A Brief Chat With Nigel Marsh

'His 2010 speech on life, the universe and everything at Sydney's 2010 TED Conference had an instant global impact and remains Australia's most watched TED talk with well over a million hits. He is the co-founder of Earth Hour and past CEO of a number of high profile advertising agencies.'  Proclaims Nigel Marsh's biography on his publisher's website. He is a man of many talents and writing is certainly one of them.


We were lucky to have the energetic and entertaining Nigel drop by the store last week, shortly following the release of Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up, the autobiographical sequel to the bestselling Fat, Forty and Fired - just in time to be the perfect gift for Father's Day.

"If Lara Bingle can have a tv show about her life," he told us with a cheeky smile, shortly before agreeing to answer some of our questions, "Then I can release one book every ten years."


Your latest book Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up finds you at quite a different point of your life from where you were for your last book, Fat, Forty and Fired. What was the main difference for you between theses two decades?
Chekov once said "any fool can face a crisis, its day to day living that’s the real challenge”. Fat, Forty and Fired was about a year. Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up is about the rest of my life...

Why do you think we as a society seem to be moving further away from maintaining a good work/life balance?
Its so easy to unwittingly get addicted to being busy - especially with today’s technology. Unfortunately it usually takes a major event like a bereavement, illness, divorce or redundancy to force us to pause and reflect on the lives we’re living.

What advice would you give to people who are thinking of following you off the hamster wheel to chase their dreams?
Don’t! Well not because I did anyway. And not until you’ve properly thought through all the implications of taking such a decision. I’m not saying anyone else should do it. Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up is just my story.
For many people leaving their job would be the very worst thing they could do. I’m a huge believer in implementing small changes. Over time they tend to have a far greater and more beneficial effect than the unrealistic grand gestures.



Signed copies of Fit, Fifty and Fired-Up are available in-store now for $29.99.
You can also listen to Nigel's TED Talk on the Allen & Unwin website.

Sebastian Barry visits Shearer's

Sebastian Barry popped into the shop on Saturday. He signed copies of all his books and, while he had to rush off to a lunch, he made time for a cup of tea and a chat. I told him that one of my friends had impressed upon me her love for Willy Dunne, the main character in A Long Long Way. Her father had fought in the Great War and she thought Barry’s book was a beautiful and awful telling of that war.

‘Well, you guys celebrate the war don’t you,’ he said. ‘I actually wrote that book because we (the Irish) don’t remember or commemorate the war and the men who fought in it. A Long Long Way was a great success in Australia and partly, I think, because it tapped into some feeling of Australian war history. It’s a curious thing,’ he said.

Barry is as considered, poetic and reflective in person as he appears throughout his fiction. It was a pleasure to have him in the store. Here’s the proof!

-Pip

A Brief Chat With Paul D. Carter

Last night Paul D. Carter was awarded the 31st The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Prize for his manuscript Eleven Seasons.
Paul dropped into the shop on his way to media interviews and Barbara had a chat with him…

With the window display, copies already at the counter and customers coming in asking for the book written by the man they heard on the radio this morning, Paul was a little overcome with his first visit to a bookshop since winning the award. One of our customers, Paul’s first sale, beat him in the shyness stakes though, being too shy to come and meet him.


The life of the book’s main character, Jason Dalton, is influenced by his love of AFL football and while that may be off-putting for some, Sophie Cunningham, one of the Vogel judges, commented last night that the three judges had no real interest in AFL but Paul’s writing and narrative skill takes over.

Being a staunch St Kilda supporter, I asked him why he decided to use AFL as the background for his novel when it could divide readers. Paul said he got the idea from Don DeLillio’s Underworld where the background to the story is a baseball match and where the characters actions and reactions are heavily influenced by baseball. I think, though, that Paul’s writing and this book have much more in common with Craig Silvey and his novel Jasper Jones because, despite being an AFL tragic and recognizing the names, I’m also completely pulled into the story of Jason.

I asked him, knowing that there were 150 entries in the 2012 The Australian/Vogel Prize was there anyone who had suggested he enter. Paul admitted that he first entered the Vogel when he was 20 years old and has always secretly harboured the desire to win.

Paul teaches at a co-ed school in Melbourne’s western suburbs and I wondered if his students had read the book. He said that they hadn’t read drafts but they were aware he was writing a novel.  I’m sure, that by next week, there will be a lot of his students buying Eleven Seasons to get brownie points!

A Brief Chat With Peter Griffen

With the launch of his new book upon us, we posed artist Peter Griffen these questions about his process.

Further celebrating In And Out of Abstraction, Peter will be hosting an event on Tuesday February 28th at 7pm, at his studio in Emma St, Leichhardt. Peter will open his studio and demonstrate what goes in to creating a piece of art, with wine and nibbles for the audience.

Tickets are $18 (or $15 for Frequent Shoppers) and available by calling Shearer's on 9572 7766.

How would you describe your work?
I work in an abstract “dreaming” way in my studio. When on location, en plein air, I respond directly to the landscape in front of me. I see the latter activity as serious painting, and also “note taking” for my studio abstract work.
My work is usually colourful and energetic, reflecting my buoyant positive approach to life. At times it is quite non-representational, at other times recognisable symbols and shapes appear. The en plein air work is of a more traditional format.

Where is it that you find your inspiration?
Mainly in the landscape; Central Australia, The Kimberley, opal mining sites, farm yards and estuaries are most important.
I am slowly becoming more interested in the human figure and still life subjects. You’ve spent some time on the land and working with Indigenous artists.

Did this influence your recent works in any way?
All art influences me in some way. Australian Indigenous art does influence me in terms of its “look” but more in it’s “message”. Also I do like to include a feeling in my work that there is a group of people living in this land that are very close to the land, so much so, that they seem part of it. I use symbols and marks that appear to have their influence to do this.

You exhibit all over Australia and the world. How do Australian patrons compare to the rest of the world?
I find a similarity in people throughout the world in most ways and when it comes to buying art. Abstract art challenges people throughout the world just as it challenges Australians. People seem to buy more readily if they have heard of you or are well promoted, and so on. The one consistent thing throughout the world is diversity of taste.
I have heard that Australians generally speaking only buy Australian art. Perhaps this is a difference then, because I have sold quite a lot of paintings to the French and the English. Perhaps in Europe people are more open to, or more fascinated by, artwork "foreign"?

We are holding an event in your studio at the end of February. What will people find
when they visit your studio? Do they have access to all areas of your workspace?
People will surprisingly find a large exciting space and will feel free to investigate it once they are over the initial impact. There will be lots of paintings to see, including our own collection of other artist’s work. My wife, Denise, is a textile artist and her work will be on display as will her studio too.
Our workspace is our home. This will be quite apparent and we welcome all.

Is there an etiquette for visiting an artist’s studio? Like, don’t touch and don’t run?
Relax, enjoy and just say nice things, please.....
What do you want people to take away from the experience?
Happiness mainly and something learnt. I hope that some will have more idea of what goes on in an artist’s head, how decisions are made, what drives them, etc.; why someone like me writes a book about my art, why not just paint?

A Brief Chat With Peter Twohig

What’s a good Sydney resident like you (Peter lives on the Central Coast) doing writing a book set in Melbourne?

I was born in Melbourne (it was raining, as I recall) and raised in Richmond. So I remember the area, and the kind of things we used to get up to. However, when I first conceived the book, it was going to be set in the outer burbs somewhere. Then I realised that I was never going to find a setting more moody and dark location than Richmond in the 50s (though other suburbs might rival it: Collingwood and Footscray immediately come to mind.) But it was always going to be a Melbourne novel, as I didn’t become a Sydneysider until 1992.

The Cartographer was started as part of the NaNoWriMo programme in 2009. Can you tell us a little about the programme and how it worked for you?

The idea of the programme is to encourage writers to write 50,000 words in a month (November). When I first heard of the programme, earlier in the year, I was working on another novel, and I realised that if I finished it in time I would be able to tackle the NaNo challenge. I finished the earlier novel on 31 October 2009 and began writing The Cartographer the following day. I wrote one chapter a day for 23 days, and that was the first draft done. In 2010 I added nine another chapters during the writing of the second draft.

Tell us a little about the plot.

The difference between the first draft (worried boy avoids bad guy because he wants to stay alive) and the second draft (grieving boy has to avoid bad guy while trying to assuage guilt) is the difference between a story and a plot. The kid of the story would do anything to have his dead twin brother back, and, as a distant second, would go a long way to forgive himself for what he half believes is his part in his brother’s death (in not trying hard enough to prevent it, or to save him). To make matters worse, he is at real risk of being tracked down by a murderer because, he wrongly believes, he can identify him. In fact he is at risk of being killed for a set of counterfeiting plates he scored at the crime scene, under the Finders Keepers rule. The crushing pressures of his guilt and fear, together with a terrific propensity for getting into trouble regardless of the circumstances, inevitably cause him to seek relief in a world of pretending, with mixed results.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?

The last book I read was Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda. I’m currently reading Kim Westwood’s The Courier’s New Bicycle (HarperVoyager, 2011), and Kirsten Tranter’s A Common Loss (HarperCollins, 2011).

Which fictional character do you most identify with?

That’s a tough question, because I’m pretty impressionable. I remember when I was about fifteen being struck by the character in Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, Alex Du Large (who was a particularly nasty young man the same age as me); and when I was in my twenties being very sympathetic to Capt. Yossarian in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. Then there was Brother William in Eco’s The Name of the Rose. I suppose these days I see myself as a character in one of Jorge Luis Borges’s labyrinthine tales, because that’s how life strikes me.

What are you working on next?

Right now I’m rewriting the novel I was writing up to the beginning of The Cartographer. That will be followed by the prequel to The Cartographer, which has the kid’s grandfather, Archie Taggerty as the main character. Actually, that book is now finished (it was my 2010 NaNoWriMo project), so I’ll be writing the second draft this year. I reckon I’ll always have at least two unfinished novels on the production line.

The Cartographer is available now and is one of Shearer's Books of the Month.

A Brief Chat With Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong is the bestselling author of the Otherworld, Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising and Nadia Stafford series. She is in Australia to attend the Romance Writers of Australia conference.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Currently: The Gangs of Chicago by Herbert Asbury (non fiction).

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
An old copy of Watership Down that my aunt gave me when I was young and hospitalised for surgery and it went on to be one of my favourite books.

Which fictional character do you most identify with?
Anne of Green Gables. While I don't share her outgoing personality, I can completely empathise with her penchant for getting into trouble when she has the best intentions.

What are you working on next?
I'm about to begin my long delayed concluding Nadia Stafford mystery novel.

 Kelley Armstrong's novels are available now.

A Brief Chat With Caroline Brothers

Caroline Brothers visited us for a chat about her new novel, Hinterland.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Believe it or not, The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh at present. Previously, Gould's Book of Fish - Fantastic, magical imagination and an eye-opener into the early days of white settlement in Tasmania.

What inspired you to write a book about refugees?
Encountering these brave, unassuming, incredibly polite, candid kids. I was moved above all by their courage and by the simplicity of their desire to go to school.

What research did you undertake?
Before I knew I was writing the book I went as a reporter to the Greek border with Turkey, to Calais, to Athens and Venice - places along the migration route into Europe. As the novel took shape, I went to some of the places in between - Genoa and back to Nice and back to the places in Paris where I first met and spoke to these brave kids. I also read everything I could on Afghanistan to build up the back story of the boys' lives.

Was it difficult to switch between writing non-fiction and writing fiction?
No - because I'd been writing shorter pieces of fiction, but principally I had a big build up of emotional baggage from meeting these children that I was desperate to channel into some other form, so turning to fiction came as a great relief, a way to externalise all the things I'd been holding that couldn't be contained in journalism. Above all it was a great pleasure to write about these moving kids.

What are you working on next?
I have a few leads for a new novel but haven't decided which one I will stick with to fully develop. But I am dying to get fully involved in the next one.

Hinterland is available here.

A Brief Chat With Paul Daley

Paul Daley is the author of two forthcoming titles, Armageddon, a unique literary and pictorial travelogue following in the footsteps of a fading Anzac trail, and Collingwood: A Love Story, the real story behind a legendary football myth. 

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
 The last book I read was The Amateur Science Of Love by Craig Sherbourne. I am now reading Grand Days by Frank Moorehouse. 

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
My copies of the My Brother Jack trilogy, by George Johnston. He awakened me to the power of the internal monologue and sparked in me a desire to examine the less savoury aspects of Australian character. 

Who is your favourite fictional character?
In light of the above, this may come as no surprise. Johnston's David Meredith. Like Meredith I have long been torn between a desire to settle in Australia (which I have) and to run to other parts of the world. I admire Meredith for his honest appraisals of Australia's cultural, political and social shortcomings - no less relevant today than they were when Johnston channelled them fifty years ago.

What are you working on next?
I am working on a literary non-fiction book, Canberra, for the Writing Cities series for UNSWP. I am also writing a novel about politics for MUP, which has published my first three books.

A Brief Chat With John Dickie

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
The Anatomy of a Moment - the story of the Spanish coup d'état of 1981: a lesson in the subtleties of politics. Currently: Caitlin Moran, How to be a Woman: laugh-out-loud feminism.

If you could choose to go anywhere in the world for a book tour, where would you go and why?
So far, Australia (36 hours in) has been so fantastic that I'd love to do it again.

Who would you like to give your book to as a gift?
To every boy from a mafia family on his 13th birthday.

What are you working on next?
Mafia Republic: the book that will bring the story begun in Blood Brotherhoods right up to the present day.

 John Dickie can be found on the web at www.johndickie.net and you can purchase autographed copies of Blood Brotherhoods here.

A Brief Chat With Mette Jakobsen

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
I am currently reading a book about astronomy in 1593. It's called The Copernican Revolution. The last one I read was a re-read of Anne Michael's Fugitive Pieces - a favourite of mine that I keep coming back to. 

If you could choose to go anywhere in the world for a book tour, where would you go and why? 
I would really love to go to Antarctica - not good for book sales I know!! But to see that vast icy space would be a wonderful experience. I could always hand out copies to those amazing Australians working there. 

Who would you like to give your book to as a gift?
This might seem a little starstruck - but Nicole Kidman's hair was an inspiration when creating the character of Mama in The Vanishing Act. So I would love to give her a book. 

What are you working on next?
My next novel is called The Wingmaker and it's also going to be published by Text, coming out next year. The central themes are love & astronomy.

Mette Jakobsen's debut novel, The Vanishing Act, is a Book of the Month at Shearer's and is available at 15%off the RRP

A Brief Chat With Charlotte Wood

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Last - The Life, Malcolm Knox. Loved the brilliantly wild, loose voice. Now reading The Bell by Iris Murdoch, which I'm loving. 


Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
Too many to choose! But an enduring love is They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell.

Which fictional character do you most identify with?
Nancy Drewe. Because I really want a green convertible. 

What are you working on next?
A book of essays about cooking for people I love - out in 2012.

Charlotte Wood's new book Animal People is released through Allen & Unwin in October and is available to pre-order at Shearer's Bookshop. 

A Brief Chat With Charlie Carter

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
The Return of the Word Spy by Ursula Dubosarsky, illustrated by Toby Riddle was the last book I read. Right now I am reading The Innocents by Nette Hilton and loving every word. It is simply a beautiful book, written with delicate skill.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your favourite and why?
Difficult question. There are many favourites for many reasons, and the list changes regularly. But I keep coming back to The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett. It is superbly witty, and written with a firm grasp on the economy of the English language.

What's the best thing about being a writer?
Having your mind constantly engaged. There's never a dull moment. 

How would you describe the Battle Boy series to someone who has never read it?
It's all about Time and Energy capture. Most people think that when something is in the past it is over, finished, done with. Not so. Great battles never really die. They live on as bubbles of pure energy, floating in the stratosphere. Capture those bubbles and you capture those battles; you can revisit them, relive them over and over. It may seem paradoxical, but in fact our future lies in the past. That's really exciting! 

What's next for Battle Boy?
Napoleon Augustus Smythe (aka Battle Boy 005) has made many discoveries, faced many challenges, and solved many mysteries of history. But he's never really tackled the ultimate challenge - he has never really come face to face with himself. How would he handle such a meeting? How would any of us?

You can catch up with the adventures of Battle Boy at Shearer's Bookshop

A Brief Chat With Peter Rix

Peter Rix has just released his debut novel, Water Under Water.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
A re-read (4th or 5th time) of The Sun Also Rises. Currently, The Tiger's Wife.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje. His writing in this story inspires more than any other - for its poetry, the word choices & sentence construction.

Which fictional character do you most identify with?
10 minutes later... I have failed this test. Perhaps I have too little preparedness to relinquish enough reality to see myself as fictional.

What are you working on next?
A book that exposes the meanings and rituals of ownership and possessed objects and another about how male sexuality explodes, matures, decays and explodes again. 

Autographed copies of Water Under Water are available now at Shearer's Bookshop

A Brief Chat With Carolyn Burke

Carolyn Burke is the author of a new biography on Edith Piaf, No Regrets. She was in town for the 2011 Sydney Writers' Festival. 

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Last: David Mitchell, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Current: Rose Tremain, The Road Home

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
An impossible question but I will venture to say in difficult times, the novels of Jane Austen.

What inspired you to write a book about Edith Piaf?
I first heard her songs at 19, when studying at the Sorbonne: they have been a part of me ever since. At the 2006 memorial for Piaf at Pére Lachaise cemetery, where she is buried, I was moved to think I could write her life by drawing on the intimate correspondence between the chanteuse and her spiritual mentor released that year by the Bibliothèque Nationale.

What do you hope readers take away from No Regrets? 
A sense of Piaf's resilience, generosity, and creative spirit, to counterbalance the commonly held but reductive notion of the singer as self-destructive waif. The sound of her laughter. 

What are you working on next? 
A novel set in Paris just before World War I.

No Regrets is available from Shearer's Bookshop.

A Brief Chat With Michael Cunningham

Michael Cunningham is the bestselling author of The Hours and By Nightfall. He was in town for the 2011 Sydney Writers' Festival. 


What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Room by Emma Donoghue, Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
First edition of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.

How could you best describe your latest novel, By Nightfall?
The story of a man's search for something true and beautiful in a cynical, irony plagued world. And it contains the best sex scene I ever wrote.

Which fictional character do you most identify with?
Satan in Paradise Lost.

What are you working on next?
Part way through The Snow Queen, my new novel, and a movie with Gus Van Sant, a fictionalised documentary set in 1912 Portland, Oregon.

Autographed copies of By Nightfall are available from Shearer's Bookshop.

A Brief Chat With Howard Jacobson

Howard Jacobson is the Booker Prize winning author of The Finkler Question. He was in town for the 2011 Sydney Writers' Festival.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
Karoo by Steve Tesich (wonderful - underrated black comedy).

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
Dickens' Great Expectations, annotated by me.

How would you best describe your latest novel, The Finkler Question?
A hilarious tragedy.

How has winning the Booker Prize impacted your life?

Changed it.

What are you working on next?
New hilarious tragedy. Plus edition of my Independent columns, Whatever It Is, I Don't Like It.

Autographed copies of The Finkler Question are available from Shearer's Bookshop.

A Brief Chat With Phillipa Fioretti

Phillipa Fioretti is the author of The Book of Love and The Fragment of Dreams. She is in town for the Sydney Writers' Festival. 

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
The last book I read was Past the Shallows by Favel Parrett and I'm currently reading Bereft by Chris Womersley.


Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
My 1938 copy of The Myths and Legends of Ancient Greece and Rome. This book was my mother's and I loved it as a child, reading it over and over again. I've loved the classical world ever since.


Which fictional character do you most identify with?
Otto the schnauzer from The Book of Love.

What are you working on next?
I'm working on a romantic/suspense/crime novel set in the Blue Mountains and amid the shenanigans of a corrupt State government, property developers, a restaurant and a young woman who thinks she's in love.

 

Autographed copies of The Fragment of Dreams are available from Shearer's Bookshop

A Brief Chat With Georgia Blain

Georgia Blain has published several novels including her latest, Too Close to Home. She is currently taking part in the Sydney Writers' Festival.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
The last one was Damon Galgut's In a Strange Room, & I have just started Eva Hornung's Dog Boy.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured & why?
I have no idea! I love my collection of Alice Munro, I have books written by my father and by my mother, & they are both special for obvious reasons. And I have the first 'novel' I wrote at age 9. Illustrated by myself as well.

How would you best describe your latest novel, Too Close to Home?
Definitely worth reading! It's set in Sydney's inner west about a group of friends who's political beliefs are challenged by personal turmoil.

In addition to your novels you've published a biography and a YA novel, is there a genre that you prefer to work in?
Definitely adult fiction.

What are you working on next?
Absolutely nothing.

 

Autographed copies of Too Close to Home are available from Shearer's Bookshop.

A Brief Chat With Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare is the author of The Infernal Devices series and The Mortal Instruments series. She is in town for the Sydney Writers' Festival.

What was the last book you read and what are you currently reading?
I recently finished The Vintner's Luck by Elizabeth Knox and just started Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
Pride and Prejudice. It is not only my favourite book but it belonged to my mother and grandmother before her.

Which fictional character do you most identify with? 
Anne of Green Gables because once I used to hate my red hair and freckles too!

What are you working on next?
An updated version of Pride and Prejudice!

Autographed copies of Cassandra's latest book City of Fallen Angels (Mortal Instruments #4) are available from Shearer's Bookshop.

A Brief Chat With James Gleick

James Gleick is the bestselling author of Chaos and The Information. He is in Sydney for the 2011 Sydney Writers' Festival.

What are you currently reading?
Other People's Money by Justin Cartwright.

Which book from your bookshelf at home is your most treasured and why?
Too hard! Complete Shakespeare? Honestly I'm not even halfway through. All of Updike's fiction?

How could you best describe your latest book, The Information?
The story of information becoming aware of itself.

What should people expect from your closing address 'Perish the Thought' at the Sydney Writers' Festival?
My task is to predict whether the book is on its last legs or will survive into a glorious future. I don't want to give away the answer - but you might take a guess. Here I am in this fabulous store, after all.

What are you working on next?

Don't know yet. Starting to feel guilty. 

Autographed copies of The Information are available from Shearer's Bookshop.