SHELLEY DARK—AUTHOR
“Hydra in Winter is one hell of an entertaining read.”
— Samuel Bernard, The Weekend Australian Review
“A thoroughly delightful and entertaining read, but with more substance than a light-hearted holiday book.”
— Barbie Robinson, Living Arts Canberra
“Hydra in Winter is a real page-turner.”
— Dean Kalimniou, Neos Kosmos
ABOUT ME
After a lifetime raising cattle on Queensland’s Granite Belt, my husband and I left life in the bush behind and I turned to full-time writing and travel — including a solo trip to the Greek island of Hydra in the tourist off-season in search of a pirate.
I’m a member of the ALLWRiTE Club, a dynamic and supportive writers’ group of memorable characters worthy of a novel on their own. When I’m not writing, you’ll usually find me planning another journey — preferably involving an island, an archive, or both.
My books include Hydra in Winter (2024), a lighthearted travel memoir that tells the story of a trip to discover the story of my husband’s ancestor, Ghikas Voulgaris — Australia’s first Greek convict pioneer. It was an Amazon bestseller, and named a Notable Book for 2025 in The Weekend Australian Review. Due in November 2025 is Son of Hydra, a historical novel inspired by Ghikas’ life, and in 2026, Daughter of Cork — the story of his Irish wife, Mary. I plan more travel memoirs and my short fiction appears in anthologies.
If you’d like to keep in touch — and perhaps join me on more adventures — I’d love you to subscribe here, or find me on Instagram @shelleydark.
My ultimate mission is the pursuit of the perfect cream bun!
Hydra in Winter: An Island Escape in Search of a Greek Pirate
When the summer crowds leave, the magic begins
In the quiet cooler months, I arrive solo on the car-free island of Hydra to hunt down a family secret. I'm convinced that somewhere in the archives lies the truth about my husband’s ancestor: a Greek pirate who became Australia’s first Greek convict.
Part humorous travel diary, part detective story, pure joy.
Armed with an umbrella, a cashmere scarf, and zero Greek, I settled into a shipowner’s mansion on the harbour. To the clip-clop of donkeys on stone steps, I sample fresh seafood, watch fishermen mend nets, and hike the island’s hills. The warmth of the locals turns myurgent quest into a lesson in slow travel — and sparks my passion to write the pirate’s story.
For readers who enjoy humorous travel memoirs, Greek island escapes, solo adventures, and true stories that sparkle with curiosity, serendipity, and joie de vivre.
Start your Greek winter escape today — with Hydra in Winter.
"Chrónos is the measured, ticking seconds of daily life; kairós represents those rare, significant moments that transcend ordinary time. Hydra is kairós." —Shelley Dark Hydra in Winter
"Reading Hydra in Winter is like drinking a bottomless glass of champagne-bubbly, refreshing, and bound you make you laugh." —Kyra Geddes, author of The Story Thief
Support your local bookshop by asking them to get it in for you, or...
Son of Hydra
Available Nov 2025:
A man born to command. A world that refuses to obey.
Sydney, 1829.
Ghikas Voulgaris, proud and reckless son of a powerful Greek shipping family, is certain that life will bend to his will.
When he and his friends attack a ship supplying the enemy during the Greek War of Independence, it shatters everything. His punishment is swift and public: exile to the penal colony of New South Wales as a convicted pirate.
Stripped of his name, influence, and friends, Ghikas is nobody.
He must yield to the order of men who neither know nor care who he was. And Mary—a fierce Irish orphan who answers to no one—is everything he doesn’t want in a woman.
Ghikas believes he’ll serve his sentence and return to Hydra to reclaim his birthright.
But the real battle—discovering who he is, where he belongs, and what really makes a man—has only just begun.
It's perfect for readers who love:
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Australian Historical Fiction
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Historical sagas intertwined with personal family history
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Tales of father-son relationships, male freindships, rebellion, redemption, and forging new beginnings
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The rich cultural tapestries of Greece and Australia
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A blend of pirate lore and pioneering spirit
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An enduring and heart-stopping cross-cultural love affair
Daughter of Cork
(Coming 2026)
Cork, 1832.
Where Son of Hydra told the story of Ghikas Voulgaris — the young Greek exile sent to Australia as a convicted pirate — Daughter of Cork is his wife Mary’s version of the tale. And she tells it very differently.
Born in County Cork and raised in the Foundling Hospital, Mary Lyons is fiery, clever, and answers to no one. When she’s sent to New South Wales aboard the Red Rover, part of the English Government’s pre-famine emigration scheme, she sees the voyage not as exile but as escape — a chance to shape her own life.
In Sydney, she meets Ghikas Voulgaris: proud, wounded, and bound by a code that demands women be silent. Their worlds collide — hers forged in survival, his in command — and the love that grows between them will test everything they both believe about freedom, honour, and belonging.
Spanning Cork, the open ocean and the raw new colony of New South Wales, Daughter of Cork is Mary’s story: a tale of resilience, rebellion, and impossible love — and the choice between independence and love and security.
Perfect for readers who loved The Thorn Birds, The Light Between Oceans, and Outlander.