Two budding Hillside authors are turning their dreams into reality.
Brother and sister Joshua and Alyce Hall have both recently published their first books.
Alyce’s book The Perfect Puppy, which follows the story of a puppy learning to embrace what others perceive as a flaw, is inspired by her real life German Shepherd Logan.
“When Logan was about two years old it was clear his floppy ear was never going to stand up. I loved it though, it made him unique, and I had this desire to write a children’s book, so the two came together,” she said.
Joshua’s book, Liberate Me, is dystopian fiction and follows the very different characters of Isaac, Colton, and Carl, who all live in the same broken piece of the world.
“I had a basic idea that I wanted to do something around people living on freight trains and it snowballed from there. I’ve changed a few elements along the way and intend for at least one more book in the series,” Josh said.
While proud of their achievements, the pair said the post-publication process has been as difficult as getting the work published.
“My book was published in September and it’s been a real learning curve,” Alyce said.
“I put my own money into publishing it and learnt a lot from the experience like doing my own ads, creating a website, finding venues for launch… all that.
“I’d also taken the book to a lot of markets and was doing really well before COVID-19 came along, but I’m keen to pick up where I left off.”
For more information visit: www.alycehallauthor.com.au or www.joshhall.com.au/
Tate Papworth
