Mia would be known to many in the area as the operator of Murloc Jewellers, which she still operates from home.

The book was published in August 2018 and has sold well, making it into the top 100 for Amazon.

In November 2018, it received the Reader's Favorite Literary Titan award. Reader's Favorite is one of the largest book review and award contests on the internet and is respected by many of the well known major publishers.

But now the book has been recognised as the 2019 Reader's Favorite gold medal winner in the genre of Fiction - Dystopia.

Reader's Favorite receives thousands of entries from all over the world and has broken them down into 140 genres so that they are comparing like for like. This is a very significant achievement for an Australian author.

You can learn more about Survivors of the Sun and Mia Kingslie at https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/survivors-of-the-sun

Mia has been invited to accept her award at a ceremony in Miami, Florida, USA where she will receive her framed certificate and a gold medal. She has also been invited to showcase her book at the Miami Book Fair International, the largest book fair in America.

To achieve this, Mia needs to raise enough money to pay for flights and accommodation and this is being sought through Go Fund Me. She needs $14,500 by October 20. Please help by going to https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mia-get-to-the-reader039s-favorite-book-awards and making a donation.

The NSW Government is bringing a piece of Old Bar's heritage into the future with a grant to assist the development of a new local history project.

Member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead announced $3750 in support from the Royal Australian Historical Society Cultural Grants Program for skilled historians in Old Bar and Manning Point.

"A lot of volunteer effort goes into recording and telling our local history and I'm thrilled that this funding for Old Bar district will allow our volunteers and local historians to develop their work and share a small piece of our communities' story to the world," Mr Bromhead said.

The project will allow the Old Bar and Manning Point Business and Community Association (OBMPBCA) to research histories of our towns, our industries, our people, our significant places, our significant events and publish them for our website, libraries, historical societies and history boards to be displayed on the car park wall in front of Coles Old Bar shopping centre.

"These grants are excellent news for local historians across the State with funding paving the way for a diverse range of historical research projects and publications to be developed by communities from all across NSW," said Mr Bromhead.

Recipients of Royal Australian Historical Society Cultural Grants cover projects including research, publications, professional support and travel, and conservation of historic material. 21 funded projects are spread across the State including 14 for regional NSW.

This brings the OBMPBCA a step closer to completing a project that has been on the wish list for a number of years.

The annual general meeting of the Old Bar Manning Point Business and Community Association (OBMPBCA) was held at FLOW Bar last Saturday. Some of the attendees were at a meeting for the first time and are now becoming new members and there is also fresh blood on the committee.

Guest speaker at the meeting was Mia Kingslie who spoke about her recently published book and award received (see story above). She also left a copy of the book for members to browse and solicited support for the Go Fund Me appeal to help make possible a trip to the USA to receive the award.

Mia will be accompanied on the trip by OBMPBCA member, Carole Isaacs.

The president's report was given by vice president, Carole Isaacs and she was able to advise that the past year has been a good one for the OBMPBCA with several projects completed.

The 10 bus shelters have all been completed, including one at Wallabi Point. The Men's Shed have installed a small plaque on each one which advises the organisations involved in bringing this to fruition.

Grant funding has been received to cover the cost of fuel when members are carrying out the activities of the organisation.

The rejuvenation of the Old Bar foreshore will be a project of MidCoast Council as it will be a huge undertaking. The mural on the car park wall in front of Coles Old Bar will be able to progress after the history project (see above) is completed.

Rosemary Probst, on behalf of the Old Bar Beach Sand Replenishment Group, addressed the meeting outlining the efforts of the group and the state of Mudbishops Park.

Election of office bearers saw the return of Paula Gilmour as president and Mel Rosamond as vice president (business) with new member, Jackie Roberts as vice president (community).

Steve Doessel remains as treasurer; Neil Cadden re-elected as secretary but now with the addition of Sophia Miller as assistant secretary.

The association is working towards many more projects, as funding becomes available so if you haven't joined, now would be a good time. Businesses can take advantage of a $25 discount on membership until the end of this month and any member of the community can join for just $20.

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