A:    Charming, good looking, erudite but most importantly someone who always carries a note book and pen and someone who can take criticism and rejection. (These are actually my two strongest points because I've had so much practise.)

A:    Yes it is 'Faction' but on the high-side of fact including every wonderful photo some of which have never been seen before.

A:    No I don't have a website.  As the saying goes 'in every good bookshop' but if it's out of stock, order it, it's worth the effort.

A:    I once took a course of tap dancing lessons. Intellectually I had a grasp of the technique but my intellect and feet were never in sync and sad to admit that the thousands of piano lessons pushed on me as a kid will never get me a job playing for my supper.

What I'm trying to say is that I never know what I can do until I give it a go. On the other hand I know about pro basketball, formula one racing and astro-physics without going there.

If you think you can write you'll never-never-know until you give it a go.

A:     Every day every person gets an overload of great ideas for newspaper articles, magazine features, books, short stories, poems. Put them on paper, send them somewhere and see what happens but remember about criticism and rejection.

A:    I give talks to High Schools, Public Libraries, Rotary Clubs, Senior Citizens and RSL Clubs...in fact anywhere that can drum up a crowd to listen and then buy books.

I also embarrass my wife by talking to people at traffic lights, in restaurants, parks, petrol stations shops and the like and also to other men waiting for their wives outside a ladies room.

A:    I have 11 awards from contests but these days have no time to 'cast my bread' but yes contests are a fantastic help.

A:    Very and very. Publishers get hundreds if not millions of manuscripts every year and most never even get looked at never mind read.

The first approach is important - it's always better if you can send yours to a definite person and write on the envelope REQUESTED BY...

If you can't write a good letter, learn how.

A:    Some of my 11 contest awards were important and led to newspaper column and feature writing, short story anthologies, poetry anthologies and then my first and absolutely wonderful picture book 'The Moon's Gift' that got me an agent.

A:    Writing 18 hours a day 7 days a week is more beneficial than writing 17 hours a day 7 days a week and that's better than 16 hours a a day 7 days a week down to half an hour when you can fit it in. I got better when I gave up everything else.

Like golf, tennis, tap dancing and piano playing, the more you practise the better you should get but if you don't get good enough after X amount of time, and I have no idea what your X is, them move on to something else. Your bag may be making the best meat pies or being the bestest Mum or Dad.

A:    My next book, 'Heroes of Tobruk', is about the only other World War II military campaign that was predominanyly Australian  - the Siege of Tobruk - and is written for the same 11-19 age group. Should be out February 2008.

Also have 2 more picture books in  the pot.