acquisitions

Announcing the acquisition of Only the Wild, by Victor Kelleher

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Christmas Press is delighted to announce that we have acquired world rights in Only the Wild, a brilliant new novel for upper middle-grade/YA readers by multi-award-winning author Victor Kelleher. The novel will be published in September 2026 under the Eagle Books imprint and was acquired via Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly and Associates.

Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson said, ‘We are proud to have published three of Victor’s novels already, Wanderer (2022) The Cave (2024) and The Lastling (2025) and are thrilled to have acquired this extraordinary new novel from one of Australia’s greatest writers for children, whose brilliant work continues to enthral readers and to break new ground. In Only the Wild, Victor has created a reimagined future Antarctica, or ‘Great Southland’, where a vicious war is raging between fiercely determined clans of small farmers and a ferocious band of eco-warriors called the Wilders, whose aim is to eradicate all human presence in the Great Southland and return it to wilderness. Only the Wild is a brilliant mix of exciting adventure and thought-provoking themes, which raises many timely questions.’

An intriguing timeline introduces us to what brought history to this pass, and then the reader is plunged straight into the precarious world of Evan, son of a farming family, who dreams of finding a middle way between the warring factions, an unpopular idea on both sides which will lead him into great danger. After rescuing Emmy, a little girl who’s the sole survivor of an attack on a neighbouring family, he is confronted by a Wilder, a ruthless young woman named Reyne, and only just manages to escape with the child. But now Reyne is on his trail…and what happens next will set the scene for an extraordinary chain of events that will reach across time to change the fate of the Great Southland.

Victor Kelleher explains: ‘More than anything else, it was my long interest in the Rewilding movement that inspired me to write Only the Wild. In particular, I was drawn in by the ongoing debates. Should a rewilded area exclude humans? Or include them? If you’re going to argue the merits of re-introducing species such as wolves and bears and big cats, how can you in all conscience exclude us, the top predator? Ah, say the opponents of that view, humans are a special case: they’re the ones who destroyed wilderness in the first place. And so the arguments go on and on. Rather than join in, I set out to write a novel that embodied the very spirit of such disputes, imagining a future reforested Antarctica, completely free of ice, fought over by rival groups: farmers, and the Wilders. And then there’s Evan, who sees this great southland as his home, as long as he is prepared to live in tune with nature. This three-part struggle, and its resolution, is at the heart of the novel.’

Announcing the joint acquisition of a fantastic Ursula Dubosarsky collection!

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Eagle Books (an imprint of Christmas Press) and Roffo Court Press (UK) are proud to announce that we have jointly acquired world rights in Life and Breath, a brilliant collection of short stories for upper middle-grade/YA readers by multi-award-winning author Ursula Dubosarsky. In a unique event, Life and Breath will be simultaneously published, in separate editions, in Australia and the UK in March 2026.

Discoveries from the past, hopes for the future – and the decisions we make on a knife edge that clarify our own sense of self. These elements inform Ursula Dubosarsky’s multi-award-winning novels and are in sharp, bright evidence in these thirteen beautifully crafted short stories, by turns poignant, funny, reflective and joyful – nearly always mercurial – previously published in anthologies and magazines but collected together for the very first time. Ursula Dubosarsky has written brand-new notes on the origins of each story.

Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson said, ‘This is such a special book, in so many ways—not only is it Ursula’s first collection of short stories and her first book for older readers in a while, but its publication is also the fruit of a decades-long friendship between Ursula, Jon Appleton of Roffo Court Press, and myself. At Christmas Press, we’ve previously published two of Ursula’s other books, Two Tales of Twins from Ancient Greece and Rome (illustrated by David Allan, 2014) and The Boy who Could Fly and other Magical Plays for Children (illustrated by Amy Golbach, 2019) and we are absolutely delighted to be collaborating with Ursula and Jon at Roffo Court Press on this wonderful book.’

Jon Appleton, publisher at Roffo Court Press, said, ‘A highlight of working in publishing is producing books you most want to read. I knew Ursula Dubosarsky’s short stories would be mini gems, as indeed her novels are, and so deserving to be united between covers in a brand-new publication, full of vitality and originality. It’s been exciting and rewarding working with Ursula and Sophie to bring this glorious book into being.’

Ursula Dubosarsky reflects on the book’s genesis: ‘It’s an uncanny feeling to look back over your writing life over a period of nearly 40 years. All these stories were written at very different times, for me, for publishing, for Australia and for the world. And yet, there it is, through them all, that continuous thread of something unmistakably me that’s been in my writing since childhood. I can hardly define what that something is – the writing “me”, I suppose it must be. Gathering the stories together has been like collating photographs together in an album, with all the mystery of your past, present and even future selves between the covers. I’m completely thrilled by this project – Jon, Sophie and I have known each other through all those years, warmly bonded by sincere friendship and a commitment to writing, especially writing for children and adolescents. I remember once my mother saying to me, “Ursula, someone should collect your short stories together in a book.” Well, now someone has, and I couldn’t be more grateful or honoured.’

A news article about it appeared in Books+Publishing yesterday.

We have acquired another wonderful Victor Kelleher novel!

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Christmas Press is delighted to announce that we have acquired world rights in The Lastling, a brilliant new science fiction novel for upper middle-grade readers by multi-award-winning author Victor Kelleher. The novel will be published in April 2025 under the Eagle Books imprint and was acquired via Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly and Associates. It follows the author’s Wanderer (2022) which was shortlisted for the 2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and The Cave (April 2024).

Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson said, ‘This is the third novel by Victor that we’ve had the pleasure of acquiring, and we are thrilled to be able to publish his extraordinary new book. With its Android and human protagonists, The Lastling is both an extraordinary adventure set in a disturbing future, and also a timely and thought-provoking exploration of what it really means to be human.’

Guido is an Android whose job it is to guide humans through the Wilderness Park, last remaining tract of unspoiled country, while Verne, a human girl, is a thief, working in the city. When Enforcers are dispatched to eliminate all the Androids, Guido, desperate to survive, does the forbidden thing and disobeys a direct order, triggering dire consequences. Years later, Verne, who knows nothing of Guido, is hired to break into the home of an old Enforcer and retrieve a mysterious weapon. It is then that her and Guido’s stories intersect. What happens next is as compelling as it is unexpected, setting both Verne and Guido on a path that reveals dangerous truths about the world they thought they knew, as well as forging a bond of trust between them, despite their differences.

As to what inspired the novel, Victor Kelleher said: ‘Artificial intelligence, robotics, and the whole notion of the android have been much in the news recently, and rightly so, in light of current technology. Yet underlying this interest is a much longer-standing issue: will AI be friendly to us, or will it threaten our human world? Many novels and films have offered an answer to this question. Some, like the film Terminator, give us two possible answers – AI as both friend and mortal enemy.  So what does The Lastling add to this debate? At one level, like Terminator, it gives two answers, in the forbidding person of Brother John and the gentle figure of Guido. However, it also poses deeper questions. How does an android as gentle as Guido survive in the face of both AI and human aggression? How does he interact with someone as deeply human as Verne? And how does he out-think his own programming? Is such independence on his part even possible? And if so, is he, in some profound sense, also human? Now there’s a scary thought! And it’s that scary thought, more than any other, that inspired me to write this novel.’

Victor Kelleher(right) and Sophie Masson at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards announcement event, 2023

Announcing our acquisition of another brilliant Kelleher novel!

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From Books+Publishing, January 12, 2023:

Christmas Press has acquired world rights to The Cave, an upper middle-grade novel by Victor Kelleher, via Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly and Associates.

Described by Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson as an ‘extraordinary adventure’ exploring loss, survival and courage, The Cave is set in the Palaeolithic times and follows teenagers Irian and Ulana who, with their Clan, have made a cave their home ever since they used fire to drive off the Beast—a savage sabre-toothed tiger.

Protected by an ongoing fire at the cave mouth, they continue to keep the Beast at bay until one fateful night when the fire goes out. What happens next shatters the Clan and leaves Ulana badly injured and Irian too traumatised even to speak. Alone and adrift, they have little hope of survival, until a chance meeting with a prickly old woman called Trug who, grudgingly, takes them on a journey of discovery, flinging them into the many wonders and hard realities of ancient times.

Explaining the genesis of the novel, Kelleher said: ‘For almost as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by pre-history. In particular by the question of how our early ancestors, starting out as helpless wanderers on the plains of Africa, went on to become secure cave dwellers and greatly feared hunters. How did this great change come about? Clearly, the discovery of fire must have played a part. And so, too, the creation of better weapons and tools. But how did the change actually occur? That’s precisely the story I’ve tried to tell in The Cave.’

Said Masson: ‘Last year, we had the great delight of publishing Wanderer, Victor Kelleher’s first new middle-grade novel for over fifteen years, to great reader acclaim and excellent reviews. Its success also saw the author reinvigorated to create more works for middle-grade readers, and The Cave is the brilliant result … As compelling, exciting and thoughtful as Wanderer, it too is sure to find many, many readers.’

The middle-grade novel is set to be published in April 2024 under the Eagle Books imprint.

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Announcing our Eagle Books title for 2023

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We’re delighted to announce the acquisition of our next Eagle Books title, which will be published in May 2023: it’s The Key to Rome, a new novel for middle-grade readers by multi-award-winning author Sophie Masson.

Set in AD/CE 84, in the Roman province of Britannia, The Key to Rome is an exciting historical mystery that takes the reader on an enthralling ride into a very different world.

Twelve-year-old orphan Livia has to keep a promise made to her late father: to take a mysterious key to her estranged uncle Marcus.  She sets out with the key, her old horse Pegasus and her father’s doctoring kit, only to learn that her uncle has left for a town further north.

By the time she reaches it, her uncle has gone, and she can’t find out where–until a boy named Mato informs her that he knows. But he refuses to tell her unless she takes him with her. As the two young people journey on the trail of Livia’s uncle, they start to suspect that the key holds a very dangerous secret. And now Livia and Mato must keep their wits about them, in a deadly game of cat and mouse. But figuring out who is friend, and who is foe, is the greatest challenge of all…

Here’s the fabulous cover, created by Lorena Carrington. Isn’t it gorgeous!

Announcing the acquisition of Victor Kelleher’s brilliant new middle-grade novel

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Christmas Press is excited to announce that we have acquired world rights in Wanderer, a brilliant new novel for upper middle-grade readers by eminent, multi-award-winning author Victor Kelleher. The novel will be published in August 2022 under the Eagle Books imprint and was acquired via Margaret Connolly of Margaret Connolly and Associates.

Wanderer is Kelleher’s first middle-grade novel for over fifteen years, as the author has been concentrating on short fiction for younger readers in the interim. And it is a triumphant return to the powerful speculative fiction for older readers that saw him win many awards and gain legions of readers for novels such as Taronga, The Red King, The Green Piper, and Brother Night.

From the very beginning of Wanderer, the reader is plunged into the cold waters of an unusual post-catastrophe world where a secretly salvaged book is a source of comfort for a young boatman and where ravaging warriors hunt down any hint of the old knowledge. With its heady mix of lyrical description, gripping action scenes and philosophical reflection, this is a novel that makes you hold your breath, a novel which is not only an immediately engaging story but also a love song to books themselves.

Victor Kelleher explains the genesis of the novel: ‘I wrote Wanderer while living in the Channel Country of southern Tasmania. It grew out of the waterways and landscape I looked onto every day, and more or less demanded to be written. So like all my fantasies, it is grounded in a real place. Only the time has shifted, from the present to a not-too-distant future, when the world is learning to heal itself again.’

‘Wanderer is a tour de force, a masterpiece by a writer at the peak of his powers,’ said Christmas Press publishing director Sophie Masson. ‘We are really honoured that Victor has chosen to entrust his beautiful novel to us and excited to be publishing the first Victor Kelleher novel for older readers in over fifteen years. So many people, including us, grew up with and were inspired by his extraordinary speculative fiction from previous years and we are thrilled to be bringing his wonderful new work to a whole new generation of young readers. ‘

Victor Kelleher

Announcing the acquisition of Julian Leatherdale’s amazing fantasy novel!

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We are delighted to announce that we have acquired novelist, scriptwriter and playwright Julian Leatherdale’s first novel for children, The Phantasmic Detective Agency, via the Selwa Anthony Author Management Agency.

The Phantasmic Detective Agency is an original, inventive and gripping fantasy adventure novel for readers aged 10+, set against the backdrop of pre-Great War Europe, when the modern world is being born: gas lamps giving way to electric lighting, horse-drawn carriages to motor cars, spiritualism and superstition to technology and science. But there is always room for magic…

The Phantasmic Detective Agency will be published by Eagle Books in March 2020.

About the book:

London, Christmas Eve, 1911.The world is changing fast: giant warships, aeroplanes with bombs, spies and assassins, fear of war with Germany. The cosy lives of Lily and Leopold Keeler and their famous stage magician father Edmund Keeler are about to be torn apart by secrets, espionage and monstrous creatures from the shadows.

Trapped in their stuffy Edwardian childhoods, the Keeler siblings pine for adventure. Lily (14) dreams of being Britain’s first woman detective while Leopold, known as ‘Leo’, (15) would love to be a pilot, the newest kind of hero. They both envy their eccentric uncle Alfred, a brilliant and notorious Sherlock Holmes-like paranormal detective who uses his deductive powers and esoteric equipment to solve mysteries from the world of spirits and mythical beasts.

When their uncle’s performance of a Christmas Eve shadow-puppet play of Little Red Riding Hood unexpectedly releases the hungry spectre of the Shadow Wolf, Lily and Leo will get more adventure than they ever bargained for.

But Shadow Wolf proves to be only the first mystery in a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Keeler family, as Lily and Leo witness their parents, Edmund and Alice, vanish for real in the middle of their latest spectacular magic act. So they turn to their eccentric uncle to keep them safe and solve the mystery of their parents’ disappearance.

From the Royal Naval dockyards of Plymouth to the bone-stacked catacombs of Paris, Uncle Alfred and his two apprentice detectives, Lily and Leo, confront eerie creatures and blood-chilling danger as they are chased by a ruthless spy-ring determined to harness the dark forces of Magick as weapons of war. As Lily struggles with her refusal to believe in shadow-wolves and ghosts and her brother Leo takes terrible risks to impress their eccentric uncle, the Keeler children find moments of great courage and inspired cleverness, as they try to solve the mysteries in Uncle Alfred’s casebook with plenty of clues and spine-tingling intrigue along the way.

About the author:

Julian Leatherdale is a novelist, scriptwriter and playwright. His theatre work includes four comedy cabarets, two musicals (Alex in Videoland and The Golem of Prague), a monologue for Breaking Bread and the black comedy The Man Who Became Santa. He wrote animation scripts for children’s TV with SquareZero, London and researched and co-wrote two Film Australia-ABC TV history documentaries The Forgotten Force and Return to Sandakan. His adult historical fiction novels are Palace of Tears (A&U, 2015 and HarperCollins Germany, 2016) and The Opal Dragonfly (A&U, 2018), with The City of Shadows (A&U) forthcoming in 2020. He lives in the Blue Mountains with his family.

The Phantasmic Detective Agency is his first children’s novel.