I have been a fan of Lenny Bartulin’s writing for some time. His narrative style is one of artistry and poetic precision delivered with disarming irreverence. I highly recommend his enthralling ‘historical Australian western’ novel Infamy and the snappy prose in his Jack Susko Mystery Series.
Fortune reads like a global adventure puzzle, with alternating narratives and complex character sets. Lenny Bartulin provides readers only bite-size windows into moments of different characters lives, and alternates between each at pace. Some life paths intersect or are influenced by others, and some characters appear only briefly. In this way Bartulin depicts the often fickle nature of things and the great extent to which circumstances lasting mere seconds (those sliding doors moments) can have irrevocable and long term impact on history. Continue reading >>
NEON EMPIRE: Q&A with author Drew Minh + Book Giveaway
Imagine a city fueled entirely by social media. Rising out of the American desert, this city is a real-world manifestation of a social media network where fame-hungry desperados compete for likes and followers. The bloodier and more daring posts pay off the most. As crime rises, no one stands to gain more than the city’s architects—and, of course, the shareholders who make the place possible.
This multiple-POV novel follows three characters as they navigate the city’s underworld: Cedric Travers, a has-been Hollywood director; A’rore, the city’s lead social media influencer whose star is fading; and Sacha Villanova, a tech and culture reporter.
Apple Island Wife by Fiona Stocker, Review: Refreshing humour
It is quite rare for me to read memoirs, but I am so glad I took a chance on this delightful book from Fiona Stocker. Do not for one-minute be put off by ‘Wife’ being in the title. Spoiler alert: They have alpacas, but Fiona has no intention of learning to knit – enough said.
The observations and life moments Stocker candidly shares in Apple Island Wife are ones we can all engage with on some level.
But back to those alpacas they acquired, and more circuitously, some of the hilarious yarns Stocker tells of her family’s experiences with them… Boy, does this lady have an endearing sense of humour. A woman to my own heart, this pragmatist calls a spade a spade. But, her often dryly humorous and irreverent observations avoid the soapbox or negative introspection. Continue reading >>
John Kinsella’s inspiration for HOLLOW EARTH + Book Giveaway
Fascinated by caves and digging holes since childhood, Manfred discovers a path through to another realm via a ‘Neolithic’ copper mine at Mount Gabriel in Schull, Ireland. The world of Hollow Earth, while no Utopia, is a sophisticated civilisation. Its genderless inhabitants are respectful of their environment, religious and cultural differences are accommodated without engendering hate or suspicion, and grain, not missile silos are built. Yet Ari and Zest accompany Manfred back to the surface world. ‘Come with me and see my world.’
So begins an extraordinary adventure in which the three wander the Earth like Virgil’s Aeneas, Ari and Zest seeking re-entry to their own world. The Hollow Earthers are shocked at the cruelty and lies of the surface world, the dieback spreading through the forests. Yet they are seduced by the world’s temptations.