The classic Australian wit and spirit celebrated in this first publication by emerging writer, Peter Rake
The rip-roaring yarn around the campfire is revived for the digital age
Elphinstone, Australia, 30 July, 2012 – The popularity of short stories is being revived by the proliferation of small eBooks on sales sites like Amazon, but Australian writers are curiously not well represented. Peter Rake is all set to dominate the field—unless some other cobber notices—with a series of publications to Amazon Kindle, starting with the short story of
'Notty: Targaroo's Disgrace Bar-fly, bludger and sneak-thief turned unlikely hero.'
The places and characters in Peter's stories are delightfully crafted fictionalised versions of sleepy Outback towns, and distinctively Outback people, that he encountered during a long stint in the 1950s and 1960s as a drover, stockman and many other jobs on sheep stations and the like.
Notty has this endearing combination of wit and poignancy, with an absorbing story arc that sees the reader both attracted to and repulsed by the main protagonist. The dialogue is snappy and recognisably bush slang and the story telling is cleverly crafted prose.
About the Author
Peter Rake spent the 1950s and 1960s in outback Queensland, moving from town to town, from one sheep station to the next, enjoying the expanse of land and the satisfaction of a long day’s work. Along the way he met a great many “characters” and amassed a wealth of experience as a roust-about, drover, stockman and contract musterer, as well as helping out with a windmill expert, driving tractors, delving bore drains and a couple of rides in rodeos for a bit of boyish fun.
It was in the 1980s, after Pete had settled down somewhat in Sydney, that these experiences began to inspire some witty tales. After over thirty years of spinning yarns, Peter Rake’s short stories, and a novel called Freda, are being published on Amazon Kindle, starting in July 2012.
It is rare that an Australian, who had such wonderful experiences in their youth, comes to fictionalise those times with such candour and humour. Peter Rake is a modern author writing about a time that is sadly often seen as an historical backwater, and yet the cultural spirit that is alive in his writing, still resonates in the Australian way of life today. That fortitude is celebrated in his writing and made accessible by the endearing characters and situations he has concocted from a life well lived.
Whilst his short stories would fair well in a retelling around a campfire, his literary command is such that the dialogue is distinctly Outback-Australian, as are the inner thoughts and motivations of his characters, and of course that famous Aussie wit.
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