Newsletter
A monthly dispatch from my writing desk: updates on current projects, glimpses behind the stories, thoughts on books and writers I admire, and news from the ever-growing world of The Fork in the Road. Think of it as a friendly letter, delivered whenever there’s something worth sharing.
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Past Newsletters
Posted on: November 8, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
007 – November 2025
QUOTES:
“We read to know we are not alone.” — C.S. Lewis
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his needs, is good for him.” — Maya Angelou
My new novel, The Price to Pay (100,000 words — about 375 pages in print), is now in the final lap. It is ready for publication, and I have had an excellent cover designed. Selected readers are currently reading advance copies to write their reviews, which will appear on Amazon. The launch date is 1 December, marking a major milestone in my writing journey — and I confess, I’m getting quietly excited.
Movies
Three movies we watched or revisited during October were:
De-Lovely — Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd
A lovely biopic of the great Cole Porter, my favourite 20th-century composer and lyricist.
Babel — Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett
For anyone drawn to a “Fork in the Road” / Robert Frost–type story, this is a most creative and layered exploration by writer-director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
From Here to Eternity — Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra
Winner of eight Oscars and arguably the best film of the 1950s about World War II.
All are well worth seeking out — or seeing again.
Nicholas Monsarrat – A Writer’s Duty to His Readers
In the early 1970s I read an interview with Nicholas Monsarrat, author of The Cruel Sea, whose words have stayed with me for more than half a century. He said, in essence, that every author owes a lasting debt to his readers. The life he enjoys — his comfort and independence — exists because of them, and therefore each book he writes must be the very best he is capable of producing.
If he ever grows complacent, skating on the success of earlier work, he may fool his readers once or even twice, but they will soon know he has cheated them — and rightly turn away.
Those lines struck me then, and still do. They remind me that the act of writing is a covenant: one of respect, diligence, and truth between writer and reader. It is a responsibility I have tried to honour with every story I’ve written — and intend to keep, for as long as the words come.
Nicholas Monsarrat – A Brief Biography
Nicholas Monsarrat (1910–1979) was born in Liverpool and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he first studied law before turning to journalism and fiction. By the outbreak of the Second World War, he had already published several novels and a play, yet it was wartime service that would define both his life and art.
Although critical of military violence, Monsarrat volunteered for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, serving with distinction in small escort vessels — the corvettes and frigates that guarded Allied convoys through perilous seas. Rising to command, he witnessed the courage and endurance of ordinary seamen, experiences that later formed the heart of his celebrated novel The Cruel Sea.
After the war he joined the British Diplomatic Service, with postings in South Africa and Canada, before devoting himself fully to writing in 1959. Settling first on Guernsey and later on the island of Gozo, he produced a remarkable series of novels and stories exploring duty, integrity, and the moral cost of leadership.
Monsarrat’s later works drew on his diplomatic background and a deep empathy for human frailty under pressure — qualities that make his fiction as relevant now as when it first appeared. Whether writing of the sea, the struggle for self-government, or the quiet conflicts of conscience, he remained steadfast in his belief that an author owes his readers the very best he can give.
Major Novels
The Cruel Sea (1951) — A gripping portrait of wartime service aboard small naval ships, blending heroism, fatigue, and the merciless nature of the sea itself.
The Story of Esther Costello (1952) — A bold novel exploring exploitation and moral hypocrisy through the story of a deaf-blind girl used for cynical fundraising.
The Tribe That Lost Its Head (1956) — A powerful tale of colonialism and revolution in an African state on the brink of independence, driven by moral complexity and human consequence.
Richer Than All His Tribe (1968) — The sequel, following the aftermath of revolution as the struggle for power and integrity tests both individuals and nations.
The Kappillan of Malta (1973) — Set during World War II, this moving story of a humble priest reveals the endurance of faith and compassion amid devastation.
The Master Mariner – Volumes I & II (1978–79) — An ambitious historical saga spanning centuries, following a sailor condemned to wander the seas — a meditation on guilt, redemption, and the endurance of the human spirit.
May you enjoy good health, fulfilling days, and rewarding reading.
— Eric
Posted on: October 12, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
006 – October 2025
Quotes – Symbolic.
· "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
· "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." — Robert Louis Stevenson
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Titles.
To me the title is critically important. After the cover it is the first thing the potential reader sees and it should make him or her want to pick up the book, or read more.
I particularly like titles that are symbolic, suggest to the reader that they will be rewarded for proceeding. Sources I like are the Old and New Testament, Shakespeare, Omar Khayyam, various poets and songs.
Some of my titles and the origins.
OR LIGHT A PENNY CANDLE FROM A STAR – Galway Bay by Arthur Colahan
NEITHER A BORROWER NOR A LENDER BE – Shakespeare – Hamlet
PAST REGRETS AND FUTURE FEARS – Omar Khayyam
A MEMORY EVER GREEN – Cole Porter – Begin The Beguinne
NOR ALL THY PIETY NOR WIT – Omar Khayyam
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA – Bible – Revelation
Favourite titles and the origins:
THE GRAPES OF WRATH – The Battle Hymn of the Republic – (in turn Old Testamental)
EAST OF EDEN – Old Testament – Bible – Genesis Chapter 4
OF MICE AND MEN – Robert Burns
THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT – Shakespeare – Richard 111
HOME FROM THE HILL – Robert Louis Stevenson – Requiem – poem
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY – Rudyard Kipling – poem
***
Last month Norma and I went up to Salamander Bay (Nelson Bay area north of Newcastle) for just on three weeks. Once again we took a couple of dozen DVDs. We watched 17 which ranged across TOOTSIE, SCHINDLER’S LIST, THE CONSTANT GARDNER, THE SEARCHERS, PRIMAL FEAR and GHOST. Norma read 11 books and I spent many hours on final preparations to publish my novel THE PRICE TO PAY (100,000 words – about 375 pages in print). I have now sent off the order to the cover designers to create the cover and expect to publish it on the 17 Digital Retailers in November. More later.
***
Recommended book:
THE PRINCE OF TIDES – Pat Conroy.
Norma and I watched the Nick Nolte, Barbara Streisand movie again on September 24 (5th time for me), so that is a good reason to recommend the book in this Newsletter. My review on Goodreads is below. My admonition: If you haven’t read this you should – great book.
My Review
Author 7 books
I first found THE PRINCE OF TIDES in the late 1980s and immediately was taken with the quality of Conroy’s prose, and, as I moved into the book the depth of the complex, layered and human characters. I have since read it various times and also seen the 1991 Barbara Streisand, Nick Nolte movie four times.
This is a book constructed with care, dedication and a deep, abiding love of the language. It is a book to surrender yourself into and feel completely safe knowing you are guided by one of the finest writing craftsmen of the second half of the 20th Century.
Tom Wingo loses his job as a high school English teacher and football coach in South Carolina. The problems keep mounting when he is advised his twin sister, Savannah has tried yet again to commit suicide and he has to leave his wife and three daughters to go to New York to try to help her. In addition, he finds his wife, Sallie, has been having an affair.
Once in New York he meets Susan Lowenstein, Savannah’s psychiatrist who asks him to work with her providing background on the dysfunctional Wingo family and traumatic events from the children’s formative years in the hope she may be able to steer Savannah back to some degree of normalcy.
With this foundation Conroy provides the reader with a rich feast and some of the very best descriptions I have read of life in the South.
Pat Conroy, now sadly gone, was a consistently excellent writer of quality fiction, but this is my favourite among his novels.
Happy reading, Eric.
***
May you enjoy good health, fulfilling days, and, rewarding reading.
Eric
Posted on: October 12, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
005 – September 2025
Quotes on Excellence:
· "Excellence prospers in the absence of excuses," Lorii Myers.
· "Believe you can and you're halfway there," Theodore Roosevelt.
Books of the month:
PRINCE OF SPIES
Alex Gerlis
AS THE CROW FLIES
Damien Boyd
See reviews below.
Movies / TV Series
MALICE (1993)
Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman, Bill Pullman
A complex thriller with twist after twist.
RANDOM HEARTS (1999)
Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas
Director: Sydney Pollack
Based on a book by Warren Adler this really appeals to me and just gets better with subsequent viewings. Harrison Ford plays a Police Sergeant and Kristin Scott Thomas a politician, who find their respective spouses were having an affair and have been killed in a plane crash. What a great plot idea by Adler.
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I admire writers who achieve their objectives with economy, and strive to do this myself. For any writer of fiction the objectives should be: engaging opening paragraphs, setting the scene, establishing and developing the characters, the locale, the dialogue, delineating the plot, advancing the story with prose and dialogue.
It seems to me that many writers over the last 30 years or so have abandoned some of these basics in favour of longer books that should have been tightened up and they should have focused more on keeping the reader’s interest.
In the 1950s and 1960s I would estimate that 80% of the books were within the following page length: 150, 160, 192 and 220. Adjustments could be made by changing font size, but that was the norm, and we, the readers, benefited. So many times Norma and I will say: “They needed a good editor, they should have cut out 25 – 30% and tightened it up.” Naturally there are always the longer books like GONE WITH THE WIND, RAINTREE COUNTY, THE GODFATHER, SHOGUN, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and HAWAII, but they were the exceptions.
What do you think – are too many books failing, or not as good, because of dragging on and a mid-point sag?
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REVIEWS:
PRINCE OF SPIES – Richard Prince # 1
Alex Gerlis
Excellent depiction of the spies and the mission in WW 2 Denmark.
If you have not read Alex Gerlis’s spy thriller novels this is your opportunity to correct the oversight. Certainly one of the two or three best living espionage or spy writers, his books are set during World War 2 and depict the horrors thrust upon the Allies and the Free World by Hitler and Germany in exemplary fashion.
PRINCE OF SPIES introduces Richard Prince and with great economy Gerlis lays out the setting and the plot, and sketches in Prince’s character with carefully crafted brush strokes. A mid-thirties Detective Superintendent who tracks down a German spy, Prince is seen by MI6 as the ideal man for a mission to Germany to gather information on the building of the V1 and V2 rockets. He would much prefer to be at home in Lincolnshire apprehending burglars and caring for his three year old son. His anguish over the death of his wife and daughter in a car smash two years before and love for the boy, fleshes out the human side and deftly depicts a man torn between what he wants and his duty to King and Country.
In short order he is on his way to Denmark where he meets his contact, Hanne Jakobsen and an array of well-drawn, tri-dimensional characters; friend, foe and unknown and thrust into one dangerous situation after another. The reader is in the hands of a master as the Germans close in and the suspense is ratcheted up as Prince narrowly escapes, or does not. And all this against the background of a spy’s daily routines and the critical elements of remembering changing identities, nationalities and stories.
No discerning reader could not be impressed with Richard Prince’s first mission and the care taken by spy-master Alex Gerlis.
Rupert Bush does a fine job narrating the story and capturing the numerous characters.
Highly recommended. Happy reading, Eric.
**********
AS THE CROW FLIES – D I Nick Dixon # 1
Damien Boyd
A Most Satisfying Introduction
To quote from my September Monthly Newsletter: “I admire writers who achieve their objectives with economy, and strive to do this myself.” Damien Boyd does a first class job in achieving this in AS THE CROW FLIES, which is why it is one of my books of the month, and will probably be the best ‘Police Procedural” I read this year. The background of climbing and the locations have that authentic feel. Again and again I thought, “there is no way Damien has not done a lot of climbing - this does not come from Dr. Google”.
I was greatly impressed with how he humanized Nick Dixon, relating to the location, being a diabetic, playing ball with his dog Monty, just a paragraph here or there that carried weight in creating the man and the detective. His dialogue is excellent: we know who is speaking, what they are communicating and what results from the exchange.
The reader is engaged from the beginning. In the Prologue we follow a climber who falls to his death. Chapter 1 introduces us to D I Nick Dixon, recently from The Met, now with the Avon and Somerset Force. He receives a phone call, a Mr. Fayter has rung – his son Jake has been killed in a climbing accident. This sets the scene and shapes the investigation. In time questions arise if it was really an accident. Nick and Jake were climbing partners for 6 years, but haven’t seen each other for some time. Various items start to emerge which keep the attention of both the police and the readers, maybe he wasn’t just the good honest Joe who loved to climb.
The case is resolved in a credible and satisfying manner and I will certainly look for the next D I Nick Dixon case. Highly recommended. Happy reading, Eric.
Posted on: August 13, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No. 004 – August 2025
Quotes for the month: (For information about the authors go to Google)
Accountability:
“Perhaps nothing in our society is more needed for those in positions of authority than accountability.” – Larry Burkett
“Dignity is the reward of holding oneself accountable to conscience.” – Wes Fesler
****
Book of the Month:
A DARKER SIDE OF PARADISE, by R J Ellory
If you love crime, mystery, thrillers this will grab you and drag you kicking and screaming down a dark alley.
My review, posted on Audible, Facebook and Goodreads is below:
As someone who has now read 15 of Roger’s novels, and equally, as someone who reads over a hundred books a year, I believe I am well equipped to make the following evaluation.
Roger is one of a comparatively small percentage of writers who consistently delivers quality work. Unfortunately, many writers, once they have some measure of success and the numbers of their books increase they skate along, or write the same type of books again and again – too much the same.
I have read hundreds and hundreds of crime, mystery, detective novels – this is among the very best.
Rachel Hoffman is a rookie cop who is cutting her teeth in the world of crime and has yet to see her first dead body. She attends a murder scene where a young woman has been “put to sleep” and with the body is an enigmatic note quoting Dante’s Divine Comedy. Little does she know her life will never be the same again, and her destiny for the coming decades is shaped and ordained that day.
I was particularly impressed with the development of Rachel’s character – both as the character in a fine novel and the character of a person coming to grips with the worst of evils. She moves from rookie to seasoned detective, and then after five years, it appears the case can be closed with the death of the alleged perpetrator, but she questions the evidence. There is something in the shadows, it is too tidy.
Over the coming years her questions take formidable shape with more bodies and more questions, but no answers. Her determination to find the truth, the answers, becomes and obsession, which in itself determines the steps she takes on the path she has chosen.
I was greatly impressed with Roger’s attention to detail in the day to day police work and the dogged determination of Rachel and her colleagues to push on and find answers in the void.
This is a book where the reader will be gripped from first page to last, and, most importantly, will feel for and empathise with the character of Rachel Hoffman. Ultimately we are rewarded with a powerful climax and a credible, satisfying conclusion. This is the type of book you hope is the next one you pick up, and this time it is. Enjoy every page.
Regina Reagan does an excellent job of the narration.
An additional note:
Norma and I have been on holidays up to the Gold Coast to see her family in Queensland. We were having dinner with her daughter, and as I related in an email to Roger: she was running around starting to get dressed and still listening to the last minutes, but didn't want to stop. She gave me the following quote to send to Roger, then we dashed out the door:
Norma: "I was involved with the story and the characters all the way through - right to the very last word. Enjoyed it immensely.
Your best book yet and I have read over a dozen of your books. Thank you, Roger."
*************
Movies / TV Series:
As Norma and I were driving up to Queensland – Gold Coast (840 ks – 525 miles for those in America) to see her daughter and family, including two great grandsons, Henry 4 and Arthur just on 2, and were going to be away for a few weeks, we took a couple of dozen DVDs from our library. We always do this, and by obtaining a DVD player from Reception we take care of the evening’s entertainment. We watched 16 and with titles as varied as VERONICA GUREN, HACHI, SHANE, THE AFRICAN QUEEN, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and QUARTET we had a veritable feast, a number I have seen more than 5, even 10 times.
TV Series – we re-visited the first season of BOARDWALK EMPIRE. For anyone who hasn’t seen this it is a wonderful depiction and re-creation of the Roaring-20s, prohibition, and gangsters galore. Steve Buscemi IS Nucky Thompson – his best role ever.
Below are a couple of excellent resources for readers, particularly if you enjoy older authors and books in the Public Domain. It varies, depending on where the author was born, but it is at least 50 and up to 90 years since he or she died.
· Delphi Complete Works.
Go on Amazon, “Kindle Store” type in Delphi Complete Works – then the author’s name, eg. “Delphi Complete Works – Charles Dickens”
Delphi Complete Works of Charles Dickens (Illustrated) (Delphi Series One Book 2) Kindle Edition
Widely considered the greatest author of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, winning universal praise as a literary genius. Dickens’ novels and beloved tales not only entertained the world, but helped to improve the lives of the lower classes and fight social injustices. For the first time in publishing history, this comprehensive eBook presents Dickens’ complete works, with hundreds of illustrations, many rare texts, informative introductions and a treasure trove of Delphi bonus material. (Version 13).
Print length
20613 pages (That is correct – 20 thousand pages PLUS)
$3.99 Australia – probably $2.99 US.
***
· Project Gutenberg
These are free, but you have to download each book. Excellent if you just want WAR AND PEACE or CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.
Go to Google and type in “Project Gutenberg”.
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May you enjoy good health, fulfilling days, and, rewarding reading.
Eric
Posted on: July 12, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No. 003 – July 2025
Quotes for the month: (For information about the authors go to Google)
On Discipline:
“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.”
Roy L. Smith
“With self-discipline most anything is possible.”
Theodore Roosevelt
****
Book of the Month:
I am recommending two books this month, for reasons which will become apparent.
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R J Ellory.
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON by Mikhail Sholokhov
My reviews are below.
Movies / TV Series:
LEE (2023). Biopic of Lee Miller, war correspondent / photographer.
Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard.
When Norma and I saw this at the theatre on 4th November 2024 I noted on my Movie Spreadsheet – “Definite AA front runner”. I think this is the best movie Kate has made and she wasn’t even nominated for an Academy Award – crazy.
We watched it again last week and I still feel the same.
We have been re-visiting ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, the early 1990s British sitcom with Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew and Annette Crosbie as his long suffering wife, Margaret.
The footage of the Galapagos tortoises with Eric Idle singing his lyrics over the credits at the beginning and end was inspired. A nice light half hour to finish off the evening, particularly if we have earlier watched LEE or SCHINDLER’S LIST.
***
Two remarkable forks in the road came together during June. Consider the chance of the following sequence of events.
ONE.
A little over five years ago I was routinely checking a spreadsheet I have of some 50 authors in case one of their books has been recorded and is available on Audible. AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON by Mikhail Sholokhov was there and I bought it immediately. I listened to it with increasing pleasure and posted a review on March 14, 2020.
The next morning, Stefan Rudnicki, the narrator, sent me a Friend Request on Facebook. We struck a chord and maintained contact. Late last year, with the publication as Ebooks of my Fork In The Road series Stefan and I started moving towards the possibility of him narrating the Boxed Set of Volumes 1 to 5. And now, he has completed recording the 106,000 words - 25 stories, made numerous positive comments about various characters and stories, sent me a file of the recording, and written a 3 – 4 minute Introduction. THE FORK IN THE ROAD – Five Decades will be launched on July 15 and available on Audible – 11 hours and 14 minutes of my stories.
TWO.
Saturday, August 15, 2015 I was listening to A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R J Ellory on Audible. I had heard the Prologue and the first four chapters and thought: “What a great book, I have to let this guy know how much I am enjoying his book. As the novel is set in 1939 America I presumed he was American – not so, he is a British writer. I found an email address and sent him a message about 8:00 pm. 20 minutes later he replied: “Dear Eric, I received your e-mail with great joy. I am in Rotterdam working on the release of a book with another author. When I return to England (tomorrow) I shall respond properly.
Your e-mail has quite made my day!”
From that small beginning we have struck up an enduring friendship, Norma and I have read the bigger percentage of his 21 novels and I have reviewed 8. In the now almost 10 years we have exchanged over 300 emails, many 500 to 1000 words or more. He has read many of my stories and kindly agreed to make a comment to quote on the Ebook and audiobook editions.
Stefan’s Introduction.
It’s nearly a year since Eric and I began the email correspondence that led to the audiobook you’re now listening to.
Through this truly topsy turvy year, at least for me, that correspondence has provided insights, perspective, and even a few revelations. About literature, films, culture and people…friendship…myself…
Since I first began reading in the English language, I’ve been a great fan (potentially an addict) of short fiction. With the encouragement of the school librarian at Van Wyck Junior High School in New York (middle school by today’s reckoning) I consumed anything and everything that I could finish reading during the hour spent among their books a couple of days a week. From O’Henry to Isaac Asimov to Algernon Blackwood. From Shirley Jackson to chapters in Rosamund DuJardin novels (she didn’t write short stories). This was especially brave, because the “boys” books were placed along one wall, and the “girls” books along the opposite, facing each other down.
My love of short fiction persists today, in my career as a narrator, fed by around 15 years producing and often narrating the Lightspeed Magazine Podcasts. What an opportunity for a performer? To venture into narrative styles and character voices that no one could sustain in long-form.
Enter my friend Eric J. Drysdale. With an array of 25 stories spanning a dozen genres as varied as primal myth and sitcom. Each story displaying emotional range, philosophical thinking, and intricate plotting. And, oh wonder of wonders! REAL PEOPLE. Recognizable by their obsessions, their fears, their passions and their utter and complete humanity. Most set in Australia, Eric‘s home planet, and pretty alien to me, as I’ve not yet had the opportunity to visit except in some Peter Weir films.
For me, Eric shares qualities with several of my favorite “classical” story writers, most specifically Nikolai Gogol, Guy De Maupassant, Heinrich Von Kleist, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and yes Shirley Jackson, all of them tied inexorably to their home languages and cultures, but comfortable taking or finding their stories elsewhere.
One final comment…During the writing of this little essay, I called Eric in Sydney, and had a great chat with him and his partner Norma. Not such a different planet after all, and I’m delighted to share it with folks like them. Enjoy!
Stefan Rudnicki, June 2025
Roger’s Quote.
"So very rarely does one find a writer with a truly identifiable style. I spend my life looking for writers that make me think, "I wish I'd written that", and here - in the numerous stories from Eric Drysdale - that thought has crossed my mind on many occasions. Insightful, engaging and altogether very human, the prose has a rhythm and clarity that elevates these tales above so many others. I, for one, highly recommend these works, and I have no doubt you will enjoy them just as much as me."
R J Ellory, Award Winning, International bestselling author of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS and numerous other novels.
I am deeply honoured that Stefan and Roger saw and felt so many of the elements that I did in many of my stories, and expressed their appreciation in such glowing terms.
***
The reviews:
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON
Mikhail Sholokhov
HISTORICAL FICTION AT ITS BEST
·
Mar 14, 2020
It is difficult to extol the virtues of this fine novel, and equally fine narrator too highly.
Sholokhov was born in 1905 and grew up in the Don area of Russia, which he depicted in remarkable detail in his most famous novel, AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON, and various other novels about the Don Cossacks. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965.
The Novel: Sholokhov worked on the novel for 14 years from 1926 to 1940. Set during the First World War and the Russian Revolution, it became the most widely read work of fiction in the new Communist State and presented the Don Cossacks to Russia and the world as never before. I was most impressed with the evocation of time, place and people, and the economy with which he achieved this. We get to know the various characters, the land in which they live during summer and winter and the challenges they face in peacetime and in war. Readers who enjoy historical novels that transport them to places and people long buried under the sod turned by the plough of time will be most satisfied taking this journey.
The narrator: Stefan Rudnicki is rare even among professionals. Many fine male readers do an excellent job with the prose and the male characters, but not as good with the female characters. Stefan is outstanding across the spectrum: male, female, young, old. The prose is presented in his mellifluous voice and the characters individualised by nuance and expression. A case of the writer’s intention and the narrator’s ability in perfect harmony.
Having read over 2300 books in the past 20 years, the majority on audio and from Audible, I average over 100 books a year and believe, even at this early stage, that this will be my book of the year. Highly recommended.
Happy reading. Eric. E: ericjdrysdale@gmail.com
****
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS
R J Ellory
THE BEST NOVEL I HAVE READ IN 20 YEARS.
·
Jun 17, 2018
As many of you know I believe strongly that the quality of our life and the pleasure in our days is immeasurably enhanced by our exposure to and appreciation of books, movies and music. There is great joy in finding the book, movie or piece of music that resonates with you and even takes your breath away. This happens all too rarely, but it happened for me in August 2015 with R. J. Ellory’s masterly A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS. I was immersed in Roger’s prose within the first few paragraphs and couldn’t believe my good fortune when it just kept going page after page after page. Rarely have I read a book that evoked the time place and people so beautifully.
12 year old Joseph Calvin Vaughan is growing up in rural Georgia in 1939. His young life is assaulted by the death of his father and the murder of a young girl, the first of many. The book is told from Joseph’s viewpoint, and his struggle to come to grips with his radically impacted home and community life as the number of girls taken increases, provides the basis for the symbolic title.
The sheriffs in six counties, Joseph, and we, the readers, are all at a loss as to the identity or motives of the murderer. But Death walks the rural backroads, leaving behind him suspicion, anger and fear, and an increasingly hostile community. Over the decades the story moves between Georgia and New York and is anchored by a powerful evocation of the war and post-war years.
This is the best book I have read in 20 years. Remarkably it has vaulted into the top half dozen in a lifetime of reading and over 5,000 books read. This is right up there with THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE EGYPTIAN, THE PRINCE OF TIDES, LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL and PLOUGH THE SEA. If you only read one book this year, which, in itself would be sad, give yourself a treat and read this one.
I originally wrote this Review late in 2015 and sent it to some 500 clients. Having recently bought AQBIA from Audible with the excellent Vincent Marzello narration, it seemed appropriate to share my thoughts on this outstanding novel again. It is also one of only three novels I have read, then immediately read again to savour the pleasure of the experience.
One of the reviewers mentioned being impressed that he emailed Roger and received a prompt response. This is not an isolated incident as I had the same happen to me within 20 minutes of sending the email. I am honoured that Roger and I have subsequently exchanged in excess of 160 emails and forged a friendship, despite the fact that I live in Australia and he in the UK. This is a bond that has prompted me to dedicate my novel THE PRICE TO PAY to him in appreciation of the hundreds of hours of reading / listening pleasure he has provided me with his diverse bank of novels.
Although AQBIA remains my favourite of his books I am sure that any discerning reader will find a rare treasure trove in these surprisingly broad ranging novels.
I will be delighted to hear any comments or observations. Email: ericjdrysdale@gmail.com
Happy reading, Eric.
Posted on: June 4, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No. 002 – June 2025
Quotes for the month: (For information about the authors go to Google)
"A room without books is like a body without a soul." - Cicero
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies." - George R.R. Martin
Book of the month: LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL by Thomas Wolfe
One of my half dozen favourite novels from over 6,000 books read. Below is my review of a new audio recording narrated by the great Stefan Rudnicki.
Movies / TV Series:
THE KOMINSKY METHOD (2018 – 2021). It is a sheer pleasure to watch Michael Douglas, a famous actor of years gone by, now acting coach, interact with Alan Arkin (Norman Newlander), his best friend and agent. They meet life’s challenges head on, or try to avoid them, as do most of us, and we found a touching aspect was periodic appearances of Eileen, Norman’s wife of 46 years, who died in episode 1, offering comfort and advice, at least in his own mind.
SHADOWPLAY (2020) (Alternative title: The Defeated) – For someone well read on 20th century history and World War 2 this will be of particular interest. Written by Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein, it places Max McLaughlin (Taylor Kitsch) NYPD detective in Belin in 1946 to aid in setting up a new police force to cope with burgeoning crime and the criminals and survivors. Max is also trying to locate his older brother. The recreation of the period and the sets are outstanding.
In Memoriam: Robert Benton – (29 Sept., 1932 – 11 May, 2025).
Benton was most proficient at both writing screenplays and directing, winning three Oscars, first for KRAMER vs KRAMER (1979) – Best Adapted Screenplay and as Director, then for PLACES IN THE HEART (1984) for Best Original Screenplay. PLACES IN THE HEART is a perennial favourite that Norma and I re-visit periodically. An Academy Award winning performance by Sally Field, who, as Edna Spalding, a recently widowed mother of two, takes us to Depression Era Texas and the challenges of a declining economy, cotton farming and surviving natural disasters. Other notable movies are BONNIE AND CLYDE, NOBODY’S FOOL, STILL OF THE NIGHT and TWILIGHT.
LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL by Thomas Wolfe
5.0 Stars
A wonderful new reading of a literary Classic
This is a review of a long-time favourite. A book I re-visit periodically to immerse myself in the luxuriant, exotic prose written for the author’s own satisfaction above any thought of future readers. However, above all, it is a review of a new audio edition narrated by Stefan Rudnicki. Since 2000 I have listened to over 2000 audio books, mainly on Audible. Without doubt Stefan has become my favourite narrator for a variety of reasons: he reads the prose in his rich deep voice, moving the novel forward in an easy progression, but with the characters, he is a veritable marvel, capturing the subtleties and nuances of ALL the characters, male, female, young, old or child,
In ANGEL he excels himself. I can close my eyes and listen to the dialogue, the exchanges between Eugene Gant, his parents, Oliver and Eliza, and his siblings, Stevie, Luke, Ben and Helen, then other characters from the various levels of the Altamont society. You are there in this richly diverse community at the beginning of the 20th century, viewing the vicissitudes of the lives of the citizens and being shown a carefully hand crafted tapestry that reveals the souls in torment and joy, or just the mundane.
LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL was Thomas Wolfe’s first novel, written in the 1920s when he was only in his 20s and first published in 1929. It follows the fortunes and misfortunes of the Gant family as they navigate their way through conflicts, alcoholism, disease and dysfunction. Initially we meet them as W O (Oliver) arrives in Altamont, meets and marries Eliza and has a family. The remainder of the book is depicted largely through the eyes of Eugene, their youngest child, as he comes of age with the century, and he strives to cope with the dysfunction of his family.
One of the things that greatly impressed me when I first read it over 50 years ago was the depiction of the lives and interactions of the citizens of Altamont. We are there with them through the seasons, their business failures and successes and their challenges. It is a microcosm of the greater world shown in wondrous prose.
Probably if you asked a hundred good readers the three best “coming of age” novels of the 20th century the majority would nominate two as LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL (Eugene Gant) and THE CATCHER IN THE RYE (Holden Caulfield).
If you are an audio book listener I hope my extolling of the virtues of both Thomas Wolfe and Stefan Rudnicki encourage you to turn on the “Play” button for hours of pure literary joy.
Where the idea came from:
THE MUSHROOM CLUB - FIR Vol 2. It seems to me that a big percentage of young people today are not cut from anything like the same cloth as say 18 to 30 year olds in the first half of the 20th century. They might be competent with IT but they are sorely lacking in common sense, and they certainly do not have the same ethics, values and patriotism of their forebears who went off to the First and Second War for King, Country and family. Would those young men and women, who died in those conflicts, or were damaged in mind, body and soul, feel they had lain down their lives in vain if they could see the citizens of Australia 70 or 80 years later? And that was the start – a microcosm represented by one family who had served their country across the years. I hope you enjoy it, or it makes you think.
***
May you enjoy good health, fulfilling days, and, rewarding reading.
Eric
Posted on: May 13, 2025
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No. 001 – May 2025
Quote for the month: (For information about the authors go to Google)
On creativity:
· "Creativity is connecting seemingly unrelated things." - Albert Einstein
· “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” – Carl Sagan
As this is my first Monthly Newsletter it is worth providing some background details.
I started writing seriously at 15 at the end of 1960. Mum and my step father, Lee, kindly gave me a portable typewriter for my birthday in November. I was quite diligent, would come home from school, have dinner, do my homework, then write from about 10:00 until 1 – 2:00 am and be up again at 6:30 am to go to school. I had visions / goals of being self-sufficient from my writing by 21. By then I had written three novels, the longest one being 125,000 words (425 pages in print), over 100 short stories, 200 poems and a 3 Act play, none of which had been published – correction, an article and a poem were published in a local magazine, but I was not paid for those. I had also done two writing courses and read numerous books on the craft of writing. The best of these was and remains Lajos Egri’s classic THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING. As at 2025 this number has increased to well over a hundred with William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Series up there with Egri. Bill was a lawyer and has also written an excellent series of legal thrillers featuring Ben Kincaid. Interestingly, Bill was also my first “Friend on Facebook”.
In 1970, after roughly a 10 year apprenticeship, I sold my first short story, OVERTHROW, to K G Murray for Adam. At that time Murrays were the only “male oriented” magazine publishers in Australia. That turned the corner and I sold dozens and dozens of short stories in Australia and Norway, plus a radio feature on John Steinbeck and a biographical article on him to the Mark Twain Journal in America, but never made enough to live on. Many of the stories were broadcast on Sydney Radio.
The Imperial typewriter had been replaced by an Olivetti, and, with 2 – 3,000,000 words typed both served me well.
It is most gratifying now to see the 6 volumes, plus the short story published as Ebooks. These 31 stories span over 50 years and reflect my eclectic taste, ranging through adventure, mystery, crime, romance, general, political, sci-fi / fantasy and black comedy. Whatever your tastes you are likely to find something of interest.
I am an analytical, well organized and focused. Ever since I was 15 I have recorded and rated every book I have read and movie I have seen. I am also a sponge and recall thousands of details from the “significant” books among the 6,000 plus books I have read and thousands of movies seen. For example, I first read Ayn Rand’s ATLAS SHRUGGED, Irwin Shaw’s THE YOUNG LIONS and John Steinbeck’s THE GRAPES OF WRATH in the 1960s. Respectively: ATLAS - 1084 page Signet edition, major characters, John Galt, Dagny Taggart, Hank Reardon. John Galt’s speech to the nation – 57 pages. LIONS – Noah Ackerman, Michael Whiteacre, Christian Diestl, filmed in 1958 with Montgomery Clift, Dean Martin and Marlon Brando in those roles, directed by Edward Dmytryk. THE GRAPES (incidentally, my favourite novel) – Tom Joad, Ma, Jim Casy, filmed in 1940 with Henry Fonda and Jane Darwell, directed by John Ford, who won one of his 4 Oscars. The only director ever to win four Academy Awards as Best Director - (THE GRAPES, THE INFORMER, HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY and THE QUIET MAN). No need for Google or Wikipedia, just the “little grey cells working”.
I am now a Goodreads Author. This is a good site for readers which you can join free. I have done 50 plus reviews there, many of which may steer you towards your next book.
There are basically two types of writers, Outliners and Pantsers. The Outliner creates a detailed outline of the novel with a breakdown of the scenes divided into the three acts, the mid-point, the climax and denouement. This could easily be 5 – 10,000 words, before they write the first page. The Pantsers, on the other hand, “fly by the seat of their pants” with no pre-determined structure. They just write. Neither is right nor wrong and many major successful writers fall into both camps. Not surprisingly I am definitely an Outliner. You don’t build a 5 storey building or a 50 storey skyscraper without a blueprint. The blueprint gives you tangible reference points to shape the evolution of your novel. When I was writing my novel, THE PRICE TO PAY, which will be published later this year, if I added together the outline of the scenes, the three acts, the climax and denouement, plus the details of the fictional country of Amity and the profiles of the major characters it probably would be over 20,000 words. Even for a short story, say 4 – 10,000 words, I do a half to one page outline, then mark the left margin: opening scene, background – locale – conflict, climax and denouement. I also do a profile of the major characters: the lead (protagonist), the antagonist (villain), female (possibly also the antagonist). That way I can refer to this as I write, which keeps me on track and provides cohesion to the story.
Origin of THE DRY LAND, or how it came about. In Volume 1.
I originally wrote THE DRY LAND in 1968, when I was 22, as 2 chapters that formed a flashback in a novel I was working on, which I abandoned after 120 pages. This gave the motivation for Jake Ellis to pursue his career as an engineer. A couple of years later, when I started to sell stories, I extracted the 2 chapters, wrote a few paragraphs to set the scene, and sold it later as THE DRY LAND, the story of a 16 year-old half-caste Aboriginal boy searching for his Aboriginal mother on the edge of the Simpson Desert. It was then sold in Norway and broadcast on Sydney Radio in the early 2000s. I wrote THE DRY LAND - 2018 in 2018, a new world. The first takes place over a few days, the second over a century and several generations.
Movies – We have a library of over 600 movies on DVD, and a hundred plus TV series. When that is supplemented by an excellent library Norma and I are never at a loss for the evening’s entertainment.
Movies we have seen recently that are worth putting on you “to watch list”: FREQUENCY – with Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, and Shawn Doyle and LABOR DAY – with Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Gattlin Griffin. Ones you may have missed and worth seeing.
Norma and I went on a cruise up the east coast of Australia to Port Douglas in North Queensland on the Royal Princess in the first half of April. It was interesting, but the ship was too big, 125,000 tonnes, too many passengers, 4000, and seating was always at a premium. The best thing about it was La Boheme, a Ukrainian duo. Olesia played the violin and he played the cello, usually two sessions each day. We went every time, if necessary rearranging dinner or passing.
I hope you found this first Newsletter interesting. As you are on my Mailing List you will have received THE FORK IN THE ROAD (FIR) – Bonus Volume free, which I hope you enjoyed. FIR Volumes 1 to 5 (each volume has 5 stories – 25 in total) are available at $3.49 USD each – a cup of coffee. I would love you to do a review and click “Follow”.
For any comments or questions please go to: eric@ericjdrysdaleauthor.com
May you enjoy good health, fulfilling days, and, rewarding reading.
Eric.