Preloved (23 page)

Shirley Marr is an accountant by day and a masked writer by night. That’s when she becomes her true self — Writer Woman, with her trusty sidekick, BetaGirl.

Despite being blasted for writing an avant-garde short story completely in dialogue in Year Eight, and being fired from the Yearbook committee in Year Twelve for being disruptive, she still loves to write things her way. This type of behaviour led her to be the only person she knows who has ever been kicked out of a bookstore. Shirley wishes to keep living this rock-and-roll lifestyle. She is the author of two young adult novels,
Fury
and
Preloved
.

Visit Shirley at: www.shirleymarr.net

First published in 2012

by Black Dog Books

an imprint of Walker Books Australia Pty Ltd

Locked Bag 22, Newtown

NSW 2042 Australia

www.walkerbooks.com.au

This ebook edition published in 2014

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Text © 2012 Shirley Marr

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the publisher.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Marr, Shirley, author.

Preloved / Shirley Marr.

For young adults.

A823.4

ISBN: 978-1-925126-11-2 (ePub)

ISBN: 978-1-925126-10-5 (e-PDF)

ISBN: 978-1-925126-12-9 (.PRC)

Cover image © Getty Images/Roberto A Sanchez

Once one believes in what one dreams of,
one renders oneself vulnerable to the tricks
of deities and ghosts
YUAN MEI

For Mum, who is the most important
character in my life
.

And for everyone who prefers
abnormal to paranormal
and a bad romance to a love story
.