The Small Picture Podcasts

Soldiers Without Borders: Beyond The SAS - Ian McPhedran.

Stuart Beaton — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:15:53 GMT

'Jones knew the score with "deniable" operations that were sanctioned secretly at the highest levels. If they turned to custard and the cover was blown, the powers–that–be would simply deny everything and disown all involved, from the military down to the spooks and, at the bottom of the food chain, hired guns like him.' What happens to the elite, close–knit soldiers of Australia's Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment after they leave the Who Dares Wins world of special forces? For some, there are highly paid jobs in the world's war zones and trouble spots protecting global corporations from terrorism, sabotage and violence. Others become powerful government advisers, many join foreign armies to train their special forces and expand the global brotherhood. Most risky of all, is the shadowy world of deniable 'black ops'. Guarding a deadly secret military cargo – a new missile system brokered through a spook under the guise of a Middle Eastern arms dealer – is all in a day's work. These are the risky yet vital jobs that governments will never admit. From Iraq and Afghanistan to Africa and Asia, award–winning defence writer Ian McPhedran uncovers a virtually unknown network and tells how Australia's top soldiers are forever linked in a seemingly borderless world. Ian McPhedran is the Sydney based national defence writer for News Limited. He has been a journalist all his working life and has covered conflicts in Burma, Somalia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq.In 1993 he won a United Nations Association peace media award and in 1999 the Walkley award for best news report for his expose of the navy's Collins class submarine fiasco.His first book, The Amazing SAS: the inside story of Australia's special forces, is a national best seller.McPhedran lives in Balmain with his wife Verona and daughter Lucy. Ian actually takes time to do what a good defence writer should do - go to the sharp end, and talk to the diggers on the ground. You can't cover a war over a telephone. This book is a bloody good read, and it highlights the inadequate ways in which former SAS troopers are treated by not only the government, but by society in general. A great interview about a great book.

Emily And The Big Bad Bunyip - Jackie French.

Stuart Beaton — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:41:18 GMT

It's Christmas Day in Shaggy Gully. The kangaroos are feeling bouncy, the echidnas are being prickly, the emus are feeling peckish and the possums are just hanging around. Only the Bunyip is gloomy. 'I'm mad and I'm mean! Bunyips don't like Christmas!' Meanwhile, Dawn and her chorus are playing Christmas carols, but somehow Emily Emu can't get a note right. Her musical mishaps float down to the creek, where the Bunyip lives... Can Emily Emu and her friends possibly make the Bunyip smile this Christmas? A delightful new picture book from the team who created bestselling Diary of a Wombat, Pete the Sheep and Josephine Wants to Dance. Jackie French is a full–time writer who lives near Braidwood in the Araluen Valley, NSW. In 2000, Hitler’s Daughter was awarded the CBC Younger Readers’ Award. To the Moon and Back won the Eve Pownall Award in 2005. Macbeth and Son, and Josephine Wants to Dance were both shortlisted for the 2007 CBC Awards. It's always an absolute pleasure to talk to Jackie, and this was a particularly fun interview - I hope you enjoy it! You can find out more about Jackie and her books at: http://www.jackiefrench.com.au/

Mark Gimenez - The Perk

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:59:00 GMT

A grieving widower gets caught up in the politics of his Texas hometown when he returns to make peace with his father. Beck Hardin returns to his Texas hometown - and his estranged father - after the death of his wife leaves him with two children to raise. The town is still reeling from the murder of sixteen-year-old Heidi, whose father - Beck's old college friend - asks Beck to help him find Heidi's killer before the statute of limitations runs out. Meanwhile, Beck is pushed into becoming town Judge, and he makes some powerful enemies amongst the rich white landowners when he refuses to condone their treatment of the Mexican workers of the town. As events escalate, the landowners carefully plot their revenge... From Mark’s website: I grew up in Galveston County, Texas. I attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, and earned a B.A. in Political Science with honors. I then attended Notre Dame Law School in Indiana and earned a J.D. degree magna cum laude. I practiced law with a large Dallas law firm and became a partner. After ten years, I left to practice solo and to write. I live outside Fort Worth with my wife and two sons. Author Location: Texas, USA I'm not a big fan of lawyers, or legal fiction, but I did really enjoy talking to Mark about his book - and I hope that shows through in the interview.

My First Divorce - Sheryn George - WARNING - Poor Sound Recording

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 05:58:03 GMT

Caitlin Cooper is living life full–tilt – she's a red–hot television producer, her husband is gorgeous and devoted and her kids are bright and beautiful. She's launching her latest smash–hit reality show at a harbourside gala and her Gucci corset is a bit too tight, but that's not why she's holding her breath ... the two people she trusts more than anyone else in the world have just betrayed her. BIG TIME. Caitlin doesn't do breakdowns, but she didn't think she did scandal and divorce either. Now her biggest struggle is deciding whether to swear bloody revenge – or crawl under the doona and stay there. But she has a New–Age best friend, a very loud mother and two daughters with attitude, all intent on dragging her back into the world. A world that needs a total makeover on a professional as well as personal level. So there's no time for tears and Cait discovers she might just be able to get through anything – even her first divorce. Sheryn George is a journalist - but don't hold that against her. She was fantastic fun to interview, and her book is great. I'm just sorry that interference somewhere along the line has done awful things to this recording.

In The Dark - Mark Billingham

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:40:40 GMT

A rainy night in south London. A gun is fired into a car which swerves on to the pavement and ploughs into a bus stop. It seems that a chilling gang initiation has cost an innocent victim their life. But the reality is far more sinister… One life is wiped out and three more are changed forever: the young man whose finger was on the trigger; an ageing gangster planning a deadly revenge, and the pregnant woman who struggles desperately to uncover the truth. Two weeks away from giving birth, how will she deal with a world where death is an occupational hazard? In a city where violence can be random or meticulously planned, where teenage gangs clash with career criminals and where loyalty is paid for in blood, anything is possible. Secrets are uncovered as fast as bodies, and the story’s final twist is as breathtakingly surprising as they come. Mark Billingham was born and brought up in Birmingham. Having worked for some years as an actor and more recently as a TV writer and stand-up comedian his first crime novel was published in 2001. Sleepyhead was an instant bestseller in the UK. It has been sold widely throughout the world and was published in the USA in the summer of 2002. Though still occasionally working as a stand-up comic, Mark now concentrates on writing the series of crime novels featuring London-based detective Tom Thorne. The second novel, Scaredy Cat was published in July 2002 and was followed by Lazybones, The Burning Girl, Lifeless, Buried and Death Message. The newest novel, a standalone thriller called In The Dark is published in August 2008. Mark is at work on the next Tom Thorne novel called “The Life Thief” and the second in a trilogy of thrillers for children - Triskellion - written under the pseudonym Will Peterson. Mark lives in North London with his wife and two children. A fantastic bloke to talk to, I certainly enjoyed this interview!

Royal Exile - Fiona McIntosh.

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 05:32:15 GMT

Led by Loethar, an ambitious and ruthless tyrant, a terrifying army of mercenaries and renegades from the great southern steppes threaten to overwhelm the Kingdom of Penraven, having already overthrown its two neighbouring realms, leaving a trail of devastation and broken lives in their wake. Penraven is Loethar's most desired prize, not only because of its wealth, safe harbour, extensive coastline, and abundant natural resources. This time the tyrant wants more than a crown. Driven by dreams of empire, fuelled by his increasing obsession with magic, Loethar's plan to overthrow King Brennus of Penraven, 9th of the Valisars, was cemented the hour upon when he learned that Brennus possessed the power of coercion. All of the Valisar heirs have been blessed down the ages with the sinister ability to bend people entirely to their will and Loethar is convinced that if he consumes these empowered people he will then be imbued with their skills and magics... and be unstoppable. Fiona McIntosh was born and raised in Sussex in the UK, but also spent early childhood years in West Africa. She left a PR career in London to travel and settled in Australia in 1980. She has since roamed the world working for her own travel publishing company, which she runs with her husband. She lives in Adelaide with her husband and twin sons. Her website is at www.fionamcintosh.com. It's always a pleasure to speak to Fiona, and find out what fun things she gets up to when she's not writing!

Tabloid Man - The Lives And Times Of Ezra Norton - Sandra Hall.

Stuart Beaton — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:11:18 GMT

The Rise Of Australia's Master Muck Racker. For Over Thirty Years, He Was One Of The Most Powerful Men In Australia. In 1922 Ezra Norton inherited the newspaper Truth from his father, John. Norton Senior was a fiery polemicist and fierce drinker who used the paper to castigate his enemies and indulge his biases. He even fought out his differences with his wife in its pages by publishing their divorce proceedings. Truth and later its stablemate the Daily Mirror made Ezra Norton one of the key media figures of his day. His notorious feud with Frank Packer led to a fist fight at Randwick racecourse. And his newspapers adopted and promoted his father's muckraking style to turn the Norton brand of tabloid journalism into an institution. Yet for someone who profited from others' scandals, Ezra Norton was an unusually private man. Sandra Hall's thoroughly researched and lively account of Ezra Norton's life gives a fascinating insight into this influential Australian figure. In doing so, it traces the evolution of tabloid newspapers and the Australia in which the Nortons thrived. Sandra Hall is well known for her film reviews. In 2006 Fourth Estate published Sandra’s novel, Beyond the Break, which was longlisted for the 2007 Miles Franklin Literary Award. She has also written a history of Australian television. Another bloody good interview, I hope you all enjoy it!

Major General James Molan - Running The War In Iraq.

Stuart Beaton — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:38:06 GMT

It's the most controversial conflict of our time: a war which has divided citizens, politicians, and militaries, resulted in headlines about torture and suicide bombings, death and destruction. There's no single identifiable enemy and no exit strategy. So how will the war in Iraq be won? What will victory look like? In 2004, when Australian Major General Jim Molan was deployed to the war to oversee a force of 300,000 troops, including 155,000 Americans, he faced these and other questions on a daily basis. In Running the War in Iraq he gives a gripping insider's account of what modern warfare entails – the ghastly body count, the complex decisions which will mean life or death, the divide between political masters and foot soldiers – and the small, hard–won triumphs. General Jim Molan joined the Australian Army in 1968 and has served in Jakarta, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. For his contributions in Iraq, he has been awarded the legion of merit by the US government and the Distinguished Service Cross by the Australian government. This is an incredibly down to earth interview with one of the people who was on the ground in Iraq, grappling with the every day problems of running a counter insurgent campaign. Probably one of the most interesting and thought provoking interviews I've done in an awfully long time, and one of which I am very proud. I hope you share and enjoy this interview.

Jeni Mawter - Extreme

Stuart Beaton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:59:26 GMT

Wheels skate park has been built and is about to be officially opened. It's meant to be an area for skateboarders, in–line skaters, scooters and BMX bikes to share. But now a decision has been made to ban the bikes on the grounds that they are dangerous and cause destruction to the facilities. Deciding to campaign against this injustice, the freewheelers organize a petition, much to the chagrin of the skateboarders who want them out of the park. Undaunted by a series of dirty tricks, the Freewheelers, supported by Mr Lark, go to the local council to appeal the decision, but their efforts are sabotaged by a rowdy protest from their rivals. For Mio, it's getting increasingly personal. Mr Lark's precious ID dogtags from the Vietnam war have been stolen while in her care. Someone is sending abusive email from her account, and the school wants to expel her. Her parents are ashamed of her and her best friend in Japan doesn't want to know her after seeing the emails. Mio must take on the skateboarders and ride the course of her life to uncover the truth and win the park back for the BMX riders. Age 10 – 14 Jeni Mawter is the author of UNLEASHED! and LAUNCHED!, the first two books in the Freewheelers series, and also the popular So! series. She has an MA in Children’s Literature and is a tutor at Macquarie University. She lives in Sydney with her family Another enjoyable interview! Share & Enjoy!

Dreaming Again - Jack Dann, Editor

Stuart Beaton — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:40:43 GMT

35 new stories celebrating the wild side of Australian fantasy writing Welcome to the energy, invention and imagination of Australia's finest writers of speculative fiction – from acclaimed international bestsellers to the freshest new voices. Ten years ago, Dreaming Down–Under captured the excitement of the wild side of Australian fiction and won a coveted World Fantasy Award. Now it's time to start Dreaming Again ... Includes a previously unpublished story from the late great A. Bertram Chandler Jack Dann has written or edited over sixty books, including the international bestseller The Memory Cathedral, which is published in over ten languages and was number 1 on The Age bestseller list. The San Francisco Chronicle called it "a grand accomplishment", Kirkus Reviews thought it was "an impressive accomplishment", and True Review said, "Read this important novel, be challenged by it; you literally haven't seen anything like it." His novel The Silent has been compared to Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn; Library Journal chose it as one of their "Hot Picks" and wrote: "This is narrative storytelling at its best – so highly charged emotionally as to constitute a kind of poetry from hell. Most emphatically recommended." Dann's work has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges, Roald Dahl, Lewis Carroll, Castaneda, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick, and Mark Twain. He is a recipient of the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Australian Aurealis Award (twice), the Ditmar Award (three times), and the Premios Gilgames de Narrative Fantastica Award. He has also been honoured by the Mark Twain Society (Esteemed Knight). His novel, Bad Medicine (retitled Counting Coup in the US), has been described by The Courier Mail as "perhaps the best road novel since the Easy Rider days". The West Australian called his retrospective short story collection Jubilee "a celebration of the talent of a remarkable storyteller". He is also the co–editor of the groundbreaking anthology of Australian stories, Dreaming Down–Under, which won the World Fantsasy Award in 1999, and co–editor of Gathering the Bones, a collection of horror stories from around the world. Jack Dann lives in Melbourne, Australia, and "commutes" back and forth to Los Angeles and New York. His website is at www.eidolon.net/jack–dann One of those nice, fun interviews I do so like doing!

Traci Harding - The Black Madonna

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:00:10 GMT

Mia Montrose, archaeological linguist, has discovered that the Black Madonna is a code used by secret societies throughout time for the lost key to an ancient power source: the Sphere of Amenti. Kali, inter–dimensional Queen of the Anunnaki –now fully merged with the youngest Dragon Queen, Tamar Devere – has less than a year to rehabilitate her Fallen kindred who desire inter–galactic domination. Ashlee Granville–Devere, and the Dragon Queens must pool their talents to open the twelve Stations of the Signet Grid and unlock the Halls of Amenti lest the Fallen succeed in using time–travel technologies to destroy humanity. From the ancient past to the distant future, from Montsègur to the way–stations of the universe, from the Underworld of the Kali Rift to the Otherworld of the Ranna Time Flow – the inter–time war must be won for the sake of the future. Traci Harding was born and raised in Sydney. A natural storyteller, she has been writing since childhood. Traci lives along the Hawkesbury River, NSW, with her husband and two children. What a wonderful person to talk to - I should do more interviews like this! You can find out more about Traci at: http://www.voyageronline.com.au/traciharding

Adobe Air And Flex 3 With Mark Blair, Technical Director At Adobe ANZ.

Stuart Beaton — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:27:28 GMT

Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced that global brands are embracing the Adobe technology platform for rich Internet applications (RIAs) to create new types of engaging experiences for their customers, partners and employees. Adobe RIA technologies, including Adobe® AIR™ and Adobe® Flex® 3 software, provide companies with a comprehensive solution for the creation and deployment of RIAs for the browser and the desktop. “RIAs have moved beyond the stage of early adoption. They are being deployed by organizations worldwide that have recognized and embraced this revolution in Web software,” said Kevin Lynch, chief technology officer at Adobe. “The incredible momentum that we are already seeing with Adobe AIR demonstrates the real need for businesses to engage with customers in more effective ways, extending innovative RIAs as first class citizens on the desktop.” AOL; eBay; The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.; The New York Times Company; Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group’s Nick.com; Sharp Corporation and others today launched pioneering applications deployed on Adobe AIR. For more information and to download applications on Adobe AIR, visit www.adobe.com/go/airshowcase. Mark Blair, Technical Director at Adobe ANZ,took time out to explain just how AIR and Flex work, and what it means for people who use the net everyday. It's all based on Flash technology, and with loads of open source material. This was a great interview, not only from a technical viewpoint as to how things work, but also from the point of what Adobe is trying to do to help both clients and end users alike!

Before Your Kids Drive You Crazy, Read This! - Nigel Latta

Stuart Beaton — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:02:57 GMT

Do your kids sometimes make you feel like your head is going to explode? Have you ever yelled until you were hoarse? Do you ever have days when all you feel like doing is making a run for the airport? Why is it so hard to be the parent you thought you would be? For harassed parents struggling to understand why they end up screaming at their kids and tearing their hair out trying to make them understand that bad behaviour has consequences, here's the perfect book to help your family make it through the crucial first decade or so and actually enjoy each other's company. Practical commonsense answers and examples from actual cases, logical and realistic strategies, and innovative behaviour–modification tools that work in the real world –– all from a parent and family therapist who's seen almost everything there is to see and offers some hard–won battlefield wisdom. Written in down–to–earth language, this book should be handed out at birth, an essential guide for the struggling parent who knows family life can and should be better. Clinical psychologist Nigel Latta is the author of Execution Lullaby, and the bestselling Into the Darklands: Unveiling the Predators Amongst Us. Nigel specalises in working with kids in the ‘too hard’ basket and consults with families from throughout the country. A sought-after speaker and trainer, Nigel is also a regular media commentator. He lives in Dunedin with his wife and two children. Nigel Latta can be heard in the parenting segment of This Way Up each Saturday on National Radio. Fantastic guy to talk to is Nigel, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did!

Eating Lolly - Corrie Hosking

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 04:10:41 GMT

Eighteen–year–old Mumma is pregnant and abandoned on a remote island by her respectable family. Her only company is a neighbour, a youth she calls Mister who brings offerings of fresh fish, and her only consolation is feeding her beautiful daughter Lolly on the recipes her mother taught her. Yet in her isolation, Mumma spins a haven of light and warmth that beckons Mister (a boy who knows all about abandonment, his mother having run off years before) and allows the two of them to forge an unlikely affection. It also allows Mumma's child, Lolly, to grow unaware of the dark secrets surrounding her ... Yet Mumma cannot protect Lolly from the world forever. At school there are plenty of people willing to point out to Lolly how eccentric her family is, and that Mister is not her real father. It's a subject she cannot broach with her mother, any more than she can talk about the way her baby sister died at birth, and how she has always felt responsible. Eventually, Lolly's distress manifests in a desperate effort to exert control in the only way she can –– by controlling her own body. This richly textured novel weaves the pleasures of cooking and the freedom of daydreams into a story of a young woman's fierce resilience, rending vulnerability, and unexpected love. Corrie Hosking grew up in the Adelaide Hills, where she now lives with her partner, her children and a collection of animals. The manuscript of her first novel, Ash Rain, was the inaugural winner of the Adelaide Festival Award for an unpublished manuscript in 2002. It was subsequently published by Wakefield Press in 2004. Corrie has presented at the Sydney Writers' Festival -- the result of being chosen as one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists, 2005 -- and at Adelaide Writers' Week. Corrie was great fun to talk to, and I hope you can catch up with her at the Adelaide Writers' Festival in March!

The Sounds Of Aus - Lawrie Zion.

Stuart Beaton — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 02:20:01 GMT

What is the most Australian thing about Australians? It’s the Australian accent! But what is it? Where did it come from? And is it under threat? Join us on the fascinating journey that is “The Sounds of Aus”. How can you tell if somebody is Australian? Can you tell an Australian by the way the look? By what they do for a living? Or even by the way they think? Arguably, the Australian accent is the most Australian thing about us. The cultural DNA in this country is in the way Australians speak. But what is the Australian accent? Where did it come from? Does the broad ocker accent represent how the majority of Australians sound? Does our accent vary significantly from region to region? Is the accent under threat from the forces of globalisation? Is it even worth preserving? And where is it going from here? Hosted by John Clarke, and told through an array of illuminating interviews with linguists, historians, social and political commentators, comedians, actors, and plenty of opinionated people with genuinely hilarious anecdotes, The Sounds of Aus is a humorous, informative and uplifting documentary that tells the story of the Australian accent. It tells us how we got it, how to do it, how it has evolved over the two centuries since the First Fleeters first transported the English language to our shores, and what is happening to the accent now. Lawrie Zion's done a great job with this DVD, and this is a really fun interview!

Fiona McIntosh - Goddess.

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:47:29 GMT

In Percheron, Zar Boaz is preparing for the imminent arrival of the Galinsean war fleet. Despite the necessity for him to be part of the delicate negotiations, Spur Lazar determines to travel back to the desert to rescue the abducted Zaradine Ana. Ana is a prisoner of the despotic Arafanz and his fanatical followers, and as it slowly becomes clear what they plan for Percheron, Ana does not know if she is to survive. Pez – once the palace fool – is now locked in a mighty battle of wills with his nemesis, the charismatic Grand Vizier Tariq ... which may make the threat of war irrelevant as the final confrontation for the region's faith is played out. Fiona McIntosh was born and raised in Sussex in the UK, but also spent early childhood years in West Africa. She left a PR career in London to travel and settled in Australia in 1980. She has since roamed the world working for her own travel publishing company, which she runs with her husband. She lives in Adelaide with her husband and twin sons. Her website is at www.fionamcintosh.com. It's always great to talk to Fiona, and this is a great interview!

Robert Barrett - Les Norton And The Case Of The Talking Pie Crust

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:24:52 GMT

Les Norton is back, wearing ten-hole Doc Martens … Les is quite happy resting up after the flu, when Warren has to tip him into an earn. Norton’s mate from the Albanian mafia, Bodene Menjou, is planning to make the most politically correct movie ever made in Australia, Gone with the Willy Willy, and has a script stolen. If Les can find it, a lazy $50,000 could fall in. How can Norton say no? After almost getting his head blown off in a drug lab, being attacked by crazed women with broomsticks, and beaten up by monstrous drag queens, Les is wondering if it is all worth it. The trip to Terrigal and the magical mystery tour with Marla is good. And Topaz with her chicken soup is an unexpected delight. But apart from that, Les doesn’t find much joy at all in his search for the missing film script. Especially not trapped in a fight for his life with a sadistic giant, where only one thing can save him: the Mongolian Death Lock. Set in Bondi and Terrigal, Robert G. Barrett’s latest Les Norton adventure, The Case of the Talking Pie Crust, is vintage Les Norton doing exactly what he does best: his worst. And proves once again why Robert G. Barrett is, according to the Australian, the king of popular fiction. Robert G. Barrett was raised in Sydney’s Bondi, where he worked mainly as a butcher. After thirty years he moved to Terrigal on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Robert has appeared in a number of films and TV commercials but prefers to concentrate on his writing career. Visit his official website at www.robertgbarrett.com.au

Paul Ham - Vietnam The Australian War.

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 05:33:46 GMT

'Surely God weeps,' an Australian Vietnam veteran wrote in despair at the memory of the Vietnam War. But no act of God intervened to stop the long years of carnage and devastation in this most controversial of wars. In Vietnam, Paul Ham (author of the bestselling Kokoda) narrates in compelling detail the full story of Australia's involvement in our longest military campaign, in which 50,000 Australians participated. This extraordinary, sweeping account, draws on hundreds of unpublished sources and interviews with soldiers, politicians, medical practitioners, aid providers, entertainers and the Vietnamese people to reconstruct the epic history of a campaign that disfigured a country and divided the world, nations, families and friends. At its heart, this is the soldiers' story –– of being tossed about in politicians' battles. Unlike any previous history of the war, Paul Ham sets the Australian story in the context of both the American and Vietnamese experiences, giving us a true sense of the sheer scale of this tragedy. Paul Ham is the author of Kokoda and the Australia correspondent for The Sunday Times (London). He has a Masters degree in Economic History from the London School of Economics. Paul Ham offers us an incredible insight into what the Vietnam conflict was really about - and at the heart, the very core of this book is one key issue... that Australian troops involved were not blindly following the Americans, that they didn't commit atrocities, nor did they deliberately harm the civilian population. If you only ever read one book about Australia's involvement in this conflict, this is the book to read. Simply amazing.

Road To Paradise - Paullina Simons

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 04:58:13 GMT

It's 1981 and Shelby Sloane gets a canary yellow Mustang convertible as a graduation present. She plans an odyssey to find her mother who left her many years earlier. When Shelby's former best friend Gina asks to come along, Shelby reluctantly agrees. When they see a young woman hitchhiking on the side of a country road, they don't want to pick her up. They turn their gaze away. But days later, they find her again. Candy gets in. She needs to get to Paradise – that's Paradise, California. But she is beset by dangers on a scale beyond the wildest imaginings of Shelby and Gina. She sucks them into her treacherous world and her own frightful journey. The ride that began with high spirits and good humour proceeds into the darkest backroads of America, when Shelby, Candy and Gina are forced to make real moral choices that have critical consequences for their future, and by their ordeals they take a very different journey. Paullina Simons was born in Leningrad, and emigrated to the United States in 1973. Her novels include The Bronze Horseman, The Bridge to Holy Cross and The Summer Garden. She lives close to New York with her husband and four children. Paullina was once again great fun to talk to, not only about her new novel, but about the ideas and process that went into creating it. We also talked about life before and after her leaving Russia, and the tragedy of the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. Definitely well worth a listen!

Duncan Ball - Selby Santa

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 02:25:20 GMT

This fifteenth collection of jaw-dropping stories in the bestselling Selby series will give you laughs and thrills with a sackful of sagas and gags to keep you guffawing long after the last Christmas cracker goes pop! For the last twenty-two years, one character has stood out (on all four legs) above all others in Australian children’s fiction: Selby, ‘the only talking dog in Australia and, perhaps, the world.’ Selby Santa marks this loveable pooch’s fifteenth story collection, bringing the total to date to 197 action-packed, hilarious stories plus poems and plays, not including Selby’s Joke Book, Selby’s Side-Splitting Joke Book and Selby’s Selection. In Selby Santa, Selby is off on another series of electrifying adventures! Firstly there’s Selby’s hair-raising adventure in Dr Trifle’s Super Santa Sleigh Simulator, then a thrilling spy story, not to mention a terrifying tale with Selby caught in the grips of a huge, hungry python, and there’s even a great Gary Gaggs play for you to act out for your family and friends! And that’s not all… Twenty years ago, an unknown author, Duncan Ball, answered the phone and was stunned to learn that the caller was none other than a dog called Selby — a dog from an Australian country town who had taught himself to talk. Selby wanted someone to write down all his amazing adventures — from walking in space, travelling through time, falling in love, being trapped in a parallel universe, to risking death at every turn. Duncan Ball is one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors, well known for his Selby and Emily Eyefinger series. His books have won many children’s choice awards. In 2004, Duncan and fellow author Paul Jennings were voted the first-ever ‘Legends’ by KOALA (the Kids’ Own Australian Literature Awards). Duncan was also the only children’s author included in the Commonwealth Government’s 2004 Books Alive! Program. He has been all over Australia talking to kids about Selby and there is hardly a school he hasn’t visited! Duncan is a full-time writer and lives in Sydney. Duncan's also an amazing guy to talk to, and in this interview we ranged over topics as wide as children's fiction, the need to children to read, books that influence lives and just how bad a novelist Dan Brown is... and how good an essayist Grahame Greene was! This is a fantastic interview, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Matt Skinner - The Juice 2008

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 02:25:03 GMT

Discover Matt Skinner this November with the publication of his brilliant The Juice 2008. Matt has selected THE 100 wines you should be drinking, in this, the first ever Australian and New Zealand edition. Matt’s clear, witty and entertaining guide gives you great insight into the best wines available in Australia today. It’s the perfect book for wine lovers of all kinds, for every budget and every occasion – wines for the table, wines for giving and wines worth blowing the rent on. Hailing from Melbourne, Matt Skinner is the sommelier for Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurants and is also the wine columnist for The Sunday Telegraph’s Sunday Magazine. The third edition of THE JUICE is the first edition to be fully tailored for the Australian market. Jamie Oliver's sommelier has travelled the globe to compile his own inimitable selection of the best wines for 2008 available in Australia, mostly for under Aus $30. Recognizing that what we want to drink depends on the occasion, Matt divides up his hot 100 into four sections: Skint, Brownie Points, TV Dinners and Bling. Add to this Matt's Juice Awards for his best wines and producers of the year, a selection of juicy wine topics, plus a guide to grape varieties and you have today's freshest and most accessible wine guide. An amazingly fun and funny bloke to talk to, Matt's well worth a listen!

Belinda Alexander - Silver Wattle

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:42:10 GMT

Belinda Alexandra returns with a dazzling novel about two exceptional sisters, set in the Australian film world of the 1920s. In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adela and Klara must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. There, Adela becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood. But while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away. And ultimately dreams of the silver screen must compete with the bonds of a lifetime ... Silver Wattle confirms Belinda Alexandra as one of our foremost storytellers. Weaving fact into inspiring fiction with great flair and imagination, this is a novel as full of hope, glamour and heartbreak as the film industry itself. Belinda Alexandra has been published to wide acclaim in Australia and New Zealand, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Norway and Greece. She is the daughter of a Russian mother and Australian father, and has been an intrepid traveller since her youth. Her love of other cultures and languages is matched by her passion for her home country, Australia, where she is a volunteer rescuer and carer for the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES). Belinda was fantastic fun to talk to, and I look forward to her next novel!

Frank Robson - Lucky For Me

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 02:07:31 GMT

At eighteen months of age, Lucky, a cream–coloured terrier, was dropped off at a vet's clinic in Queensland, abandoned by his owners and suffering from ticks and other terrors. A week from being put down he was adopted by Frank Robson and his partner, Leisa. From the start, the fluffy new member of the household proved an enigma, displaying a twelve–snort vocabulary, an ability to climb trees (the better to chase parrots) and a disdain for suburbia. In this full–blooded account of a friendship between man and dog, Robson puzzles on the sentient being who trotted into his life and taught him about survival, mateship and the joys of an independent spirit. Born in New Zealand, Frank Robson spent an itinerate, jack-of-all-trades existence in Australia before becoming a journalist. He has worked for numerous publications, from The Melbourne Truth to Time, run a freelance press agency, made documentaries, and written two previous books, Dare to be Different (on Queensland oddballs), and a novel, Food of Fools. Robson has won two Walkley Awards for feature writing and in recent years has been a full-time writer with Good Weekend magazine. Frank was fantastic to talk, moored on his yacht in the Noosa River. I look forward to future tales of his and Lucky's adventures! Oh, and you can find out more about Lucky at www.luckyforme.com.au !

Tim Baker - High Surf

Stuart Beaton — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 15:55:51 GMT

'Tim Baker may well be the most brilliant and incisive surf writer working today, or on any givenday for the last twenty years.' worldprosurfers.com Leading surf journalist Tim Baker has profiled the surfing world's most inspiring characters, encountered over two decades of surf writing, to highlight the life lessons and boundless inspiration to be gained from a lifestyle built around waveriding. From salty old surf legends to modern pro–surf stars, to surfers from all walks of life –– writers, musicians, aid workers, ethicists –– the common theme in all these surfers' lives is how their personal journeys have been shaped and informed by their experiences in the ocean. 'I think one of the most powerful outcomes of surfing is how it creates community and shared experiences across all sections of society. Surfing is a lingua franca of nature. Even dolphins and other sea creatures surf.' Vezen Wu, scientist 'Just the feeling of the water on you, diving and paddling, duck–diving your first wave, seeing a set come, turning around and stroking into it, that initial rush as you drop down the face, the jolts of acceleration as you go through the manoeuvres – there's nothing like it. The only thing that actually comes close to riding waves is sex.' - Mark Richards, four–time world surfing champion 5% of author royalties from this book will be distributed to the following charities: Surf Aid International; Disabled Surfers Association; Life Rolls On; Surfers Healing; Surfrider Foundation Tim is always great to talk to, and I hope you go out and enjoy his book!

Patrick Gale - Notes From An Exhibition.

Stuart Beaton — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:25:45 GMT

When troubled artist Rachel Kelly dies painting obsessively in her attic studio in Penzance, her saintly husband and adult children have more than the usual mess to clear up. She leaves behind an extraordinary and acclaimed body of work – but she also leaves a legacy of secrets and emotional damage it will take months to unravel. A wondrous, monstrous creature, she exerts a power that outlives her. To her children she is both curse and blessing, though they all in one way or another reap her whirlwind, inheriting her waywardness, her power of loving – and her demons...Only their father's Quaker gifts of stillness and resilience give them any chance of withstanding her destructive influence and the suspicion that they came a poor second to the creation of her art. The reader becomes a detective, piecing together the clues of a life – as artist, lover, mother, wife and patient – which takes them from contemporary Penzance to 1960s Toronto to St Ives in the 1970s. What emerges is a story of enduring love, and of a family which weathers tragedy, mental illness and the intolerable strain of living with genius. Patrick Gale's latest novel shines with intelligence, humour and tenderness.Patrick Gale was born on the Isle of Wight in 1962. He spent his infancy at Wandsworth Prison, which his father governed, then grew up in Winchester. He now lives on a farm near Land's End. As well as writing and reviewing fiction, he has published a biography of Armistead Maupin, a short history of the Dorchester Hotel and chapters on Mozart's piano and mechanical music for H.C. Robbin Landon's The Mozart Compendium. His most recent novels are Rough Music and Friendly Fire. It's always great fun to catch up with Patrick, he's a really interesting guy to chat with!

Blue Dragon By Kylie Chan

Stuart Beaton — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:45:45 GMT

MARTIAL ARTS, MAGIC, DEMONS and SCIENCE The forces of Hell are poised to strike ... When Emma's relatives come to visit her, they are totally freaked out by what they learn ... Emma's beloved, John Chen, is a 3000 year old Chinese god. Not only that, John is becoming weaker by the day. Demons pursue him relentlessly, hoping to use Emma, and his child, Simone, as bargaining tools against him.Emma battles to defend Simone as John's energy is drained by the effort of both living in the mortal world and protecting them. While Emma is nagged by doubts about her own nature, she must find the courage to go on ... Kylie Chan married a Hong Kong national in a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony and lived in Hong Kong for many years. She now lives in Queensland with her two children. Blue Dragonis her third novel. Kylie is probably my all time favourite author to interview, simply because we seem to manage to never actually talk about her books! Well... they're in there somewhere, but because she's just much fun, the interviews seem to cover anything and everything else... from Chinese mythology to equine Flu, this interview was just great fun. Not as much fun as her books are, though! You can find out more about Kylie at her website: http://www.kyliechan.com

Bishop John Shelby Spong - Jesus For The Non Religious.

Stuart Beaton — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 13:00:35 GMT

Controversial bishop and moral activist John Shelby Spong has been on a lifelong quest to rescue the Church from irrelevance. In 'Jesus for the Non–Religious', he takes aim at the core of the Christian faith: the identity of Jesus himself. He first strips back the myths that have surrounded Jesus for centuries from the virgin birth to his resurrection from the dead. Next, Spong explains how these myths arose because Jesus's followers saw everything he did through the lens of the Hebrew scriptures. With these new revelations, we are then able to see the true Jesus: a heroic figure who revealed divinity through his humanness and can still guide us today. Spong breaks Jesus free from the idol religion has created and restores for us a revolutionary and life–giving figure we all need to meet. John Shelby Spong was the Episcopal Bishop of Newark before his retirement in 2000. As a visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches throughout the English-speaking world, he is one of the leading spokespersons for liberal Christianity. His many books include A New Christianity for a New World; Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism; and his autobiography, Here I Stand. Bishop Selby Spong - or Jack as he asked me to call him - was a fantastic person to interview, and we covered a wide range of subjects! Truly a wonderful listen - especially if you're not terribly religious!

Josh Hartnett Definitely Wants To do This... True Stories From A Life In The Screen Trade by Bruce Beresford

Stuart Beaton — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 23:11:51 GMT

A wickedly funny account of celebrity, Hollywood and everything in between! What's it like to be a veteran director up against the machinations of modern–day Hollywood, with its self–absorbed stars, studio executives who think 'Singapore' is a made–up country, destitute producers posing as lords of finance –– the mad, the bad and the downright notorious? Award–winning film–maker Bruce Beresford takes us through the highs and lows of the screen trade –– from high–powered dinner tables to obscure backlots, from the centres of power to far–flung locations –– with a cast of characters that includes Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Jeffrey Archer, Steven Seagal, and many others. Delightfully literate and sharply observed, this is a highly entertaining insider's account of a rarely glimpsed world. Bruce Beresford has made some of Australia's best known and most interesting films, including Breaker Morant, Puberty Blues and The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie, and has had international success with Black Robe, Double Jeopardy and Driving Miss Daisy, which won an Academy Award. He lives in Sydney. This is his first book. Unfortunately the microphone and telephone connection with Bruce was, to put it bluntly, bloody appalling, and this is reflected in the recording quality of this interview. Which is a shame, because this was one of the most fun interviews I've done in ages, and I really enjoyed myself....