Sunday 23 April 2017

Beyond the Black Stump

Welcome to Sally's book-a-day-for-2017 blog. If unfamiliar with the blog, scroll down.

Beyond the Black Stump (Post 113)

Beyond the Black Stump (2002), begins when Michael, at a boarding school, is offered the chance of a lift back to his home out of Brisbane with his friend Ben Smiley and Ben's big brother who is transporting an EH Holden. All is well until they pull in for petrol at an outback town and discover the radiator is leaking and the car is burning oil. The attendant say the mechanic will be back in a couple of days. Unable to travel on, the boys organise a place to stay.

The food is good, but Ben and his brother are much faster eaters than Michael so they go to their room while Michael finishes his meal. An old cove comes over to talk to him, and suggests he should visit the Black Stump while he's in Coley.

To kill time, Ben and Michael ask for directions the next day and go to visit the landmark. It's not very impressive, and they are about to go back when they hear voices. They track them down and found four men in 19th Century clothing planning a robbery. The boys report it, but are told it's a rehearsal for a play; part of an upcoming festival. 

Back at home, Michael gets his parents to take him back to Coley to the festival... but that's not the end of the mystery. 

Beyond the Black Stump, written under my Nicholas Flynn pen name, is another story making use of iconic Australian themes and ideas. 


About the Blog 

Sally is Sally Odgers; author, manuscript assessor, editor, anthologist and reader. She runs http://www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and Prints Charming Books. (Sally is me, by the way, and I am lots of other things too, but these are the relevant ones for now.)

The goal for 2017 is to write a post a day profiling the background behind one of my books; how it came to be written, what it's about, and any things of note that happened along the way. If you're an author, an aspiring author, a reader or just someone who enjoys windows into worlds, you might find this fun. The books are not in any special order, but will be assigned approximate dates, and pictures, where they exist. If you enjoyed a post, or want to ask about any of my books or my manuscript assessment service, post a comment and I'll get back to you.

2 comments:

  1. This sounds like a great story - you hooked me with mention of the old EH Holden, I love those cars!

    ReplyDelete

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