Burnt Out

'Here's to rising from the ashes ...'

Calida Lyons is having a very bad week. She's long past deadline for her still unwritten second novel; her husband has just left her; and her Blue Mountains community is being threatened by bushfires. Just as she hits rock bottom, she's forced to shelter with neighbours while a fire incinerates everything she owns.

Devastated and emotional in front of news cameras, Cali delivers a blistering, unfiltered rebuke to the nation's rich to do something.

Her rant goes viral, and she quickly becomes the latest celebrity face of the climate movement. Soon she's offered a harbourside refuge by handsome tech billionaire Arlo Richard, her publisher is delighted with the new novel she's writing, and she's the darling of high society.

But things aren't as they seem. It's all built on lies, and Cali's pretty sure that the precarious house of cards she's built is about to come tumbling down.

About the Author

Victoria Brookman is an author, activist and academic. She lives with her family in the Blue Mountains, on Darug and Gundungurra country. Victoria worked for a number of years as a political staffer and was the Labor candidate for the seat of Bradfield in the Kevin 07 Federal Election.

Victoria was one of the early founding members of Destroy the Joint, the founder and spokesperson of Lactivists Australia, and from 2012-15 she organised and emceed the Sydney International Women's Day March. She studied English and creative writing at the University of Sydney and Macquarie University, and is currently a doctoral candidate at Western Sydney University. She enjoys writing, bushwalking, and watching the footy.