Great Australian Novel

The inspiration behind my Great Australian Novel.

As a child, growing up on a rich diet of great Australian novels such as Cattleman – Richard Sydney Porteous; For the Term of His Natural Life – Marcus Clarke; Lasseter’s Last Ride – Ion Idriess and in latter years The Thorn Birds – Colleen Mccullough; The Potato Factory – Bryce Courtenay, I developed an ambition to, one day, write one of my own.

Over the years I’ve written a few pages of prose and jotted down ideas for this great project of mine, but it wasn’t until recently that I settled on a theme for my story, and mustered the confidence to embark on this journey to producing my Great Australian Novel.

After writing a few novels in the realm of Visionary and Science Fiction, genres I also plan to continue with, I feel I’m ready to wield the words which will adequately paint the pictures of this historical Australian saga. The story has been beckoning me, with characters waking me at night to tell their story. So no more procrastination, I have begun, and hope to finish it this year. It may take more than one novel however.

The inspiration for this Great Australian Novel comes from my family. My Paternal grandparents came to Australia shortly after World War 1 and settled in North Queensland. My Grandfather came out from Greece with his brother to start a new life where he soon after, met my Grandmother. She had arrived from England with her cousin at about the same time. They met and fell in love, and started a generation of Australians, My father then married my mother who was of Irish/Danish extraction and on it goes. Great material for a writer.

This, however, is where the facts of my family’s history and the fiction of the characters in my plot part company, there will be no similarities to my ancestors story whatsoever. The inspiration for the story came purely from the fact that very different cultures came together in poverty and hope in this great southern land, and carved out a life from the opportunities that this wonderful country offered.

The mixed cultures of my family, are a microcosm of what has been happening in Australia for a good part of our history, particularly since World War 1, and once the “What if” principle was applied to the scenario my plot was hatched.

Look for the book (No title yet), which is well under way now, around Christmas 2017. I’ll be doing my best to make this my great Australian novel.  Subscribe to my blog on the front page or in the footer of this website for a progress report.    

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