Accomplished outback author Marion Houldsworth was in Rockhampton recently to promote her new book published by CQU Press. She attended the Multicultural Fair and Open Day.

Reaching new heights with this latest collection of outback yarns, Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow has again documented stories from some remarkable characters, managing to eclipse some of her earlier literary efforts.

Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow,  the sequel to From the Gulf to God Knows Where, has produced an outstanding collection of stories that are never short on humour, drama, pathos and above all, a pragmatic approach to life and a desire to see it through.

The book chronicles the amazing hardship, resilience and will to survive of many outback pioneers like Ab Teece who, at the age of 10, was left in a hut to fend for himself and had to resort to stealing vegetables from a nearby market garden to survive.

It also recounts the lives of other outback identities, including Toby Rogers, Ross Leake, Tom Masso, Kate Darcy Teece, Clargie Saltmire, Brian Beveridge and many more.

The stories are told with warmth, humour and compassion and the undoubted admiration and respect author Marion Houldsworth has for the people she features shines through.

The book demonstrates how bush people have learned to take major changes like drought and flood in their stride. Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow is almost a catch phrase used by many country people and expresses the eternal optimism and courage they show when faced with almost overwhelming adversity.

Houldsworth, who spent much of her own life in some of the remotest places in the outback, has previous best-sellers including Barefoot through the Bindies: Growing Up in North Queensland in the Early 1900s and Red Dust Rising: The Life Story of Ray Fryer of Urapunga; both also published by CQU Press.

Maybe It'll Rain Tomorrow is available from CQU Press. RRP $33.95.

For more information about this and other CQU Press titles phone 4923 2520 or visit the website at http://www.outbackbooks.com/ .