Books – Zena Shapter

Project

When Dark Waters Burn

Stay out of sight. Stay hidden under the lake. Even as giant water-ants scout the surface, and deadly trees slop their hungry roots along the shoreline. For unrest surges in the swamps, getting closer and closer… Sala will only be safe for as long as their ship’s location remains a secret.
But when a horrifying threat ignites close to home, and the lakeside hillfarms are forced to reveal a desperate truth, it unleashes a wreckage of terror and destruction on the world of Palude. What Sala fears most becomes irrelevant. All she can do is run, and make one irrevocable choice after another. If she’s to have any kind of future, she must fight to accept the collapse of her past. Hiding from it was never an option.

Towards White

They know what’s going to happen to you… after you die.

Scientists in Iceland think they’ve figured out one of our greatest mysteries – where the electrical energy in our brains goes after we die. According to the laws of physics, one form of energy must always become another form. So the electrical energy in our brains and nervous system can’t simply disappear…

When Dark Roots Hunt

Don’t go out onto the lake. Wyann trees search the shallows to spear passing prey with their roots. Giant water-ants hunt anything that moves on the water-skin. Sala’s village survives hidden behind a wall of poisonous ivy, because everyone agrees: don’t go out onto the lake.
But then a strange comet crosses the night sky, throwing Sala and her pet pointer into a race through wyann-infested swampland that has her risking it all, unearthing long-hidden truths and stirring rivalries into a terrifying conflict set to change the world of Palude forever. Sala must do whatever it takes to face the truth of who she is: to save her village, to save her family, to save herself. If only they had listened.

Short Fiction

Some to buy, some to read for free – my stories are published in over 40 different magazines and anthologies, and over a dozen have won national awards.

Into Tordon

Only Champions Dare To Enter!

Thirteen-year-old Beth has been waiting for weeks to play in the championship of her favourite online game, Tordon. Now tribes of beastmen roar through her speakers. Game on! She plays to win, until her gaming nemesis Zane challenges her to a real-life risk that has them sucked into a strange world. Here they must push their skills to the limit just to survive!

NBWG Anthologies

Each of these fabulous multi-genre anthologies includes one of my own stories too! Click to read more about: • Villain or Hero? • Rhapsody • Of Beasts & Butterflies • A Noise on an Island • A Fearsome Engine

Portrait

A creative anthology of stories, poetry and art that explores the theme of ‘portrait’ to show us who we really are or could be, who we once were and what might await us.

Saltwater

Saltwater in all its forms inspires and invigorates our communities, provides us with rejuvenation and renewal, it’s part of our routines, and we use it for self-reflection and escape. Life in a coastal community can be active and adventurous. It can also be isolating and stressful.

Remembering When

The stories of our past can be gone in an instant, yet hold so much wisdom. Inspired to help older adults feel valued through the celebration of their stories, this anthology collects memories of a Sydney suburb as short stories, poems and images.

The Guitar Wizard

Fifteen-year-old Emerald O’Shea and her mother, Catherine, make a living wrangling their lion, Dhoruba, who’s been hired to appear at a rock concert. But when an anti-music group, the Aletheia, send Jack to steal the rock star’s guitar, Emerald’s true calling is discovered. If she doesn’t accept the unwanted gift she’s been given, and leave her comfort zone, music and everything on which it depends will disappear. All life. All people. All existence. The entire universe as we know it…