Vanessa Amohia Jones
Australian Gothic
Tasmanian Noir
Mythic Aotearoa
A New Zealander living in rural Lutriwitta/Tasmania Vanessa is inspired by ghosts of the past and the gritty realities of rural life.
Indie author, folklore keeper, and story weaver, her stories brim with the uncanny.
Her fiction blends historical truth with spiritual mystery, drawing from Tasmanian history, Māori resilience, and her own eerie experiences.
She describes her debut novel Heart of a Warrior as her love letter to New Zealand, her birthplace and first spiritual home.
Having lived and worked on farms in Tasmania for many years, when not writing she can still be found messing about with horses or walking her dogs in a misty paddock.
.jpg)
They all have their reasons to run. Maggie, second-sighted and scapegoated by her family, flees into the unknown, desperate to escape the gift that made her a target. She stows away in a desperate bid for freedom, unaware that civil war is breaking out around her.
Rei, haunted by the bloodshed at Taranaki, takes a solo journey to his birthplace to wrestle with the pressure to fight in the Waikato versus the ghosts of his past.
Kahu, separated from her family with her infant nephew in her arms finds herself in a battle for survival.
Matthew sailed from Tasmania as the bugle-boy in this brother’s regiment, full of dreams of glory and gallantry. Tragic events unveil the truth of war, and he deserts, desperate to return home.
Four young people living on a knife’s edge cross paths as each of them discovers individually what it means to have the heart of a warrior.
.
They Dwell With Us
Join me and look through the eyes of one who sees
If you’ve ever felt a chill in an empty room, heard a voice with no source, or glimpsed something that shouldn’t be there… you’re not alone.
This eerie collection of paranormal short stories invites you into Tasmania’s haunted heart. From spectral touches to uncanny whispers, each tale is drawn from my own real experiences.
They Dwell With Us is a chocolate box of creepy delights. Open it—if you dare.
Available on Kindle and paperback through Amazon and other outlets.
Heart Of A Warrior
As civil war breaks out in New Zealand, Maggie arrives, homesick and haunted. Abused for an eerie gift she cannot hide, she is soon on the run. In a world of dangerous men, she is terrified of the fearsome Māori warriors, fighting for their land, until she meets Rei, a young warrior with a ghostly past of his own.
Kahus’ way of life and her family have been torn apart by relentless waves of British immigrants, and now by muskets and cannons. With her survival at stake, she finds an unlikely ally wearing a tattered uniform in Matthew, the deserting bugle-boy. However, there is something uncanny about her new friend. Can he really be trusted?
The young women’s paths cross, then intertwine in a landscape filled with danger, as they fight for their lives, freedom, and love.
NEW LOOK COVER
