Mission Control we have launch sequence in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

What you’re looking at is the cover of my just released short story collection.

And yep, it has got a deliberately long title.

Am I excited? Am I pumped? Am I in writing heaven? Yes, yes, yes! And let me add – you don’t know how much!

The day my author’s copy from the publisher arrived in the mail was a day to behold – literally!

With no one looking, I spent what no doubt amounted to a quite shameful length of time caressing the smooth-as-wax cover (over and over), smelling it’s pages with every nostril muscle I could command and staring long-fully, lovingly and smoochfully into ‘it’s’ dreamy, hardcover eyes.

No denying this was a forbidden, unholy love that, in a previous time, dare not have spoken it’s name. Would it be too unhinged of me to admit I slept with ‘it’ that first night under my pillow?

I’d been hit hard with first-time author’s lovey-dove goo-goo eyes for my new book and I was determined to make the honeymoon last as long as possible.

Now that that magical time is a week past, I can say I don’t think I’ll ever forget that first, memorable night alone. Just the two of us... beautiful new book and I.

Before the story continues, would you like a taste? Maybe a little rude of me not to have offered before now? Ok then. Don’t waist it – taste it – HERE.

Anyways, with the infatuation-phase drawing to a close, it was time to get down to business. The promotion business, that is. I’d organised a 10 000 flyer letterbox drop of my local neighbourhood. Time to get that underway.

The thought did occur to me how much easier and quicker it might be to just hire a helicopter and drop the whole damn heaving paper mass of promotional codswallop in one go on the unsuspecting folk in my local surrounding suburbs.

Apart from the expense of that I also figured I might cop a littering fine from council, so thought the better of it.

Promotion-wise, I also managed to reign in a couple of favours from ‘celeb’ mates of mine I’ve rubbed shoulders with – Walter-Mitty style – along the way of my ‘authors journey’, as they say.

Jack Black’s reaction to the book, for example, was impressive to say the least –

This book features 87 (’cause 87 is one helluva magic number – just ask any cricketer!) completely whacked-out short stories written by me. They range in length from 30-second to ten-minute reads.

You can buy it or browse it –

HERE

HERE

HERE

Thanks for attending my book launch. I do hope you enjoyed the complementary glass of champagne on the way in (apologies if we’d run out by the time you arrived).

To celebrate the sheer austerity, sophistication and class – the ‘front-of-the-plane’ kind – of this occasion and leave you in no doubt as to the fully-fledged highbrow-ness of the company you’ve been in while here, I leave you with this –

Just for laughs of the ironic kind, here’s a flashback to 2021 when I penned a genuine hand-on-my-heart blog post entitled REASONS WHY I’LL NEVER – AND I MEAN NEVER – WRITE A NOVEL. Well, I did say novel.

So what’s next on the SWS drawing writing board? Would it surprise anyone to know that SHACK is currently hard at work on a script for the live, one-man-show version of THE HIGH-FIVEABLE, FIRE-GOD BRILLIANT, CLEVER-IN-SPADES AND UTTERLY RIPSNITIOUS SHORT STORY COLLECTION? You heard it here first.

What’s happier than a writer with a new book? Try full-on HAPPY DAYS HERE

Next week, things get proper huge. Proper huge for around these parts, anyway.

SCENIC WRITER SHACK’S worst kept secret of 2024 can now be finally revealed.

It’s book launch time, baby!

In T-minus seven days and counting the champagne corks will pop, the streamers will fly and the sonic boom at lift-off will be felt every bit as much as it’ll be heard.

SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK will don it’s finest Perspex safety glasses as it launches it’s published short story collection – fully ten years in the making – with all the fanfare it can muster.

You won’t want to miss it! Until then, here’s a first-time cover reveal…

This week, SCENIC WRITER’S SHACK travelled more than 2000 kilometers to take in the sights of South Australia.

While in Adelaide, spotted in a ‘not-so-ordinary’ ordinary suburban houses’ front yard was this rampantly cuckoo and rare-as-a-blessing-of-unicorns statue I’ve dubbed UPSIDE-DOWN READER.

When you take the SCENIC route, you never know what you might see.

And is it just me or does UPSIDE DOWN READER bear at least a passing resemblance to a literary, silvery version of the long-limbed golden dude from the 1966 episode of LOST IN SPACE titled THE DREAM MONSTER?

Okay, it’s just me.

Construction workers have been cool since as far back as THE VILLAGE PEOPLE. Maybe even before (tee hee!).

Pitched firmly at the Tik Tok generation, this South Australian tv ad currently doing the rounds does precisely what it sets out to do – make being a tradie look like a cool career choice for school leavers.

I so love this ad. Hard hats off to you, city of Ad-elaide!

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