Books and Refined by Fire Press

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
Cover of Kissed by Death by Dylan Verdun Sullivan
Kissed by Death
Cover of Refined by Fire by Dylan Verdun Sullivan
Refined by Fire

The books · The journal · The Press

Words with a life beyond the page.

Books by Dylan Verdun Sullivan, and the convictions behind Refined by Fire Press.

Memoir

Kissed by Death

My Journey to Finding Life in the Darkness

A memoir of survival, faith and the long work of finding life after darkness. It is the personal story behind much of the writing in this journal.

Dylan Verdun Sullivan · Refined by Fire Press
Paperback ISBN 9780646715995

View the memoir on Amazon Australia Read a related journal entry

Devotional

Refined by Fire

Finding God in the Furnace of Trauma

A devotional reflection on suffering, belief and the search for God within the furnace. The same questions continue through the journal’s writings on faith and recovery.

Dylan Verdun Sullivan · Refined by Fire Press
Paperback ISBN 9780646731766

View the devotional on Amazon Australia Read Christ in the Middle of the Fire

The collected writings, 2026

Quiet Unfiltered Notes: From the Fire

The six-volume collection grows from the original dated writing in this journal. The entries remain a place to read, return to and follow the work as it unfolds.

  1. IA Quiet Place for Heavy Things
  2. IICarrying Fire in Fragile Hands
  3. IIIWriting From the Middle of It
  4. IVThe Power of the Lament
  5. VThe Letter I Am Still Writing
  6. VIThe Fire Worth Preserving
Read the journal through its reading paths

The books and the national record

The story of the books includes their place in Australia’s national deposit system. Dylan’s reflection records the significance of that preservation milestone.

Read about the national deposit

Independent publishing & preservation

Refined by Fire Press

Founded by Dylan Verdun Sullivan, the Press is devoted to publishing testimony and preserving historical Christian literature with care for the original witness.

We do not manufacture the fire. We preserve the evidence that it burned.
Read the Press’s story & mission Read The Fire Worth Preserving

The Bookshop

A separate shelf of selected reading, connected to the same life of faith and study.

Explore The Bookshop

The collected writings, 2026

Quiet Unfiltered Notes: From the Fire

The six-volume collection grows from the original dated writing in this journal. The entries remain a place to read, return to and follow the work as it unfolds.

Volumes I–V are available to read free on Google Play Books.

  1. I

    A Quiet Place for Heavy Things

    Get the free ebook on Google Play Books
  2. II

    Carrying Fire in Fragile Hands

    Get the free ebook on Google Play Books
  3. III

    Writing From the Middle of It

    Get the free ebook on Google Play Books
  4. IV

    The Power of the Lament

    Get the free ebook on Google Play Books
  5. V

    The Letter I Am Still Writing

    Get the free ebook on Google Play Books
  6. VI

    The Fire Worth Preserving

Browse the collection on Google Play Books

The author and his books

From the writing to the reader.

Dylan Verdun Sullivan wearing a hat and holding a copy of Kissed by Death
The memoir, out in the world.
Dylan Verdun Sullivan holding his book Refined by Fire
Dylan with Refined by Fire.
Refined by Fire Press flame and publisher name

Refined by Fire Press
Independent publishing and the preservation of words.

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From the Fire

Start Here: Kissed by Death

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
As I sit with my morning coffee, with my two study buddies Ninja and Ember this space exists for a reason. This is not just a blog. This is where everything connects. I am Dylan Verdun Sullivan  an Australian author and founder of Refined by Fire Press . My work, including Kissed by Death and Refined by Fire , is indexed in the National Library of Australia . What you’ll find here is not polished religion or surface-level reflection. This is lived experience written from the middle of trauma, addiction, survival, and faith. Kissed by Death is the backbone of it all. It tells the story of what happens when life breaks you and what it means to be rebuilt. 👉 Read the memoir Kissed by Death→ From here, the writing carries on. Some pieces are reflections. Some are wrestlings. Some are written in the quiet places where God meets us when nothing else makes sense. If you’ve ever walked through darkness this space is for you. About the Author Dylan Verdun Sullivan is the founder of Refin...
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The Unexpected Encouragement

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
This morning I am sitting quietly with my first coffee of the day. The house is still. The sky outside is only just beginning to wake up. In a little while I will put on my uniform, get ready for work, and head off for another shift at Gold Coast University Hospital . But before the day begins, I find myself sitting here reflecting. It has been a difficult week. One of the more difficult weeks I have experienced in quite some time. There have been disappointments. Questions. Conversations I never expected to have. Chapters that ended much sooner than I thought they would. Plans that suddenly changed. The kind of week that leaves you emotionally exhausted before you even realise how tired you are. To be honest, I have spent much of the last several days trying to process everything. Trying to make sense of things. Trying to understand what God is doing. Trying to understand why certain doors close while others open. Trying to reconcile disappointment and faith at the same time. And if I...
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Five Days Later: Learning to Write While Learning to Heal

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
It has been five days since my finger surgery. Five days. There is something strange about counting recovery in days. Before surgery, everything was measured by the date. September 11. The appointment. The operation. The thing coming toward me. Now I am on the other side of it, and time is measured differently. Five days since surgery. Five days of healing. Five days of adjusting. Five days of looking at my hand and knowing that something about it has permanently changed. And somewhere in the middle of all of this, while my body is slowly doing what bodies somehow know how to do, I purchased a book. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King . I haven't read it yet. Not one chapter. I haven't highlighted a sentence or underlined a paragraph. I haven't formed an opinion about King's philosophy of writing. I don't know which parts I will agree with, which parts will challenge me, or which parts might irritate me. The book is simply waiting for me. And strangely...
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How Close Does Death Have to Get to a Man Before You Feel His Breath?

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
How close does death have to get to a man before you feel his breath? It is a question that has lived quietly inside me for a long time. It is days like today I am honestly wrestling with this question. Not because I have found an easy answer. But because I have met too many people who have carried that question without ever saying it out loud. Some battles never announce themselves. Some suffering learns to smile. Some pain becomes so practiced at hiding that even the people standing closest never notice it. Death has always fascinated humanity. Not simply because He is inevitable. But because, for some people, He does not arrive only at the end of life. Sometimes He begins walking beside them long before that. Not as a friend. Never as a friend. But as a shadow that slowly convinces a weary soul that it has always been there. He keeps pace with ordinary life. He stands quietly beside you while you make your morning coffee. He follows you through the supermarket while nobody notices t...
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The Difference Between Functioning and Living

By Dylan Verdun Sullivan
Jesus Is With You in the Pressure I have been thinking a lot lately about the pressure men carry. Not the kind people see publicly. The hidden pressure . The pressure that sits quietly underneath everyday life while you still somehow keep functioning. I do not think people fully understand how much weight many men are carrying internally while still showing up every day pretending everything is normal. You still go to work. Still pay the bills. Still answer texts. Still laugh at jokes. Still tell people you are “just tired.” Meanwhile internally your mind feels like it has been holding its breath for six months. I know that feeling well. There have been seasons of my life where I felt like I was carrying so much pressure internally that even small things started affecting me emotionally. A bill arriving at the wrong time. One difficult conversation. One more responsibility. One more unexpected expense. One more stressful shift. And suddenly your nervous system feel...
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