tomw

I get the same thrill reading Shane Maloney's books about Murray Whelan, set in Melbourne, reading about the locations are evocative and draw me into the stories in a way that is very personal.

My current favourite detective would have to be Smiffy from the Bill, if not him then Eddy Murphy from Beverly Hills cop. Mind you, now Matlock Police is back on in the middle of the night all that could change soon.

We are unique and Severin,
Good to know that we have some budding writers among us - have either of you made a serious attempt to have something published?
My only serious attempt was a children's novel about fifteen years ago - it had an historical slant to it - didn't get published but doesn't really matter because I enjoyed the fact that I was able to finish it and send it away. It wasn't a total waste of time as I read it to my eight year-old son recently - he doesn't really like to read novels ( he's mildly autistic and prefers to read encyclopedias) However, he enjoyed me reading it to him and looked forward to it every night.

P. D. James said that she creates the murder and then works in reverse to find the structure for her plot.

Squeers,

You mentioned Jacques Derrida,
I believe he was known as the founder of deconstruction. I'm not scholarly enough to have read any of his writing - which is probsbly a good thing as I've read that he is notoriously obscure and difficult to understand.

Poirot

On writing:

Nothing I have been paid for.

Have written lots of analysis, reports, government policy as well as editorial letters. All of which has had an impact (negative) on writing fiction. I also wrote a children's story once, it started out as a poem and wound up as a story - it was part of a design project. People told me that it was very lyrical and flowing which I guess was the original poem lurking in the tale.

I appreciate that your autistic son would find concentrating on the spoken word a little easier than the relaxing of mind that is required for reading fiction. I can well believe he enjoys encyclopedias. Keep up with the reading of fiction, he may eventually clue into it enough to read for himself which would really help his left/right brain interaction. All the best.

I forgot when logging out last night to thank you from the heart for the brilliant Thread Poirot! No publishing as yet, however written 3 major works [childrens farm stories over the years, reading them to classes in schools when my kids were younger], kept writing on weekend nights over the years and ended up with a 700 page book that has medical, mystery, love, romance, humour, and a sex mix involving quite a few couples set on a farm.

The next book is a medical one of about 1,000 pages non-fiction. Awaiting an illustrator. Songs, poems, written in spare hours??. Anyone, as I have stated, can write and publish, as there are readers out there who will love every author's books.

Admittedly I have not done either the Writers Course or the Screenwriters course for a reason. I am concerned my raw writing 'ease and flow' may become blocked after doing a course, as has occurred with some artists.

When I turn 50 and require a part-time income, am hoping to publish, market and hit the road travelling around Australia to sell the books [inexpensively] to assist parents. I wonder who will be accompanying me? Fantastic if it was an author to market their books with me [LOL] staying in pubs chatting with the locals around the N.T, outback WA, SA, Country QLD....get writing Severin, it may be you and I to become friends travelling!!

Dear Fraccy...wouldntcha hate it if you found out *Shane Maloney* was me :)

Poirot.. my favorite detective right now is Glenn Beck. (Fox news)

man..what a terrier... ferreting out some amazing stuff of 'CRIME INC'

cheers.