The following article was recently published in the CBCA Vic Branch Newsletter. OTHER WORLDS in the classroom Each year the Book Week theme opens the doors of possibility, giving teachers and librarians an opportunity to get children engaged with reading. But more than that, these themes can lead to classroom discussions on a wide variety […]
They’re here! They’re finally here! I was so exited when my Lethbridge-Stewart novel, Fear Frequency, was released. So it was an odd feeling not having my copies. Due to Candy Jar Books being in the UK, and the vagaries of international deliveries, it was over three weeks between publication and my copies arriving. I had […]
Here it is folks… the cover for THE SUPERNATURAL SURVIVAL GUIDE, which will hit bookshops on 28 September 2021! Meanwhile, the covers for the first two GUIDES have been shortlisted in the Australian Book Designers Association awards in the Children’s/Young Adult Series category. The first book was a collaboration – Bruno Herfst and Tony Palmer […]
What does an author do when there’s a snap Covid lockdown? Make more videos, of course! This time around I’ve gone for short (under 10 seconds), sharp little promos for The Human Body Survival Guide that can be used on social media. I’ll be uploading them to Instagram, Twitter and FaceBook… but I thought I’d […]
I am super excited to reveal the cover for Fear Frequency, my upcoming novel in the Lethbridge-Stewart range of Doctor Who spinoff books. The cover artwork is by the wonderfully talented Adrian Salmon (check out his blog). This is all finally starting to feel real, although I don’t think I will 100% believe it until I’m holding a copy in […]
Well, hasn’t 2020 been one heck of a year? Back in January I had no idea that a pandemic was on it’s way, that I would find myself in lockdown, twice, that schools would start cancelling speaking gigs and that I’d have to learn to switch over to virtual presentations. It was challenging, both on […]
Hold on to your tinfoil hats folks… it’s time to research everything spooky, weird and unexplained. That’s the focus of the new SURVIVAL GUIDE that I am currently working on. I will be covering cryptozoology, UFOlogy, ghost hunting and a range of other topics. I will be approaching the subject matter from a sceptic’s starting […]
Puffin in the kids’ imprint of Penguin Random House and 2020 is the little bird’s 80th birthday. There should have been HUGE celebrations! There should have been parties! There should have been MASSIVE author events! BUT… We had Covid-19 instead. So celebrations happened in the virtual world instead. Social media banners, videos, pics and all sort […]
Here’s the first of The Human Body Survival Guide trailers, featuring Dr George (not a real doctor)… And here’s the second… And the third… With Victoria in lockdown, making location shooting untenable, I had to change my plans for these videos and learn all about blue screen. It was a rather steep learning curve, but […]
Unboxing videos seem to be all the rage these days. But I’d never done one… until now! Of course, I couldn’t possibly do an ordinary one. So here it is, the unboxing of The Human Body Survival Guide.
As the Melbourne Lockdown continues, I want to continue making vids. But, I don’t want to be doing the same thing over and over again. So I thought I’d try something a little different. A set of short videos about drawing… even though I am REALLY BAD at drawing. I’m hoping that they might encourage […]
Another reading, this time from OTHER WORLDS: Game World. Computer games, robot birds, laser pistols and a car chase… what more could you want? As usual, shot on my iPhone and edited with iMovie. This time I played around with multiple angles and editing. Hope you like it.
As Melbourne continues with Lockdown 2.0, I’m continuing with my vids. It’s been a while since my last reading (You Choose, 6 May), so I thought it was high time for another one. This is the opening of “Chapter One: Zyra” from Level Up!, which is the second book in my YA Gamers trilogy. Hope you enjoy […]
Melbourne has begun its new lockdown, so I’m back to video making. My GAMERS trilogy, published by Ford Street Publishing, returned to bookshop shelves this year with awesome new covers from Matthew Lin. They were published in March, just before the first lockdown, so I’ve not been able to do much in the way of physical […]
Wow! My short story, “Pure History”, from the Lethbridge-Stewart anthology The Havoc Files: The Laughing Gnome has made it onto the shortlist for this year’s SCRIBE AWARDS. These awards are organised by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW) and are described in the official blurb as follows… “Acknowledging excellence in this very competitive field, […]
The Covid-19 Isolation continues… and so do my reading vids. This one is from You Choose: In the Realm of Dragons. This is my first attempt at using green screen to create a split screen video in order to have two of me in the same shot. It was A LOT harder than I anticipated. I […]
Here’s another reading. This one is from Beast World, which is Book 2 in the OTHER WORLDS series. Although these books can be read as a sequential series, they are also designed to work as stand-alones. This time, I’ve played around a bit with editing and special effects. I am very much enjoying the process of creating […]
Another week of pandemic induced self-isolation… another video reading. Something a little different this time. It’s only the first scene of my short story “Future Dreaming”, which appeared in the anthology Under the Weather: Stories about climate change (ed: Tony Bradman, Frances Lincoln, UK, 2009). But then I go on to give you my two cents […]
I’m back with another reading video, this time from The RFDS Adventures: Emergency Echo. In this extract, we get to hear about Fergus Callaghan, a pilot with the Aerial Medical Service (the precursor to the RFDS) in the 1930s. Please excuse my Irish accent. 🙂
Self-isolation is still happening, so here’s another reading to help you pass the time. My Aussie accent is pretty shocking and REALLY inconsistent… but who cares! This reading features Bruce The Dropbear, and even a couple of my chickens manage to make an appearance. Many thanks to my wife Kerri for directing and my daughter Lexi […]
It’s time for a cover reveal! It seems rather appropriate to be revealing the cover of The Human Body Survival Guide as we are all trying to survive a viral pandemic… especially since viruses get their own section in this book. (No, the Covid-19 pandemic is not a marketing ploy on my part.) I adore this […]
With self-isolation being the new norm during this time of viral pandemic, I thought I’d inflict a bit of reading on the unsuspecting Interwebs. Here are a couple short excerpts from my books… The first is a reading from the interactive You Choose: The Treasure of Dead Man’s Cove: And the second is a reading from Game […]
Life in Australia has become rather strange since the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic. Social distancing has become a thing, hand sanitising is now the norm, and panic buying of toilet paper has hit insanity levels. But schools have also been affected. Many have closed due to staff or students having contracted the virus. States […]
I’ve been obsessed with Doctor Who since I was about ten years old. As a kid, the series got me into reading and writing. As an adult it continues to inspire me, influencing my writing. So I greet each new season with much eagerness and enthusiasm. I will often comment on each new episode on social […]
Happy Publication Day to the new-look GAMERS trilogy. Originally published between 2009 and 2013, they are back with new covers, new titles and new marketing. These awesome covers are by Matthew Lin. All three books can now be purchased directly from Ford Street Publishing. Or you can get your favourite bookshop to order them in. […]
Last week I had the great pleasure of attending Voices on the Coast in Queensland. Organised by Immanuel Lutheran College in conjunction with The University of the Sunshine Coast, it was two days of immersion in books and all things reading, as students were bussed in from surrounding schools to attending presentations and workshops with […]
One of my all-time favourite characters from DOCTOR WHO is Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, head of U.N.I.T. during the Pertwee era, as portrayed on screen by the late, great Nicholas Courtney. So it is with much excitment (and not a little bit of disbelief) that I now find myself writing the character. In 2015, Candy […]
Okay folks, here they are… the awesome new covers by Matthew Lin for the three Gamers novels… These new editions will be released by Ford Street Publishing in March 2020.
It’s the New Year! It’s the New Decade! It’s time to celebrate and look forward to 2020, which has such a lovely science-fiction ring to it. But it’s also a chance to look back and celebrate the past as well. My BIG publication for 2019 was The Australia Survival Guide, released on 1 October by Puffin […]
Yes folks, it’s announcement time… I am officially revealing that my next book is The Human Body Survival Guide! This follow-up to The Australia Survival Guide, is keeping the feel and approach of the first, but with a very different topic. It is particularly focused on all the gross stuff. So this book is full of poo […]
The Australia Survival Guide, my first foray into commercial non-fiction, was published by Puffin Australia on 1 October 2019. And I was nervous. Seriously nervous! After all, I’m known for writing fiction, mostly science fiction, fantasy and OTT action/adventure. Yes, I’ve written loads of educational non-fiction, but that’s a completely different market. So this book […]
Zyra is coming back! Tark is coming back! The GAMERS trilogy is coming back! My first trilogy of novels is set to be rebranded and rereleased March 2020 with Ford Street Publishing. AWESOME new covers have been created by the amazingly talented Matthew Lin. And the books have new individual titles that are a little […]
I love a good literary festival – both as a writer/speaker and as a reader. The StoryArts Festival Ipswich, is one of the best. And I was lucky enough to be invited along. Five days worth of amazing book-related programming for kids. That’s right (write)… FIVE DAYS! How cool is that! The program was divided between […]
Here they are… my 4 short book trailers for THE AUSTRALIA SURVIVAL GUIDE, which will be in bookshops from Tuesday 1 October. I had way too much fun making these. Huge thanks to my wife, Kerri, for directing them. And a shout out to my daughter, Lexi, who features in the beach trailer. And I’ve […]
A couple of weeks ago, one of my writing heroes passed away. Terrance Dicks was best known for his association with Doctor Who. He was a script editor and writer on the classic series. He also wrote dozens of the Target novelisations. And he continued to write Doctor Who stories after the series was revived, his final […]
It’s not every day that one gets the chance to act for the BBC. But last Sunday night, at 6pm, my dulcet tones graced the airwaves of BBC Radio 4 as Scribe in “A Verb of Nouns”, the third episode of the second season of Night Terrace. Night Terraceis an Australia sci-fi comedy audio series that […]
I am currently poring over page proofs for The Australia Survival Guide, which goes off to the printers on Friday. But I’m taking a short break to officially reveal the cover. Feast your eyes on this… It will be hitting the shelves on 1 October 2019 under the Puffin imprint from Penguin Random House Australia. I. […]
FIVE YEARS! Five years in a row! I am absolutely floored! The REAL awards shortlist (which feeds into the YABBAs in Victoria, the KOALAs in NSW and the KROCs in the Northern Territory) has been announced and You Choose: Alien Invaders From Beyond the Starsis on it, in the “Fiction For Older Readers” section. It is […]
A new Doctor. New companions. A new TARDIS interior and a new sonic. A new showrunner and a heap of new behind the scenes people. Welcome to the fresh new series of Doctor Who. Series 11 sees Jodie Whittacker step into the role of the Doctor, the first time that this regenerating Time Lord has been […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Who has been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. In this review, I’m wrapping things up. The […]
We have more venomous snakes than you can poke a stick at. We have creepy-crawly spiders that can sneak up on you. We have crocs and sharks with really big teeth in our waters. We have raging bushfires and unexpected floods. We have an often harsh environment with bushlands and deserts to get lost in. […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Whohas been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. In this review, I’m looking at the fifth and […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Whohas been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. In this review, I’m looking at the fourth story, […]
Blimey… what a year! 2018 was busy. Real busy! Like, super busy! Lots of writing and touring and speaking. It was all pretty amazing! The big thing was, of course, the publication of the OTHER WORLDS series. Four sci-fi/fantasy/adventure books for kids aged 8 and up. Books 1 and 2 came out in February and […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Who has been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. In this review, I’m looking at the […]
A bunch of authors and illustrators touring around Melbourne and Sydney on a mini-bus with a publicist… what could possibly go wrong? Well… aside from being mobbed by an entire school’s worth of kids desperate for the bag of lollies I was about to distribute on Halloween; and being made to impersonate a meerkat on […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Who has been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. In this review, I’m looking at the […]
The BBC have released an utterly gorgeous video with school kids getting a preview of DOCTOR WHO Series 11 and a surprise visit from the 13th Doctor herself, Jodie Whittaker (see bottom of post) Just look at the excitement on the faces of these kids. Anyone ranting against the decision to cast a woman as […]
Getting a good review is pretty great. But getting a good review in which your writing is compared to someone/something you are a fan of… well… that’s just AWESOME! In her Magpies magazine review of Game World, Beth Dolan wrote: “Special mention of the mother-figure who could challenge Coraline’s Button Mother for creepy malevolence.” OMG! […]
Whilst attending a writers festival in an odd faux Swiss village in Tasmania, named Grindelwald, some of my fellow-writers and I decided that it would make a great setting for a murder mystery novel. One by one, authors are murdered for the mistakes they have made in their novels, their method of demise being in […]
Tom Baker’s first season as the Doctor in Doctor Who has been released as a Blu-ray box set. Season 12 comprises 5 stories made up of 20 episodes. Rather than trying to review the whole thing all at once, I’m dividing things up over a number of reviews. Having written an Overview, it’s now time […]
This box set is a thing of beauty! But there is SO MUCH in it (20 episodes plus HEAPS of extras) that it will take me some time to watch and review it all. Rather than wait, I’ve decided to do multiple reviews – starting with this overview, continuing with one for each story, and […]
After individual trailers for Perfect World and Beast World, we now have a trailer for the OTHER WORLDS series as a whole. 🙂
Game World and Dark World (books 3 and 4 of OTHER WORLDS) hit the shelves today. Yay! I’m celebrating with some flourless orange cake. But… um… I was most of the way through my slice before I realised that I had forgotten to take a photo for this blog post. Whoops!
The legendary, abandoned Doctor Who story penned by Douglas Adams, “Shada”, finally sees the light of day (yet again), this time with the missing bits recreated with animation. But is all this time and effort actually worth it? My opinions are forthcoming, but you could win a copy and make up your own mind. “Shada” […]
OMG! OMG! OMG! A You Choose book has made it on to the REAL awards shortlist for the fourth year in a row. How cool is that? And what an amazing honour! The REAL (Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature) awards are a group of state-based awards for children’s literature that are nominated and voted on […]
The 2017 Doctor Who Christmas Special, “Twice Upon a Time”, in which Capaldi hands on the baton to Jodie Whitaker, can be summed up with the thirteenth Doctor’s first words – “Aw, brilliant!” Following on directly from the Series 10 finale, Capaldi’s twelfth Doctor is refusing to regenerate. Arriving at the South Pole, he bumps […]
Today I ran a two-hour intensive writing workshop for kids aged seven and up, at Eltham Bookshop. It was all about structure and planning. Several of the participants were interested in using the group planning activities as a basis for their own writing, so I promised to put photos of the whiteboard plans up on […]
Happy Publication Day to this awesome footy anthology. I’m pleased to have a story (about football on another planet) in this book, along with those written by Michael Wagner, Tony Wilson, Nicole Hayes, Adrian Beck, Michael Panckridge, Sherryl Clark, Patrick Loughlin, Meredith Costain, Shivaun Plozza and David Lawrence. And the illustrations are by Simon Rattray. […]
Today, the doorway opens on OTHER WORLDS with the publication of books one and two – Perfect World and Beast World. This new series of sci-fi/fantasy/adventure books, aimed at kids aged 8 and up, is officially launched today! I celebrated Publication Day this morning with a fancy cheesecake. 🙂 I am so excited about this […]
Today the latest two YOU CHOOSE FLIP ME books have been released into the wild.Creepy Crawly Chaos / City of RobotsandExtreme Machine Challenge / In the Realm of Dragons
January 29 will see the release of another two FLIP ME! You Choose editions… The first will bring together Extreme Machine Challenge and In the Realm of Dragons. And the second has Creepy Crawly Chaos and City of Robots. This will complete the set of FLIP ME!, 2-in-1 You Choose books. Very exciting!
The time has come to unveil my new OTHER WORLDS book series. This is where I get to tell you a little about it and also show you the first two covers – illustrated by the always awesome James Hart (who also does the covers for my You Choose series) and designed by Tony Palmer. […]
In October this year I had the pleasure of touring the Central Coast area of NSW, courtesy of the local branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Over the course of five days I visited seven schools, two bookshops, a library book club and a Teacher-Librarian networking event. And I even managed to squeeze […]
I still can’t quite believe it, but You Choose: Alien Invaders From Beyond the Stars has been named as an Honour Book in the KOALA Awards for the second year in a row. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who voted for it. And, of course, thank you to the organisers for […]
Not long now before I can reveal the covers for the first two books in my new OTHER WORLDS series, along with some info. Until then, here’s a bit of a teaser.
Hands up, who went to this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival? [LOTS, given the crowds of people I saw.] Who had a wonderful, inspiring, creative time? [Insert deafening cheers.] I was there! This was my second year in a row running a sold-out workshop as part of the Schools Program. How lucky am I? The workshop […]
Time to take a specky, kick a goal and read a book… oh… and eat some Tim Tams. ‘Cause today, You Choose AFL: Footy Fever hits the shops! I always celebrate a new release with food. And with a book about the most famous of Aussie sports, what could be better than the most famous […]
I’m still so excited about the casting of Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor in the TV series DOCTOR WHO, that I went to the local park today and did this… ‘Cause, guess what? Men and boys can, you know, have women as role models. Many thanks to my talented wife, Kerri Valkova, for taking […]
So… I woke up this morning to one of the most exciting pieces of casting news ever! Jodie Whittaker has been announced as the 13th Doctor in the long running British sci-fi series DOCTOR WHO. I’m VERY, VERY, VERY excited about this. Let me tell you why… I’m a huge Doctor Who fan. I love […]
n late May I had the pleasure of going on a promotional book tour in Wagga Wagga and the surrounding Riverina region. I visited six schools in Henty, The Rock, Ashmont, Junee, Coolamon and Wagga Wagga, as well as doing some media and an in-store event with the tour organisers, Gateway Bookshop (if you’re ever […]
I am totally blown away by this! “An Eye For and Eye”, my story from The X-Files: Secret Agendas anthology, has been shortlisted for a SCRIBE AWARD. Shortlisted! As in, one of only five stories! Blimey! That certainly calls for a bit of celebrating. As an author, I’ve never chased awards. But it is very […]
I’ve been keeping this a secret since November 2016… but I can finally reveal details of the next You Choose book. It’s a footy-themed story that’s been licensed by the Australian Football League. And it features real-life AFL players (as well as a ninja, a Footy Godmother and a group of grumpy old men who […]
Three years is a row! I find it hard to believe, but that’s the situation– I’ve made it onto the REAL Awards (Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature) shortlist for the third year running, thanks to my YOU CHOOSE books. The REAL awards are a group of state-based awards for children’s literature that are nominated and […]
I often joke that my mind is as cluttered as my desktop, which is why I’m rarely able to concentrate on just one project at a time – too much stuff churning around the abyss within my head, clamoring for attention. Unless I have a really short deadline that forces me to concentrate on just […]
In celebration of International Women’s Day I thought I’d post a pic of some of my favourite books written by women. This is only a small selection, limited by what was to hand on my bookshelves and a decision to only choose one book per author (and a very hard choice that was in some […]
Class. Or… Buffy meets Torchwood via Doctor Who. Or maybe… Buckets of Blood at High School! Snappy dialogue, interesting characters and a nice dose of moral ambiguity combine in this rather stylishly violent teen sci-fi drama, that spins off from Doctor Who. There have been numerous Doctor Who spin-offs coming to our television screens over […]
Happy Publication Day for the latest YOU CHOOSE FLIP ME books. The release of YOU CHOOSE books one to four in 2-in-1 FLIP ME editions was a success! So now, here are books five to eight in the same format. Yay! Sadly, I forgot to organise cake, which is how I usually celebrate a Publication […]
The Power of the Daleks, lost for many years due to the BBC archival purge, is now available with the surviving soundtrack matched with animation, recreating the action of the original. Not only has this story been released in black and white (like the original) but also in colour. But is this a good thing? […]
Grab your Coal Hill Academy ID, pack your sonic lipstick and strap on your vortex manipulator… it’s time to spin-off through a fracture in the time/space continuum to a live discussion of all things not quite Doctor Who. If you’re a Doctor Who fan, chances are you’ve heard of the SPLENDID CHAPS podcast. This awesome […]
I run quite a lot of writing workshops each year, mostly in schools and libraries, on topics such as character development, story structure, world building and finding inspiration. In recent years I’ve also run workshops on writing interactive stories like my YOU CHOOSE books. All of these workshops have been for kids and teens, who […]
Lost for so many years due to the BBC archival purge, The Power of the Daleks has achieved an almost reverent, legendary status amongst Doctor Who fans. The third story for Season 4, from 1966, it is also the first story for the second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, who took over from the […]
Remember Transformers? Robots in disguise. More than meets the eye. Toys. Animated television series. More toys. Animated feature film. Even more toys. Series of a live-action blockbusters. And the toys keep on coming. As a teenager in the 1980s, when Transformers first crossed my radar, I dismissed them as silly and childish to my friends, […]
I’m part of a breakfast cereal promotion! Well… my books are. Which is pretty cool. Kellogg’s are running a book promotion with some of their breakfast cereals from 1 January to the 8 April 2017 in Australia and New Zealand. Buy two specially marked boxes of cereal and you can get a free book. There […]
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! What better way is there to celebrate than with the release of two new YOU CHOOSE books? Books 11 and 12 hit the shelves today. Rather than celebrating with cake, which is what I usually do, today I’m working my way through leftover German Christmas biscuits and chocolates. 🙂 And I […]
Merry Christmas to one and all. Family. Friends. Food. The three Fs. These are the things I think of at Christmas as I go into a cooking frenzy. This year I made 2 puddings, a double batch of shortbread biscuits (decorated in chocolate by my daughters), egg nog, vanilla bean ice-cream (to go with the […]
The Deep is an Australian/Canadian co-produced animated series based on the graphic novels by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer (see my review). It’s a thrilling undersea sci-fi adventure in the vein of live action shows such as seaQuest DSV (see my review) and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (see my review), but with […]
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is the latest in a series of comic book super hero tv shows based on DC comics. The characters were setup in Arrow and The Flash (to the detriment of season 2 of The Flash – see my review), before being released into the wild with their own series. The result […]
It’s hard to separate a festival from its location. And really, in this case, why would you want to? Goulburn is such a pretty town, filled with wonderful old buildings (one of them being the Mandelson’s Hotel, where I stayed), excellent cafes and a giant concrete Marino nicknamed Rambo. And the Goulburn Reader Writer Festival […]
On Thursday 3 November, You Choose: Alien Invaders From Beyond the Stars got an Honour Award at the KOALAs, NSW’s annual children’s choice awards, in the Fiction for Younger Readers category. How cool is that? Even cooler… the other Honour Award went to Jacqueline Harvey’s Alice Miranda at Camp. I feel very privileged to be […]
My first picture book, Meet… the Flying Doctors, illustrated by the talented Ben Wood, hits bookstores across Australia today. I’m celebrating with some baklava. 🙂 This is a non-fiction, historical picture book that tells the story of Rev John Flynn and the formation of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. On a recent trip to Alice […]
The Royal Flying Doctor Service saves many lives, but medical assistance and outback rescues are not all they do. They also educate. They visit schools and kindergartens, and talk to kids. Today I had the great pleasure of meeting RFDS educator, Tom Ryan and sitting in on his session at Olympic Avenue Kindergarten. He had […]
Or… why it’s good for this 48-year-old children’s author to play a game that involves exploring and collecting. I’m sure you’ve all heard of Pokémon Go, the hottest augmented reality game for mobile phones. It’s the game that lots of people play. It’s also the game that lots of people seem to be complaining about. […]
Time to unveil the AWESOME covers for the upcoming You Choose books – Creepy Crawly Chaos and City of Robots. As always, thank you to the talented James Hart. These books will hit the stores on 3 January 2017!
After one season back in the 1990s, comic book super hero, the Flash, returned to television in a new series in late 2014. This first season (see review) was pretty damn good and showed great promise for the future. Sadly, season two doesn’t quite live up to that promise. It’s by no means bad, but […]
It’s been an insanely busy couple of months. Book Week is always a busy time of year for children’s authors, but this year things extended well into the preceding and following weeks. I was also presenting on the children’s program of the Melbourne Writers Festival, which was the week after Book Week. Plus, in the […]
Yes… another comic book super hero adaptation. Believe me, when I first heard about it I thought, we don’t need any more. But then I watched it. And, guess what? I loved it! Supergirl is fun. Supergirl is smart. Supergirl subverts expectations. And in this current age of male-dominated superhero shows, having a powerful female […]
As a reader, I love short stories. They give me the ability to experience a complete tale in one sitting, when I have limited time up my sleeve. As a writer, I love short stories. They give me the chance to experiment. And I love the challenge of getting a story, characters and setting across […]
Last Saturday I went to my first ever AFL game. But why in the world would a committed non-sports person like me go to a footy match? I’ve never followed the AFL. I’ve never barracked for any team. I’ve never had any interest in watching sports of any kind. Frankly, I’ve never really had much […]
Whitsunday Anglican School in Mackay certainly knows how to host one heck of a great Youth Literature Festival. Two days of presentations and workshops with fifteen authors and illustrators, attended by thousands of students from schools all over the region. As one of the speakers, I spent two days feeling like a rock star, speaking […]
Wow! I just had the most mind-blowing experience. I spent this morning fighting zombies! And it was AWESOME! Zero Latency is a company that’s running the world’s first multiplayer free-roam Virtual Reality (VR) experience… and it’s in Melbourne. So I got together with some friends for a group booking, zombie-killing experience. I don’t want to […]
Time for cake and Champagne! I’ve hit 100 published books! Today is Publication Day for my latest You Choose books — You Choose 9: Extreme Machine Challenge and You Choose 10: In the Realm of Dragons. In the Realm of Dragons is officially my 100th published book. I cannot describe just how excited I am […]
After two successful seasons of the television series (see review of Series 1 and Series 2), Nowhere Boys has transitioned to a feature-length film. The Book of Shadows had a limited cinematic release at the start of 2016, then screened on ABC3. And now it’s on DVD. While perhaps not as strong as the series, […]
With books 9 and 10 in the You Choose series due for release very soon, it is with much excitement that I begin work on books 11 and 12. 11! AND! 12! I’m still pinching myself just to make sure it’s not all a dream. Although it all begins with scribbles in a notebook, things […]
Informative and inspiring! Last week I attended my first ever Children’s Book Council of Australia conference. It was such an amazing experience. With a theme of READ: MYRIAD POSSIBILITIES, it was held in Sydney over two days (20-21 May). Authors, illustrators, publishers and teacher-librarians came together to discuss the topic closest to their hearts — […]
I love picture books. I have read LOTS of them to my daughters over the years and I’ve also read LOTS of them for my own pleasure. There is something about the story telling power of words and pictures combined that is utterly magical. I have long harbored an ambition to write picture books. After […]
Books 3 and 4 in my RFDS series hit the shelves today – Medical Mission and Fast Flight. I’m celebrating, as always, with cake (it’s my little Publication Day tradition). A LOT OF CAKE! I have a Russian background (you’d never guess with a name like Ivanoff), and this past weekend was Russian Easter… so […]
Running for five seasons from 1989 to 1993, Quantum Leap is a science fiction, time-travel TV series with bucket-loads of heart. The whole series has been available on DVD for a number of years, but the first season has now been released on Blu-ray… a perfect time to revisit it. The premise is simple. In […]
Based on the best-selling books by Terry Brooks, The Shannara Chronicles is a lavish 10-part fantasy series. A mix of fantasy clichés and intriguing ideas, it’s good-looking and a lot of fun. Set hundreds of years after an apocalypse that has wiped out human civilisation, the Four Lands are now ruled by elves, with other […]
Capaldi’s second season as the Doctor sees the series head to new heights. In my opinion it’s the best season in years. And the DVD release matches it in quality. In fact, the complete ninth series DVD box set is actually more than that, as it also includes the preceding and following Christmas specials. So […]
‘Twas a big day today. I had fungus extracted from my ear and an award nomination announced. Exciting times! As I was sitting in a specialist’s office, getting a fungal infection vacuumed out of my ear (whilst watching the entire disgusting affair via ear-cam on a large flat screen TV), the REAL shortlist was being […]
James Hart has done it again. Get a load of these wonderful covers. That’s ten YOU CHOOSE covers that he’s now illustrated… and he still manages to bring something fresh and exciting to each and every new one. Thanks James… you’re ACE! Everyone should go and check out James Hart’s website.
I’m gonna be on TV! Channel 9! The Today Show on the morning of Tuesday 8 March (that’s tomorrow). Let me tell you why… Last week I had an amazing time touring around Adelaide to promote the release of my Royal Flying Doctor Service series of kids’ adventure books. I visited schools and bookstores, signed […]
On Monday 29 February 2016, the second season of NIGHT TERRACE was launched. What is NIGHT TERRACE? I hear you ask. Well, let me answer you. It’s simply the best comedy sci-fi audio series since THE HITCH-HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. And it’s an Aussie production. And it stars Jackie Woodburne from Neighbours. And it […]
I am VERY EXCITED to announce that the Royal Flying Doctor Service adventures will be officially launched by the Honourable Susan Close, South Australia’s Education and Child Development Minister. The launch will take place on Tuesday 1 March at the Leigh Creek Area School. After the minister’s launch speech, I’ll be talking about the inspiration […]
The first two books in the RFDS ADVENTURES were released last week. Although the next two books won’t be released until May, I can reveal the covers. With thanks to artist Maria Penna, here they are…
The first two books in the RFDS ADVENTURES take flight today. Remote Rescue, set in the South Australian ghost town of Farina, and Emergency Echo, set in the remote West Australian town of Mount Magnet, hit bookshop shelves across the country. Continuing my tradition of celebrating each Publication Day with cake, I’ve got some of […]
“The Underwater Menace” is a four-part story from the classic series of Doctor Who. First transmitted in 1967 as part of season 4, it is Patrick Troughton’s third story as the Doctor. Three of the four episodes were lost in the BBC’s archival purge, but ep 2 was recovered in 2011. Since then, fans have […]
Things have changed in Atlantis! The second season of this British fantasy series is a huge shift of direction, both in terms of story and style. It’s not better or worse… just difference. And certainly not quite the family show it once was. Series One (see review) followed the adeventures of Jason, Hercules and Pythagoras […]
01/12/15 New editions… Just in time for Christmas shopping… Two books in one… Released into the wild… Happy Publication Day to the FLIP ME YOU CHOOSE books.
If, as I do, you like an extra helping of cheese with your retro 80s sci-fi, you simply can’t go past Automan. This 13-episode series from 1983/4 is a barrel-load of ridiculous, over-the-top FUN! Police computing expert Walter Nebicher creates a crime-fighting artificial intelligence program that manifests itself as the hologram called Automan, complete with […]
Do authors ever reach the point of being blasé about their careers? Oh yes, I’ve just had another book published and I’m off on tour again. It’s all so very tiring and inconvenient. Will I ever get to that point? I certainly hope not. I still get so excited every time a new book […]
Ingredients: 34 authors and illustrators; 300+ students; 40 shortlisted children’s books; 4 awards; and, most importantly, cake. It’s a recipe for heaps of FUN! On Tuesday 27 October 2015, a whole bunch of authors and illustrators went along to a celebration of Aussie books that was attended by over 300 students. The location was Sacré […]
Since March I’ve been sitting on some news. I’ve been desperate to shout it from the rooftops, but I’ve had to wait until my publisher was ready to announce it. Well, that time has arrived. I can finally reveal the project I’ve been working on is a new series of kids books about the Royal […]
The Flash is one of the many recent super hero comic book adaptations. The question is… do we really need yet another super hero tv show? The answer is YES — YES we do. ‘Cause this one is pretty awesome! SPOILER WARNING! Yep, lots of spoilers in this review, so if that bothers you… you […]
After a delay of a year, the ABC finally renewed this wonderfully entertaining murder/mystery series for a third season. Based on the books by Melbourne author Kerry Greenwood, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries follows the adventures of Lady Detective Phryne Fisher in 1920s Melbourne. Despite the popularity of the first two seasons (read my reviews here […]
I got to spend a weekend hanging out at a convention with Lani Tupu (Captain Crais from Farscape), Paul Eiding (man of a thousand voices, including Max Tennyson from Ben 10), Tom Taylor (author of comics such as The Deep and Injustice: Gods Among Us) and a bunch of other comic book creators. Way cool! […]
Book Week (and the weeks surrounding it) tends to be a busy time for kids’ authors in Australia. Lots of talking about BOOKS! And, of course, the opportunity to meet readers. Great fun! Thank you to all the schools and libraries that have hosted me over the last couple of months. The enthusiasm of kids who […]
I’m doing a happy dance! Why? Because I’ve got two bits of exciting YOU CHOOSE news to announce today. Whether these morsels of info are as thrilling for you as they are for me remains to be seen… but I’m pretty over the moon about them. So, here goes… [insert drumroll] YOU CHOOSE Books 1-4 […]
Happy Publication Day to YOU CHOOSE books 7 and 8. Super Sports Spectacular and Trapped in the Games Grid hit the stores today. To celebrate I baked a Soufflé Cheesecake. Okay… so it may have fallen apart when I took it out of the cake dish, but it still tasted YUM! I made it yesterday, […]
Okay… so I’ve been a die-hard, nerdy/geeky fanboy for a lot longer than I’ve been a professional author. Way before my first book hit the shelves in 1999, I was attending sci-fi conventions, joining fan clubs and dressing up in costume. I wrote appalling Doctor Who fan fic (bashed out on a manual typewriter) and […]
Sadly, and in my opinion, unfairly, this film as been much maligned by reviewers. I just don’t get it. Exciting and visually stunning, Jupiter Ascending does for space opera what The Matrix did for cyberpunk. It’s one hell of a ride! A matriarch dies, leaving her three heirs to fight for control of the House […]
Fun! Informative! Educational! Literary! Overwhelming! Awesome! A total BLAST! What am I talking about? Voice On the Coast Youth Literature Festival! I was lucky enough to spend three days at this wonderful festival, organised by Immanuel Lutheran College in conjunction with The University of the Sunshine Coast. Although there were public events either side, the […]
IDW Publishing in the US is releasing three volumes of short stories based on the television series The X-Files. These anthologies are being edited by New York Time best-selling author Jonathan Maberry. The first book, Trust No One, is set for release on 28 July 2015. Volumes two and three will follow in 2016. Why […]
Lots of lovely reviews have been floating around about the YOU CHOOSE books, so I thought I’d share some recent ones here on my blog. I’ll start with my favorite review. From the Weekend Advocate in NSW, it focuses on nostalgia … The ReadPlus website has published reviews of quite a number of my books. […]
It’s been over two years since the first season of the bizarre Aussie comedy/adventure series Danger 5 (see review). But now it’s back! Bigger, bolder and way more over-the-top, the seven eps of Series 2 need to be seen to be believed. Elite espionage team Danger 5 disbanded after defeating Adolf Hitler in a 60s […]
Nowhere Boys is a Melbourne-made teen fantasy/adventure series from ABC3. The first season was exceptionally good television viewing, and this second season is even better. Building on what was established in the first, the 13 eps of Series 2 take things to another level. “Order must be restored.” The four nowhere boys make it back […]
It’s publication day! Books 5 and 6 in the YOU CHOOSE series have hit the bookstore shelves. With the start of this series last year, I decided that I needed a little publication day tradition. And so, on each publication day I’ve gone out to buy a small cake or pastry, photographing said culinary delight […]
Mockingjay is the finale of the successful Hunger Games trilogy of books, and has been split into two films. Part 1 is now available on Blu-ray and DVD, with Part 2 set for a cinematic release later this year. As half of a third of a story, Mockingjay Part 1 is only one-sixth of a […]
You Choose: The Treasure of Dead Man’s Cove has made it onto the shortlist for the REAL awards in the category of “Fiction For Younger Readers”. REAL stands for Reading & Enjoying Australian Literature. Books on the REAL shortlist have been nominated by kids across the country. And the shortlist is then voted on by […]
The second season of the British murder/mystery series, Broadchurch, is as riveting as the first. Stunning locations, beautiful cinematography and direction, intelligent writing and a superb cast, make this outstanding television viewing. There is so much attention to detail in every aspect of this production. The first season (see review) was about the police investigation […]
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a well-produced, exciting near future (for its time), action/adventure series about the crew of an advanced submarine called Seaview. This first season of 32 episodes screened in black and white in 1964/65. Despite its age, it holds up very well. It’s tense, dramatic and, at times, quite […]
Time for another cover reveal — You Choose 8: Trapped in the Games Grid. Artist James Hart has picked up on the TRON influences to create this rather AWESOME illustration…
It’s one of those literary events that all kids’ authors talk about. It’s one that everyone wants to attend. And this year I was lucky enough to be invited along as a speaker to the Somerset Celebration of Literature. Held on the Gold Coast by Somerset College, it is open to students from other schools, […]
It’s time for a reveal. James Hart has done it again — another awesome cover! I feel so lucky having an artist who really gets the books, working on the illustrations. So here’s the cover for Super Sports Spectacular. The book will hit the shelves in August 2015. Can’t wait!
Nowhere Boys is a Melbourne-made teen fantasy/adventure series from ABC3. This first 13-ep season was released on DVD in 2014, with the second coming out this year. It’s a series I heard lots of good things about, so I thought I should catch up with it before the release of Series 2. I’m very glad […]
The 2014 Doctor Who Christmas Special takes things in a different direction from the whimsy that had become the staple of the Matt Smith specials. “Last Christmas” has all the trappings of a festive story (Santa, elves, Rudolf, etc) — but remove that festive wrapping, and underneath is an unsettling story about dreams within dreams, […]
2015 is shaping up to be a busy one in terms of speaking and travelling. I’ve hit the ground running with my first school visit and a radio interview last week. And there’s lots more coming up. The visit was to Berwick Grammar, where I got to talk to all the Year 8 boys about […]
The Wind Rises is the new animated feature from Japan’s Studio Ghibli, and the last film from legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. It is everything you would expect it to be… and yet it manages to surprise. Inspired by the life and work of aeroplane designer Jiro Horikoshi, the film is a lyrical mixture of fact […]
2015 has arrived and it’s time to reveal the covers for the next two You Choose books. Due for release on 1 May, they are Night of the Creepy Carnival and Alien Invaders From Beyond the Stars. As with the first four books, the covers and internal illustrations are from the awesome James Hart. I […]
The eighth series of the revived Doctor Who burst onto our screens with renewed vigour earlier this year. A new Doctor and a new direction catapults this set of 12 episodes to new heights. And now it’s out on DVD and Blu-ray to enjoy all over again… and again… and again… and… Clara: Where are […]
The Great Train Robbery is a new BBC mini-series about the biggest train robbery in British history. The names most often associated with the infamous robbery are Ronnie Biggs and Buster Edwards, but this version focuses on the organiser Bruce Reynolds and the investigating officer Tommy Butler. In 1963 a bunch of mid-level thieves got […]
Okay folks, it’s announcement time! I am VERY EXCITED to reveal that there will be a seventh and eighth book in the You Choose series! They have been tentatively scheduled for publication in late 2015. Working titles are Super Sports Spectacular and Welcome to the GamesGrid. The whiteboard is ready and I’ve begun to take […]
HAL is an amazing Japanese animated film. It’s a science fiction story about love, grief and redemption. It’s a difficult film to classify and it’s hard to review it without spoilers, but here goes… A robot is given human appearance to help a young lady deal with the death of her boyfriend. The robot is […]
It’s Happy Publication Day for a new set of kids’ anthologies from Random House Australia. Edited by Linsay Knight, they feature stories from a whole bunch of great Aussie authors. I’m very proud to say that I’ve got stories in three of them… Stories For 7 Years Olds features “The Dog Ate My Homework”. This […]
It just occurred to me today that I haven’t posted any links to reviews of the You Choose books. The first two books came out in April, the second two in June, so I think it’s about time that I did. The response has been pretty good. Here’s a small selection of quote and links… […]
Madman are releasing a string of old Irwin Allen television productions in Australia, and among them is the first season of Land of the Giants. I remember watching this series as a kid, along with Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel and Lost in Space; but I also remember it being […]
This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all those who entered. With the third season of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries just around the corner, and thanks to the generosity of Roadshow Entertainment, I have four copies of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries: The Complete Series 1 & 2 to give away. To find out how […]
On Saturday I will participating in INSIDE STORY, an international children’s book event to be held at bookstores in Australia and the USA. Each participating bookstore will host a bunch of authors who will talk about the story behind of one of their books. This will be followed by signings This is an annual event […]
Armageddon was awesome! Let me repeat that, just in case I haven’t quite made myself clear: ARMAGEDDON WAS AWESOME! For those of you who don’t know, Armageddon is a HUGE pop culture expo. Their latest event was held at the Melbourne Showgrounds this past weekend (18/19 Oct). I was lucky enough to be invited along […]
Two exciting announcements to make (well, they’re exciting to me)… I’m going to be at the Melbourne Armageddon Expo on 18/19 October. I’ll be at the Dymocks stand most of the weekend. Dymocks will have my You Choose series and Gamers trilogy in stock, and I’ll be ready with an assortment of pens and stamps […]
Made in 1982, The Hound of the Baskervilles is a four-part BBC serial, adapting the Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A ghostly hound, an old family curse and cold-blooded murder form the basis of this mystery. It’s a well-known story and one that’s been adapted many times, before and since. So, what […]
As an author you’ve got to be prepared for the unexpected because… stuff happens! Cool stuff! Weird things! Odd requests! A few weeks ago I had what is probably the oddest writing request I’ve ever received. It was from a team competing in the annual GISHWERS — Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever […]
There are wizards on Earth, living secretly amongst the ordinary human beings. And there are aliens from the planet Nekross, who eat magic. These aliens have come to Earth, determined to extract the magic out of every last wizard. The wizards aren’t about to take this lying down. Result — Wizards vs Aliens. And this […]
Deep Breath. The first episode of Doctor Who: Series 8. An extra-long ep. New Doctor. New direction. Very exciting! A much-anticipated episode, it even got a cinema release, so it’s no surprise that it gets its own DVD/Blu-ray release independent of the rest of the season. The Doctor regenerated at the end of the 2013 […]
As an author, I do lots of appearances — school visits, writing workshops, library talks, lit festivals and bookstore signings. Sometimes, I’ll get a thank you gift from the organisers. I’ve been presented with all manner of interesting and generous gifts — from bottles of wine, to boxes of chocolates; from coffee mugs, to Turkish […]
The Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition is a set of four DVDs bringing together episodes and specials of significance to the programme’s anniversary, along with a bunch of extras. It’s an odd assortment of previously released material and other stuff that should have had its own release. It’s the inclusion of extra material such […]
The Ghost & Mrs Muir is a 1960s US sitcom about a widow and her family, who move into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a sea captain. I reviewed Season 1 a couple of months ago (see review) and now it’s time to take a look at the second (and final) […]
You probably all know about the Ice Bucket Challenge. It started off in America as a way to raise money for and awareness of ALS (also known as MND — Motor Neurone Disease). Lots of people, all over the world, have been doing it — including lots of famous people like Benedict Cumberbatch and Matt […]
Atlantis is the new series created to fill the gap left by The Adventures of Merlin. And fill the gap is does… by recreating the style, feel, story structure, character types and themes of the earlier series, while changing the setting and shifting around some details. Although lacking the freshness of The Adventures of Merlin, […]
I’ve had lots of speaking and signing gigs lately — school visits, library talks and bookshop events. National Bookshop Day was particularly fun with the morning spent working the register at Dymocks in Collins St, Melbourne, in support of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation; and the afternoon spent meeting readers at Ulysses Bookstore in Sandringham. I’ve […]
The Cat Returns is a Japanese animated film from the famed Studio Ghibli. It’s not as well known as other Ghibli films, such as Princess Mononoke (see review) and My Neighbour Totoro (see review), and is only the third theatrical feature from that studio not to be directed by studio founders Hayao Miyazaki or Isao […]
Princess Mononoke is a classic Studio Ghibli animated film from legendary Japanese writer/director Hayao Miyazaki. Originally released in Japan in 1997, the English dub premiered two years later. The film won numerous awards, as well are garnering critical and popular acclaim. It’s easy to see why — it’s a stunning film that has lost none […]
It’s official! It is with much excitement that I get to make this announcement: there will be another two You Choose books. 🙂 Not one… TWO! That’ll bring the total series count up to SIX! 🙂 Now all I’ve gotta do it write them. Actually, I’ve already started work on book five, tentatively titled Carnival […]
Another Studio 3 interview… this time WITHOUT CREAM PIES! I little while back I appeared on ABC3’s Studio 3 programme, talking about my You Choose books while being slammed in the face with cream pies. It was a fun interview but there were so many pies I could hardly stop laughing. I think the producer […]
Okay… if you’re a regular visitor to my little corner of Cyberspace, you undoubtedly know about my little Doctor Who obsession. I watch it often. I buy all the DVDs. I collect the sonic screwdriver toys. I put Doctor Who references into my books. And, whenever given the opportunity, I write about the show. Last […]
It’s PUBLICATION DAY for books three and four of my You Choose series — Maze of Doom and The Haunting of Spook House. These two books, along with the first two in the series, are now available in all good bookstores. Actually… they’re probably available in the bad ones and the indifferent ones as well. […]
Loosely based on a novel of the same name by RA Dick, The Ghost & Mrs Muir is a 1960s sitcom about a widow and her family, who move into a house that is haunted by the ghost of a sea captain. Although formulaic and sexist, it’s also quaint and rather sweet at times. The […]
Last week an interview with me was screened on the ABC3 television programme Studio 3. The interview involved me getting slammed in the face with five cream pies while I answered questions about my You Choose books. Only four of the cream pies made it into the final version, with the fifth pie being edited […]
What would you expect from a national television interview about your latest series of books? A cream pie slammed into your face? No? How about FIVE cream pies? Earlier this week I went along to the ABC3 studios to be a guest on Studio 3, their national morning kids’ show. I was to be interviewed […]
Presented as a documentary, Europa Report is a science fiction film about a troubled mission to one of Jupiter’s moons in search of extra-terrestrial life. The result is a convincing and compelling drama that really does look and feel like it could have happened. Private corporation Europa Ventures launches a crewed mission to Europa. Based […]
The first two books in the You Choose series have now officially hit the shelves. And the eBook readers. So, of course, there had to be cake. What’s a publication day without cake? 🙂 The books are available in most Australian bookstores, as well as in Big W. If your local store doesn’t have any […]
Ballots for both the Ditmar and Chronos awards have now been released. And I’m on both! I’m pleasantly surprised and extremely happy. 🙂 The Ditmars are the Australian Science Fiction Achievement awards, decided by popular vote and presented each year at the National Science Fiction Convention (this year it’s Continuum X in Melbourne). They include […]
Doctor Who: The Ultimate Guide is a two-hour documentary, made last year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the long-running television series. While it doesn’t really live up to its grandiose name, it is a good introduction to the world of Doctor Who for newbies. The Ultimate Guide is not a particularly insightful or in-depth […]
The season two finale of the ABC’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries also doubles as the 2013 Christmas special. “Murder Under the Mistletoe” finishes things off with multiple deaths, a snowy setting and yes… kissing under the mistletoe. It’s a wonderful end to the season, but unfortunately it may also be the final ep of the […]
It’s finally time to reveal the covers for You Choose books three and four. Illustrator James Hart has again captured the spirit of the series with his wonderfully dynamic images. In other news… I went along to Supanova in Melbourne on Sunday to promote the first two You Choose books. I was there along with […]
The Escape Artist is a three-part television series from the BBC. Part courtroom drama, part thriller, part perfect-crime setup, it is great television. Will Burton is a barrister who has never lost a case. He is a barrister who wins cases even when the accused is guilty. He is a barrister who wins a particular […]
Okay… so you all know about the You Choose books I’ve got coming out with Random House Australia this year? Interactive kids’ books where the reader gets to make decisions about how the story progresses — like the old Choose Your Own Adventure novels from the 1980s. The first two don’t come out until May, […]
The second film in the blockbuster series, based on the best selling dystopian YA novels by Suzanne Collins, is… well… a blockbuster. Big and spectacular, it is also intelligent and personal. Building on themes and events of the first film, Catching Fire is, in my humble opinion, the better film. Having survived the original Hunger […]
The first two You Choose books, The Treasure of Dead Man’s Cove and Mayhem at Magic School, get released on the 1 May. The next two books get released in July. Finally, I can reveal the titles of those two books… Maze of Doom and The Haunting of Spook House Covers and internal illustrations are […]
Continuum is an annual science fiction and pop culture convention that is held in Melbourne. I’ve been to every single one so far. This year’s (6-9 June) is the tenth and it’s going to be a rather special one, so let me tell you about it and why you should come along. It’s the tenth […]
The BBC’s lavish soapy costume drama of life and love in England’s first department store returns for a second series. Perhaps not quite as good as series one, it’s still an enjoyable watch. Continuing on from Series 1, the former owner (now manager) of the Paradise, Mr Moray, and the love of his life, shop […]
Last year was a really good year for me in terms of education writing. I was contracted to write 14 education titles, including school readers, reference books and a couple of chapter books. Most of these books will be published over the course of 2014. I’ve been writing for the education market for many years […]
Lost for many years, most of the classic Doctor Who story “The Web of Fear” was returned to the BBC archive last year, along with “The Enemy of the World” (see my review). And now, with the still-missing episode reconstructed, it has been released on DVD. But does it live up to expectations? “The Web […]
The return of the Cybermen! After their debut in “The Tenth Planet” (see review) the previous year, they were quick to return with the newly instated second Doctor in this 1967 Season Four adventure. A new look and a new plan ensured that this bunch of threatening aliens would come to achieve iconic status. Animation […]
The 2013 Doctor Who Christmas Special “The Time of the Doctor”, certainly seems to have divided opinion. While many vocal fans have proclaimed it the best thing since sliced bread, other even more vocal viewers have declared it to be the worst episode ever. The opinion of this review falls somewhere in the middle. WARNING: […]
Yes folks… it’s time to reveal all about that Secret Project I’ve been going on about for ages. So… [insert drum roll] I’ve been working on a new series of kids books called… YOU CHOOSE YOU CHOOSE is a series of interactive books where the reader gets to make key decisions about how the story […]
The Best of the Doctor? I think not! The best of nuWho? Perhaps. Pity that the docos themselves are mostly pointless waffle. Doctor Who: The Best of the Doctor 2005-2011, The Documentaries is a three-disc set that collects together a series of docos made by BBC America, about various aspects (the best aspects?) of the […]
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited is a series of discs released for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, looking back at each of the Doctors, up to Matt Smith’s #11 (or #12 or #13 depending on how you now count them after the revelations of “The Day of the Doctor” and “Time of the Doctor”). […]
The quote on the front cover of this Blu-ray says: “Triple shot of apocalyptic weirdness from South Korea”. And it’s not wrong! Doomsday Book is an anthology film, comprising three end-of-the-world scenarios. The first story, a biological apocalypse, is the most uncomplicated; with the following two providing increasing increments of bafflement. A geeky young man […]
Well hello there, 2014! So pleased to make your acquaintance. You’re a nice looking year — so much promise; so full of hope. You just make sure you fulfill your potential. So many people are counting on you. Your predecessor was very kind to me and for that I am grateful. But 2013 wasn’t all […]
Produced as part of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary celebrations, An Adventure in Space and Time is a docudrama about the creation and early years of the series. Superb cast, loving script and glorious production combine to give us a truly delightful piece of television. An Adventure in Space and Time covers the fist few […]
If any of you have been following me on Twitter or Facebook (and if you haven’t… why not? ;-)) you will have been enduring continuing cryptic comments about my ‘secret project’. Well, if I may paraphrase the Walrus, the time has come… for a partial unveiling. (Don’t you just hate me right about now?) I […]
50 years! That’s a long time in television land. But on 23 November 2013, the television series Doctor Who celebrated its 50th anniversary with a special episode — “The Day of the Doctor”. As a long-time, devoted Doctor Who fan, I’m not shy about criticising episodes that don’t live up to my expectations. With HUGE […]
Look! I’m in the Chelsea Mordialloc News! This interview was done to promote my talk at the Mentone Public Library this Saturday. You can see the entire edition of the newspaper here. More info about the talk here.
“The Enemy of the World” is a six-part story from Season 5 of Doctor Who in 1967/68, featuring Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor. Lost for many years because of the BBC’s great archival purge, it was re-discovered earlier this year, cleaned up and rushed out to a DVD release. But is it a lost […]
I know this is meant to be my writing blog, but I simply cannot let the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who go by without a post. And so, with the anniversary weekend now over, here are my personal highlights… 1. The special programmingI loved watching “The Night of the Doctor”, “The Last Day”, “The Day […]
“The Tenth Planet” is a historic story in the long-running Doctor Who series, transmitted in 1966 as part of Season 4. Apart from introducing the Cybermen, who would return again and again in both the original series and the new, this story concludes with the transition from the first Doctor, William Hartnell, to the second, […]
On Wednesday 13 November 2013, I was one of several people to perform at the Melbourne Library Service’s event “Not Quite the Big Finish: An Evening of Doctor Who Spoken Word”. I decided to read out a letter to showrunner Steven Moffat, respectfully requesting a writing gig on Doctor Who. 😉 And yes, I was […]
Series 7 of the new series of Doctor Who was a divided season, with the first half appearing on our screens in 2012, and the second half in 2013. So each batch of episodes got their own DVD/Blu-ray release. But now the whole season has been collected into a box set (along with “The Doctor, […]
Since my last post about reviews (see: “The reviews are in”) back in July, there have been a few more Gamers’ Rebellion reviews, as well as a one for Life, Death and Detention. In that previous post I linked to Young Adult Reader Reviews – Australia, where a 13-year-old reader didn’t click with the novel. […]
Being Human is a series that mixes horror, humour and human drama (in varying amounts) in a story about a vampire, a ghost and a werewolf cohabitating and trying desperately (and usually unsuccessfully) to live ‘normal’ lives. This is the final season, and the only one to have none of the original cast. Season four […]
Steven Moffat should let me write an episode of Doctor Who! Why? Come along to Not Quite the Big Finish: An Evening of Doctor Who Spoken Word to find out… ‘cause that’s what I’m going to be ‘spoken wording’ about! The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who is fast approaching. And the Melbourne Library Service is […]
“Terror of the Zygons” is a very memorable four-part story from the Tom Baker years of classic Doctor Who (the first story of Season 13 in 1975). It features the Loch Ness Monster, the aliens who are about to make a comeback in the 50th anniversary special and the demise of U.N.I.T. The Doctor, along […]
Today Australia celebrates World Teachers’ Day, so I thought I’d take a moment to say thank you. Thank you to each and every teacher I’ve had, from official to informal, from primary school to university and beyond. You have all had a huge influence upon my life and the person who I have become. Even […]
Upside Down is a visually stunning, romantic fantasy film from Canada. Despite some problems, it is a captivating watch. Upside Down is a classic romantic story — boy meets girl; boy loses girl; boy gets girl back. But it’s set within a wonderfully original fantasy world (or worlds to be more accurate). There are two […]
Broachurch is a convoluted and intriguing murder mystery series set in a small English town. It’s well written and beautifully produced, and had me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. In fact, I watched all eight episodes in just two nights. The lives of people in the town of Braodchurch are […]
Authors promoting other writers’ books! What’s that all about? This coming Sunday I’ll be at Eltham Library helping Steven Lochran celebrate his latest novel, War Zone. It’s the third book in his YA superhero series, Vanguard Prime. We’ll be doing an ‘in conversation’ Q&A session, followed by a short writing workshop. (Details on my Upcoming […]
Children Who Chase Lost Voices (aka Journey to Agartha) is a Japanese animated film with an unusual story and touching characters. It is as much a piece of art as it is a film. There is a mysterious world beneath our own — the land of Argartha. Legend has it that in that land the […]
Richard E Grant as the ninth Doctor? In a cartoon? That’s right! “Scream of the Shalka”. It was an animated webcast produced for the 40th anniversary of Doctor Who back in 2003. With the 50th anniversary happening this year, it’s the ideal time to finally release this intriguing piece of Who history on DVD. “Scream […]
With the assistance of animation to replace the two missing episodes, “The Ice Warriors” finally sees the light of day with a DVD release. This is vintage Doctor Who from the Troughton era and is noteworthy for the debut of the Ice Warriors, who would return a number of times in the classic series and […]
In August this year, I went on a speaking tour of remote schools in rural Western Australia. I wrote about it in a blog post (see: Touring WA). At Mt Margaret Primary School, I ran two story structure workshops and got kids to help me plot out stories. Yesterday I posted the story that resulted […]
Yesterday I posted about the speaking tour of schools in rural Western Australia that I did last month (see Touring WA). During that tour, I conducted story structure workshops with a couple of the classes at Mt Margaret Primary School. The resulting stories, I felt, deserved to the shared with a wider audience. I started […]
Last month I had an extraordinary experience. Along with three illustrators, I visited remote schools in rural Western Australia to do presentations and workshops. It’s an experience that will live long in my memory. My companions on this trip were illustrators Marjory Gardener, Marc McBride and Den Scheer. Along with our tour manager Peter Scheer, […]
After the demise of The Sarah Jane Adventures, due to the sad death of actress Elisabeth Sladen, Wizards vs Aliens was created to fill the viewing void. Although still finding its feet in this first season, this fun kids’ show has the potential to grow, develop and improve, as did the Sarah Jane Adventures. It […]
“Spearhead From Space” is the first classic Doctor Who story to get a Blu-ray release. And OMG — it looks FABULOUS! Don’t bother reading my review — just go out and buy it. Right now! “Spearhead From Space” is a story of many firsts. It is the first story of Season 7, the first story […]
It’s been a long week of speaking gigs — six sessions over four days. With Book Week now over, I can sit back, relax and assess how things went. But only for a short time, ‘cause on Monday I’m at it again. Mooroolbark College was first cab off the rank, with two sessions — one […]
Last month, a book called Doctor Who and Race was published. I’ve got an essay in it and I’m rather proud of it. The editor, Lindy Orthia, has created a website for the book. I decided that I needed a new publicity pic to accompany my bio on the site — one in which I’m […]
Today I fell off a bike and played on a swing. Let me tell you about it. This morning I dropped my car off for a service. As usual, I took my bike with me so that I could ride home. I rode part of the way along a grassy path that runs beside a […]
“The Green Death” is the final story of Season 10 from 1973, with Jon Pertwee as the third Doctor. It is an environmental tale, way ahead of its time and, despite some technical shortcomings, holds up very well today. The Doctor and U.N.I.T. head to the Welsh mining village of Llanfairfach, where dead miners glow […]
Japan’s Studio Ghibli does it again — another beautiful piece of animated brilliance. Scripted by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, From Up On Poppy Hill is directed by his son, Goro. It seems that talent runs in the Miyazaki family. From Up On Poppy Hill is a sweet, gentle romance about two teenagers in Yokohama in […]
Why am I writing about muesli on my writing blog? Why not? It’s my blog… deal with it! In addition to baking my own bread, I make my own muesli. It’s cheaper than buying the fancy brands in the supermarket… and tastes a lot better. I recently posted a photo of some freshly made muesli […]
With the book trailer for Gamers’ Rebellion now up on YouTube, I thought I should post all three trailers for the Gamers books up here in order. Enjoy! GAMERS’ QUEST: GAMERS’ CHALLENGE: GAMERS’ REBELLION:
The Invisible Man is a US television series made in 1975. Although the series claims to be based on the HG Wells novel, there really is no connection beyond the premise of a man turning invisible. It only lasted for twelve episodes (plus pilot), and is rather dated, but still manages to be an interesting […]
Prison drama meets mind-sucking sci-fi in this classic Doctor Who story. Originally broadcast in 1971, it’s the second story of Season 8. A great plot combined with strong performances and good production values results in an excellent example of Pertwee-era Who that is still just as entertaining in the 21st Century. The Doctor and Jo […]
Gamers’ Rebellion was released last month and is about to have its public launch this Saturday (see: “Gamers’ Rebellion launch”). And it’s been getting a fair few reviews. I was a little worried about the review situation. The first book in the series got lots of reviews. The second got less. I feared that the […]
This is 1970s Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who at its best. “Inferno” combines a strong plot with a great sci-fi concept and strings it all together with some exceptional characterisation. The Doctor and Liz Shaw have accompanied the Brigadier to an experimental drilling facility, where Professor Stahlman is attempting to drill into the Earth’s crust […]
More costume drama goodness from the BBC. Yay! The Paradise is a lavish spectacle of life, love and melodrama set against the backdrop of England’s first department store in 1875. Loosely based on Émile Zola’s novel Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies’ Paradise), this eight episode series transports the action from Paris to London. Entrepreneur […]
The Chronos Awards were set up to honour achievement in the area of speculative fiction by Victorian writers and artists. They are divided into professional awards and fan awards. Each year they are presented at the Continuum spec fic and pop culture convention. This year’s awards were presented on 7 June at Continuum 9. And, […]
Last weekend I attended Continuum 9. Like those that went before it, this convention was awesome. Lots of great panels, so many interesting discussions and a really friendly, engaging vibe. For me, personally, it was special for a number of reasons. Firstly, I got to launch my new novel, Gamers’ Rebellion (third book in the […]
It’s June 2013! And my new novel, Gamers’ Rebellion, has finally been unleashed upon the Australian reading public. 🙂 It is so VERY, VERY exciting! This is the third book in the Gamers series, finishing off Tark and Zyra’s story (but leaving things open for further stories… just in case ;-)). Its release means that […]
Series 7.2 of the revived Doctor Who series is, like 7.1, a hodgepodge of really cool ideas in search of a narrative structure. Sometimes the ideas are enough to sustain the episode (The Bells of Saint John) and sometimes they are not (The Rings of Akhaten). The result is an entertaining half season that is […]
Adventure Time would have to be one of the weirdest shows I’ve ever watched. I’m not even sure I can adequately explain it. But weird though it is, the first season of this series is also very entertaining in a WTF kind of way. Adventure Time is an animated comedy which, I presume, is aimed […]
The fourth season of Misfits — a unique humorous, sci-fi drama about a group of young people on community service who acquire strange powers after a mysterious storm — faces somewhat of a challenge. How can a show like this survive once all the original regular cast have left? Easy! Reinvent itself and move on […]
I’ve had a fairly quiet first half of the year in terms of speaking… which is a good thing, I suppose, given how many writing projects I’ve had on the go. But things are hotting up. I’ve had a string of bookings recently, with more on the way. Three days during Book Week have already […]
So, what happens in “The Visitation”? Fishy looking alien reptile people attempt to wipe out humanity by augmenting the bubonic plague in 1666. Adric trips over unconvincingly, Tegan gets to be annoying and Nyssa destroys a disco-robot with her home-made giant vibrator. Meanwhile the Doctor spends his time being rather tetchy before starting the Great […]
Today… a post about anthologies — those wonderful books that contain short stories by a multitude of different authors. They are perfect for dipping into when you don’t have much reading time; but they’re also great for cover-to-cover devouring. I love writing short stories, so I contribute to anthologies as often as I can. Sometimes […]
There are some films that you never tire of watching, no matter how many times you have viewed them. For me, My Neighbor Totoro is one such film. Having watched and re-watched it on DVD, it is a pure joy to now be able to enjoy it on Blu-ray. My Neighbor Totoro is an animated […]
Here’s another BBC costume drama based on a book by Charles Dickens. While certainly lavish and well produced, as you would expect from the BBC, The Mystery of Edwin Drood doesn’t quite meet (great) expectations. The story revolves around Edwin Drood, a young man betrothed to Rosa Bud. His uncle, John Jasper is also in […]
I’m rather chuffed to announce that Viewing Clutter has been nominated for a Chronos Award. Woo Hoo! What are the Chronos Awards? Let me tell you about them. The Chronos Awards honour excellence in Victorian Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. There are a number of categories, professional and fan based. In 2010 I was lucky […]
And so the BBC continues their trend of re-issuing previously released Doctor Who DVDs as special editions. This time around they’ve given us “The Aztecs”, with a reconstructed “Galaxy 4” as an added bonus. “The Aztecs” is vintage historical Who at its best. I love it! “The Aztecs” is a four-part story from the first season […]
At the end of March, just before I was due to head off on holiday, something wonderful arrived in the mail. It was a book! Now, I’m always excited when a book shows up in my post box, but this one was special. Not only was it a book that I had written, but it […]
And the award for the most creative over-use of green bubble wrap goes to… “The Ark in Space” — Tom Baker’s second story as the fourth Doctor. First broadcast in 1975 as part of Season 12, it still makes for entertaining viewing today (despite the aforementioned bubble wrap). The Doctor, along with Sarah Jane and […]
My eldest daughter, Nykita, is in Grade 4 this year. Throughout her school life thus far, she has shown an aptitude for writing and art, as well as a love of reading (she devours books at an incredible rate). This makes me very happy, indeed. I remember when she was in Grade 1, her teacher […]
Looper would have to be one of the best time travel films ever made. It’s slick and entertaining. It is both thoughtful and thought-provoking. And you’re never really 100% certain how it’s going to end. A ‘looper’ is a hired killer. A looper is hired by gangsters from the future, to kill people sent back […]
The BBC fantasy series The Adventures of Merlin returns for a fifth and final season of 13-episodes. Questions are resolved, characters progress, secrets are revealed, and the epic story is brought to a satisfying conclusion. This season is set three years after the last (see my review). Things have moved forward in Camelot since Uther’s […]
Based on William Shatner’s novels and made in the mid-1990s, Tekwar is a series of four tele-movies followed by an 18-episode season of a weekly series. Like many other sci-fi shows from this era, it has a reasonable premise but a patchy delivery. It is, nonetheless, an entertaining show. I’ve never read the novels (apparently […]
America in Primetime is a fascinating four-part documentary about American Primetime drama/comedy (no mention of reality TV — Hooray!), that reveals how the American television industry sees itself. Part history, part tribute, it is an interesting mix of insight, analysis and congratulatory retrospective. America in Primetime tackles things with a thematic approach. Each of the […]
Anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with me will know that I am a Doctor Who fan. And if you’ve ever visited my website, you will know that I love writing about the series. I’m rather excited about my Doctor Who writing at the moment. You see, with the 50th Anniversary of the show […]
This month, I’ve had five new school readers published by Macmillan Education, including two retellings of Aboriginal stories, two original pieces of fiction and one non-fiction book. They are: The Rainbow Serpent Why Crow is Black Me and My Family Making Things What Can You Do? There are still another six readers complete and waiting […]
At long last, the legendary never-completed Tom Baker story, “Shada”, has been released on DVD. It’s been packaged together with the documentary, “More Than 30 Years in the TARDIS”, as well as a heap of extras, in a three-disc set called Doctor Who: The Legacy Collection. And a pretty awesome collection it is. “Shada”, written […]
With animation being used to reconstruct the two missing episodes, we finally have Doctor Who’s first season finale on DVD. “The Reign of Terror” is a six-part historical adventure first broadcast in 1964 with William Hartnell in the role of the Doctor. Good production values, an interesting setting and great dialogue combine in a must-watch […]
In November last year I put up a short video called GEORGE IVANOFF SPEAKS about BOOKS. I also noted my intention to put up a few more short vids of myself talking about writing/reading related topics. Well, I finally found a little time to prepare another one. This video was recorded at Doveton Library in […]
I find it hard to believe that it’s 2013 already. Tempus is fugiting a little too quickly for my liking (excuse my Latin-butchering). But never mind, we must look to the future. I’ve already written about the past (well, 2012 anyway) over on my Literary Clutter bookish blog at Boomerang Books (see “The year that […]
Episodes is an unusual comedy series. Created and written by two Americans, but made in the UK by the BBC, with Matt LeBlanc playing a fictionalised version of himself. Series 2, like Series 1, is funny, engaging and intelligent. In Series 1 (see my review) husband-and-wife writing team, Beverly and Sean Lincoln, are lured to […]
Okay… so there’s this chain blog post thing that’s doing the rounds at the moment. It’s called THE NEXT BIG THING. Basically, it’s ten questions that are an opportunity for writers to tell people about their next project —a completed book about to be published, a work in progress or simply an idea about to […]
Arrietty, the latest animated film from Japan’s Studio Ghibli, was released on Blu-ray earlier this year. It is a lovely film (see my review). Now it’s been re-released in a special edition. The main difference between the two editions is the inclusion of the U.S. version of the film. The first edition has the original […]
“The Claws of Axos” is a story of greed, political machinations and alien invasion. It is the middle story from 1971’s 8th Season of Doctor Who, with Jon Pertwee playing the third Doctor. It was Pertwee’s second season and the first for Katy Manning, playing the Doctor’s new assistant, Jo Grant. A spaceship lands in […]
Originally screened in 1997, Crime Traveller is a police series with a sci-fi twist, where time travel plays an integral part in the solving of crimes. It is an interesting although rather flawed series — entertaining if you’re able to ignore the bits that don’t make sense. Holly Turner is a police science officer who […]
Doctor Who, under the reign of showrunner Steven Moffat, could easily be dubbed the Era of Really Cool Ideas. Unfortunately, these really cool ideas often come at the expense of other things — like plot, character development, continuity and consistency. The five episodes of Series 7, Part 1 demonstrate this rather well. “Asylum of the […]
If you live in Melbourne and are writing for young people, you should be listening to SYN 90.7FM. Why? Because SYN FM is a radio station run by young people under the age of 25. SYN stands for Student Youth Network. The fact that all the presenters and producers of the various programs are under […]
I have been meaning to put together some video examples of my speaking for quite a while now. The idea being that librarians everywhere will watch them and immediately be compelled to book me for a speaking gig. 😉 Well… I have finally gotten around to it. This is the first one: “GEORGE IVANOFF SPEAKS […]
“The Ambassadors of Death” is a long, seven-part story from Pertwee’s first season as the third Doctor — season 7 from 1970. It is an example of Pertwee-era Doctor Who at its best. Earth loses contact with the crew of its Mars probe. A rescue mission is sent and again, contact is lost. But this […]
My daughters and I are in the Woman’s Day magazine today! We are featured in an article called “Meet the real life House Husbands”. Written in response to the popularity of the House Husbands television series, this article singles out four Aussie dads and their kids. How did we end up in this? A few […]
The Jane Austen Collection is a set of three tele-movies from the ITV Studios in the UK — Emma, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. They are three quite varied productions. They are well produced but if, like me, you’re a fan of the BBC productions, you are likely to find these a little disappointing. First […]
I’ve just finished writing four school readers for a new K-3 Guided Reading Program to be published by Macmillan Education in Australia and New Zealand. There were three fiction titles (Hide and Seek, Grandpa Comes to Live With Us and Train Trip) and one non-fic (Changing Weather). All four readers are at Prep/Grade 1 level. […]
This box set contains two classic Doctor Who stories featuring Sylvester McCoy as the seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred as his companion Ace — “Dragonfire” from season 24 in 1987 and “The Happiness Patrol” from season 25 in 1988. The two stories are a great example of how both actors progressed in their respective roles […]
Gamers’ Challenge has just been released as an eBook. YAY! It’s available on Kindle through Amazon. Gamers’ Quest is also available on Kindle, as well as in the Booki.sh format through Readings. Life, Death and Detention is available is a number of different eBook formats (incluing Kindle, Epub, Palm Doc and plain old PDF) all […]
“Vengeance on Varos” is a rather grim but well-handled satire of television viewing, politics and big business. Featuring Colin Baker as the sixth Doctor, it is from the 22nd season in 1985. Although only two parts, it is from the era when episodes were 45 minutes instead of 25 — so is equivalent to a […]
“Planet of Giants” is quite a unique three-part story from the early days of Doctor Who. It was the season opener for the show’s second year, with the original Doctor, William Hartnell. Often criticised as being a weak story, “Planet of Giants” makes for interesting viewing because it is so different from other stories. Due […]
Here’s the rather wonderful cover of Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers. This is a book of essays edited by Robert Smith?, and I’m lucky enough to be included in its pages. The book gets released on 23 November 2012. For more info, check out the publisher’s website. […]
Despite some rather clunky aliens and poor effects, “The Krotons” is surprisingly entertaining classic-series Doctor Who. A four-part story originally transmitted in 1968/9 as part of the 6th season, it stars Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor, accompanied by future-girl Zoe (Wendy Padbury) and Jamie the highlander (Frazer Hines). “The Krotons” sees the Doctor and […]
I’ve finally gotten around to editing the videos from the launch of Life, Death and Detention. 🙂 First up, here’s Alison Goodman’s launch speech… And here’s my speech, which includes a few short readings from the book… Yes, the video cuts out before I finish. My camera automatically switches off after a certain amount of […]
From YA novel to big-screen blockbuster, The Hunger Games has been a sensation every step of the way. Perhaps not as brilliant as the marketing would have you believe, it is nevertheless an entertaining film that is well worth a watch. Let me start off by saying that I have not read any of the […]
“The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” is a really interesting four-part story from Sylvester McCoy’s era as the Doctor. Lots of fascinating ideas and concepts are thrown around, but the end result isn’t all that great. Originally screened in 1988/89 as part of the 25th season of Doctor Who, “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” […]
The new edition of Life, Death and Detention has been launched! Many thanks to all the people who showed up to help celebrate the release of my YA short story collection, Life, Death and Detention on 13 August. And a HUGE thank you to Mentone Grammar School, and particularly the Gregory Fish Library staff, for hosting […]
I reviewed the Blu-ray release of Melbourne-made television series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries last month (see review), and also gave away a few copies. Now it’s time to do the same with the CD soundtrack. This CD is actually a compilation of songs rather than a proper soundtrack, which is probably why it’s not actually […]
Episodes is an unusual comedy series. Created and written by two American writers but produced and shot in the UK by the BBC, it revolves around Hollywood’s tendency to remake British TV shows for the US market by changing everything about the originals that made them successful. Episodes is a witty, odd and often scathing […]
Japan’s Studio Ghibli has a reputation for producing some of the world’s best animated films. I have adored their previous efforts and so approached their latest, Arrietty, with eagerness. A little different from their other films, it still manages to delivery excellence on all fronts. Arrietty is based on Mary Norton’s children’s book, The Borrowers. […]
I’m taking a short break as I hand over the reins of this post to fellow scribe, Mackenzie Oliphant. Take it away, Mackenzie… Clarke & Dawe Live from Canberra DVD Reviewed by Mackenzie Oliphant There is no doubt that most, if not all, of our politicians can be – and are frequently – obtuse, illogical, unreasonable and, […]
Trust Me Too, the bumper anthology from Ford Street Publishing, has been launched — three times! First in Sydney, then in Melbourne and most recently in Geelong. The Melbourne launch at Pinces Hill Secondary College was HUGE, with well over 100 people attending. The Geelong launch, held at Waurn Ponds Library, was smaller but no […]
This is the fifth and final season of the Doctor Who spinoff series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and it is only half the usual length due to the death of its star, Elisabeth Sladen. It is so sad that it’s all over. This show got better and better with each season… I would have loved […]
The Sarah Jane Adventures is one of two spin-offs from the hugely popular revived Doctor Who series. With Doctor Who aimed squarely at a family audience, the spin-offs diverge with Torchwood heading for adult territory and The Sarah Jane Adventures going for the kids. This fourth season is very entertaining and continues to see the […]
July 2012 saw the release of Ford Street Publishing’s massive new YA anthology, Trust Me Too. I’m very excited about this for two reasons… 1. because I’ve got a story in it — “Gamers’ Inferno”. 2. because it’s got so many stories from so many fab Australian writers. I’m about half way through my copy […]
“Death to the Daleks” is a four-part story from the eleventh season of the classic Doctor Who series, originally screened in 1974. Although there is an interesting concept at its core, and some good elements to the story and production, it is hampered by a lack of logic and some pretty daft moments. The Doctor […]
A werewolf, a vampire and a ghost move in together. That was the original basis of the British series Being Human. Each of the first three seasons was unique in it own way, changing tone and direction. (see review) But this latest season really mixes things up. Season three ended with the death of Mitchell, […]
I’ve had three new school readers published by Macmillan Education this month. All three are at Grade 2 level and are part of the Sprints series. I’m very pleased to have books in this series, which is well edited and beautifully illustrated. Two of the books are sequels to previous Sprints titles — Snookums and […]
Based on the string of successful novels by Australian author Kerry Greenwood, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries follows the adventures of Lady Detective Phryne Fisher in 1920s Melbourne. Although it deviates from the books in both character and story lines, the television series is very entertaining and enjoyable in its own right. I’ve only read the […]
Originally screened in 1974, “Planet of the Spiders” is Jon Pertwee’s six-part swan song. It’s an appropriate end to what is one of my favourite eras of classic Doctor Who. It’s filled with all the elements that made Pertwee’s tenure as the Doctor so watchable — action, adventure, style, chase sequences and monsters. It’s a […]
“In the closet, no one can hear you squeal” is the tag line for this ABC comedy series about a group of gay science fiction fans. Although perhaps a little too niche for its own good, this six-part series is smart, funny and rather unique. Outland is a strange mix of science fiction geek humour […]
I am very excited to announce that my first book, a collection of short stories about life in high school, is about to be republished. Life, Death and Detention has a new publisher, a new cover and even some new content. Originally published in 1999 by Margaret Hamilton Publishing, it has been out of print […]
The 2012 Bayside Literary Festival starts next week. Should be a lot of fun. I’ll be doing a short reading at the opening and participating in three programme items… Bayside Open Readings, Friday 22 June, 7-9pm. Microfiction Workshop: Short and Sweet, Saturday 23 June, 2-4pm. What’s Fit to Print: Issues in Youth Literature, Saturday 7 […]
This is the second film in director Guy Richie’s blockbuster series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. And like its predecessor, it’s actually more of an action/adventure flick than a Sherlock Holmes film. It is, however, highly entertaining. This time around Holmes and Watson come face to face with Professor Moriarty, a […]
Last weekend I attended Continuum 8, the 51st Australian National Science Fiction Convention, in Melbourne. And thanks to Roadshow Entertainment I was able to give away LOTS of DVDs. 🙂 There was one copy of The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Complete Fourth Series, and numerous classic Doctor Who DVDs, including “The Sensorites”, “The Daemons”, “The […]
Danger 5 is a six-part Australian comedy series that originally screened on SBS. It is without a doubt one of the weirdest things I have ever viewed. It literally has to be seen to be believed. And I loved it! Danger 5 follows the adventures of an elite international team of espionage agents during WWII […]
Lots of Doctor Who stuff in my near future. 🙂 Most excitingly, I’ve just had an article accepted for OUTSIDE IN: 160 New Perpsectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers. Edited by Robert Smith? (yes, that question mark is deliberate), the man responsible for books such as Braaaiiinnnsss: From Academics to Zombies, it […]
A serious storyline about drug trafficking, some wry humour and some OTT slapstick are mixed together in “Nightmare of Eden”, the fourth story from the 17th season of Doctor Who in 1979. Perhaps not the best example of Doctor Who from the Tom Baker era, it is nevertheless an interesting watch. The Doctor and Romana […]
Earlier this month I had what was probably one of the best school speaking experiences of my career — a four-day tour of schools in the Portarlington/Drysdale region. It was organised by the local Lions Club. They arranged for me to visit four of the local schools — St Leonards PS, Portarlington PS, Drysdale PS […]
Noted Doctor Who scribes Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis have teamed up to create this updated version of the adventures of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective, Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is a thoroughly modern series, yet it is extremely faithful to Doyle’s characters and the essence of his stories — stylish, smart and utterly addictive, […]
A new companion in a skimpy outfit, the Doctor’s past deeds catching up with him and a commentary on religion form the basis of the Doctor Who story, “The Face of Evil”. Despite a few problems, this is an entertaining and thought-provoking four-part story from the 14th season of Doctor Who, first screened in 1977. […]
Thanks to the recent Sherlock television series and the Robert Downey Jr feature films, there has been a renewed interest in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective. So it’s not surprising that earlier adaptations are being released on DVD (see my review of The Sherlock Holmes Collection). A little OTT and certainly rather melodramatic, Sherlock […]
Five young people doing community service get caught in a freak storm that ends up giving them bizarre superpowers. That’s the premise of Misfits, a humorous British science fiction series. It’s odd. It’s rude. It’s crude. And it is one of the most original shows I’ve seen in a long time. I must admit that […]
I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this classic Doctor Who story. It has been many years since I last watched “The Daemons”, and I’m very pleased to say that it definitely lives up to my memories of it. Mixing black magic and pseudo-science to create a wonderfully atmospheric five-part story, this is early-70s […]
The Adventures of Merlin — this hugely successful series about Merlin and Arthur in their younger days is back for a fourth season. Building on the progression of the myth from season three, this season heads further towards the legend we are familiar with, but also substantially deviates from it. Lots of interesting things happen, […]
U.N.I.T. Files is a box set with two stories featuring the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce — “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” and “The Android Invasion”. Both these stories, despite some flaws, are very watchable and are great examples of their respective eras. “Invasion of the Dinosaurs” is a six-part story from Jon Pertwee’s final season in […]
This year is shaping up to be incredibly busy with regards to speaking — schools, libraries, bookshops, conventions and even some radio. I’ve already visited St Michael’s PS, Leongatha PS, Hampton Park PS, Mentone Grammar and Embiggen Books, as well as being a guest on two episodes of Southern FM’s Write Now program. Here’s a […]
I’ve never read the famed Tintin comics by Hergé. And I’d never seen the series prior to getting this DVD set. Coming to it with very little prior knowledge, I found myself completely engrossed in The Adventures of Tintin. This series is a French/Canadian coproduction made in 1991/92, and its remastered released is well timed, […]
Yesterday I went along to the opening of a brand new independent bookstore. Readers, writers, editors and publishers all came along to toast the success of this new venture. Called Notions Unlimited, it is situated at… Shop 9, Chelsea Beach Arcade, 426 Nepean Hwy, Chelsea, VIC 3196. This is a genre bookstore specialising in all […]
I get excited whenever the BBC announce a new costume drama — they are so damn good at that genre. Although some are better than others, I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed in one. A new adaptation of Great Expectations is their latest on DVD… and it is, as you would expect, BRILLIANT! It’s […]
If you happen to read my DVD/Blu-ray reviews blog, Viewing Clutter, you’ll probably notice that I’m a Doctor Who fan. I review lots of Doctor Who discs, and I’m currently running a DVD giveaway for copies of the recent Doctor Who Christmas Special, “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”. I’ve even posted My Doctor […]
The Octonauts is an animated kids’ series based on a set of four picture books (see my review over at Literary Clutter). This DVD release, The Octonauts: Ready For Action, contains seven of the 52 episodes that were made in 2010/2011. The series has being quite a hit and seems to be popular with a […]
A new strain of influenza sweeps across the world and wipes out the vast majority of human beings. This BBC series follows the adventures of a small group of survivors — hence the title: Survivors. There’s nothing new about this concept, but this series, despite some problematic details, handles it all rather well. Survivors has […]
On Monday 20 February I had the great pleasure of launching the National Year of Reading celebrations at my old school, Mentone Grammar. I even got to cut a ribbon with the school’s Principal, Mr Mal Cater… It’s a lot harder than it looks… especially when the scissors are blunt. 🙂 But Mr Cater and […]
Earlier this week I visited Hampton Park Primary to launch the Carpet Court Storybook Challenge at their school. I spoke to students in Years 3 and 4. They were a great bunch of kids with LOTS of fantastic questions. A photographer from the local paper was there. The result: this little article in Berwick News… […]
The companionless Doctor #11 (Matt Smith) has his second Christmas adventure with “The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe”, a fun tale vaguely reminiscent of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Watching this special episode at Christmas on the telly, I was rather disappointed with it. Watching it for a second time, now […]
One of the things that I love about the DVD revolution is the fact that all sorts of weird, wonderful and obscure television shows are getting a new lease on life. I’m a fan of crappy old sci-fi shows… so I was pleased to find out that M.A.N.T.I.S., a series I missed during its initial […]
Two bits of exciting Gamers news to report. Gamers’ Challenge has joined Gamers’ Quest on the reading list for the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge. Both books are listed for two age groups — Years 5 & 6 and Years 7 & 8. I’m rather pleased about this. 🙂 Later this year, Ford Street Publishing will […]
Based on a series of crime novels by Michael Dibdin, Zen is a BBC series of three tele-films about Italian police detective Aurelio Zen. The series is stylish, well-written and shot in Rome — what more could you want? Aurelio Zen is a mid-level police detective working in Rome. Surrounded by corruption, he ambles along, […]
Project Manta chronicles the efforts of a group of marine biologists to track the migration routes of manta rays off the Australian coast. The movement patterns of manta rays are often unpredictable and very individual, making the scientists’ task far from easy. While the efforts of the scientists are interesting enough, it is the manta […]
“The Sensorites” is a six-part story from the very first season of Doctor Who, way back in 1964. While it has an interesting concept, and some really good moments, it suffers from being rather long and boring. The Doctor (William Hartnell), along with his granddaughter Susan (Carole Ann Ford) and schoolteachers Ian (William Russell) and […]
“Miracle Day” is the fourth season of Torchwood, the BBC’s Doctor Who spinoff series for adults. It had quite a mixed reception when it aired, with many fans being rather disappointed. It’s quite different from the previous seasons, but is still an enthralling, dramatic, thought-provoking, heart-pounding, well-written, well-produced set of episodes. I really enjoyed “Miracle […]
A botanically obsessed millionaire, a carnivorous alien plant and a charismatic thug come together to cause trouble for the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) in “The Seeds of Doom”. The end result is a stylish, engaging and exciting action/adventure story from the 13th season of Doctor Who in 1976. Scientists […]
Series 6 has previously been releases in two sets. But these were the vanilla sets — fine for the casual viewer, but definitely not enough for the die-hard fans. The 2010 Christmas Special has also previously had a vanilla release. Now we have the complete series six box-set, including that Christmas Special, chock-full of extras. […]
I’m not, by any stretch of the imagination, a rev-head. In fact, I find the whole rev-head mentality rather difficult to understand. And yet, here I am, about to launch into a review of a great three-part documentary series, Wide Open Road: The Story of Cars in Australia. For me, cars have always been about […]
Troll Hunter is a Norwegian dark fantasy film, shot in the style of a documentary. When I first discovered this, I immediately expected low-budget schlock. Boy, was I surprised when I actually watched it. Troll Hunter turned out to be an unanticipated little gem. A trio of Uni students set out to make a documentary […]
Something a little different to begin the New Year — I’m gonna shut up and let someone else inflict his opinions on you. 🙂 Last year I reviewed the third series of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Today, Edward McAndrew has stopped by to give the same DVD set the once over. Take it away Edward… The […]
Remember Star Blazers? It was a Saturday morning cartoon show that I watched as a kid in the 1980s. It was the American adaptation of a Japanese anime series called Space Battleship Yamato. (I use the word ‘adaptation’ because rather than just dub the series, elements were changed and much was edited out.) Now, it’s […]
Well, “Frontios” is a bit of a mess, really. There’s not much I can say in its defence. So, at this point, I think it best to refer you to my previous post about my relationship with Doctor Who and how I approach the reviewing of the DVDs (see “My Doctor Who Philosophy”). “Frontios” is […]
Doing interviews is just part of the job when you’re an author. I’ve done lots of magazine and blog interviews… and occasionally, I get a radio or television interview. Radio and television can be a lot of fun, especially when you get along well with the interviewer. I did a couple earlier this year, so […]
The third and last season of seaQuest has finally made it onto DVD in Australia. Yay! I’ve been waiting for this for quite a while, as I have never seen it before. When originally screened in the 1990s it was shuffled from one timeslot to another and I lost track of it towards the end […]
This DVD set has been waiting quite some time for me to watch and review it. I’ve been avoiding it ever since Elisabeth Sladen died earlier this year. But I couldn’t avoid it forever, and so I finally sat down and watched it. I’m very glad that I did… Because although Ms Sladen is gone, […]
As you may already know, 2012 has been designated the National Year of Reading (NYR). Lots of authors, libraries, schools, publishers and individuals have thrown their support behind this rather brilliant initiative. Now, in case you haven’t worked it out yet… the idea is to get people reading. Yes, I know… it seems like such […]
“The Sun Makers” is a four-part story from the fifteenth season of Doctor Who, with Tom Baker as the Doctor and Louise Jameson as his companion Leela. Written by the script editor, Robert Holmes, it is an inventive and clever story that satirises commercialism and bureaucracy while maintaining an interesting science fiction plot. Apparently inspired […]
Vash the Stampede is back! The Humanoid Typhoon has progressed from manga to anime series and now finally to his own feature film. And it’s just been released on Blu-ray. Vash the Stampede is a gunslinger with a bounty on his head, living in a strange land that is part Wild West and part quasi-futuristic. […]
At long last, I have a Blu-ray player. [insert applause] Having watched my first Blu-ray disc, I’m now wondering why the hell it took me so long to get one. I’ve had a HD widescreen TV for a while now… I should have gotten the Blu-ray player at the same time. The picture quality is […]
It has been a busy couple of months with lots of book signings, speaking gigs and other writing related outings. The definite highlights were the two school literary festivals — Yarra Valley Grammar on 20 October and the Catholic College Bendigo on 25 November. I love doing school visits. They are a great opportunity to […]
The Daleks have invaded the Earth (Yes… again!), this time in the 22nd Century. Freedom fighters have gotten hold of a Dalek time travel device and are using it to travel back to the 20th Century — to the point in time that is deemed crucial to downfall of the human race. Their intention is […]
Today, 48 years ago, the first episode of Doctor Who went to air in the UK. So I thought it would be a good day to tell you a little bit about my relationship with the program, and how I approach reviewing it. I discovered the series in late primary school, back in the 1970s. […]
2011 saw a divided season for Doctor Who, with a two-month screening break. And so Series 6 Part 1 came out on DVD in August this year, with Part 2 released earlier this month. Part 1 was pretty good and it showed great promise of even better things to come. (Check out my review at […]
I’m a bit of a BBC costume drama fan. The BBC is just so good at this sort of drama. I watched the Best of Jane Austen box set earlier this year (check out my review on MC Reviews) which was pretty awesome, and then moved on to this one — the Charles Dickens Premier […]
I love DVDs. (I may have mentioned this in previous posts.) Why do I love them? Let me count the ways. (Apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning for the butchered misquote.) One. I love the fact that the advent of DVDs introduced the concept of ‘extras features’ as a standard rather than as a special treat… […]
The BBC have, for a while now, been releasing Doctor Who box sets with stories from disparate eras grouped together because of a common element. Thus the two stories featuring the Mara were released as the Mara Tales box set (see review), and a couple of the Cybermen stories were released as the Cybermen box […]
“The Fifth Doctor and Tegan must battle the evil of the Mara in these two classic 1980s adventures!” Thus proclaims the slipcase on this two-story box set. But are “Kinda” and “Snakedance” really classics of this Doctor Who era? These two stories seem to divide Doctor Who fans. Some will praise them for their intellectual […]
The most annoying thing about the BBC series Outcasts is that there won’t be any more episodes after this first season of eight. Due to low ratings and poor reviews it has been cancelled. It’s a real pity. While this first season wasn’t brilliance all the way through, it was an intriguing science fiction drama […]
For a number of years I’ve been reviewing DVDs for various websites and blogs (for a complete list check out my reviews page). Now I’ve finally taken the plunge and started my own reviews blog. Why? Why not? After all, I am just a tiny bit obsessed with DVDs — watching them, collecting them, stroking […]
I do a lot of writing for the primary school education market, for publication both in Australia and overseas. In fact, I’m currently working on a new set of readers at Prep and Grade 1 level for Singapore. Very short word count and specific topics make them quite a challenge to write. But I love […]
Gamers’ Challenge got reviewed in the Herald Sun Weekend! And it was a positive review. 🙂 Getting a review in a major, high circulation newspaper like the Herald Sun is great. It brings my book to the attention of many more people… especially parents buying books as presents for their kids. But Gamers’ Challenge has […]
On Saturday 17 September 2011, Gamers’ Challenge was officially launched. Many thanks to Ford Street Publishing for organising the event and to Michael Pryor (author of The Laws of Magic) for launching the book. If you’d like to see Michael delivering his eloquent launch speech, check out the video below. While the video camera happily […]
It is with great excitement that I present for your viewing pleasure the Gamers’ Challenge book trailer… HUGE thanks to Henry Gibbens for putting the trailer together. I love the trailer he made for Gamers’ Quest, but he’s taken things a step further with this new one, adding a level of dynamism. My thanks also […]
YES! It’s finally happened. After months of waiting, my new novel, Gamers’ Challenge, has been released. It’s available throughout Australia in bookstores — although if your local bookstore doesn’t have it in stock, get them to order it in. If you plan on purchasing it online, please allow me to recommend Boomerang Books. Okay, yes… […]
In the past, I have been known to moonlight as an actor. Look — here’s my ultra serious acting headshot to prove it. About two years ago, shortly after the birth of my second daughter, I made the decision to stop chasing acting work and focus on my writing career. The main reason for this […]
I’m very excited about getting a book trailer for Gamers’ Challenge. It’s currently in production, being put together by Henry Gibbens, who did the trailer for my previous book, Gamers’ Quest. In the meantime, check out the trailer he has put together for Mole Hunt, a new YA science fiction novel from Paul Collins…
Today has been an interesting day. Yesterday I was interviewed for an article in the Herald-Sun newspaper about being a stay-at-home dad. The article, and accompanying photo, were in the paper today. That article sparked a lot of interest. It was picked up by several newspapers across the country, including Adelaide Now, News.Com and the Courier […]
A couple of days ago I attended the Macmillan Winter Sales Conference to promote Gamers’ Challenge to the sales reps who will be getting it out into book stores. (If you want to know more about the conference, I blogged about it on Literary Clutter.) Also on that day I received my advance copy of […]
I recently did an interview with The Australian Literature Review website because I’ve got a story in their new anthology Basics of Life (available through Amazon). The interview also covers other things, including Gamers’ Quest and its sequel. It’s now online. And here’s an interview from last June. It’s from Get Cereal, Channel 31’s breakfast programme. […]
My new website is still incomplete. 🙁 Info missing from some of the pages and some new pages yet to be added. I’m working my way through it slowly, but I keep getting distracted by other things. Here’s a quick round up of what I’ve been up to… I’ve finished going through the proofs of […]
Welcome to my new website! It’s live! Although it’s not quite ready. Due to circumstances beyond my control, this new site has had to go live before actually being ready for public consumption. The design is mostly in place, although I’m still fiddling with everything below the header/menu bar. And I’m slowly getting all the […]
