Books

All my books can purchased at East Avenue Books 1/53 East Avenue Clarence Park  South Australia and directly from my publisher Ginninderra Press.  They should also be available on order through any good bookshop.

Ginninderra Press are publishing a short novella which is a sequel to the The Day I Didn’t Die.  It is called Reincarnation and is written in the first person by Fluffy the Rabbit.  Fluffy was a pop[ular charatcer in the prequell and had a lot to say so I gave him that opportunity.

 

The Day I Didn’t Die Ginninderra Press have published this rather satirical journey into the after life.  It was launched at the City of Tea Tree Gully Library on Sat 2nd July 2011

A Different  of Love Cinninderra Press have announced that they will publish my latest novel.  It is the story of three men who share that kind of love which is often formed under great adversity.  In their case, war.  Watch this space for further inofrmation.

NEW Voices.  An anthology of poetry featuring the work of members of the North Eastern Writers Inc. and leading poets such as Mike Ladd, Jules Koch, Jude Aquilina and others.  The collection is edited by Sharon Kernot and myself.  Published by Ginninderra Press is now avaible ffrom the publisher.

Chains of Fear – was launched on the 25/11/09  Published by Ginninderra Press.

Chains of Fear follows the life of a young woman, Nancy Overton as she flees from a brutal marraige.   She is pursued by her ex-husband who has always threatened to kill her if she left him.   She hides away in a Queensland cattle station but even there he finds her and makes several attempts on her life.  Good friends help to keep her safe but she changes from the innocent victim into a woman who can care for herself.   At first she is very reluctant to commit to any new relationship but in the end she cannot deny her love for Joe.

Chains of Fear is my first novel to be published .

Butterfly Girl – launched April/May 2009 Published by Ginninderra Press

Tracy would give anything to be popular instead of a figure of fun. Though intelligent beyond her years neither her family nor those in her school can see past her obesity. She is part of an affluent but highly dysfunctional family which finally dissolves into chaos. Tracy finds herself rejected by her father, isolated from her siblings and living with an alcoholic mother. After experiencing horrors no young women should have to endue she is taken into care where she experiences the strengths and weaknesses of the system.

Comment from a reader,

I have read Butterfly Girl and felt I had to email you to say how much I enjoyed it.

It was compelling, and for a ‘small pretty looking book’ it holds some very powerful social and moral messages.

I found myself holding my breath several times reading it.

One day soon I hope ‘Butterfly’ Girl’ will be incorporated into the education system as a learnig guide.

Being such an accurate account of everyday family life and along with social issues it answers alot of questions that may be confusing to our youth.  It gives a complete and true picture of where we are, might be, or could be, depending on which life’s path we take.

It also highlights how important the System is in caring for the poor souls who find themselves outside of it.

It sends a very solid message about parenting and the responsibility taken on when there is a family to care for, demonstating how quickly the family unit disinteregrates when the foundations of integrity and honesty start to crumble.

As I type now I am still impressed by the strong messages you were successful in conveying

No Shoes and the Day was Freezing –  launched April/May 2009 Published by Ginninderra Press

Why have I written this collection of poems or why were most of them written some six months after my retirement from Families SA? It has been suggested that they are my memoirs in poetic form. There is some truth in that. After all those years I believe I might have something important to say. No Shoes and the Day was Freezing is an anthology of poems drawing on the my personal work experience and from many years of observing some of the more tragic aspects of our society. Some of the poems are written with voice of a social worker, others with the voice of the client, all paint a picture of personal disadvantage and tragedy. This is definitely not a work of fiction though some poems, such as Little Girl, Little Boy and Unwanted Rubbish describe the collective experiences of many children caught up in a life in care. I would like to write more on this subject but few people are willing to hear the truth about our system of care which is inadequate and outdated and fails our most vulnerable of children. Some time soon, I hope, some brave soul will state the equivalent of the Emperor has no clothes and then something may happen. That time has not yet come. Dunno is another composite poem while Unknown, Pretty Women, She was Woman and Escape and otherstell the story of specific individuals. Pretty Woman was a very real experience for me and I still feel a deep sense of regret for a life so pointlessly wasted by drugs.

Lost and The Empty Seat are poems that I have struggled with. I am not an Aboriginal person but I have chosen to write these poems in the first person which is perhaps rather arrogant of me. To write these in the third person would, in my opinion, be patronising so I took the risk. I think they have an important message particularly in these times when young Aboriginal men are constantly demonised for their anti-social behavior without any effort to understand why. I was flattered when an Aboriginal person, much experienced in working with offenders, expressed the opinion that a non-Aboriginal could not have written Lost.

In these days of blame and shame it is easy to dismiss, the criminal, the drug addicted, the violent, without remembering that they are also victims.

R.K.V

The Empty Seat was awarded third prize out of 111 entries in the Adult section of the Gawler Library Poetry Competition for 2006.