Author(s): Annie J Ryan

Australian author

Going for a run with a ball of fury may not have been Mel Wilson's best idea. On the way back to her car she is catapulted into the bright lights of the media. In the months following, her life shimmers with newness: new job, new man, and new dilemmas. When an international sports event throws a spotlight on the town, the whole community quivers with excitement. A new best friend helps Mel concoct brilliant plans for her business. Some even work. A familiar face complicates the new life she's built for herself and her children. As the icy winds roll in and everyone hunkers down for winter, Mel's not sure she can face the problem she's been avoiding. Emotional relationships with parents, children, friends and lovers, are exposed against the visceral beauty of Western Australia's coast. Bonds are broken, hearts are ripped apart, and lives are turned upside down; business as usual in the shadowy suburbs of Perth. 'Ripple' tells the story of one woman's struggle to keep both family and business together as she deals with ex-lovers, confronts financial chaos, and wrestles with an overwhelming desire to lie down in the long grass and let the universe take care of everything. Annie J Ryan is the pen name of a Western Australian author who can be found daydreaming under tall trees or dozing under the luscious sun in Perth. This is her first novel.