I’ve always loved writing fiction. Right through my academic career novels and stories were always there in the background, and I amassed folders of written and typed manuscripts and computer files. I secretly thought of myself as a fiction writer – I just had to wait until I could emerge from my scholarly disguise.

Well now is the time to pull those babies out and give them a good wipe-over.  My favourite is a serious literary project begun in the early 1990s,  BACKEDDY.  It’s a good book and I still love it but a complicated structure and time frame give trouble every time I try a new edit. It is a truly Australian story, and if I could find a traditional publisher for it I would be delighted.

I have also written many short stories over the years. I know commercial publishers are not interested in the form, although many readers love them because they are quick to read on buses or in the bath.  I am putting a selection of these stories together and planning to publish them under a pen-name in 2021. There are various reasons for the anonymity. Readers may find them, or not, as it happens. There may be spin-off stories which follow. Some of these are set in an academic environment, others are not. I don’t want my personal identity and my own life experiences to be taken as the source of these stories, so it is better to allow another writer to be responsible and not to have to explain that no, it isn’t really me. Then again, nobody might be interested in them, so it will do no harm.

NOW PUBLISHED:

THE PRICELESS PRINCESS.  A book for children aged 8-10. E-book and print versions available. The Princess’s website is here.

SUBURBAN GIGOLO:  A cat’s eye view of life in the Inner Western suburbs of Sydney – a fun read with a serious message. Novelette-length in e-book only (no print version), available through Amazon.

All titles to be published from 2019 on will be available in print and multiple e-book versions. Order as an e-book in any format from all good e-book distributors, or as a print paperback from any on-line bookseller or from your local bookstore.