Things like severe crippling injuries or diseases don’t typically make great fodder for a funny book. But for Ian Simpson, who has lived nearly half a century in a wheelchair, it’s as natural as writing about cups of tea or supermarkets. To find out the wheel story (cringe) we put
You could say it was a painter who kick-started Air Commodore John Oddie’s journey to writing Flight Command: From the farm to the frontline. Specifically, Archibald Prize-winning portrait artist Ben Quilty, sent in 2011 as ‘official war artist’ (a legit profession since World War I) to paint the men and
Robyn Windshuttle is first-time author and graduate of our Life Writing course. She had quite the tale to tell when it came to writing her first book – all true and now all published! With the release of her book, Dancing with a Cocaine Cowboy, we threw some questions
Bambi Smyth is the author of Men on the Menu – 75 delicious affairs around the world. That title gives you plenty of clues – namely food and frolicking! But to add some filling to this dish, we went to directly to the source and asked Bambi a bunch of
Telling stories is what it’s all about here at the Australian Writers’ Centre. And for Lisa Venables, recounting a very difficult time in her family’s life provided her with both an emotional and creative outlet. That outlet became her book, Saving Zali – telling the story of her infant daughter’s
We hear a lot about the “mummy blogger”, but to (belatedly) celebrate Father’s Day, we thought we’d give a shout out to stay-at-home dad Clint Greagen – whose blog Reservoir Dad won Best Australian Blog 2013 in the Personal and Parenting category. Clint lives in Reservoir, Victoria (hence the name, although he admits the Tarantino connection is nice too) with his wife and four boys aged between two and nine.
His blog win turned heads at publisher Random House, who approached Clint to ask if he was interested in writing a book. His reply was easy: he would love to. And a year later, his “fifth child” was born – this time made of paper and given the same name as the blog that made it happen – Reservoir Dad.
For Clint, who began his blog back in 2008 when he started his stay-at-home duties, it felt good to receive validation for his efforts. “Yeah, it was just a great pat on the back and it’s sort of like, ‘Keep going, man, you can do it. You’re doing it right.’ Validation that I’ve got something to offer.”
Meet Luke Ryan – a comedian who survived cancer twice; first at 11 and then again when he was 22. So instead of just waiting around to turn 33, he thought he’d tour the country performing a show called Luke’s Got Cancer – A Comedy, and then write a memoir, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Chemo. (Because that’s what all those brochures in the waiting room say you should do.)
His plan has been to take ‘laughter is the best medicine’ to the next level. Luke’s idea wasn’t to diminish what he or other cancer patients were going through, but to bring it out in the open and get people discussing it and feeling okay to discuss it.
Always a fun assignment, comedy and cancer. So we thought we’d throw a few questions his way.
Getting your first big break in writing can take a lot of hard work, determination, and maybe just a little bit of luck.
This is the tale of travel writer Brian Thacker, successful author of seven travel books including Rule number 5: No sex on the bus and The Naked Man Festival. His former life was as an advertising art director, and when you lose an account in advertising, many people lose their jobs. His was one of those jobs.
So he decided to do something different. “I saw an ad in a paper for tour leaders in Europe and winter work,” he recalls. “So, I got this big silly dream. I went over and got a job as a ski guide in Switzerland. And, in the summer I was taking tours around Europe, busloads of drunk Aussies and Kiwis around Europe.”
I was browsing through the bookshop inside the Qantas Lounge at Sydney Airport when I spotted this row of books in prime position, ready to be snapped up by travellers eager for an easy read on the plane.
It’s interesting that Qantas are so keen to show off the book, considering that this cheeky memoir is not just about what flight attendants get up to on the job, but is also a scathing account of what the author portrays as cost-cutting measures by an airline that has an uncaring attitude to its staff. Coupled with endless vignettes of high-flying fun, it’s also a unique take on Qantas’s human resources practices and its entry into (and exit from) different markets from 2001 to 2013.
Perhaps Qantas’s PR department hasn’t read it. Or perhaps they just have a fabulous sense of humour. Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Lisa Venables is an Australian Writers’ Centre graduate and newly published author. She lives on the NSW Central Coast with her husband, her 16-year old son and six-year-old daughter. It was her daughter, Zali, who provided the inspiration for her first book – a memoir recounting Zali’s diagnosis and recovery
Tanya Curran Brown is a master hairdresser whose salon in Wollongong NSW has been the training ground for countless apprentices over the years. She’s also a breast cancer survivor. In 2005 she was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of the disease and eventually underwent a double mastectomy. She has now published her memoir on her journey – A Tale of Two Titties. In her book, Tanya hopes to shine a humorous light on a devastating disease and help other sufferers.
What’s it like to be a ghostwriter? Here, Libby Harkness – author of both credited and uncredited memoirs on various subjects – spills the beans on her life as a ‘writer for hire’.
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