One Shandy Too Many, by Alison Stegert (short story)

Maybe I lost my mojo. I’d always thought I had a way with dogs: They loved me and I loved them. Then I met Shandy. She was a Lhasa Apso, one of those fluffy creatures with bulgy eyes and a top-notch. We got off to a bad start, thanks to Howie, who dumped yet another of his clients on me at the last minute with no warning and no instructions. When I tried to put on Shandy’s harness, she started rattling like a toy lawnmower. I didn’t realise it was a growl until she nearly tore off my pinkie. That’s when my belief that I was some kind of dog whisperer faltered.

In hindsight, I see that I should have put my fingers on the line for the sake of the business. If I had, things would have gone a whole lot differently, and Howie and I wouldn’t now have a bounty on our young heads.

“Dude, just do it. I’m on a roll, and Shandy should have been walked two hours ago.”

“No, Howie. She’s your client.” I paused. “Anyway, I don’t know the security code; I’m already running late with my own clients…” Okay, the last part wasn’t true. I don’t run late because, unlike my business partner, I have a grip on my gaming endeavours.

He pleaded above the background rumbles and gunfire from his computer. “Come on, mate. Just this once.”

“Once? You’re kidding, right?” I nearly dropped my phone. Beatrice, Mr Darcy and Charlie were on the lead, straining to go.

“Come on, Shaun. If you’re on schedule – and you’re always on schedule – right now you’re directly across the street from the Becketts’ house. They’ll appreciate your attention to detail.”

I looked across the street, and sure enough, there was the house. I shook my head, simultaneously annoyed at his blatant manipulation and impressed with his accuracy. “What’s the code?”

“4-7-8-8, 5-9-1. The key has a yellow marker. Thanks Shaun.”

“You owe me, big time.”

“Naturally. Oh – and take off your shoes. Mrs Beckett is a neat freak.”

The Becketts’ interior was wall-to-wall white. The only thing that wasn’t white was Shandy, who was Malibu Barbie blonde. After deactivating the security system, I discovered a second item of colour, a little turd she’d deposited so close to the door that when I opened it, it had smeared a reeking brown arc over the white tiles.

“Good one, Shandy.” I sighed and went in search of paper towels. I found a note for Howie and a twenty-dollar bill on the kitchen counter. The note read:

Dear Howard,

Thanks for minding Shandy while we’re away. Would you be a sweetheart and put the bins out for me? We’ll be back tomorrow. Here’s $20 for your trouble. xx, Serena

“xx?” I said aloud. Howie was clearly onto a good thing here. I pocketed his tip before grabbing the roll of paper towels.

Shandy slunk off when I called her a bad girl. It wasn’t her fault though; it was Howie’s. My jaw tensed. We had agreed on a fifty-fifty division of customers, but it had been more like 75 per cent mine, 25 per cent his ever since he reached the elite mode on World of Warcraft. His addiction aggravated me, because our dream depended on us both. We had to keep things rolling while we finished building the website. Then we could expand from pet-sitting to selling pet products. Eventually we’d franchise WonderDogz and cha-ching! We’d be rolling in money – all before we reached the ripe age of 20. 21 max. And all the people who said we’d never do it could kiss our rich butts.

Reviewing the business plan soothed my annoyance at Howie and got me through the grim task at hand. When I jogged past the three dogs to chuck the mess in the wheelie bin, they jumped up all waggy and keen. “Hang on guys,” I said over my shoulder on the way back inside. “Gotta get Shandy.” I heard Beatrice whimper impatiently. She was my favourite client, a snuffly British Bulldog, so sooky she nearly wet herself every time she saw me.

A few minutes later, I emerged, shaken and lucky to have all ten fingers. In the end, I’d just clipped Shandy’s lead to her collar, since the harness was clearly not going to happen. She curled her lip and rattled at the other dogs when they sniffed her. I swear Beatrice rolled her eyes.

***

It was a routine walk until we got to the Sandgate lagoon where a magpie swooped me. I did what anyone would do: I ducked my head and ran for cover. The trouble was I dropped the leads. My three clients handled it well, especially Beatrice, who took on the magpie.

Shandy was the problem. She ran off, dragging her leash behind. I darted after her and stomped on the end of her lead just as she reached the curb. She flicked backwards, shrugged out of her collar, and pounced into the street like a fluffy ninja ferret. Cars were approaching at speed from both directions. Everything seemed to slow down, unfolding frame by frame.

“Shandy! Stop!”

One car swerved and drove off, horn blaring; the other vehicle, a beat-up blue van, slammed on its brakes and skidded to a halt, stopping inches from Shandy, who was crouched in the middle of the lane. The car door opened and a hulking man got out. A lank, grey pony tail dangled down his back and tats covered his arms. He wore a black leather vest that had no hope of ever being buttoned around his bulging gut. “That your dog?” he said pointing to Shandy.

I decided in a split second that vagueness would work in my favour. “Not exactly.”

In two strides he reached Shandy, who was creeping toward the opposite curb, and he scooped her up. He scratched under her chin and she rattled a growl at him.

I sighed, realising at last he wanted to help. “She’s a bad dog…” I said with a nervous laugh and reached for her.

“She’ll do,” he said with a shrug, and he tossed her in the van, climbed in, and peeled away, leaving swervy skid marks and a cloud of black smoke.

My mouth hung open, and I blinked to make sure I hadn’t imagined the whole scene.

“Aw, shit!” I yelled. “Did you see that?” I asked an old man who was coming down the footpath, indignation seething in my voice, and I held up the leash and empty collar.

“I did, poor dog…”

“I can’t believe it. Who does that? Who just picks up a dog off the street and drives away?” I was so fired up my arms felt like pistons and it was hard to catch my breath.

The old guy frowned. He seemed to hesitate.

“Mate, I’ve got to get that dog back. She doesn’t belong to me.”  I felt sick.

“Well, I’m sorry to say you probably won’t get her back. Been a spate of dog thefts around here.”

I shook my head. “No, no. I have to get her back.”  I pulled my phone out of my pocket to ring Howie.

“There’s a racket going on,” he continued. “Dog fights in the mangroves north of here. They’ve been pinching little dogs like that one for bait.”

“Bait?” I looked up from my phone.

“Yep, it gives their dogs a taste for blood.”

My face contorted in horror. Shandy was nasty but no dog deserved that.

He continued, “And they snatch big dogs for fighting. Tough breeds, you know, like that Bulldog over there.” He clicked his tongue. “People really should be more careful…”

The other dogs! I turned to collect them.

The man called after me. “Deep Water Bend. That’s where the police think the fights are held. Not that they’ve been able to prove anything… I’d stay away if I were you. Bikie gangs and thugs.” He shook his head. “Nasty lot.”

***

Howie very helpfully got hung up on the fact that I hadn’t used Shandy’s harness. “Dog-treat first. Then the harness, Shaun. She’s a dog of routine.”

I scrunched my eyes in aggravation. “She’s dog of hell, Howie. She nearly gnawed off my finger,” I said from his beanbag chair. “And she’s about to become a chewy toy for Pitt Bulls.”

“Not if I can stop it. We’re going to get her back or we can kiss our business plan and cushy future goodbye. You do realise who her owners are?” He gave me a ‘Hello?’ look.

I mirrored his expression. I had been rather busy, single-handedly keeping the operations happening, thank-you-very-much.

“Roland Beckett is the CFO of Futuræ Financial.” He searched for signs of recognition. “The source of investors for WonderDogz?”

“Oh,” I said roundly.

“And Serena Beckett is a major patroness of the RSPCA. Very well connected. Last time I checked, nearly a third of our business had come from word-of-mouth, specifically Mrs Beckett’s mouth.”

“Right.” I dragged my fingers down my face. “So what do we do? We’ve got everything wrapped up in this business.” I sank into angst.

Howie, on the other hand, was in his element. Problem-solving brought out his inner Jack Black. “Well… I reckon we rock up to the fights tonight as if we are going to bet – or whatever – and when no one’s looking, we grab Shandy and skedaddle.”

I looked at him. “Oh, you’re kidding.” I laughed, but he didn’t join in. “Wait. You’re serious?”

He nodded. “I did a little schnooping after you rang…” Schnooping was Howie’s word for hacking. “…and I found a forum that had a phone number, which I’ve sent a text to. When they get back to us, we’ll know when and where.” He grinned and wriggled his brows.

“Howie, no.”

“Dude, I’ve got it covered. You just turn up.” He looked me up and down. “And maybe wear something different. Like, lose the glasses. And the Tardis tee.”

“You’re worried about wardrobe? Howie, in all your ‘schnooping’, did you not discover that dog fighting is linked to organised crime? Drug trafficking and stuff?”

He let out a pffft sound and waved his hand. “Only in America. It’s pretty low-key in Australia.”

“Outlaw biker gangs are not ‘low-key’. What if they track us? I can’t believe you used your personal mobile number. What if they catch us?” My mouth went dry.

He shook his head slowly. “You are making this into something it’s not. Look, Shaun: You’re great at operations. Your strength is organisation. Efficiency. Customer service. Mine is creative problem solving. You do your thing; I’ll do mine.” He paused. “What we need is cash. How much can you get your hands on?” He rubbed his hands together.

Something snapped. For once I was unmoved by his manipulation. “None. Zilch. No. There is no way we are going to ‘rock up’ to the dog fights. And we are not putting my money into illegal activity.” I set my jaw. “We’ll get Shandy back, but we’re doing it my way.”

***

Later that night, we stood on the landing of a high-set fibro house, tugging down the ill-fitting Chubby Checker’s Pizza uniforms we’d borrowed from Howie’s kinda-sorta girlfriend Linda. I held the hotbox and he pressed the buzzer. We waited, staring at the blue paint flaking off the door.

“I’ll do the talking, right?” he said.

“Fine.” I could barely swallow, let alone talk.  Traffic noise from a distant highway droned through the mangroves, and cicadas shrilled. It could have been any old house, a rundown, lonesome place where someone’s crazy granny lived on her own. Only the van in the drive and the bunch of motorcycles parked at the side set it apart.

“Ring again,” I said after a couple minutes of waiting.  He pressed the buzzer long and hard. This time we felt movement. The door opened as far as the chain allowed, revealing a sliver of a guy.

“Your pizza,” Howie said.

The guy shifted and eyeballed both of us. “I didn’t order a pizza, mate.”

“Somebody here did.” Howie cleared his throat. “It’ll be $13.50.”

The guy scratched his head. “Hang on. I’ll see if Jeff ordered it.”  The door closed, and we waited. And waited.

“What the hell’s ‘Jeff’ doing?” Howie asked. He buzzed again.

The door opened and the same voice said, “Jeff reckons he didn’t order pizza.”

“Look,” Howie said, pulling out his mobile phone. He rattled off the phone number from the hacked forum. “That’s where the order came from. I’ve already had one hoax order tonight, and I don’t need another. The boss takes it out of my pay.”

The chain rattled and the door opened. “The number’s right…” He pulled out a thick wad of green bills and peeled off a note.

My eyes widened, but Howie didn’t flinch. “Mate, you can’t expect me to change a hundred.”

The guy sighed. “Hang on…” He was about to close the door.

“Uh- sorry… he needs the toilet.” Howie pushed me forward. “First night on the job… nerves… Any chance?”

The guy looked dubious. His eyes dropped to my chest, and the corners of his mouth curled. He pointed left. “End of the hall.”

Howie motioned to the glowing computer screen. “A fellow gamer,” he said to the guy. “Alliance or Horde?”

I found the toilet and relieved myself. As I washed my hands in the half basin, I saw the reason for the guy’s amused look. Embroidered across the uniform pocket in reverse script was ‘Linda’.

On my way back, I quietly peeked behind doors off the hall. Closet. Bedroom. The last one was closed. As soon as I put my hand on the knob, I heard sniffing from the crack under the door – and scratching.

The guy turned around mid-sentence and I dropped my hand and entered the lounge. “Thanks,” I said. “Did you find the change for the pizza?”

“Got side-tracked,” he said. “Be right back.” He went out through the kitchen. A screen door banged.

“Something’s in there,” I whispered. “Can you keep him busy?”

Howie nodded. He sucked in a breath and headed for the back door.

I opened the door, and dog smell wafted into my nostrils. Half a dozen dog faces looked up at me. “Far out.” I scanned the animals. Shandy’s head bobbed up and she dashed toward me. I scooped her up. “Oh man, I never thought I’d be glad to see you.” She licked my face and nuzzled me. I turned to leave but the pack of small dogs wound around my feet, jumping up and pawing at my legs. “Sorry guys,” I whispered, “I can’t.” But I couldn’t leave them to the horrible fate that awaited them. I gathered up what I could hold, a Foxie and a trembling Chihuahua, and left.

A few seconds later, I was hauling butt up the dirt road, barely containing the wriggling animals. I clambered into my sister’s 1983 Corolla and cranked the ignition, but it wouldn’t fire. “Come on!” I urged. Finally, the motor chugged to life. I reversed wildly up the street to the driveway. “Move it, Howie,” I said to no one and thumped the steering wheel.

Finally Howie burst out, taking three steps at a time. Poking out of the hotbox was a furry cluster of dogs.

He climbed in. “Step on it!”

I did and the car fishtailed up the road, kicking up gravel and backfiring at the bend in the distance.

***

Howie’s adrenaline-fuelled victory high ended abruptly when we pulled up at the Becketts’. Their car sat in the drive and the house was lit up.

“Weren’t they away overnight?” Howie asked.

“That’s what the note said.” We sat silently. “We are so busted. I hope you’ve got a good story.”

“I’ve got nothing,” Howie said. “Might as well face the music. Coming?”

Howie rang the bell, and I stood in the yard, holding Shandy, who’d become quite attached to me. The veranda light came on, and Mrs Beckett peered through the bevelled glass to the side of the door.

“Ah, Howard. I was just about to ring you. I think we need to have a little talk…”

“I can explain everything, Serena…”

“Hang on a minute. Roland wants a word with you, too.” She turned and called out, “Rollie, Howard is here.”

My stomach lurched and I felt light-headed. This was the part when the adult would tell us off for being irresponsible losers, hopeless dreamers. Dad was right: I just should have gone to uni.

Roland appeared behind her and said, “Howard, my boy, I need to have a word.”

“Yes sir. That’s Shaun, my business partner.” Howie motioned to me. Sweat glistened on his upper lip.

“Come on up, Shaun.”

As I walked up the stairs, Mrs Beckett did a double take to look at the dog in my arms. “Isn’t she lovely? Just like Shandy.”

Right on cue, a pale golden Lhasa Apso emerged from the house. She sniffed my foot and let out a menacing rattle.

“Shandy! Enough!” Serena scolded. “Sorry, Shaun, she does that with some people.”

Howie and I swapped wild-eyed looks.

“First, Howard, thank you for cleaning up her mess. Next time, a little air freshener wouldn’t go astray. There’s a can in the loo.” Serena put her hand on Howie’s forearm. “We are quite upset that you left Shandy in the backyard when no one was home. Bette from next door found Shandy digging under the fence.”

“I… I…” Howie stammered.

Roland said, “We can’t risk leaving Shandy outside, even if she messes in the house. There’s been a spate of dog thefts in the area.”

Serena picked up Shandy protectively. “And the thieves are brazen! I’ve heard stories of people walking right into a house to steal a pet. Can you imagine the audacity?”

Both of us shook our heads in sync.

I looked down at the dog in my arms. Oh crap…

***

Alison Stegert’s writer website: www.oneyearinink.wordpress.com

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The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Steven Lochran – Author Interview

Goldrush (Vanguard Prime)Wild Card (Vanguard Prime)Batman: The Man Who LaughsThe Long HalloweenAnimal Farm and 1984Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider)Percy Jackson and the Lightning ThiefA Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire)

For those unfamiliar with your books, how would you describe your fiction?

The ‘elevator pitch’ I came up with when submitting the Vanguard Prime series to publishers was “Alex Rider joins the X-Men”, which embarrassingly enough managed to make it through to the marketing materials. “Percy Jackson joins the Avengers” would be another way to encapsulate it, though in general terms I’d describe my fiction as books for kids that adults can enjoy too.

What was one of the most challenging or most enjoyable things about writing a novel which introduces readers to a team of superheroes?

The challenging thing was working out an obstacle that would be big enough to challenge a whole team to solve it, and to work out a way that the most junior member of the team could prove to be the most effective. It wasn’t easy! But, in a weird way, that was also the most enjoyable part. I see plotting as being a bit of a mind puzzle; you work out what you need the story to do and then you start assembling the jigsaw so that all the pieces fit. It’s hard, but it’s satisfying when you make it work.

The other challenge was in creating superhero characters that felt genuine and that had a sense of history to them, while also being a bit of a fresh spin on some well-worn archetypes. I hope I managed to pull it off!

You recently appeared at the Somerset Celebration of Literature, an annual literary festival primarily for school aged readers, held at Somerset College on the Gold Coast. What was a highlight or two from your time at the festival?

I was amazed at how smart and engaged the kids were. My not-so-secret dread was that they’d all be completely uninterested in what I had to say, but there was a real love of books, stories and reading amongst all the students. Getting to meet them all one-on-one at the signing tent was great fun.

Another major highlight for me was hanging out with the other authors and absorbing as much knowledge as I possibly could. When Andy Griffiths tells you what it takes to keep an audience full of kids interested, you listen and learn.

What is one of your favourite fiction books you have read in the past year or two and what made it work so well for you as a reader?

I got seriously hooked on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series after I’d watched and loved Game of Thrones on TV. As is often the case, as good as the adaptation was the books were even better. The scale and depth of the world that Martin has created is staggering, but beyond that he’s peopled it with an incredible variety of multi-faceted and ultimately sympathetic characters. I noticed that Loretta Hill also cited the first book in the series when asked this question, which I think proves just how broad the appeal of Martin’s writing is.

You have written that “the best villains are the characters that shed light on your protagonist.” Who is one of your favourite villains from written or filmic stories and what makes that character work so well for you as a reader or viewer?

When I wrote that, I used Batman’s rogue’s gallery as an example of what makes a great villain. The Joker, specifically, is everything you could want in an antagonist because he’s the perfect mirror opposite of the hero. While Batman is representative of order, stoicism and self-discipline, the Joker is anarchic, tempestuous and impulsive. In playing them against each other, you not only get fantastic dramatic friction, but you also gain a greater insight into what makes the hero tick. I think that’s why The Dark Knight is generally regarded as being the best of the Batman movies.

A more classical example would be Moriarty’s rivalry with Sherlock Holmes , where we get a sense of what could become of Holmes’s brilliant mind if he turned it towards nefarious purposes. It demonstrates to the reader how much discipline it takes the hero to keep from falling into a moral abyss.

If you could bring any fiction author back to life for one day for the sole purpose of discussing fiction writing, who might you choose and why?

Wow, what a hard choice to make! I get the feeling that the answer should be Shakespeare or Dickens or maybe Hemingway, but I’d probably go with George Orwell because he’s a personal literary hero of mine. His rules on writing prose, which emphasize clarity and originality, echo in my mind whenever I approach the keyboard. It’d be great to get the chance to sit with him and discuss the craft of writing, as well as hear the stories of his life.

Roald Dahl was another author that occurred to me, but I think he’d just be grumpy about being woken up.

You have written about “the need for a memorable superhero to have a strong thematic element; something that elevates them from the mundane to the iconographic.” This provides an immediate impact through the cover art but to what extent did you consciously think about the imagery you were helping readers imagine throughout the novels with your words?

You can’t underestimate the importance of striking visuals in fiction writing, even if they aren’t actually visual in the literal sense. The more rich, interesting and evocative your description, the greater an impact it makes. I’m always very conscious of that whenever I write, though sometimes it won’t be until the second draft that I start incorporating more visual detail into the narration.

On a practical level, when describing a character you want the image of them to stand out to your reader as it helps to identify them. If the reader is someone who has trouble keeping track of names, they can use descriptive cues to refresh their memory; “Oh, that’s the character with the eye patch. And that’s the one with the dodgy moustache.”

More than that, the visual of the character can give an insight as to who they are, whether that’s the steel-toed boots they’re wearing or the black armband they have around their sleeve. It’s those little details that connect the dots in the reader’s mind and potentially tell a larger story than what’s happening on the page.

What is next for your fiction writing?

My editor and I are about to start working on the rewrites for the third book in the Vanguard Prime series, which is set for release in September, while also editing a promotional novella that we’ll be releasing as a free e-book at the same time. Depending on how the series is received, I’ll hopefully get the chance to write some more adventures for the Vanguard Prime team but in the meantime I’ve started working on a Young Adult title that combines my background growing up in a small coastal town with my interest in action stories and quantum physics, of all things. I have no idea how it’ll turn out but it’s proving fun to write so far.

***

Steven Lochran’s author website: www.stevenlochran.com

Goldrush (Vanguard Prime)Wild Card (Vanguard Prime)Batman: The Man Who LaughsThe Long HalloweenAnimal Farm and 1984Crocodile Tears (Alex Rider)Percy Jackson and the Lightning ThiefA Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire)

The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Short Story Competition – April 2013 – Theme: Conflict Between Close Friends

The Australian Literature Review is running monthly short story competitions for April, May and June.

The theme for April is: Conflict Between Close Friends

Stories should have a strong element of conflict between characters who are or were close friends.

PRIZE:
- a book pack (titles below) courtesy of Random House Australia
- feedback of 400-500 words on your story from Lia Weston

The Indigo SkyA Distant LandDeath of a River GuideA Changing LandAvalanche PassGilgamesh by Joan LondonHeartbreak HotelSalvation Creek

Stories for April are due by midnight on the 20th and the winner will be announced on the 30th. Stories should be previously unpublished.

Shortlisted stories each month will be displayed on The Australian Literature Review, helping writers reach readers and gain recognition.

Writers outside Australia are welcome to enter to have your story shortlisted and displayed on the site but only writers in Australia are eligible for the monthly prizes. International writers should indicate in your email if you live outside Australia.

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The fan fiction competitions for The Life and Times of Chester Lewis and for Possessing Freedom are also open to entries of 2000-4000 word stories until August 31, and each has a first prize of $2000.

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The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Corinne Fenton – Author Interview

Flame Stands WaitingThe Dog on the TuckerboxHey Baby!In Less Than a Flash (Go For It)Bright Sparks: Mum and the Blowfly (Bright Sparks)Queenie: One Elephant's Story

For those unfamiliar with your books, how would you describe your fiction?

I would describe some of my books as social history picture books. Flame Stands Waiting for example is a totally imagined story about a horse that stands on the carousel at Luna Park in Melbourne, a real place. With The Dog on the Tuckerbox I’ve woven a story around the legend, which has been told through poetry, song and word of mouth since the late 1800s. There were probably many loyal dogs who waited for their masters who never returned. Queenie: One Elephant’s Story is a non-fiction work, the true story of an elephant who gave rides at the Melbourne Zoo for almost 40 years. Queenie was an icon in the days when zoos all over the world offered elephant rides.
So although I say these books are fiction, faction and non-fiction, they all required an enormous amount of research. As authors, anything we write requires checking, double-checking and research. My latest title Hey Baby! is a love letter to baby, a poem really, assuring a baby or small child how much they are loved and reminding adults – parents, grandparents, aunts and loved ones - of just how precious our babies are.

You hold a position with the Victorian chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). For those unfamiliar, how would you describe the SCBWI and what you do with the Victorian chapter?

Yes, I am the Assistant Regional Advisor – Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia (a mouthful, I know) for the SCBWI, which is the largest group of professional children’s book writers and illustrators in the world. Writing and illustrating are solitary and often lonely professions and the SCBWI provides a professional friendship group where we can share our passion and be supported in our work. My role is to offer regular gatherings where members can meet and share their ideas, struggles and achievements in a positive way. We meet 4 or 5 times a year in Victoria and in the last year we have also had gatherings in Launceston and Adelaide, where members and some non-members interested in the world of children’s books can gather and hear from other professionals in the industry, such as publishers, editors and representatives from other similar organisations.

You have written, “I often get ideas when I’m walking along the winding country roads where I live…” To what extent does where you live play a part in how you write, what you write about and your overall lifestyle as a fiction writer?

When I am presenting to school children and encouraging them to write, I explain that stories can be written about anything: “There are stories all around us waiting to be written – about what you ate for breakfast, your friend sitting next to you or the ant crawling along the windowsill.” Apart from being good exercise, I find that walking clears my head and because I only usually write picture books, I can often carry those few pages with me and make changes as I walk. I’m fortunate to live on the edge of the city, so five minutes from the back door I find myself walking along bush tracks. In fact, that’s exactly where I wrote several passages of The Dog on the Tuckerbox. The bush surrounding me gave me a sense of place and I imagined I was in the 1860s bush – although I did have to squint my eyes almost shut to hide a letterbox or two. I often write stories of the animals in the bush and if ever I am stuck on a word I take the story for a walk.

There are some nice looking covers amongst your books, such as the covers for Flame Stands Waiting, The Dog on the Tucker Box and Queenie. What do you think makes a good fiction book cover, or what is an example of a fiction book cover you like and what makes it work so well?

I think covers are vitally important in any book. They are the reason a book is first picked up, whether it’s in a library or a bookstore and whether it’s a book for adults or children. Although I am always involved in the decision of the cover, it is the publisher and illustrator who initially work on this. Flame Stands Waiting is a good example where the decision on covers took a while. I actually liked a more distant view of the carousel with Flame as the focus, standing out from the rest, but the publisher pointed out that the cover which was ultimately chosen asked more questions. Who was Flame? Who was the girl and what was she waiting for?

You have recently been doing appearances for your latest book, Hey Baby! How would you describe your balance of book store appearances, school visits, etc to help connect readers with your books versus things like writing, research, working with editors and illustrators, etc to create your books, and which parts of it all do you find most enjoyable?

I wonder whether any writer today is finding the right balance between the actual writing and the promotional side of what we do. With so much technology and ever-changing tools, writers are more than ever operating their own businesses and we need to be constantly aware of what the latest trends are. I will never stop talking to students in schools, libraries and book festivals, and visiting bookshops to connect with my audience because without an audience there would be no point in writing.
There is no nicer feeling than engaging a group of students or seniors in words you have created but I also crave those precious days where I can stay in my dressing gown and fluffy slippers writing as fast as my typing fingers will go or spending the morning pondering on that one elusive word.

If you could bring one fiction writer back to life for one day for the sole purpose of discussing writing fiction, who might you choose and why?

I actually wouldn’t need to bring her back to life. I would love to spend an hour or two with Margaret Wild, talking about her stunning picture books, her beautiful words and sharing her passion.

What kinds of fiction do you most enjoy reading, and do you have some favourites?

I constantly read whatever are the latest children’s picture books on the market. I return each Wednesday morning from the local mobile library, which parks two doors away, with an armful of books and stagger back down the hill with them. I think we have some wonderful children’s authors and illustrators in Australia but I also love to read anything by Kate DiCamillo and Jane Yolen, who are masters at what they create. Books for adults that I love include The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman and The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony and my favourite always, To Kill a Mockingbird.

What is next for your fiction writing?

I always carry whatever I’m working on around with me – often on a piece of paper but now usually on my iPad, and that’s the advantage of writing picture books. Whenever I’m waiting or have a moment to spare, I can always go over a word or a sentence and make changes. I have a mixture of picture books on the way, some fiction, others based on fact, but all of them have taken time. It’s such a common belief that picture books are easy and quick to write and anyone can pen 5 or 600 words for kids, but it’s making those words the best they can be that’s both the struggle and the joy.

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Corinne Fenton’s author website: www.corinnefenton.com

Flame Stands WaitingThe Dog on the TuckerboxHey Baby!In Less Than a Flash (Go For It)Bright Sparks: Mum and the Blowfly (Bright Sparks)Queenie: One Elephant's Story

The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Short Story Competitions – April, May, June – 2013

           

The Australian Literature Review is running monthly short story competitions for April, May and June.

Stories should be 1,000-3,000 words in length and fit the theme for the relevant month. Stories should be submitted to auslit@hotmail.com as an attached document or in the body of the email. Multiple entries are permitted but only submit each story for one of the months. Stories should be previously unpublished.

Stories are due by midnight on the 20th of each month and the winner will be announced on the 30th of each month.

Shortlisted stories each month will be displayed on The Australian Literature Review, helping writers reach readers and gain recognition. The winning story each month will receive a book pack and feedback from a published novelist.

Writers outside Australia are welcome to enter to have your story shortlisted and displayed on the site but only writers in Australia are eligible for the monthly prizes. International writers should indicate in your email if you live outside Australia.

APRIL (theme: Conflict Between Close Friends)

Stories should have a strong element of conflict between characters who are or were close friends.

PRIZE:
- a book pack (titles below) courtesy of Random House Australia
- feedback of 400-500 words on your story by Lia Weston

The Indigo SkyA Distant LandDeath of a River GuideA Changing LandAvalanche PassGilgamesh by Joan LondonHeartbreak HotelSalvation Creek

MAY (theme: Small Town Setting)

Stories should be clearly set in a small town. Note that this is a short STORY competition, so your characters should do something interesting in your small town setting. It should not just be a contemplation of the setting.

PRIZE:
- a book pack (titles below) courtesy of Bloomsbury Australia
- feedback of 400-500 words on your story by Alison Booth

AuslanderOnce You Break a Knuckle: StoriesCanadaUnaccustomed EarthWaiting for SunriseUmbrellaTenth of DecemberSan Miguel

JUNE (theme: Mystery or Detective)

Stories should have a strong mystery element with clear stakes for the characters, and this mystery could be pursued by an everyday character or a professional.

PRIZE:
- a book pack (titles below) courtesy of Simon & Schuster Australia
- feedback of 400-500 words on your story by Phillipa Fioretti

House for all Seasons by Jenn J McLeodThe Island HouseBlack RosesClose My EyesRed SparrowThe Accidental ApprenticeSumerford's AutumnThe Burgess Boys

           

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The fan fiction competitions for The Life and Times of Chester Lewis  and for Possessing Freedom are also open to entries of 2000-4000 word stories until August 31, and each has a first prize of $2000.

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The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Belinda Murrell – Author Interview

The Locket of DreamsThe Ivory RoseThe Forgotten PearlThe River CharmSun Sword 1 (The Sun Sword Trilogy)The Snowy Tower (The Sun Sword Trilogy)The Voyage of the Owl (The Sun Sword Trilogy)Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn

For those unfamiliar with your books, how would you describe your fiction?

I am now working on my sixteenth book for children. These range from picture books, to fantasy adventure for primary school kids (The Sun Sword Trilogy) to historical adventure and time slip for early teens (books such as The Ivory Rose and The Forgotten Pearl). With all of my books I write exciting adventure stories that I hope kids will love. I want my books to be fun and joyful, but also to help kids think about their world.

The set up for your recent novel The Forgotten Pearl is: “When Chloe visits her grandmother, it unleashes a flood of memories, not discussed for seventy years. Chloe could never have imagined how close the second world war came to destroying her own family so many years ago. Could the experiences of another time help Chloe to face her own problems? In 1941, Darwin is a remote outpost in the far north of Australia – a peaceful paradise far from the war. Poppy is a mischievous, fun-loving girl, with a menagerie of unusual pets. Her life seems perfect but when Japan attacks Pearl Harbour, then Australia, Poppy’s world is torn apart.” How did you make this novel primarily set in the 1940s appeal to contemporary readers?

With The Forgotten Pearl, I wanted contemporary readers to really empathise with my main characters, to perceive Poppy as an ordinary teenage girl who experienced extraordinary events. To do this I began by setting the domestic scene in Darwin in the early days of the war. Poppy, like many teenagers, is busy with her family, her chores, her pets, her friends and her dreams. She and her friends talk about fashion and music and fun. But then overnight Poppy’s world crumbles as Australia declares war on Japan and Darwin becomes a war zone. Her sisters leave to help the war effort. Her brother is taken prisoner-of-war by the Japanese in Singapore. Her dad is a doctor at the hospital. Poppy and her mother are on the verge of being evacuated when Darwin was bombed. It was important to me that the action was inspired by historical events, and that that the events are realistic and believable. The other strategy I employed to make the action appeal to contemporary readers was to set part of the action in the present day, and to make my modern day character Chloe, discover her family’s hidden past through the stories and letters shared by her grandmother.

The Forgotten Pearl has been your most popular book so far. Do you think there is something in particular that makes this novel stand out and connect strongly with more readers than your previous novels, or do you think it has more to do with your readership growing over time and being larger with each new book?

Yes The Forgotten Pearl has been my best-selling book so far, although The Ivory Rose and The Locket of Dreams are not far behind! I think that is partly because as each book comes out, there is a greater awareness of the books amongst readers, teacher/librarians and booksellers. Quite a few readers wrote to me to say they read The Forgotten Pearl first, then went back and read all my other books. I also think that The Forgotten Pearl had a great appeal with readers because it was about a period in Australia’s history which has rarely been explored. Several adults in Darwin wrote to tell me that they had learned so much about Darwin that they had never known before. I also had an amazing experience with a retired teacher who I met in Darwin at the launch of The Forgotten Pearl last year. She told me she had been staggered by the coincidences between her own life and my main character Poppy. Like Poppy she had grown up in Darwin before the war and was evacuated south, her father was a doctor at the hospital and she even lived in the same tiny street as Poppy! Like Poppy she grew up to become a teacher and came back to Darwin. Lastly her grand-daughter was also called Chloe. We were both incredibly moved and amazed by these coincidences. I was so thrilled when she told me that the story really rang true to her.

You recently appeared at the Somerset Celebration of Literature, an annual literary festival primarily for school aged readers, held at Somerset College on the Gold Coast. What was a highlight or two from your time at the festival?

The Somerset festival is fantastic. One of the highlights was meeting so many kids who had read my books and loved them. Some of the children came to see me every day just to have a chat. I also came home to find my inbox full of emails from children, teachers and parents saying how much they had enjoyed the presentations and workshops. One boy wrote to say he had read my whole trilogy in four days and loved it, so when was the next one coming out? My favourite however was from a girl who wrote a lovely, long email (she bumps into everything because she can’t stop reading my books even when she is walking around!). Here is a short extract:

“I LOVED YOUR WORKSHOP. It inspired me to write, so at the moment I’m writing a piece I’m dedicating to you. It will be my 3rd finished book, I hope. You are my favourite author AND ALWAYS WILL BE. You are so inspiring, kind and funny, plus your books make me bump into everything!!!”

What is one of your favourite fiction books you have read in the past year or two and what made it work so well for you as a reader?

I read lots of books every year, so it is always difficult to pick favourites. I have just finished reading The Wild Girl, by my sister Kate Forsyth. This was a wonderful story about Dortchen Wild, who lived next door to the Grimm Brothers in the early nineteenth century and told them many of the fairy tales which went into their famous collection. It is a fascinating insight into a period of German history which I knew little about. It is also a beautifully told love story. Other books I loved recently include The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I loved the way it slipped back and forth between the stories of women in different generations of the same family, to reveal the hidden secrets of a family’s past. Finally I was fascinated to read A Mother’s Offering to her Children, the first children’s book published in Australia. It was written in 1841 by my great-great-great-great grandmother Charlotte Waring Atkinson. I re-read this as part of the research into my new book The River Charm which comes out on June 1. My new time-slip book is inspired by the amazing true life adventures of my ancestors, the Atkinson family in the early 1840’s in colonial Australia. They were one of Australia’s earliest literary and artistic families.

The cover for your novel The Locket of Dreams was recently redone by Sarah Davis, and I think many would agree it’s a nice looking cover. What do you think makes a good novel cover, or what is an example of a novel cover you especially like and what makes it so appealing to you?

Covers are very tricky. There is no doubt that the success of a book is hugely influenced by its cover, which is why my publishers at Random House spend so much time and research when deciding on the cover. To me, a really good cover must be beautiful and enticing. It needs to reflect the experience that the reader will have when they read the book. Some of the words that describe covers I love include – mysterious, exciting, intriguing and utterly gorgeous! Not surprisingly, this is exactly how I’d describe the beautiful new cover for The Locket of Dreams by Sarah Davis. I adore the covers which have been done for my books by Nanette Backhouse – especially for The Forgotten Pearl and my new book The River Charm. I also love the covers done by Serena Geddes for my new Lulu Bell series. Lulu just seems so full of character and life.

If you could bring any fiction author back to life for one day for the sole purpose of discussing fiction writing who might you choose and why?

I would love to have afternoon tea with Jane Austen! I discovered Jane Austen’s novels when I was a teenager and immediately loved them. I particularly enjoyed the satirical humour of her novels, the witty dialogue and the insight into late eighteenth century English society. Elizabeth Bennett has always been one of my favourite protagonists and I imagine that in many ways, she was based on Jane Austen herself.

Most of your books are generally considered to be more suited to girls whereas your Sun Sword Trilogy is generally considered as more suited, or equally suited, to boys. To what extent do you treat these books as primarily for girls or primarily/equally for boys when writing them and use that to help guide your creative decisions, or is your approach something more like writing the story of your characters and leaving it for others to decide if it appeals to them (and to your publisher to decide where to put the emphasis in the cover design and marketing, which can influence who is likely to pick up your book)?

With all my books, I generally write the sort of stories that I love to read. But I also have a certain reader in mind. With my fantasy adventure series, the Sun Sword Trilogy, that reader was my son Nick, who was ten and eleven when the books were published. I deliberately included many elements that he loved in books, such as bows and arrows, swordfights, a dangerous quest, codes and puzzles, and magical gems. My time-slip books were written for my daughter Emily who is now fourteen. Lots of girls read my Sun Sword Trilogy and love it. Likewise boys also read my time-slip books, but there is probably less cross over. With the time-slip books, my publisher Zoe Walton and I discussed how they should be pitched, and decided I should focus on girls. I think boys and girls definitely tend to like different things in books. Most boys love fast-paced, action packed adventures with lots of humour. Lots of girls love that too, but they also love books that explore emotions and relationships with family and friends. With my new Lulu Bell books, I talked to my eight year old niece Ella. She told me she loved stories about friends, families and animals. With the covers she loved anything as long as it was pink! So Lulu Bell is the story of an eight year old girl called Lulu growing up in a vet hospital having lots of adventures with family, friends and animals. And no prizes for guessing the colour of the first cover!!

What is next for your fiction writing?

This year I have five books coming out! There are four books in my new Lulu Bell series, with another two planned for early next year, plus my new time-slip book The River Charm is released in June. The River Charm is a very special book for me because it is based on the true life battles of my ancestors, the Atkinson family. The book is set in the 1840s and told from the perspective of my great-great-great grandmother Charlotte Atkinson, the eldest of four children.

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Belinda Murrell’s author website: www.belindamurrell.com.au

The Locket of DreamsThe Ivory RoseThe Forgotten PearlThe River CharmSun Sword 1 (The Sun Sword Trilogy)The Snowy Tower (The Sun Sword Trilogy)The Voyage of the Owl (The Sun Sword Trilogy)Lulu Bell and the Birthday Unicorn

The Australian Literature Review
www.auslit.net

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Tony Cavanaugh – Author Interview

PromiseDead Girl Sing  Rotten GodsBeyond the HorizonBye Bye BabyThe DeltaFranticThe Mistake

For those unfamiliar with your writing, how would you describe your novels?

Psychological crime thrillers. I write most of my chapters in the first person, mostly from the point of view of my main character, a burnt-out former homicide cop who is reluctantly dragged into finding killers or solving a problem, usually for his own selfish reasons. He’s not a gun for hire and while I like the private investigator genre, especially the books by Raymond Chandler and Robert Crais, I’m not that interested in writing it myself. I also write from the point of view of my killers, which I guess sets up a cat and mouse dynamic in the books. I really enjoy exploring the thoughts of the psychopath and giving them a dark and twisted voice – even though it can be a draining and somewhat unpleasant experience getting into these characters’ heads. I like to do a lot of research, reading books like Robert Hare’s Without Conscience and the more recent The Science of Evil by Simon Baron-Cohen. I’ve studied a lot of the courtroom testimony of killers like Dennis Rader, who nick-named himself BTK (bind, torture, kill). I’m fascinated by how these people think and act. Although I’m not sure, having written two novels and into the third, if I’ll stick to this approach as I wonder if it will become predictable and formulaic. I’m going to try something completely new, for me, with my fourth novel. My writing is driven by the character’s voice, their thoughts and their desires. I’m not much into plot, even though in crime fiction it’s rather important and it’s certainly something I’m constantly thinking about to ensure the narrative is moving forward. A sense of place and atmosphere is important to me. In that respect I’ve been influenced by James Lee Burke’s evocative descriptions of landscape and Roberto Bolano’s sweeping, majestic prose that circles in on itself yet keeps moving, always pushing further and further with new thoughts and arresting imagery. My primary aim is to entertain and, if possible, leave the reader a little haunted by what my character’s desires, the decisions they make and the actions they decide upon.

You have set novels on the Gold Coast and on the Sunshine Coast. How would you describe the role the south east Queensland setting played in these novels?

When I moved to Queensland from Melbourne I was intrigued by two things: nearly everyone had moved here from somewhere else (it took me over a year to meet someone who was born in Queensland) and there was this very long coastline, from the NSW border up to Fraser Island which was a string of connected beach resorts, towns and cities, peppered with the occasional tract of uninhabited, wild bushland. F Scott Fitzgerald wrote that in American life there were no second acts. Well, there were – and are – in Queensland. So many people have moved from down south to retire but, out of boredom or maybe invigorated by the sunshine, started new ventures or returned to their old careers in a new environment. From the glamour and glitz of the Gold Coast to the quieter and more sophisticated world of Noosa and surrounds, this entire region hinges on holiday escapism. I want to contrast the harder, grittier world of Melbourne (in terms of policing) with the sub-tropical playground of south-east Queensland where it appears, on the surface, that life is a party, where the surf keeps crashing and the lattes keep getting poured. As with the crime and violence that Chandler and others have written about in Los Angeles, another metropolis of dreams and escapism, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast – connected as one big playground with Brisbane is the middle – I am drawn to ideas about darkness dwelling in this region. My lead character, Darian, has settled on the Noosa River, having retired abruptly after being burnt out, and simply wants to languish in the sun and by the flow of the water. It’s a naive hope. What he didn’t realise was that the dark past of his nightmares would be triggered again and again by the unexpected but inevitable crimes that occur in this holiday paradise. I wrote in Promise that the Sunshine Coast is a great place for a serial killer to operate: people up here have their guard down, they’re on holiday having fun and there’s a massive ebb and flow of itinerant workers amongst the tourists. Dark crime in a place like this is unexpected but of course dark crime is going to happen anywhere and without cessation.

What kinds of novels do you most enjoy reading, and do the novels you most enjoy reading have a strong influence on your own novel writing?

I pretty much enjoy reading anything, with the exception of fantasy, which I can’t get my head around. (Books that start off with maps of other worlds just frazzle me.) I mostly read non-fiction; history, social politics or whatever. I read as much crime fiction as I can. I love the works of James Lee Burke, CJ Box, Lee Child, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben. All of these authors have influenced me in terms of language, character and narrative – and, with Crais and Coben, their humour. So too the earlier works of Raymond Chandler, Micky Spillane, Rex Stout and Ross Macdonald. I think the biggest influences and the ones I constantly go back to are Damon Runyon (I read him out aloud – I just adore his quaint turn of phrase) and Roberto Bolano. I carry a Bolano with me at all times. I think 2666 is the best book I’ve ever read and I’m constantly buying cheap copies of it to give to friends. It’s a doorstop of a novel but utterly compelling and magical. His use of language, his flowing sentences, his poetry and his stories are mind-blowing. Other influences are Leonard Cohen and Alfred Hitchcock.

You also have experience working in film and TV. How would you compare writing for film or TV to writing novels?

Writing novels is delightfully intimate. There’s you, the publisher and the editor. Writing film and TV is very public. Your work is on display, even before you start writing the script. From the outline that forms the basis of the script your work is sent to numerous people; producers, script editors, TV networks or film distributors, government funding bodies, each of whom will respond with notes. You end up being a diplomat, having to justify your work. Believe me, it seriously drains the creative process. Emphasis is also given to getting it right before you write. The outline needs to be pretty detailed and everyone likes to sign off on it before you get the green light… or maybe that green light is abruptly turned red. It is often flashing orange.
When you write for film or TV you do not have the final say over the work. Not only is the writing interpreted by actors, directors, a myriad of heads of production like cinematographers, editors, and wardrobe and props people to create a visual narrative but the investors behind the film or TV series can and will pull their weight in order to protect their investment. It’s an expensive business – grotesquely so at times – that rarely allows for creative pushing of boundaries. It’s a simplistic statement but it’s true: you cannot deviate from an imposed formula. I’ve been used to this for many years. When story editing The Flying Doctors I would happily set aside a day a week just to respond to the notes from Hector Crawford, his team and the network. I became very adept at justifying the work of the writers (who I would shield from this process) within the parameters of the show. This extended to film scripts. On Once Were Warriors, which I story edited, I was asked to write a piece to convince nervous investors that such a dark tale could attract an audience.
When writing a novel a writer is respected and, at the back of your mind always, you know you have the final say. You can – and I’ve done it occasionally – disagree with your editor and leave a passage or a word or a whatever intact. That freedom does not exist in film and TV writing. Disagree and you’re sacked. Ironically, the freedom that I’ve experienced in this regard has meant that I listen more and take the advice almost always when it comes to comments about my work. When you have no freedom you tend to rebel but when you’ve got it you tend to respect your critics and do what they suggest.
Creatively, the novel allows you to delve into the thoughts of your characters. This is something you can’t do in scripts unless you use voice over. Scripts are comprised of action and dialogue. Narrative clarity and pace are paramount. When writing Promise and Dead Girl Sing I just loved being able to get into the head-space of my characters. I love being able to segue off into their pasts and their feelings. I love being able to deviate from the plot and shine a spotlight on minor or even trivial characters in order to create a mosaic-style world.

Who is one of your favourite characters from a novel and what made that character work so well for you as a reader?

Philip Marlowe – without a doubt. There’s a beautiful passage in The Long Goodbye where Marlowe stands on the balcony of his house overlooking the sweep of Los Angeles at night, reflecting on the “banshee wail of sirens” as cops scramble across the city responding to the calls of violence. It ends with Marlowe asking himself the question: do I care? His answer is no, he doesn’t. But of course he does; everything he does is because he cares, even though he knows it won’t make much difference and even though, in every one of Chandler’s stories, people lie to Phillip Marlowe, deceive him and betray him. I call it a ‘burden of righteousness’ that drives the character. He’ll always be lied to and he’ll always uncover a darkness but he’ll never stop.

What makes a good first chapter in a novel, or what is an example of a first chapter you really like and what made that chapter work so well for you as a reader?

A good first chapter for me gets me hard into the voice of the character, be it through a first or third person approach. It also hooks me into a narrative that is meaningful to the character in a thematic way. For me it’s also more than just the first chapter. It’s that first sentence. I really try to come up with an opening line that will arouse the reader’s curiosity and cause them to want to know more about the circumstances I’ve alluded to and the character who’s speaking to them. By the end of the first chapter I want the reader to be hooked – don’t we all? – and engaged with my character’s journey. My lead character is a dark and complex guy. He is the antithesis of a ‘hero’, who embarks on a chosen trek of self discovery or in order to solve a problem. Each of his journeys will take him to a dark place of nightmares inside him. I want it to be evident to the reader by the end of the first chapter that we’re on the road but the road will be full of anguish.

If you could bring one author back to life for the sole purpose of discussing writing novels, who might you choose and why?

Roberto Bolano. I’d ask him how he managed to weave his extraordinary stories into a narrative, what his process was, how his background as a poet influenced his work and what is it about the human condition that compelled him to write.

What is next for your fiction writing?

I’m currently writing a third novel in this series of Darian Richards books. This one brings his nemesis, The Train Rider, up to the Sunshine Coast, where he sets about taunting Darian. He does this through a series of confessions at a church in Nambour, thus placing the priest in an impossible position. I’m fascinated by the idea of having to hold onto a secret even if it means an innocent person may come to harm. In this case, when dealing with a serial murderer. I’m also exploring the notion of moral culpability. My ex-cop, Darian, has taken the law into his own hands and killed bad guys whom he believes will re-offend, once they’ve been released into the community by a justice system which errs on the bright side of optimism when considering rehabilitation. The killer is aware of Darian’s past and he asks the question, which I guess is the central anchor to the book: what’s the difference between us? Darian has taken the lives of killers in order to prevent more murders. In that respect he’s a rogue cop as much as he is an expert in the more acceptable world of homicide investigation, but are these actions as morally reprehensible as those committed by the killers he abhors?
I love crime writing. It really allows me to delve into the dark world of the human condition. Thank God for Chandler who showed that this world can also be infused with some humour!

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Tony Cavanaugh’s Hachette author page: www.hachette.com.au/authors/tony-cavanaugh

PromiseDead Girl Sing  Rotten GodsBeyond the HorizonBye Bye BabyThe DeltaFranticThe Mistake

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