Cirrus@Austlit

'Whoever said life begins at forty can go suck it…

'I always dreamed of being a national TV reporter, but it’s never going to happen. It’s over. Half my life was dedicated to regional journalism and I’m done. I’ve got one week to go on my contract then I’ll have to look at my options. Maybe I’ll re-train as a hairdresser. That way I could ask questions all day long and never have to listen to the answers.

'I was doing just fine, marching in my self-pity parade when she came along. Jools. An absurd stranger with the worst work ethic I’ve ever seen. Now she’s in my face, telling me she knows exactly what I want, what I need and what to do to make my dreams come true.

'Five mystery tasks. Just complete them and I could have it all. Apparently. Only a mad person would believe her. Turns out I’m a stark-raving lunatic. Or just desperate for this last chance…

'My cameraman, Mike, has noticed something’s changed. He’s asking questions that I’m not ready to answer. Especially since we haven’t really spoken since the ‘incident.’ Funny how twenty years of history with a man you’ve vowed to hate for the rest of your life can disappear when you’re standing naked together, at gunpoint, over a shark-infested tank.

'My life has turned on its head and there's only one explanation for it. A track pants with high-heeled boots wearing stranger named Jools.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Can two very wrongs, make a right?

'Most of us have a dream. I’ve given up on mine.

'My life’s been perfectly, perfect. No trauma, no excruciating heartbreaks, no delectable skeletons in my closet.

'All of which are essential attributes to writing a great country song.

'You see, great songs don’t appear at the end of rainbows. They’re formed out of the dog shit you step in before getting fired, or the rain on grand final day, or the flat tyre on your way to the emergency department.

'I’ll never be a great songwriter. I’m not even mediocre. I’m ready to give up.

'When I agree to drive Jools, a virtual stranger, to the Wortmouth Country Music Festival, after spending eight hours in the car together, I want to cut off my own ears. When she offers to change my life if I follow three simple tasks, it’s all I can do to keep a straight face. Then I figure, what could go wrong? And if it does, won’t that great make material for a song? (See. I’m rhyming already.)

'Maybe, just maybe, there’s still time for my life to fall apart. Hallelujah.

'That is, until the worst happens. I get teamed up with a man whose singing voice is as terrible as my songs. My life is about to get very much worse.

'Is a miserable life all it’s cracked up to be?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'I'm an entrepreneur by heart and broke by nature.

'Every scheme has ended in debt or baby animals loose in a suburban mall.

'I'm gonna play it safe. Get a day job where the pay sucks but the potential for litigation, prison or rabies isn't an ongoing threat.

'I was happy in my misery when she came along. Jools.

'And I thought I played by my own rules.

'I got nothing on this woman.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.