‘Can you check how many of my books are sold’ she says. ‘I’m too embarrassed to go in myself.’ I accept the mission. A $4.50 coffee in a mug provides cover. The cappuccino, it’s always cappuccino, is hellishly hot, which is not always the case. There’s no free WIFI. Over in one corner sit a couple. They look to be in their seventies and they aren’t talking at all. Their coffees arrive and still they remain silent. Have they been together since they were young? Forty years, or more? Have they simply run out things to say? All topics of discussion well and truly exhausted. Their respective pers ..read more

June, 2022 I am heading to Aldi1 at Bay Village2 for supplies. It’s fucking freezing. I have no qualms wearing the tracky dacks, ugg boots, beanie, scarf, and curry-stained sloppy joe3 which I put on when I got up at 4:22am4. In the car, I flip the radio back and forth between ABC 702, for updates on the political situation, and Radio Five-O-Plus 93.3, for those songs I remember as a kid. My parents’ music; I love it. They don’t make music like that anymore. Turn back the clock 40 years: I am waiting outside the Neapolitan Patisserie in Avalon5 for a fresh-out-of-the-oven sausage roll. It’s no ..read more

Available as e-book or in print. My second book, Long Jetty, Short Stories, Volume 1, is available online. Amazon have a FREE PREVIEW feature which allows you to get a decent taste of the writing contained within; which in this case is the beginning of the first story, Bush Week. The book is a collection of 11 short stories which I have interspersed with blog posts I made during the period in which these stories were written. As the title suggests, and it it is true, the stories are all set in Long Jetty and its immediate surrounds. Hope you enjoy the preview so much that you just have to pur ..read more

Big thanks to all who attended the launch of ‘Long Jetty, Short Stories, Volume 1, Before the ‘Rus’. The Savoy at Long Jetty proved to be the perfect venue with rumours that a handful of revellers kicked on and ended up at The Long Jetty Hotel. For some it was a very dusty Sunday, trust me I know. I am thrilled to have had some great feedback on the book already. When I was reading through the final proofs of the book, I must admit to suffering from some serious self doubt about the stories. It’s all part of the process, apparently. Incidentally, my publisher, Stephen Matthews at Ginninderra P ..read more

My second book, Long Jetty Short Stories Vol I, is out! Thanks to Ginninderra Press for its publication. I am having a launch in Long Jetty, of course. Come along if you can. I bought a box of books and will have copies for sale at a special launch price. All the stories are set in the Long Jetty area where I live. I have interspersed the stories with blog entries I made over the period of writing these stories, which was essentially from January 2019, when Australia was on fire, up to February 2020, when the pandemic was just about to hit. When the pandemic did hit, I felt that the world ha ..read more

My second book, Long Jetty Short Stories, Volume 1, is being published by Ginninderra Press and will be out soon! Below are some snaps of the final proofs I received in the mail. Proof of front coverBack Cover BlurbContents Page ..read more

Here we go again We’re an impatient lot. One could hypothesise that the frantic race to get ahead in the game of modern capitalism has conditioned us that way. A once in a century pandemic comes along and we want it over with quick smart. Two years is way too long. At the end of last year with fingers crossed we gladly farewelled 2020 and wishfully hoped that 2021 would return back to normal so we could go to work and to cafes and to sporting events without masks and without all the other rigmarole associated with disease control. But, the pesky ol’ epidemiologists were right, and along came d ..read more

Merry Christmas one and all. It’s hot and muggy, family are coming, and I have this to proof read. Reminder to self: one thing at a time, there’s no rush ..read more

Big thanks to Superlative Literary Journal for publishing my short story, Given the Conditions. I wrote the story after a fellow member of the Long Jetty Short Story Writing Group requested I write a story about fishing. https://www.superlativelitjournal.com/ 2021 Journal Contributors The Little Wild by Julian Grant Dream by Liz Ainsbury Given the Conditions by Sean Crawley The Way of the Panda by Noah Guthrie Ashes Rising by Michael W. Thomas How To Play by David Hartley The Highland Line by David McVey Stoneheart by Lesley Evans Diminishing Worlds  ..read more

Some good news. For five days in September, Write Around the Murray (WAM) brings people together in Albury Wodonga for a festival of storytelling unlike anywhere else. They also run a short story competition. My story ‘The Consultant’ was shortlisted. Happy. https://www.writearoundthemurray.org.au/competitions/alburycity-short-story-award/_nocache?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Shortlist%20announcement&utm_content=Shortlist%20announcement+CID_96fce8fe0e643182f30e4690fdfc3c0e&utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_term=SHORTLIST ..read more