Pages

Tuesday 24 September 2013

First Press: Download free sample of writing by Stuart Campbell and friends at THAT Authors Collective

THAT Authors Collective has published First Press, a free downloadable ebook of samples of our writing. You can download it here.

Our collective comprises Sydney writers Helena Ameisen, Sarah Bourne, Stuart Campbell and Garry McDougall. We came together in 2013 as a breakaway group from the Write On! writers group founded by Sarah under the umbrella of the NSW Writers Centre in Sydney.

By some alchemy that none of us can explain, we found common cause – a speech pathologist, a tour operator, a professor of linguistics and a counsellor.

What binds us is an addiction to writing and a conviction that four brains are better than one when it comes to literary and technical quality.

First Press features extracts of published and unpublished works, ranging from Helena's poignant memoir of an Egyptian marriage, Sarah's story of love and tragedy set in England and Uganda, Garry's tales of Australian historical mayhem, and Stuart's quirky story of genteel criminality.    

Read. Enjoy. Seek out our members’ works at our websites and associated events.



© Stuart Campbell
Buy Stuart's e-book novel 'The Play's the Thing' for US$1.25 with one click at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BMIF0J0

 

Thursday 12 September 2013

Sydney author develops mild case of aptronymia


This post has been edited and included in my new Kindle e-book anthology 'Becoming a Butcher in Paris and other short essays'.

Friday 6 September 2013

Surviving the 'how to vote' card line

This little extract from my novel The Play's the Thing might be of help today:
 
One of the rituals of Australian elections is dealing with the how-to-vote card. On polling day the voters must run the gauntlet of half a dozen or so party workers handing out the cheap coloured flyers that contain instructions on how to fill out the ballot paper so that preferences are properly directed according to the wishes of each party. The atmosphere around the polling stations is generally cheerful but purposeful; the party workers often look slightly embarrassed, and they spruik in a half-hearted way that ensures that nobody disturbs anyone else.  A gent dressed for an afternoon stroll will say from the corner of his mouth “Vote Green, keep the Libs out.” as if he is in training to sell copy watches.
For the voter there is a dilemma, solved through three different strategies. For the committed 'I've voted XYZ all my life and I don't care who knows' voter, the routine is to approach the line confidently while spying out their party person, and to walk directly up to them without showing any awareness of the existence of the other party persons. Our voter takes the how-to-vote card and the deed is done. For the 'it's my flaming business who I vote for' person, the trick is to pass along the entire line stony faced, taking a paper from each party,  although even this voter might baulk at the most rabid party and decline their how-to-vote card. The 'haven't made my mind up yet' person is in the third category. This voter passes along the line looking nervously between the face of the party official and their paper, taking some and declining others, until they emerge at the end with a random collection of how-to-vote cards. With one of these strategies implemented, the rest is between the voter and the ballot paper inside the cardboard voting booth.


© Stuart Campbell

Buy Stuart's e-book novel 'The Play's the Thing' for US$1.25 with one click at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BMIF0J0

Tuesday 3 September 2013

That Authors Collective: Public reading, Balmain, Sydney, 3 October 2013

The Balmain Institute has generously offered to hold a public reading by Helena Ameisen, Stuart Campbell, Sarah Bourne and Garry McDougall of That Authors Collective.

Details: doors open 6.30pm for 7pm start, Thursday, October 3, 2013, Balmain Town Hall Meeting Room, behind Balmain Library, Darling St, Balmain.

That Authors Collective was established to pool our expertise in the artistic and technical aspects of writing to ensure that our output is as good as it can possibly be. TAC is a spin-off from the Write On! group of the NSW Writers Centre.

Stuart Campbell is an ex-academic writing about middle class characters falling into criminality. His current novel, The Play’s the Thing, is available as an e-book on Kindle.
Sarah Bourne is a counsellor writing on women’s struggles around social and psychological disadvantage. Her current novel is Never Laugh at Shadows.
Helena Ameisen is a speech pathologist writing on cultural and religious conflict & harmony, in her soon-to-be published memoir, Forbidden Territory.
Garry McDougall is a photographer exploring the uneven battles of race, personal ambitions and historical forces. His recent works include Belonging, Forgetting and Remembering and Pilgrimage (five e-books on Spain and France), available at www.smashwords.com.

Please RSVP  garimac9@icloud.com  02 9810 3695

To read the authors' work before the event, go to
http://www.garrymcdougall.comwww.smashwords.com <http://www.smashwords.com>  (for Pilgrimage, Belonging and Forgetting and Remembering)www.facebook.com/groups/535976469757492 <http://www.facebook.com/groups/535976469757492> /http://stubooks.blogspot.com.au/http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BMIF0J0