still have books. We hope wherever you are that you're safe and well. Things have been very busy behind the scenes in our writing world, which included Heidi flying to Canberra so we could dive deep into our next books - Origins of Thaw! We laughed a lot but also plotted and planned all the exciting stories we'll be bringing you in the near future. We're so excited about sharing The Oasis Trials that we've included Chapter 1 in all its unedited glory for you to check out! Read on to find out more... 

Tamar and Heidi ❤️

PS We've also started on our next dystopian series!! We can't wait to share the details of that when the time is right 🥰

Primed for Thaw

Rising, Book 1 of The Thaw Chronicles, is free in Amazon Prime USA until the end of May 2022. If you've already read the series and you know somebody subscribed to Prime, be sure to let them know about this great deal!

GRAB RISING FOR FREE WITH AMAZON PRIME HERE

A new audiobook!

If you love the convenience of audiobooks, then we're excited to let you know that the latest edition to the Thaw Chronicles - Book 7, Exile, has just been released in audio! Our superstar narrator, Christian Drerup, has just started work on recording Book 8 in the series and we hope to bring you that very soon.

CHECK OUT THE THAW CHRONICLES IN AUDIOBOOK HERE

And last but not least...

The Oasis Trials are in production (we segwayed to work on our top secret new series), and we're loving how it's unveiling and evolving. It's always a challenge to shape new story worlds and new characters, but we've reached the stage where they're now taking a life of their own, which is where it gets fun. We can't wait to share it with you in May!

(Caveat: The first chapter of any book is the one most likely to be edited over and over. As a book grows, we learn more about the characters and their story world, which means returning to where it all started and adding those nuances. So this chapter may change, and those pesky typos that our proofreader finds will still be in there).

THE OASIS TRIALS

Chapter 1

Halo

Halo’s mother once told her that if you want to leave a mark, first you have to pick up your quill. She’d been too young at the time to understand what she meant, but as she rolls the heavy metal pole along the uneven ground, she thinks she’s figured it out. 

If you want a dream to become a reality, then you have to put in the work. Pick up your quill, your hammer, or your spade, and do what it takes to leave your mark. Or in this case, more specifically, Halo needs to pick up a pole that weighs twice as much as she does and show everyone what they can achieve with a bit of muscle and a whole lot of vision. 

The pole hits a decaying tire sticking out of the ground and becomes wedged. Halo gets to her feet and heaves it over the obstacle only for her foot to disappear into a small sinkhole. Living on an island made entirely from trash has its challenges. But as she looks down at the pole that’s been carefully rigged with possibly her greatest invention yet, she can’t deny it also has its benefits. That’s why they call this place Treasure Island, not Trash Island. Everything here has a purpose. 

Drawing in a deep breath as she extricates her foot, she focuses on her task. A bead of sweat rolls down her forehead and catches in her eyelashes. She blinks it away and bends to roll the pole a few feet closer to its destination. It’s going to take all day at this rate. But she’ll get it in place even if she’s here all night. She can most definitely do this.  

More sweat trickles down her face and Halo lets go of the pole for a moment to wipe her brow with her forearm, wishing today was one of those rare days when the clouds shield the island from the relentless heat of the sun. Although, those days usually bring storms with them and that doesn’t usually go too well given the flimsy constructions her people call home. The hut Halo shares with her father and brother has already been rebuilt twice in the past six moons despite being the best one on the island. It even has two separate rooms. 

Without her hands to steady it, the pole starts to roll backward. Halo dives on it, her hip painfully connecting with the hard metal, jolting all her previous optimism right out of her body.  

“Urgh! Poop on a stick!” she shouts, turning onto her back, rubbing her middle with one hand and shielding her eyes from the sun with her other. This plan had seemed so much easier when it was an idea contained safely inside her head. 

 “Careful,” comes a deep voice. “You’ll hurt my ears with that kind of cursing. Almost as much as you seem to have hurt yourself.” 

She slides her hand away from her eyes and squints at the face hovering above her. It’s that guy. The one whose name is a number, but she can’t remember which one. He’s never spoken to her, let alone approached her like this. 

“What do you want?” she asks cautiously, making no move to stand. “Other than to eavesdrop on me.”

“Are you sure that listening to someone talk to themselves about bodily functions on sticks counts as eavesdropping?” he asks. “To be fair, I think I might be the one who’s been hard done by here. It’s a difficult image to shake.” 

Halo hides the smile that’s edging its way to the corners of her mouth as she studies his face. Framed by the bright blue sky, his black hair looks almost like a shadow against his deeply tanned skin. His gray eyes are glinting at her as if she’s the most amusing thing he’s ever seen. 

“It’s Four, isn’t it?” she asks, propping herself up on her elbows and taking a guess.

He flinches. “Fyve. Foar was my brother.” 

She grins awkwardly, having no idea if this is a joke. “Well, help me up then, Fyve.” 

He puts out his hand and she clasps it as he hauls her to her feet a little too quickly. She winces as her bruised hip complains, but this time she refrains from cursing. 

“Are you okay?” He seems genuinely concerned. 

“I’m fine.” She pulls her lips into a smile, not having time right now to be injured. She has a mark to leave. “How did you even know I needed help?”

“We were watching you,” Fyve says.

“Okay. Not creepy.” She tilts her head and looks around. “And who’s we?” 

A girl steps out from behind a pile of scrap metal several yards away and gives a shy wave. She’s a skinnier, fairer, and far less masculine version of Fyve. Halo’s noticed her on the island, but just like Fyve, they’ve never spoken. She looks to be about thirteen, but it’s hard to tell from this distance. 

“That’s my sister,” says Fyve.

“Let me guess…” Halo watches the girl approach and laughs. “Her name’s Six?”

“Sevin, actually,” the girl says. “Syx died a while back now.” 

Halo sobers, realizing Fyve hadn’t been joking about his brother earlier. Death isn’t an uncommon occurrence on Treasure Island, particularly with young children, but that doesn’t make it any less sad. Halo’s own sister died while being birthed, taking their mother with her. Loss is something she can understand. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “I didn’t realize.”

Fyve nods, his gray eyes hardened to the grief he’s been forced to live with. “My sister’s kind of obsessed with you.”

Sevin punches him squarely in the stomach and he doubles over as he lets out an oof. 

“Poop on a stick!” Fyve laughs as he rubs his stomach, clearly happier to tease Halo than talk about the loss of his siblings. 

Halo throws Sevin a wink. “Aim a bit lower next time. And use your knee. Used to work a treat on my brother.” 

“I’m not obsessed with you.” Sevin crosses her arms and the timid side of her reemerges. “I’m just interested. In what you’re doing, I mean. You’re not like anyone else around here.”

Halo narrows her eyes, wondering how she hadn’t noticed being watched so closely. “You’ve been following me?” 

“No!” Sevin says just a little too quickly. “Well…maybe a little. I like the things you make. And besides, Fyve followed me here.”

Fyve throws out his hands. “I was looking for you!” 

“Then come and help me instead of spying on me like a pair of creepy creeps.” Halo smiles to let Sevin know she’s joking. “I could actually use a little help right now.” 

“What are you making?” Sevin asks, jiggling on her feet. “Is it a boat to go with your motor?” 

“You know about my motor?” Unease slides into Halo’s gut. She thought nobody knew about the motor she’s been building from scrap parts she collects on the shore. Just how closely has this girl been watching her? 

Sevin nods enthusiastically at first, then tones it down when she realizes Halo’s not pleased. “I haven’t told anyone, I swear.” 

“Told you she was obsessed with you,” says Fyve, putting a protective hand on his stomach, then another on his sister’s back. “But she’s also harmless. And trustworthy. She means no harm.” 

Another feeling mingles with the unease in Halo’s gut, but this time it’s envy. She can’t remember a single time Ajax stood up for her like that. He’s usually too busy trying to stand up for himself. 

“Are you going to build a very tall house?” asks Sevin. 

“Maybe it’s a rain catcher,” says Fyve. “Or a rat catcher.” 

“No imagination.” Halo shakes her head, feeling her long blonde hair tickle the bare skin on her lower back where her tee-shirt doesn’t quite reach her shorts. “Nobody seems to be able to imagine building something that isn’t practical.” 

“I can,” says Sevin. 

But Fyve seems confused. “So, you’re almost killing yourself moving this pole just so you can do something totally impractical with it?” 

Halo nods. “You got it. Now, if you could just help me move this—”

Fyve hoists the pole off the ground with impressive strength and positions it across his shoulders. This does extremely appealing things to the shape of his upper arms, and Halo looks away, trying not to notice. She needs to focus. On the right things... 

“My brother’s strong,” says Sevin, beaming proudly. 

“I noticed.” Halo bites down on her bottom lip and glances back at him. 

“Where am I taking it?” he asks, balancing himself and stepping forward. 

“Follow me.” Halo skips across the flattened rubble to where she’d dug a deep narrow hole of the precise measurements she needs. Sevin is right behind her like a shadow. “Here.” 

“Which way does it go in?” Fyve asks, glancing at the end of the pole with a hessian bag tied around it. 

“The other end goes in first.” Halo dashes to the bag and removes it. 

Sevin gasps when she sees what’s underneath. “I think I know what this is.” 

Fyve leans forward and lowers the pole into the hole, while Halo drops to the ground and fills in the space around it with the small particles of plastic that line their shores. She has a bucket of slurry ready to go that she made with a stone that she painstakingly ground up into a powder and mixed with sea water. With the sun beating down this hard, it shouldn’t take too long to set. 

“I still don’t get it.” Fyve lets go of the pole and takes a step back to survey their work. “What is it? What’s all that stuff at the top?” 

“You’ll see.” Sevin is bouncing on her heels now, hands clutched at her chest. “This is going to be amazing.” 

Halo stands and wipes her dirty hands on her bare thighs. “Watch this.” She tugs on her lucky cord that she’d wrapped around the length of the pole. It unfurls a series of thin metal spokes she’d carefully attached to the end. Hundreds of long strips of green plastic dangle down from the spokes as they fan out. It’d taken Halo weeks to collect them all. 

“It’s a tree!” Sevin claps as she beams up at the branches that are casting much-needed shade around them. “It’s so beautiful.” 

“I’ve heard of trees.” Fyve blinks in surprise. “You actually made one.” 

“I actually did.” Halo tucks the cord into her back pocket and crosses her arms. “I’m going to make a whole forest of them.”

“What for?” he asks. “What will we use them for?” 

“We’ll look at them.” She grins so widely her cheeks hurt. “My forest will be a symbol of what’s been promised to us by Terra.” 

Fyve doesn’t seem convinced but Sevin is more than making up for his lack of conviction. She’s seeing Halo’s invention for exactly what it is. Perhaps having this girl as her shadow isn’t such a bad thing. 

“But it must be useful for something?” Fyve scratches his chin. 

“It is useful!” Halo does a spontaneous twirl, which makes Sevin giggle. “It will inspire people. Isn’t that the most useful thing you’ve ever heard of?” 

“You do realize you’re kind of crazy, don’t you?” Fyve gives her a killer grin, and before her insides can melt, she looks back at her tree. The wind is catching the leaves and they flutter against each other in a dance of victory. 

“She’s not crazy,” breaths Sevin in awe. “She’s an inventor.” 

“All the most wonderful ideas begin with a single thought.” Halo clasps her blistered hands together. “Just like every forest begins with one tree.” 

“Yep.” Fyve takes a step back. “Completely and utterly bonkers.” 

Halo gives him a brief curtsey. “Why, thank you.” 

“Come on.” Fyve slips his hand into his younger sister’s and tugs her away. “We have to check the traps. Thanks for letting us help.” 

“But I want to stay here.” Sevin plants her feet on the ground. “It’s so shady and pretty.” 

“It’s definitely pretty,” says Fyve, his eyes fixed on Halo in a flirtation so obvious it’s a miracle his sister doesn’t notice. “But we can’t eat a tree for dinner. We have traps to check.” 

“So practical.” Halo pokes her tongue out at Fyve as he practically drags his sister away. 

“I’ll come back!” Sevin calls out. 

Halo nods, not doubting that for a moment. It seems she’s made a new friend. Well, two new friends. Although, Fyve seems to be in a very different category of friendship to his little sister. One she hasn’t experienced before but is suddenly keen to explore. Although, it’s very possible he’s like this with everyone around here. Ajax had flirted with just about every girl on this island before he’d finally settled on Cloud. 

 A sarcastic laugh floats across the rubble behind her and she turns to see the very person she’d been thinking about. 

Ajax. Her older brother who she loves with one half of her soul while the other half limps along trying to catch up. 

“What in sweet Terra is that?” he asks, clutching his sides as he ambles toward her. 

She rolls her eyes, refusing the state the obvious. Ajax is fully aware of the way she obsesses over the laminated calendar their father had given her when she was little. It must have originally been sealed inside another container to have survived the acidic depths of the ocean, as it washed up in surprisingly good condition. Eight of the twelve photographs are still distinguishable as images of a forest. She hung them on the wall beside her sleeping mat even though all she has to do is close her eyes and she can study every inch of them in detail. It had taken her until she was seven to understand that not everyone can see an image and store it in their brain the way she can. Just another thing that makes her different, which she’s not sure is a blessing or a curse. 

“Dad’s going to flip out when he sees this.” Ajax shakes his head, sending his blond curls bouncing. “What a waste of resources. You’ve lost your mind.” 

Somehow this seems like an insult, whereas when Fyve had said the same thing, it had felt almost like praise. 

“I think it’s beautiful,” she says. “I’m going to build a forest.” 

“That will take years.” He points in the direction of the beach where they sort the trash. “You’ll need a thousand poles to wash up.” 

“Then it will take years,” she says, confident now that she’s started her forest that it will get finished. Even if it’s her children’s children’s children who put the final tree in place. “Besides, we already have loads of poles.” 

“Not a thousand though.” Ajax scans the space around them. “Look, you’ve created a spectacle.”

There are people approaching from every direction, all pointing at her tree. Her father is amongst them, which fills Halo with dread. His reaction is going to be everything.

Because he’s not just her father, he’s the all-seeing Elijah, the leader of this growing faction that claimed this island as their home when the rising seas made what little land remains either too barren or too dangerous. Factions war over the scare resources they can find, with murder and pillaging daily events. Here, they might live on nothing more than an enormous pile of floating trash, but it’s a peaceful life and with each day that passes, their island grows rather than shrinks. 

“What is it?” asks the first woman to approach. “What does it do?” 

“It reminds us to dream.” Halo smiles encouragingly. “Anything’s possible with enough imagination.” 

“It’s a tree,” says a man. 

“What’s a tree?” asks a boy. 

“They used to grow on the land,” the man explains. “Animals lived in them. Humans breathed the air they made.” 

“That thing makes air?” the woman asks, finally seeming to be impressed. 

Halo quickly jumps in. “It’s not a real tree. This one’s just for looking at.” 

Ajax nudges Halo with his shoulder, reminding her she’s the fool he believes her to be. Cloud comes to stand beside him, the rounded bulge of her belly now clearly visible beneath her flowing shirt. She smiles at Halo but doesn’t speak, holding her judgment so she can keep it in line with whatever verdict the all-seeing Elijah might pass down. It’s no wonder he approves of his son’s choice of partner so heartily. Halo’s not certain if her future niece or nephew hadn’t been conceived that her brother would have made a choice at all. 

More people join them, forming a circle around the tree, craning their necks to stare at Halo’s creation. They step aside for her father, just one of the many small signs of respect his people shower on him. 

“Elijah,” says Cloud. “Halo made a tree.” 

Echo nods cautiously but remains silent as she studies her father’s expression. Her mother was a doer but her father’s a dreamer. He gathers his people at sunset to raise their faces to the sky and ask Terra to bring them what they need. Sometimes he delivers prophecies that Terra whispers in his ear at night. The all-seeing Elijah has forewarned them of storms, told them where to find healing plants, taught them how to trap rats. And when someone displeases Terra, she claims them right there on their beach, their life extinguishing along with the remains of the day itself. This makes her a power the people show both gratitude and fear—sentiments that extend to the all-seeing Elijah himself. 

Her father scratches the gray bristles of his long beard for approximately eternity, then clears his throat. Halo clasps her hands in front of her chest as she wonders if Terra is whispering in his ear right now. 

“My people,” he says, stretching his arms out wide as he does whenever he’s about to say something important. “Terra is good to us. Our huts provide us shelter. The rain provides  us water. Our foraging provides us food. We have everything we need.” 

The people murmur their thanks to Terra. 

Ajax smirks. “Who knew we needed a plastic tree.”

“Precisely right, my son,” Halo’s father says, punching dread into her gut. “Who knew we needed a plastic tree? My daughter did.” 

Halo’s heart swells that her father understands what she’s trying to achieve. 

“My daughter knew we needed a symbol of hope,” her father continues. “Something to remind us of what riches await us when we reach the Tomorrow Land.”

With their leader’s approval, the people let out a cheer and their confused murmurs morph into the singing of Halo’s praise. 

“I helped her,” says Ajax, pulling back his shoulders. “We’re going to build a forest.” 

Halo’s eyes widen at her brother’s blatant lie, but she keeps quiet, just like she has her whole life when Ajax has taken credit for something he didn’t do. 

“Terra doesn’t want a forest.” The all-seeing Elijah caresses his people with a smile. “A tree is a symbol. A forest is a waste. When we go to the Tomorrow Land, we leave all this behind.” 

Their father wraps one arm around each of his children and his long, flowing hair tickles Halo’s cheek. His grip on her arm is firm and she knows it’s a warning. He hadn’t approved of her tree at all. Nor had he understood the first thing about what she’s trying to achieve. He was simply saving face with his people, not wanting them to think his daughter had gone as mad as Ajax had accused her of being. Except, in his desperation for his father’s approval, Ajax had thrown himself right on the crazy boat with Halo and now they’re sailing out to sea. 

“I told you a forest was a bad idea,” says Ajax, leaning forward to sneer at her across their father’s broad chest. 

Halo remains silent, aware she hasn’t said a word since her father arrived, and hating that the two men in her life have this effect on her. Maybe that’s why she comes up with other ways to express herself? Criticism of her ideas doesn’t seem to sting quite as much as criticism of Halo herself. 

“Will Terra be upset with me?” she asks her father in a whisper as the crowd disperses. “Am I in danger of being claimed?” 

Her father shakes his head as he lets his hands fall. “Not if you stop this idea now. One tree is enough. Do you understand?” 

“Yes, father,” she says. 

Her father nods and marches away. 

Halo’s hand slides to her back pocket to take out the cord she’d used to unfurl the branches. She likes the familiar feel of it slipping through her fingertips as she thinks.

But it isn’t there.  

“Did you take my lucky cord?” She glares at Ajax, knowing that’s exactly the kind of thing he’d do. 

He holds out his empty palms. “It’s just a stupid piece of string. I don’t know why you like it so much.” 

He’s got it—she knows he does—but she also knows she won’t be able to prove it. She’ll have to find herself another lucky cord. Either that or a boat built for one that she can stick her brother on and push him out to sea. 

“Ajax is an honest man,” says the ever-faithful Cloud with a hand resting gently on her belly. She guides Ajax away, leaving Halo standing alone. 

The wind caresses her face and she looks up at her tree, watching the plastic leaves flutter against each in a motion that reminds her of the gentle fingers her mother used to tickle her with when she kissed her goodnight. 

“I did it, Mom,” she whispers. “It’s not a forest, but I picked up my quill, and I left my mark.”

Her father let her get away with it, even though he clearly didn’t approve. And with the sun getting lower in the sky, it’s all she can do to hope that Terra is equally as forgiving. 

She’s terrified of being claimed.

Preorder THE OASIS TRIALS here!

PPS Have you seen the cover?!? So pretty!! 😍