Publisher's Synopsis
In The Gecko Renewal and other Stories of Life, ordinary Australians share their extraordinary stories of life and faith. We find people encountering God through falling snakes, women's roller derby, a prison riot, a broken down car, an unexploded bomb and even a humble gecko. The stories included in this year's collection take place in far-flung corners of the world, the outback, a prison and suburban backyards. Some recall great adventures and life-threatening experiences. Others describe profound encounters with a gracious God through seemingly ordinary events. But all of them show that there is something truly extraordinary to be seen when God works in the lives of ordinary people. Stories of Life is filled with faith affirming tales and anecdotes that traverse life's emotional landscape: despair yields to hope; tears mingle with wonder; and joy is sprinkled liberally through its pages. Simon Kennedy, filmmaker and past president of Omega Writers Dr James Cooper is Coordinator Creative Writing at Tabor College of Higher Education, Adelaide South Australia. He has published numerous poems and short stories and is especially interested in the Christian poetics developed by such writers as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Flannery O'Connor. He lives in the Adelaide Hills with his wife and two sons and is working towards the publication of his first novel. Dr Mark Worthing is pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church, North Adelaide. He is the author of several books, including Martin Luther. A Wild Boar in the Lord's Vineyard (Morning Star, 2017); Graeme Clark. e Man Who Invented the Bionic Ear (Allen&Unwin 2015); Phantastes. George MacDonald's classic fantasy novel retold (Stone Table Books, 2016), and Narnia, Middle-Earth and the Kingdom of God. A History of Fantasy Literature and the Christian Tradition (Stone Table Books, 2016). He lives with his family in Hahndorf, South Australia.
