Current Projects
I returned to writing in 2005 after a long hiatus due to business, health and family commitments. Since then I have been focused on researching and writing a pair of books based on an overland truck journey I made from Kathmandu to London in 1979.
Asia Overland Travel Books - These books are based on an overland truck journey I made on the "Hippy Trail" from Kathmandu to London in 1979. Both books contain a quirky mix of travel, memoir, history, culture and adventure, folded within the structure of the journey. I think the tales will entertain a wide range of readers from armchair travelers to people planning journeys of their own and nostalgic babyboomers who did similar journeys in the 60s or 70s.
I'm currently revising the final draft of the first book, tentatively titled Blue Jeans on the Silk Trail which is set in Nepal and Northern India and if all goes well hope to send it to my publisher for consideration later in the year.
New Cthulhu Mythos story - I completed a new contemporary horror/SF short story in December 2008 titled "The Gnawer of Worlds". It is set in the Dandenong Ranges just outside of Melbourne and based on H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. It is now out on submission to a US anthology.
Young Adult Fantasy Novel - I wrote a Young Adult fantasy novel some years ago which came close to publication, but it had some problems and I put it aside when I moved on to other projects. I recently re-read the manuscript and was delighted to find the novel to be much better than I remembered. I am now enthusiastically re-writing the book and hope to finish it towards the end of 2010.
Maurice Xanthos collaboration - "Street Meat" is a near future horror/SF short story written in collaboration with Maurice Xanthos. It tells the story of Magpie Munday, a one time accountant who finds himself lost and alone at night on the streets of Melbourne ... a Melbourne where society and the economy as we know it has collapsed. 'Street Meat' is currently out under submission.
Another new Cthulhu Mythos story - I started a new Cthulhu Mythos short story in February 2010, based in part on “Travels in India” (1845) by Captain Leopold von Orlich, translated by H. Evans Lloyd, ESQ. This is the first time I have used another writer's work as the basis of a story and it will be interesting to see if I can meld my characters and plot, plus my own experiences in India, with some of the settings and experiences in this antiquated journal and craft them into a viable story.
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