My novel: Or Forever be Damned

Silky Oak Press will soon publish my new novel, Or Forever Be Damned, on Amazon 5 August 2014 (Ebook) and September (paperback).



Mona — a poor but respectable Protestant teenaged factory girl, is tormented by sibling rivalry over her favoured artistic younger brother, Ambrose. Untrained and against parental orders, stagestruck Mona resolves to outshine Ambrose, furtively pursuing a theatrical career. Into her journey, Mona unearths her younger bête noire, Kat — a Catholic rough-diamond child-veteran entertainer who, conversely, yearns to escape theatre life.

 So begins their lifelong enmity.

Or Forever Be Damned is an historical saga spanning eight decades, following the lives and families of two very different women who escape the slums of northern England’s ‘Cottonopolis’, Salford in the 1930′s Slump — a simmering irrational enmity that lives on in modern day Australia.

My review of Julian Wild's Triple Threat.

Triple Threat

by Julian Wild

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not usually a crime reader, I was drawn to Triple Threat's theatrical setting and period, having been there, in West End theatre life, in 1983. In fact, on one particular show mentioned in Triple Threat!

I (or my imagination) 'recognized' numerous scenes, addresses and venues alluded to, interior and exterior. Quickly lured into the plot by these elements, I was further entranced as the authentic backstage banter and protocols confirmed this was written by a kindred spirit of sorts, someone who had, like myself, been there and walked uniquely special, at times torturously challenging, professional path. It spoke to me directly. The characters, similarly, all rang eerily true for me!

I appreciated protagonist Jon's 'journey' in the parallel literal and metaphorical senses. His inevitable young existentialist contemplations on a future in a magical yet uncertain industry, and his beautiful scenic geographical route taken after rapidly exiting his professional world in flurry of bafflement, resonated nostalgically for this native northern English expatriate.

It was like that trip 'back home' I've never actually taken since relocating to the southern hemisphere decades ago. The wondrous British countryside, its history, the regional dialects and welcoming faces (the bad eggs you encounter along the road notwithstanding) all contributed to a great ride for this reader.

After guessing throughout 'whodunit', it turned out I was close to spot on, which is reassuring should I venture further into this genre. It was neither too easy nor too impenetrable to fathom. Julian Wild's raw narrative stylistics are fresh and unpretentious, making for an ideal bedtime read. Throughout, I heard perhaps unintentional 1980s echoes of the great J.B. Priestly's pre-WWI 'Lost Empires' which I similarly liked for all the same reasons.

Triple Threat was a welcome and refreshing change and I look fondly forward to its sequels.


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