Available now from:
In Wellington: Good Books (with nationwide delivery), Marsden Books, Book Haven, Gluten Free 4 U Panama Bakery
Online: Amazon, Book Depository, Wheelers, or email me for a signed copy if you’re in New Zealand: melanie.hardingshaw@gmail.com
In the USA: Bookshop.org
Or ask your local Indie bookstore or library to order it in.
I’ve finally released my coeliac mountain biking witch Trinity and her snarky demon familiar into the world! It’s a short, sharp magical thriller with a dash of romance that is perfect for cosying up under a blanket with on a cold day.
Against the Grain, is available now from Amazon and from a bunch of online and Wellington bookstores. I wrote this novella during COVID lockdown in April 2020 and it took me another year to get sorted to actually publish it. I had so much fun wandering the Mākara Peak Mountain Bike Park trails with my kids while I was drafting it, and sitting with a glass of wine as I dreamed up gluten-free cronuts and the kind of bistro I wish was around the corner from my house. The wine might also be responsible for some of Trinity’s demon familiar’s dirtier jokes.
I’ve timed the release to coincide with Coeliac Awareness Week in New Zealand. The lovely folks at The Spinoff have even published an essay of mine about Coeliac Disease and Against the Grain. When I had to come up with some photo options for them, I decided it was the perfect excuse to go grab the closest thing I could find to my imaginary Thyme Laud Bistro’s cronuts (the filled donuts from Kim’s kitchen in Tawa if you’re wondering) and take an (awkward lol) photo at the lookout up Wrights Hill where two of my characters have a coffee date. It’s a beautiful spot that looks out to the Mākara wind farm on one side, and over the harbour and Matiu/Somes Island on the other.
This book has been a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I entered a critique competition, which gave me wonderful feedback on my early draft from 8 amazing international authors. It’s the first time I’ve had a cover designer (and check out that beautiful pūriri moth photo taken by Birgit Rhode at Landcare Research). It’s also the first time I’ve done a local print run and had a book stocked in actual bricks and mortar stores. If you’re in Wellington, you can find it at Good Books, Marsden Books, and the Gluten Free 4 U Bakery in Petone (who also do amazing donuts, scones, french sticks and so much more).
If you pick up a copy, it would be awesome if you could leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon, or just tell a friend who you think might love it. And if you want to check out more amazing witchy fiction stories from Aotearoa where the end is not nigh and love finds a way, go check out http://witchyfiction.com/
And finally, huge thanks to everyone who helped make this book happen, especially Birgit Rhode for the cover image, the Codexians who participated in the 2020 novella contest, Cassie, Andi, Marie, Toni, Amber, Jana, Helen and all the witchy fiction crew!
IT’S BAD ENOUGH WHEN YOUR OWN BODY TRIES TO ATTACK YOU, BUT WHEN DARK POWERS WANT TO AS WELL, RUNNING IS THE ONLY OPTION. UNTIL YOU CAN’T.
After another casual fling goes horribly wrong, coeliac witch Trinity moves down New Zealand to start over, yet again, in the bush-clad suburb of Karori. On the surface, it seems like the perfect place: from the local bistro below her flat with its gluten-free baking (and its handsome owner) to the mountain bike trails she can escape to.
But her fresh start takes a dark turn when she discovers something is trapping her familiar, Saifa, in the suburb. He might take the shape of a pūriri moth as a passive-aggressive joke, but whatever power can hold the ancient demon captive is no laughing matter. If Trinity can’t find and break the anchors of his invisible cage, she could lose everything—her power, her freedom, and her only friend in the world.