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The Last Promise

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Coming of age is discovering the world, so having a character at its centre experiencing this seemed, to me, logical for a novel. Overwhelmingly the big stories of Australia have come to us from the interior: The Man from Snowy River, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Walkabout, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Unambiguously these types of stories show themselves to be appealing. 

It only seemed natural that in wanting to form a story that it would be rurally based. 

Beyond this was settling on a premise. And with that comes heavy work. 

The truth is most of us spend a little time every day reflecting on our childhood, or at the least, some aspect of our younger selves. It's familiar ground; how often we open that gate or walk that hall or step down from the back door, run to that lemon tree...

I grew up with a view of trees rather than an urban sprawl. Most of my childhood was spent barefoot. There was a lot of time spent around dogs and cows and chickens. There were fences, the occasional bushfire, and so in adult life images of my own past were of times and places not connected to city life. 

Then puberty crashed into me, and if ever I had the thought, I might have asked 'when do I win this race', 'get to the other end', 'when will I be grown-up', 'when do I get the medal'. Around about that time was the time that 18 had begun to seriously supplant 21 as the threshold to adulthood, more pressure! 

Thinking about that now seems almost fanciful. In any case when they say 'write about what you know' it's very good advice. Real experience can't be questioned and entwining threads of reality with chunks of fiction took many years of to and fro. Defining a story, then refining that story was the 'heavy work': dredging through my own past to find truths of models for characters from myself and from real others I have known. Quite apart from the challenges of honing a story, is the effective polishing of those characters and their circumstances. To turn them out in entirely original forms is the thing.

I hope you find a character or two in this, my first novel, that you'll connect with and relate to.

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A portion of all sales goes to official partner, Rural Aid.

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The Last Promise

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An outback Australian family’s breadwinner decides to sign up for The Great War… fatefully casting the future for his descendant decades later.

Young Tim Ambrose—last of his bloodline—battles himself and circumstances; he’s determined to realise his dream to ride in the world’s greatest bush horse race. But he might as well be a million miles from it and from Lizzie, the girl he secretly loves.

Facing tragic guilt and a paralysing fear, Tim meets two apparent strangers… are they for him, or against him? He mounts up… will his ancestor’s last promise be fulfilled?

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$32.00

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Buy The Last Promise ebook at Amazon (link below) - printed copies from other retailers and libraries listed

SLQ Library Shop Cultural Precinct, Stanley Pl, South Brisbane, QLD 4101
Roma Newsagency, 59 McDowall St, Roma QLD 4455

Reader Feedback...

"We have just finished your book. Loved it from end to end. We wanted to read it together so took turns reading to each other in the evenings…but it’s taken ages. It kept our interest and attention all the way through. Great ideas, great social observation, and so moving I couldn’t read it aloud in places. (I had to read ahead to prepare myself but even then I failed.) Clever, engaging, intriguing characters and plot, well paced…carried me with it all the way. Thank you! Count me in for your next one."
Dylan M, Somerset, UK.
"This story makes you feel the heat and taste the dust of Outback Australia.
Saddle up and enjoy the ride! Aussie as. 5 Stars."
Don Blackley, Verified Purchase
"Do yourself a favour… This is not normally my style of reading so I was hesitant, but wow, I’m glad I did! Right from the start I was completely hooked. What a story, and so eloquently written. The beautifully descriptive prose took me right there, the characters were so believable, so Australian. Can't wait for the next book."
Andrea S, Queensland
"I've started reading, I can't stop! It's a great book!"
...
"I've finished your book. Thank you! Wonderful, amazing! So much must have gone into it."
Cathy Faelmann, Queensland
"Well done! It sure is a good read."
Jack W, Clayfield, Australia
"A family, a town, a dream!!
It took me a minute to fall into these pages but when I did I couldn’t put it down. A vivid story set in outback Australia and spanning generations. A boy saddled with his own demons and those of his ancestors. This is a unique coming of age story told with themes of war, depression, bullying, mateship, courage, love and the power of a dream to heal a boy and unite a small rural town. The writing is so visual and imaginative and there is beauty in the words that can transport you to the fictional town of Clement and feel yourself drinking at the hotel with all the locals.
It is a blend of literary fiction with a light touch of magical realism. Love above all else is threaded through these pages. 5 stars."
Verified Amazon Customer
"How do you get all the emotion into it that way? It got me raving about it. You talk about emotions like they're a physical object that you could pick up and throw at someone. There are moments I've had tears in my eyes. Loved it."
Simon G, Cheddar, United Kingdom
"I just finished The Last Promise. Took my time but in between couldn’t help think about the characters and story. Realistic, funny and exciting. A nice kind of magic too. Don’t know how you do it. Great book."
Peter C, Toowong, Queensland
"Sometimes you think you know what's coming, but then you don't. Chapter after chapter surprises. That confrontation with the horse, bloody beautiful!... It’s got a personal feel for people. Big story...top read."
Anthony B, Cleveland Australia
"You have a gift for the descriptive. I could picture scenes coming alive in my mind."
Walter W, Ipswich, Australia
"It's a really good book. It's just like all the places I've been. I know these people."
Marg, Murweh Shire, Queensland
"So captivatingly written that, by the last line, the characters feel like family."
Jacqueline Cook, The Real Great Escape
"It’s maybe the most descriptive book I’ve ever read. The land, people. The way the story builds. Superb.”
Jeff T. Wynnum, Australia
"It so enticingly draws you into the characters, places and story. Magical and yet all so real and touching."
Tallara L, Brisbane, Australia
"Mesmerising and magical. Stirs the senses and pulls on the heartstrings."
Meredith Garlick, Film Producer, Thomas Street Productions
"So impressed with the descriptive way he paints pictures of the outback townships and the countryside ... clever!"
Anne C, Gold Coast
"It was an absolute page turner. Excellent writing. Great Australian story. Highly recommended."
Duncan Hulme – Fine Art Restorer, Sydney
"I couldn’t put it down. So good. I was enjoying it so much I found myself reading it out aloud. It’s really well written."
Jane F, Brisbane, Queensland
"It caught my interest right from the beginning. I knew I had to read this book. So descriptive…"
Ailsa K, Bundaberg, Australia
"I've only read a few pages and I know I'm going to enjoy it. I was heart broken about the..."
Leigh, South Brisbane
"Your choice of language and imagery is beautiful. You use an economy of precisely chosen words and there's a poetic flow to the prose."
Glenys, Maranoa Shire, Queensland
"A great story and wonderfully descriptive, it resonated with me, especially with the mention of towns that we have visited on our recent road trip."
Richard T, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory