Many Pots on the Fire.
I have a few literary projects on the stove at the moment, it's a bit like juggling.
Completed books, seeking a Publisher, are 'Skinsuit 2222: the Serfs Uprising', which is speculative fiction set in Meanjin Australia, and 'Murder at the Town Crier Tournament', a murder mystery set in Devon England.
Books I am in the process of editing are 'Spike', which started as a short story, and was short-listed for the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, I finally came up with an appropriate conclusion, and 'Jetset Gypsy'.
Undergoing a complete rewrite is 'Swampy', now a narrative nonfiction/ memoir set in Brisbane from 1985 to 1999. Radio 4ZZZ FM will celebrate 50 years on air next year, and Heather Anderson is publishing a book to mark the occasion.
I gave Heather a couple of chapters from 'Swampy', concerning the Victoria Brazil attacks on 4ZZZ in 1988/ 89, and my management of the acid house club, 'Euphoria'. Heather is contacting as many past and present 4ZZZ workers, to get a fully rounded history of the big events the Zed's at three studios, and the market days and concerts which Zed's Promotions Co-ordinators ran. I'd like to publish 'Swampy' to coincide with December's 50th celebrations, if I can.
I've been laughing and groaning reading all my old journals, and putting the important characters and events into my own book, 'Swampy'. Pre-internet culture in Meanjin/ Brisbane was weird- small events in random places, where the visual arts/ performing arts/ music/ nightclub/ hair and fashion worlds collided, organised by phone calls to share-phones, posted invitations, posters and handbills, and word of mouth.
'Swampy' was partially published in serial form in Semper Floreat, UQ's newspaper, when it was still a fiction MS, with historical fiction woven through it.
As I re-read the story, what struck me was that the really unusual thing about the journals, was the dreams predicting the close future (5 to 10 Years), rather than any made-up flashbacks to the past. The fictionalisation about the 4ZZZ weakened the story. I had fictionalised for legal reasons, at the time.
So the 'Swampy' story has lost the fiction, and the historic bits, but gained from the realness of these stories, and the editing powers I have acquired over decades of writing.
It's been hilarious making time-lines, then listing the dozens of newspaper and fanzine articles, theatre and art performances, band and circus gigs, and seeing the photos and publicity, kept in folders, clippings from so many publications which are long gone.
My other project is a two-hander play, under the working title of 'It's Complicated'. I've written a lot of plays, and only about half have ever been performed, and none have been published.
I've had a read-through and a bit of a photo shoot with my friend and fellow actor, Mark Love. Mark has been my Companion, notably for King Charles' Coronation at Government House. He did a Drama Teaching degree, and sings and plays piano, and is just excellent to work with. We hope to present this play on stage, as a couple of theatres in our city encourage local playwrights with competitions for a place in their production schedule.
I found the script to another play called 'Schoolies Week' when I was going through my old manuscripts and clippings.
I have been pitching the first two books, Skinsuit and Murder, at The Australian Society of Author's online speed pitching events. If these, and my numerous query letters do no result in commercial publication, I will self-publish one or both books with KDP in 2025.
Then I will start pitching for 'Swampy' and 'Spike', after they are both finished with the editing process.
As usual, I am seeking test readers or beta readers, who are willing to spot typos, plot holes, or bad spelling.
If you'd like a PDF copy of any of these upcoming works for a test read, please send me a personal message.
Please do not send a PM if you want to hit on me. I am married, and this is Goodreads, not Grindr.
If you want advice on what to read, I'm just going to say, read one of my books, or one of the over three hundred reviews I've written here, dude.
To my test readers, or any reader who has given me a rating or review, I say, thank you very much.
Completed books, seeking a Publisher, are 'Skinsuit 2222: the Serfs Uprising', which is speculative fiction set in Meanjin Australia, and 'Murder at the Town Crier Tournament', a murder mystery set in Devon England.
Books I am in the process of editing are 'Spike', which started as a short story, and was short-listed for the Scarlet Stiletto Awards, I finally came up with an appropriate conclusion, and 'Jetset Gypsy'.
Undergoing a complete rewrite is 'Swampy', now a narrative nonfiction/ memoir set in Brisbane from 1985 to 1999. Radio 4ZZZ FM will celebrate 50 years on air next year, and Heather Anderson is publishing a book to mark the occasion.
I gave Heather a couple of chapters from 'Swampy', concerning the Victoria Brazil attacks on 4ZZZ in 1988/ 89, and my management of the acid house club, 'Euphoria'. Heather is contacting as many past and present 4ZZZ workers, to get a fully rounded history of the big events the Zed's at three studios, and the market days and concerts which Zed's Promotions Co-ordinators ran. I'd like to publish 'Swampy' to coincide with December's 50th celebrations, if I can.
I've been laughing and groaning reading all my old journals, and putting the important characters and events into my own book, 'Swampy'. Pre-internet culture in Meanjin/ Brisbane was weird- small events in random places, where the visual arts/ performing arts/ music/ nightclub/ hair and fashion worlds collided, organised by phone calls to share-phones, posted invitations, posters and handbills, and word of mouth.
'Swampy' was partially published in serial form in Semper Floreat, UQ's newspaper, when it was still a fiction MS, with historical fiction woven through it.
As I re-read the story, what struck me was that the really unusual thing about the journals, was the dreams predicting the close future (5 to 10 Years), rather than any made-up flashbacks to the past. The fictionalisation about the 4ZZZ weakened the story. I had fictionalised for legal reasons, at the time.
So the 'Swampy' story has lost the fiction, and the historic bits, but gained from the realness of these stories, and the editing powers I have acquired over decades of writing.
It's been hilarious making time-lines, then listing the dozens of newspaper and fanzine articles, theatre and art performances, band and circus gigs, and seeing the photos and publicity, kept in folders, clippings from so many publications which are long gone.
My other project is a two-hander play, under the working title of 'It's Complicated'. I've written a lot of plays, and only about half have ever been performed, and none have been published.
I've had a read-through and a bit of a photo shoot with my friend and fellow actor, Mark Love. Mark has been my Companion, notably for King Charles' Coronation at Government House. He did a Drama Teaching degree, and sings and plays piano, and is just excellent to work with. We hope to present this play on stage, as a couple of theatres in our city encourage local playwrights with competitions for a place in their production schedule.
I found the script to another play called 'Schoolies Week' when I was going through my old manuscripts and clippings.
I have been pitching the first two books, Skinsuit and Murder, at The Australian Society of Author's online speed pitching events. If these, and my numerous query letters do no result in commercial publication, I will self-publish one or both books with KDP in 2025.
Then I will start pitching for 'Swampy' and 'Spike', after they are both finished with the editing process.
As usual, I am seeking test readers or beta readers, who are willing to spot typos, plot holes, or bad spelling.
If you'd like a PDF copy of any of these upcoming works for a test read, please send me a personal message.
Please do not send a PM if you want to hit on me. I am married, and this is Goodreads, not Grindr.
If you want advice on what to read, I'm just going to say, read one of my books, or one of the over three hundred reviews I've written here, dude.
To my test readers, or any reader who has given me a rating or review, I say, thank you very much.
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