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FeaturedTumour.
In 1989, when I was 14 years old, I was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumour know as a schwannoma. A schwannoma is a type of lesion that arises from the nerve cells in either the central or peripheral nervous system. At the time, I was alerted to the presence of this tumour rather dramatically… Read more
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FeaturedArnold Webb – A Reading from The Night Fisher Elegies.
During a rainy afternoon a couple of days ago, I sat down to record a reading from my new release collection “The Night Fisher Elegies: Stories Verse & Reflection”. I chose a piece titled “Arnold Webb”. “The Night Fisher Elegies: Stories Verse & Reflection” is available now in print and digital from Amazon & Smashwords.… Read more
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FeaturedMarketing the Elegies.
Marketing a new release book is a challenge when you are a traditionally published author. It is exceptionally challenging when you have decided, as I have, to go it alone – independently. I have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with my publisher Central Avenue Publishing over the past 12 years so I want to make it… Read more
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FeaturedPassages from The Night Fisher Elegies.
My new collection “The Night Fisher Elegies: Stories, Verse & Reflection is available worldwide from September 1st 2022. It has been a passion project of mine for a while and I’m pleased it is now out there in the world. I have described it as a journey through love, faith, death, grief, family and dreams.… Read more
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The Night Fisher Elegies Available Now.
I am pleased to announce that my brand new book “The Night Fisher Elegies” is now available across the world and direct from the author. Taking the reader on a journey through love, faith, death, grief, family and dreams, “The Night Fisher Elegies” weaves together powerful explorations of humanism, moments of reflection tinged with melancholy and short… Read more
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FeaturedA Renewed Crisis Of Man?
I am consistently in awe of the writings of French-Algerian writer and philosopher Albert Camus & how relevant they remain in our time. In 1945, Camus was invited to give a series of lectures in the United States and he spent much of his sea voyage preparing and writing material. In an essay titled “The… Read more
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FeaturedComing Soon: The Night Fisher Elegies by Dean Mayes.
Adelaide, July 5, 2022. Hambledown Road Imprints is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of “The Night Fisher Elegies – Stories, Verse & Reflections” by Australian author & Intensive Care Nurse, Dean Mayes (The Hambledown Dream, Gifts of the Peramangk, The Recipient, The Artisan Heart). This exciting new publication will be available in print and… Read more
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FeaturedTowards Hell – Popular Culture On The Precipice.
A conversation on a recent episode of the popular entertainment podcast, ‘The World Class Bullshitters‘ around evil archetypes & their dilution in modern storytelling really struck a cord with me. I’m presently reading Albert Camus’ 1951 “The Rebel”. Published in the aftermath of World War 2 and in the germinating Cold War period, “The Rebel”… Read more
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FeaturedThe Mess Of Boba Fett.
I’ve just finished watching the Disney+ series “The Book Of Boba Fett” and I have a few thoughts about this most recent offering from Disney/Lucasfilm. The character of Boba Fett – a lone wolf bounty hunter in George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away – has been one of the most popular antagonists in the Star… Read more
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FeaturedThe Fitzpatrick Petition – More Questions than Answers.
I sit down today, to pen an addendum to my previous article “Defending History: Sergeant Joseph Ladd Mayes verses Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick” in which I addressed the assessment by obstetrician David MacFarlane of my great great grandfather’s conduct during the Kelly Affair and his later sacking of Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick. MacFarlane’s spirited attempt to rewrite… Read more
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FeaturedDefending History: Sergeant Joseph Ladd Mayes verses Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick.
The history of bushranging in Australia and specifically the state of Victoria is a colourful, compelling and controversial cornucopia of established facts, counter narratives and competing perspectives. This is no better illustrated than in the history surrounding the events of the so-called “Kelly Affair” – the chronicle of, arguably, Australia’s most notorious bushranger Edward “Ned”… Read more
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FeaturedFly Fishing With Harrison Ford.
I once had a dream in which I was standing on the shore of the Snake River, struggling with a fishing pole. I was cold from a breeze coming off distant, snow-capped mountains but I was oblivious to the pin pricks on my neck as I wrestled with line, pole and reel. The line had… Read more
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FeaturedArnold Webb.
This is what I know about Arnold Webb… He was a bushman first. Sweat on his brow. His hands calloused and soiled. But you would never see him without a tie or his moth eaten Harris tweed – even if he was chopping wood or digging a trench or milking a cow. Sometimes Arnold wore… Read more
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FeaturedThe Past’s Romantic Echoes
When my grandmother died in 2019, my Aunty sent my daughter a small parcel of hardcover books. They were an aged collection of hard covers that Nana had owned since she was a girl and their otherwise excellent condition indicated to me that she had cherished them. Privileged to have received these precious heirlooms, Lucy… Read more
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FeaturedEmploying Analogy.
So…I’m a Writer, right? I’m also an ICU Nurse. Both these occupations bring with them a level of expertise of which I have accumulated through years of experience and a considerable degree of competence. Nursing is Nursing. I know what it requires, how to engage with its processes and how to practice within its parameters… Read more
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FeaturedLong Live The Chicken Walker.
Each Australian winter, I like to buy a model kit to tinker with when the weather draws in and prevents me from doing anything else. Like writing, model building scratches my creative itch and I enjoy the past time. It challenges me, allows me to concentrate and problem solve and I find the endeavor therapeutic.… Read more
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FeaturedUnlocking The Memory Palace.
My wife bought Cussons’ Imperial Leather soap for the bathroom this week. Upon catching the scent of it, I was immediately transported back to my childhood. Nana & Pa always had Cussons’ Imperial Leather soap in their bathroom. I always thought it was fancy because everything they bought seemed fancy. I thought they were rich… Read more
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FeaturedDad – What’s a Utopia?
My daughter often strikes me with the most profound questions. In my half awake pre-coffee stupor this morning, Lucy dropped this one in my lap; Dad – What’s a utopia? Lucy M, aged 11. I fumbled my response because that’s what seems to happen whenever she questions me so earnestly. I am constantly flummoxed by… Read more
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FeaturedFinding Stoicism When I Don’t Recognize It.
I’m writing this from a third floor apartment in the center of Adelaide’s CBD. It’s a nice apartment. Functional. It’s not big but it doesn’t have to be. I’m relaxed, though there is a knot of anxiety gnawing away it me presently. Why am I here? I’ll try and give you the tl;dr version. Our… Read more
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FeaturedFracturing Diversion.
My thoughts are chaotic today. I am sitting at my laptop and attempt to write something, but I am struggling to come up with something to explore. You may be aware that it has been like this for me for a while now. Generally, I have little compulsion to write – in fact, the idea… Read more
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FeaturedThe Intersection That Matters.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote recently. I don’t know exactly where it comes from – I’m not even sure that I didn’t come up with it myself (I doubt this) but, it does come to me quite often. “There is no-one more dangerous than the man who thinks he is right.” Dean… Read more
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FeaturedIllumination.
“That even in the darkest of times we have the right to expect some illumination, and that such illumination might well come less from theories and concepts than from the uncertain, flickering, and often weak light that some men and women, in their lives and their works, will kindle under almost all circumstances and shed… Read more
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FeaturedLava Red Feather Blue.
It is always a pleasure for me to host Seattle based author Molly Ringle on the occasion of a new release. Regular readers of my blog will be well acquainted with Molly’s work. When I began with Central Avenue Publishing in 2009, Molly was one of the first authors to reach out to me and… Read more
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FeaturedFear of the Word.
I’m afraid of writing. I have spent the morning, since I woke up, fearing the very idea of sitting down at my computer to write. This has become a pattern for me over the past couple of months that is now affecting me. I entered into 2020, having set myself the goal of completing a… Read more
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FeaturedLegacy
When you have a child, you invest in hope. You hope you can create a legacy of good; You strive to pass that legacy onto your child & you hope they can carry it forward. If at the end of your life, if you can see that legacy in the eyes of your children, you… Read more
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Dean Mayes - Australian Author & ICU Nurse 