AUTHOR INTERVIEW with GARY TAAFFE

 Today we’re travelling to New South Wales, in Australia, and the beautiful coastal towns of Forster

 

"Boat Harbour"

 and Tuncurry

to meet with Gary Taaffe, the author of the Urban Hunter series.

Good morning, Gary.

My, you live in such a beautiful place!

London Bridge

It must add to your inspiration when you're writing.
 
Gary, you’re the author of Four Small Stones, a story about a young Aboriginal boy, and the first book in the Urban Hunters series.  Please tell us about it.

GARY:

I think the back cover blurb says it best:

Billy’s gotta find some girls, or he and his brothers face extinction, the last of their kind living a Stone Age life in the Australian bush. The spirits choose Billy to see what he can find in the big city. But he’s never even seen a girl before and all he’s got to wear is a loincloth. His dad wants a fat one to keep him warm in winter and his oldest brother Mallee, wants six! No one knows what Pindaari wants.

Before he goes he must pull off the impossible and earn his brother’s respect, outsmarting them at their own game with a stinking dead kangaroo, a flooded cave crawling with bats and a quartz crystal. 

Could life get any more difficult? Why yes it could, Billy could fall in love ...

Four Small Stones transports the reader into the Australian bush and the home of an indigenous tribe who face extinction.  What prompted you to write this story and choose this particular setting?

GARY:

I wanted to write about kids living on the street and instead of scrounging in bins for food, they’d hunt and cook street meat in city parks and back alleys using weapons they’d made themselves.

I had a girl, Amber, a blue-eyed blonde who has hunted with her father all her life, until she winds up on the street in a bloodied pair of pink pyjamas.

Coming up with a boy was difficult. I wanted him to already have hunting skills, but I couldn’t use the same type of background as Amber. When it occurred to me that an Aboriginal boy from the bush would have amazing hunting skills to use on the street, I knew I had a winner. But I had to come up with a story to justify him being a bush Aboriginal, for which there are very few left these days, and a reason for him to come to the city and meet Amber. Well, the background I came up with completely and utterly took over the story. It was fantastic! And the story quickly became about Billy.

How did you go about your research for this series, Gary?

GARY:

I have always had a keen interest in the lives of Aborigines before white settlement. Some of my best mates in a boys boarding school were Aboriginal and over the 5 years, they told me story after story of their lives, their culture and their hunting experiences. I have been a keen hunter all my life so I wanted to know everything.

I'll be spending a month next year living and hunting with Aborigines in the bush on the Coburg Peninsula. They still hunt with spears and live as they have for centuries.

Is there a message in Four Small Stones that you want your readers to grasp?

GARY:

Urban Hunters is a series with at least 12 books planned. It isn't all about Aborigines, even though it starts that way. It is a story about Billy, the thirteen year old Aborigine and Amber, a white Australian girl. The story is mostly about many cultures coming together and living as one. Which is exactly what we are all trying to do now.

In Four Small Stones, we see how boys are the same the world over. Boys will by boys. They’re disgusting, they’re hilarious and they’re lots of fun to be around.

Do you have any suggestions or writing tips for those who want to venture into writing fiction?

GARY:

Think of yourself as a storyteller, not a writer. Storytelling is the same as telling a joke. It’s a constant build up to the punch line. Along the way you have to hold people’s attention, to make them care. Carefully feed them the information they need. Tantalize them with tiny details. Tease their curiosity to breaking point. Then make them explode with wonder.

Practice by writing jokes. There are thousands of jokes written down on the net. Re-write them. See if you can make them better. Turn them into short stories. If you’re into horror, take a news report’s details of a murder and turn that into a story.

Practice, practice, practice. And always get someone else to read your story and critique it. Join a writing club.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us, GARY?

GARY:

Primarily I’m an inventor, and I’ve found there’s no better way of expressing my inventive nature than storytelling. I’ve taken out world-wide patents on products, manufactured them and distributed them around the world, but they don’t come close to the satisfaction I get from publishing stories.

It’s a great business model. Reproducing the invention is effortless, via Print On Demand and copy and pasting an eBook. Distribution is the same, via the POD distribution network and eBook downloads. If I did nothing else to my invention at all, distributors like Amazon and Createspace would still be sending me sales royalties for the next 50 years, 100 years. And marketing has never been easier or more affordable with websites, blogs, social networks and Google. Why wouldn’t I write? I love it!

Do you have any words of advice for aspiring writers?

GARY:

If you want to make a living out of storytelling, think long term. One, two or even three bestsellers are unlikely to set you up for life. Let alone the odds of you even having a bestseller. I know you think you will, but really, it’s unlikely. It’s far more likely that you’ll have ten books out before you make a decent living. I know all that sounds harsh, but it’s the reality of being a writer. It’s a tough business to make a buck in.

Be bold, think outside the square. I could turn my series into one big book, which I’d probably still be writing. Instead I’ve serialized it. I’m up to my seventh book, so I get orders for seven books instead of just one. I’m making a modest living while I’m finishing the story.

Where can readers learn more about you and find your books on the web?

GARY:

I give away my first books for free in eBook format on my Bunya site so download them there if you want a taste of my story. And if you like my stories, please support me by buying them on Amazon or through any of the other sellers listed on my Bunya site. I’d love to hear from you too and Facebook is a great way to do that. See you there ...

Blog:    http://www.UrbanHunters.com.au
Bookstore:     http://www.BunyaPublishing.com
Facebook Author Page:  GaryTaaffe
Twitter:   http://twitter@UrbanHunters

 Email:   gmt369@gmail.com 

BOOK REVIEW

FOUR SMALL STONES (Book 1)

Urban Hunter Series

By Gary Taaffe

Four Small Stones is the first book in the Urban Hunters series and is set in present day New South Wales, Australia.  The story opens with Billy, a 13 year old Aboriginal boy who lives, with his tribe, hidden in the bush.  Tormented endlessly by his older brothers, Billy strives to earn their respect and in so doing, is strengthened for that which he has yet to endure.  His tribal initiation and his eventual Walkabout in his quest for the tribes survival.

With well rounded characters, Gary Taaffe has weaved a tale that gives the reader a glimpse of the tribal life that Billy and his people live in the Australia bush.  An enjoyable, well written book that has its funny, yet serious side, Four Small Stones is the journey’s beginning!

 

GARY TAAFFE

Gary lives in a small coastal town in New South Wales, Australia. There’s open ocean on one side, a massive saltwater lake on the other and enough virgin bushland in the surrounding areas to lose yourself for a week.

 When he’s not writing, Gary’s hunting deer for the freezer or putting around the lake fishing for flathead.

He’s a Toolmaker by trade, a successful inventor and now, a writer. Urban Hunters is the culmination of his inventiveness, his enthusiasm for the outdoors and his fun–filled sense of humour.

DESCRIPTION

FOUR SMALL STONES (Urban Hunter series, Book 1)

Billy’s gotta find some girls, or he and his brothers face extinction, the last of their kind living a Stone Age life in the Australian bush. The spirits choose Billy to see what he can find in the big city. But he’s never even seen a girl before and all he’s got to wear is a loincloth. His dad wants a fat one to keep him warm in winter and his oldest brother Mallee, wants six! No one knows what Pindaari wants.

Before he goes he must pull off the impossible and earn his brother’s respect, outsmarting them at their own game with a stinking dead kangaroo, a flooded cave crawling with bats and a quartz crystal. 

Could life get any more difficult? Why yes it could, Billy could fall in love ...

“AWESOME!!!” Andrew, UK

“I was cracking up laughing. It’s really good.” Kris M, Australia

“So fun guys I highly recommend it.” Nancy Y, USA

URBAN HUNTERS is laugh–out–loud, gut–churning, heart–wrenching storytelling at its best. Unlike anything you’ve ever read, in typical Taaffe fashion. Hilarious as usual. Always surprising. Wonderful!