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One would expect a young man whose single mother skipped town a couple of hours after his birth, to have a few problems, but Mortaumal [Mort] doesn’t seem to, thanks to his grandfather. However, when that support is gone and foster parents fail, and there are nasty people demanding he do evil deeds...things begin to look pretty desperate. From the age of ten to eighteen Mort lives with and meets an extraordinary variety of people, gets himself into and out of very hot water, sees rather too many people die, learns to defend himself both physically and mentally, and ends up unimpressed with humanity in general, while loving the few who come up to scratch. This is a light-hearted, not too serious tale about death and dying, affection and callous indifference, independence and love somewhere in tropical Queensland. There’s sentiment but not sentimentality, social criticism, excitement, fun and a bit of everything else in a fast paced yarn that suggests ways to live that are more interesting and natural than those we see on our screens. ...

Excerpt Details
1 Mortaumal According to his grandfather, Mortaumal was a smart kid. According to Mortaumal, Simon was a brainless bully. So why wasn’t it Simon lying on his belly, face pressed into the dust, scarcely able to breathe? Surely twice as big should be beaten by twice as clever? Obviously not, or Mortaumal wouldn’t have had his head flushed in a toilet bowl yesterday, and he wouldn’t have had to endure six months of increasingly unpleasant torment. On this relentlessly sunny afternoon, Simon had ambushed Mortaumal from behind a billboard advertising the benefits of ‘Jezebel’s Gymnasium for Fabulous Fitness’, dragged the object of his unwanted attention behind it, thrown him on his face in the dust and sat on his legs. When fruitless flailing of arms failed to free him, Mortaumal had just decided to humiliate himself by screaming for help when Simon dragged his shorts down. Shocked, or perhaps excited at the absence of underpants, the bully allowed his grip to slacken enough for his victim to slither away and tear down the street, school bag flying, shorts barely back in their usual place when he was stopped by a busy road. A q...

Table of Contents Details
Table of Contents 1 Mortaumal 2 Leon 3 Shrude Aywun 4 Confidences 5 Death 6 Mrs. Pettie 7 Dying 8 The lawyer. 9 Self Defence. 10 Pissed Off 11 Leon and Hugh 12 Family life 13 Fystie 14 A day at the river 15 School 16 School work 17 Mr. Brawn on Women 18 A visit 19 Beach Bully 20 Debriefing 21 Abuse 22 Rescue 23 Marshall on Childhood 24 Paying for It 25 Fystie Returns 26 Life with a lawyer 27 Further Education 28 Sergei 29 Zoltan’s Mother 30 The God Question 31 On Top of the Mountain 32 Marshall meets Angelo 33 Perdita 34 The Beach 35 Bullies 36 Ultimatum 37 Farewells 38 A Change of plans 39 Impersonation 40 Julian 41 The Truth 42 Elbert 43 A Social Occasion 44 A Room With a View 45 School 46 Mr. Preggy 47 The Basement Flat 48 The cop 49 Miss Bussty 50 Brawl 51 Perdita’s present 52 Stefan 53 Perdita Perdue...

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A revolution replaces the Queensland government with a coalition of religious fundamentalists who have strong ideas on how their subjects ought to live, and how to enforce compliance with their draconian laws. Readers have asked what happened to Robert and Bart, the heroes of Rough Justice. They thought I had left them in a bad place…and so I had. Others wanted to know what happened to Sebastian and Jarek between the end of Jarek and the beginning of NumbaCruncha. A good question that requires an answer because what happened could all too easily be the political future for us. So, Fidel is a prequel to NumbaCruncha, and a sequel to my other five novels—Rough Justice, Dome of Death, Sebastian, Jarek and Mortaumal. Fidel is fifteen when the story begins sometime in the near future. He’s running away from home to the big city where he falls into trouble, then miraculously falls out again, and grows into a sturdy, well-liked young man. Like most people he is too busy living to notice that a relatively quiet revolution is taking place, replacing the government with a coalition of religious fundamentalists who have strong id...

Excerpt Details
1 Fidel Fidel was scared. Shit scared. He felt like throwing up and probably would have if he'd had any breakfast. He had to stop thinking about it or he’d chicken out. His whole life had been one long worry that he’d done something wrong and would be punished…but this was sharper, more urgent, more exciting too if he could only stop thinking about all the possible consequences. Taking a deep breath he shouldered the backpack that had been hidden in a corner for weeks, let himself out of the shed, crossed the back lawn and tapped on his brother’s open window. Hylas appeared, rubbing at sleepy eyes. ‘Fidel! What’s the matter?’ ‘I’m off.’ ‘Now? But you…’ ‘Shhh! You'll wake Mum. I just wanted to say goodbye and tell you I love you.’ ‘Where are you going? I love you too! Will you write?’ ‘Brisbane. Of course I’ll write. Don’t tell Mum anything. Pretend to be surprised I've gone.’ With a cheery wave that even Hylas knew was fake, Fidel adjusted his pack and ran off before his courage ran out. Twenty minutes later he was sticking out his thumb on the David Low Way. Almost immediately an elderly couple in a battered T...

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Contents 1 Fidel 2 City Centre 3 The Karims 4 What to do? 5 Bart’s enterprise 6 Arnold Jurgenz 7 Bart and Robert 8 Lance 9 Luck 10 Arnold’s Gym 11 Natural Fitness 12 Hylas 13 Brothers in Brisbane 14 Hylas Meets Natural Fitness 15 And Hylas Makes Five 16 JECHIS 17 Lance Returns 18 Disintegration 19 Inspection 20 Plans 21 The Administrator 22 Ciao Natural Fitness 23 Peter and Jon 24 A Forest Retreat 25 On The Run 26 Unpleasantness 27 Travelling On 28 A Meeting 29 Justice 30 F.N.Q. 31 Protectors 32 A Blast From The Past 33 Oasis 34 Tests 35 Developments 36 Job Interview 37 The Vote and After 38 Sanity – Insanity 39 Nothing Lasts Forever 40 Decisions 41 Ciao Oasis 42 Research 43 Solutions 44 The Institute 45 Settling In 46 Endgame ...

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‘Time To Think’ is a collection of eight short tales about how to cope with such things as unwelcome evangelists, visitors, praise, sexual attention, living in a nursing home, relations, genetic modification and sexual urges....

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Spreading the Word Sebastian gazed unseeing from the verandah into the sun filled garden. As usual a zillion thoughts jostled aside all attempts to attain a state of Zen-like relaxation. With an impatient sigh he sat up, dusted a few crumbs from the divan, rearranged the pillows then lay back with his hands at his side. Yogic breathing—that would do the trick. He managed to hold his mind still for at least three seconds before a large spider constructing an intricate web among the rafters caught his attention. He was already on his feet to get a broom when he remembered, and slumped back. ‘Your tendons will never repair if you're always on the go,’ the slim young doctor had snapped only an hour before. ‘Why can’t you just lie back and relax?’ ‘Because it’s not my nature,’ Sebastian had answered with a fetching sigh. ‘Perhaps if you were to massage me...?’ ‘And risk Reginald’s wrath? Not bloody likely.’ ‘Wouldn’t it be worth a broken arm?’ Sebastian grinned. ‘Not even you are worth that, Sebastian. Shut up and let the sounds of nature lull you to somnolence.’ But Sebastian couldn’t. Time plodded. He began to fidget. Struggled to...

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•‘Spreading the Word’ • ‘Time to Think’ • ‘Free Will’ •‘A Misunderstanding’ •‘Useless Things’ • ‘I Arrived a Week Early’ • ‘Poisoned Chalice’ •‘Mens Sana in Corpore Sano’ ...

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‘Jarek’ takes a tongue in cheek swipe at the extreme elements of 'women’s liberation', while offering a serious alternative to the way we currently teach our children. ...

Excerpt Details
Chapter 1. Zeno Skinny-dipping with Raylene’s friends was not Zeno’s idea of a fun night out. He’d only agreed because he wanted to seem tough, and hoped if he felt her up in the water and fucked her afterwards her mates would stop spreading rumours he was queer. The cars screeched to a halt at the boat ramp. Everyone piled out and headed for the small beach until Bob’s girlfriend reckoned there’d be eels and leeches in the river, so she refused to go down. Then the others also chickened out, saying it was too dark, probably dangerous and a stupid idea. ‘Fuck you lot are wimps’, Raylene yelled, grabbing Zeno’s hand and dragging him down to the strip of sand. A half-moon provided enough light to see, and it was hot and humid so Zeno kicked off his sandals, dropped his shorts, jocks and shirt on a rock and ran into the water, calling to Raylene to follow. The river was wide and deep at that point with little current, so he swam upstream a few metres then drifted back expecting to meet her in the water, but the beach was empty. She’d wimped out like the others; all talk and no action. Not too many brains either. He waded out ...

Table of Contents Details
Chapter 1 Zeno Chapter 2 Stephen Chapter 3 Jarek Chapter 4 Bindi, Irma, Belle & Ari Chapter 5 Adele is Taught a Lesson Chapter 6 Marriage Chapter 7 Bindi & Adele Chapter 8 Preparations Chapter 9 Cador Chapter 10 What to Wear? Chapter 11 Eros Chapter 13 Acceptance Chapter 14 Secrets Chapter 15 National Park Chapter 16 Waterfall Chapter 17 Secret Places - Secret Thoughts Chapter 18 Philosophy and Farewells Chapter 19 Feral Chapter 20 Crime and Punishment Chapter 21 Another successful Week Chapter 22 A Proposal Chapter 23 Partners Chapter 24 Chloe Chapter 25 Refuge Chapter 26 Sebastian Chapter 27 Developments Chapter 28 Plans Chapter 29 Abduction Chapter 30 Resolution...

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Sebastian is an intelligent look at alternative ways to live and love, presented as a thriller about the most horrific of the twenty-first century’s most lucrative human enterprises. If you're open to difference and enjoy a fast-paced thriller, then read and enjoy. ...

Excerpt Details
During dinner Sebastian’s solitary life was laid bare. Speaking distractedly as if he were talking about someone else, he told about his irritable mother of whom he was so ashamed, never inviting anyone home, his rebellious nudity and sexually promiscuous behaviour that had been encouraged by his mother, who made a healthy profit from exploiting it. When questioned, he swore he had no idea where the money came from to buy the house or to sustain their life style, especially as Desolé was only the part time manager of a small employment agency. Rex and Fee remained sympathetically silent, letting Sebastian choose his own pace to speak about Jack and the ‘guests’, the private hospital where they recovered and Sebastian’s health was tested monthly, and to wonder why, despite becoming friends, none of the young men had contacted him after leaving. Finally they learned about Guapo’s escape, Desolé’s pretence that he was with Mr. Farzdbuk, and the discovery of the porno magazines and internet videos fed by hidden cameras. ‘If I hadn’t met Reginald at high school, and Mr. Noall hadn’t been so understanding, I’d be dead by now. I was a w...

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Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen...

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Dome of Death is a slightly shocking and occasionally thought provoking romantic thriller about two young men who’d love to be as cool as James Bond in the face of extreme danger, but discover reality is not like fiction. When Max, the director of an Art Gallery in Queensland, falls to his death, Peter, the exhibiting artist who is also Max's ex-lover, unwillingly accepts the widow’s pleas to take over the job. After rescuing a strange young man from a raging sea, Peter’s suspicions about the accident and an investigation into what he thinks is an art swindle, puts him in great danger. He is raped and left for dead, but escapes, only to discover that he and his new friend Jon are wanted for murder. What follows is a hair-raising chase to clear their names. Murder, torture, cyclones, tidal surges, and snuff porn shows are but a few of the complications to be navigated in their search for justice, happiness and love....

Excerpt Details
Chapter One Exposing oneself in public is not for the faint-hearted. En masse and expertly illuminated the paintings gave viewers rather more insight into the private spaces of my mind than I’d bargained for. The fact that the gallery’s patrons were also baring their souls with every critical utterance and every painting bought was scant consolation – especially as no one was buying! After an hour of eavesdropping among the usual crush of wine-sipping social scramblers, I wished I hadn’t. Stepping back, I collided with an elderly, shapeless little woman loosely wrapped in a sari decorated with mirrors. ‘Young man!’ she demanded as though I’d been caught spraying graffiti, ‘Are you the artist?’ How to respond? People who call themselves artists remind me of Napoleon seizing the jewelled cap, crowning himself and living to rue the day. Such accolades are for others to bestow. If, as frequently happens, a painter’s efforts delight no one but himself, then the labour has been little but therapy. Only those whose works impose order on the chaos of existence and reinvigorate flagging spirits by giving the viewer a glimpse of a le...

Table of Contents Details
Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six ChapterSeven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-Four...

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Rough Justice is both a thriller and love story in which two young men in subtropical Australia discover that love is about more than sex. In his new school, Robert has trouble conforming to the expectations of his peers and is severely provoked by a fellow student; an acolyte of the fundamentalist Headmaster whose dogmatic Old Testament beliefs have led him to the brink of insanity. Relationships, morality, values, courage, friendship and what it takes to be a ‘man’, are but some of the themes explored in this gripping tale. When he falls in love, Robert's life falls into place - until attempts on both young men’s lives force them to take extreme measures, the consequences of which pose an ethical dilemma that could destroy their new found happiness. ...

Excerpt Details
With brain and conversation on autopilot, Robert didn’t realise until Aaron thumped him on the shoulder, thrust a bit of paper into his hand and said, ‘That’ll be extra-shagabodacious, Rob me boy! Phone number’s there in case you come adrift,’ that he’d accepted an invitation to a party. Blood drained. Fingers froze. What the hell to do? The last thing he wanted was to go to a bloody party! Shit! Shit! Shit! He’d have to think of an excuse. A shadow made him look up. ‘I’m glad you’re going, Robert. Aaron’s parties can get a bit frantic.’ What the hell’s her name? He smiled vaguely at the thin, wide-eyed girl who asked lots of questions in class. Oh yeah, Maria. No, Marcia. What’s she on about? She hardly knows me. I could be a frigging rapist. ‘Why’re you going then?’ he asked lazily. ‘I heard you say you were going.’ ‘You’re joking!’ ‘How’d you guess?’ Marcia gave a tinkling laugh, tossed her curly black hair and joined a gaggle of girls at the jukebox. Cold sweat trickled underarm. What’s the matter with me? Why don’t I want to go to the party? Because you’re a fuckwit. Get out and have a good time like everyone else! But yo...

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Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-one Chapter Twenty-two Chapter Twenty-three Chapter Twenty-four Chapter Twenty-five Chapter Twenty-six Chapter Twenty-seven Chapter Twenty-eight ...

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...confines of middle-class New Zealand for love and liberation in nineteen-sixties London and Europe. Revelling in the freedom conferred by anonymity, Rigby becomes an actor, stripper, rent boy, lover, teacher and dedicated traveller through Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, where travellers were uncommon and countries still retained many of the differences that mad...

Excerpt Details
Conceit, ignorance and optimism are the main ingredients of youth. Without a fair dollop of all three I'd never have dared turn up in the largest city on earth, the centre of the English-speaking theatrical world, expecting to land a job as an actor. I was nervous, of course, but that added spice. An existence devoid of unease would be pretty dull. Even hunger triggers exhilaration. Ignorance – some would say stupidity – sometimes propelled me into situations that later, in the light of calm reason, brought blushes and self-recrimination at my crassness. I can only blame the opiate of anonymity. Failure I can cope with – but not if there’s a witness! No one I cared about was around to witness any rebuff, so I dared. London commerce had shaken off the vicissitudes of war with a vengeance. Shops overflowing with goodies, food plentiful and varied, restaurants of every persuasion opening their doors to an increasingly adventurous public; theatres full, film studios on a roll, television had taken off, and best of all, war had exposed religious dogma to rational scrutiny. A god that allowed such a bloodbath was not a god to be f...

Table of Contents Details
Chapter 1.......... In the Beginning Chapter 2..........When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear Chapter 3...........Escape Chapter 4..........Shelter, Fashion, Food Chapter 5..........When Ignorance is Bliss Chapter 6..........Jewels Chapter 7..........Performance Chapter 8..........Farce Chapter 9..........Work & play Chapter 10..........Dance and sex and… Chapter 11..........Interviews and work Chapter 12..........Saturday to Tuesday Chapter 13..........Tuesday to Friday night Chapter 14..........Assistant Stage Manager Chapter 15..........Cruising Chapter 16..........Riviera Chapter 17..........Playing in the Parks Chapter 18..........On Tour Chapter 19..........Touring On Chapter 20..........A Winter Tale Chapter 21..........Orgy Chapter 22..........Time Out Chapter 23..........Friendship Chapter 24..........Rootless Chapter 25..........Muddling on Chapter 26..........The Grand Tour Chapter 27..........Even Grander Touring Chapter 28...........Edinburgh Chapter 29..........Of lust and learning Chapter 30.......... Shop assistant and Teacher Chapter 31..........Eureka! Chapter 32.............