FIRST STORY I EVER WROTE

I’ve just started a new page “Stories” where I’ll post pieces of my writing. Hopefully an excerpt from Thrill Seekers in the near future.

The first is “Harry“. I wrote it in 2001, my first attempt at writing a full length piece of something. I didn’t know quite what. Like most of my writing it’s a mix of memoir and fiction, mostly memoir in this case. It was part of the original collection of stories that Thrill Seekers was born from.

I still haven’t found “Harry”. His real name was David Maher. If anyone has seen or heard from him please let me know.

Though I think that if he was still around he’d have turned up by now. Perhaps you can trust priests after all.

If all that seems a bit cryptic it will make more sense after reading the story. 

 I’ve tried to make it so you can click on the links above but if that doesn’t work just go to the menu on the left and click on STORIES.

Hope you like it.

My favourite books

Like most people, I have a mountain of half -read books beside my bed. I read all sorts of books, from Jane Austen to Richard Wright, Faulkner to Marion Keys.

My favourite book right now is Helen Garner’s glorious The Spare Room. She tackles a difficult subject with compassion and brutal honesty. Her writing is lean and clean and beautiful. She makes me laugh. And cry.

I love Winton’s short stories in The Turning, another master at work.

But when I grow up I want to be Margaret Attwood. She’s prolific, funny and writes in a variety of genres successfully. I especially love her collection of stories  The Tent. If you’re a writer you’ll get a kick out of her views on “voice” and the writing life.