As the name suggests, this is where you’ll find everything I’ve written about books, publishing, authors, book stores and more. I’ve had the pleasure of talking to some renowned novelists and thinkers including Joe Hill, Jared Diamond, David Brin, Naomi Wolf, Kim Stanley Robinson and Matthew Reilly.
But it’s also been a way of exploring some big ideas facing technology, society and the economy, whether it’s the lack of contact from interstellar civilisations, the role of pornography not just in technology but human communication overall or how graphic design is changing in the web age.
I’ve also turned the spotlight back on the book industry itself, looking at everything from the challenge of keeping boys interested in reading to the latest innovations in distribution to fiction sales’ dirty little secret about the genre that keeps it afloat.
Colourless caricatures rather than characters drift arbitrarily through the plot, giving you no indication who matters. Clumsily written action sequences could have come from a primary schooler. Humour is elbowed in where there’s no place for it, sobriety where it’s supposed to be an adventure. … Continue readingState of Fear
Most people don’t realise there was an eight-year war between Iraq and Iran before the Gulf War, yet there’s nothing in any bookshop on that subject. That’s helped by an understanding of history. … Continue readingBattling On
As countless airport thrillers prove, a riveting storyline can overcome bad writing. As in this case, the opposite is seldom true. … Continue readingHelen Garner and the Meaning of Everything
I didn’t know how you went about getting a publisher so I did some research on the Internet in about 1996 or 1997. Almost all the Internet was American at that stage so I kind of picked up how to get published in the US by accident. … Continue readingIn Good Company
Like Jennifer Government — the book that launched Barry onto the world stage — Company is a sardonic look of the corporate world. Unlike his previous effort, it’s not a story overlaid against the backdrop of capitalism gone mad. … Continue readingCompany
In other words, publishers aren’t making as many mistakes. Remainders will always be there, but not in the quantities of old. … Continue readingThe Remains of the Day
People approach him on the street to tell him his work has transformed their lives, so maybe it’s bringing such bizarre realities to life for millions of readers that’s his real talent. … Continue readingThe Paul Davies Enigma
With most scientists toiling away in corporate R&D labs developing faster computers or smaller mobiles, is anyone still trying to work out where the universe came from and where it’s going? … Continue readingThe Goldilocks Enigma
We all know what the War on Terror entails, but despite living with it for five years and having our own opinions about the real story behind it, Poole argues over small-scale semantics that make little difference. … Continue readingUnspeak
American actor, author and computer geek Wil Wheaton offers sage advice on his website; ‘nobody will promote your book as hard as you do’ — an opinion he formed after a bad experience with a publisher who let his second book languish. … Continue readingChanging of the Guard
