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WELCOME TO THE MAGICAL WORLD OF
LARAINE ANNE BARKER
Laraine has scribbled most of her life and
submitted a novel to a publisher at 21. The rejection was very kind but Laraine
felt insulted at the suggestion the book could be rewritten for children. In
those days writing for children didn't have the status it now enjoys and many
children's books were frankly not well written. It wasn't until 1987, when she
couldn't find enough fantasy for a fantasy-mad 11-year-old boy, that she
realised writing fantasy for young people was what she wanted to do and she
started The Obsidian Quest, (coming soon from Hard Shell Word Factory a finalist in the Dream Realm Awards 2001. The
Little Dragon Without Fire (available from DiskUs Publishing also
won the fantasy prize in a short story contest, and a novel, Silvranja of
the Silver Forest, was shortlisted for the Tom Fitzgibbon Award in 1998
when a comedy was the winner.
Laraine lives with her husband and 4
long-haired mini Dachshunds in a dairy-farming community near Rotorua, New
Zealand. On their 5-acre property she and her husband farm beef cattle.
Visit Laraine's Home Page
EXCERPT…
“See that? [said Uncle Inferno] That’s Mount Furnace where all
the fire rock comes from. When you’re grown up you’ll be able to fly over it.
It’s full of the stuff. The Fire God will most likely be asleep at the bottom.
He doesn’t mind dragons taking the ordinary fire rock. But that will be no use
to you. The piece you need looks like a huge polished ruby. There’s only one
and it’s his special treasure, so you’ll have to be careful taking it. If you
wake him up he’ll burn you to cinders.”
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