Category Archives: Science Fact and Fiction

PHILLIP BERRIE – The Changeling Detective

It’s one thing to work as a private detective wearing a disguise- but what if you can completely change your form and face at will? Phillip Berrie’s protagonist thinks he is unique , a ‘mutant’, but in investigating another case suddenly finds out a confronting truth about his possible origins and the source of his ‘superpower’.

The Read

The Interview

Recorded at Conflux 2023

Once Bitten – Twice Shy

John Barrie Button – The Man Who Died Twice.

Something a little different in this post, John hasn’t written the book yet ( he says there will be about 5 volumes!) but this is an  inspiring interview with permaculture legend John Barrie Button about what it feels like to be bitten by one of the most venomous snakes in the world- An Australian Tiger Snake. And then 25 years later , survive  complete liver failure!

Click on the image  link above or the one  below to hear this episode on the Libsyn site

Check out this episode!

Two reads for isolation!

Laura Jean Mackay -‘The Animals in That Country’ and ‘Parlour Games for Modern Families’ by Spiri Tsintziris and Myfanwy Jones.

To buy this book, click on image.

Ever so slightly disquieting and scary, this novel imagines a very different kind of pandemic.

Interview- Laura Jean Mackay

Narratives Quickpod

Parlour Games for Modern Families

To buy this book, click on image.

Stuck at home? Isolating with your partner or family? Running out of ideas to keep you all amused?

Well these two authors have got you covered- over 130 games that anyone can play using no more than a pencil, a piece of paper, imagination and a willingness , in some cases, to make a proper tit of yourself!

Wonderfully researched and easy to use, these two authors had agreat time testing all of these out so you know they work!.

Interview with Spiri Tsintziris

Author Spiri Tsintziris
Author Myfanwy Jones

Please note:We are conducting all our interviews by phone in the interests of public safety – apologies for some lapses in audio quality!

damon gameau- 2040

Mitigating Climate Change

To buy this book, click on image.

By now, most of us are concerned about the effects of Climate Change– the big question is, what can we as individuals do to help ameliorate it’s effects?

Damon Gameau has devoted a large part of his life trying to understand what human life is doing to our one, beautiful planet.

His illustrated book ‘2040‘, expands on the material covered by his film of the same title. He details many solutions that are already possible and being used to slow down the effects we are having on our environment.

Damon Gameau reads from ‘2040’

Author and activist Damon Gameau

Damon Gameau interview

Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2019

SARAH KRASNOSTEIN – The Trauma Cleaner

Have you ever thought about who gets the real dirty work in our messy society?

I’m talking about cleaning up after suicides who have lain unmourned  or missed for weeks, or hoarders who can’t control their  desire to keep their whole live’s  possessions. The industrial accidents, the crime scenes- there are some places you just don’t want to go but specially trained cleaners are often the second on the scene after other services and authorities  and they have to have the knowledge ( and the stomach) to get places habitable or safe again.

Sarah Krasnostein followed one such person for several years and what she learned is detailed in this fascinating book. As you can imagine, the person who does this job has to have a well developed philosophy to cope with what they witness and have to deal with.

Rubber gloves essential!

Sarah Krasnostein reads from  ‘The Trauma Cleaner’

 

 

Author Sarah Krasnostein

Interview with Sarah Krasnostein

 

Recorded at the Byron writers Festival 2018

CATCHING THUNDER- Kjetil Saeter & Eskil Engdal

CATCHING THUNDER- Kjetil Saeter & Eskil Engdal

click image  to buy book         

 ‘the story of the world’s longest sea chase’

 

True life thriller of the story of the Sea Shepherd ship the ‘Bob Barker’, braving arctic seas, storms and the longest sea chase ever in their pursuit of pirate vessels poaching the Patagonian Toothfish.

Kjetil and Eskil took leave from their job as Norwegian journalists and pursued the true owners of the pirate ship through multiple countries of registration  and  name changes  by sifting through thousands of online records and logs while the crew and captain Peter Hammarstedt of the Bob Barker  played  a waiting game that had a most unexpected ending. Amazing achievement and a great read.

Authors Kjetil Saeter (L) and Eskil Engdal 

Interview with Kjetil and Eskil

 

Kjetil Saeter reading from ‘Catching Thunder’

 

Recorded at the Byron Writers Festival 2018

A Post for Science Fiction Lovers!

Edition  twenty: Rachel Craw – ‘Spark’;   Krissy Kneen –‘ An Uncertain Grace’;   James Bradley ‘ Clade’

Three science fiction authors for this week.  In ‘Spark’ Rachel Craw has a group of teenagers, fumbling with their own emerging feelings and identities caught up in a  tale of genetic engineering  and superheroes, James Bradley  explains the title of his work ‘Clade’ and reads from the opening chapter when the hero has elected to go  on a mission to Antarctica, while Krissy  Kneen in ‘An Uncertain Grace’ really gets our heads turned around with the idea of observing  the world through other people’s eyes- even their skin!

                   

   


Music track ‘ Robotica’ by Michael Fairley from ‘Boy from Mars’

Rachel Craw was recorded at the Somerset Festival of Literature; Krissy Kneen and James Bradley were recorded at the Sydney writers Festival.