'The Second of Three, book one of a two-part travel memoir titled For One Night Only, deals with my formative years growing up in Frankston, a town located just outside the city of Melbourne, Australia. Though Frankston was long ago absorbed in the urban sprawl that is Melbourne, at the time of my birth and for many years thereafter it occupied an 'in between status'. It was neither urban nor rural but rather a curious admixture.
'Twenty-five miles separates it from Melbourne's central business district, a distance regarded as fairly considerable in the late 1950s and into the 1960s. Literally and metaphorically speaking Frankston sat at the end of the line. The electrified rail line from the big smoke ended there. Single-carriage, diesel powered trains plied the routes further south to Stony Point and Mornington on the state of Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
'Born into a family with one older brother and one younger brother, The Second of Three details the sense of estrangement I often felt growing up in this milieu. Parts one and two illustrate some of early memories and experiences, especially as relates to my schooling at the hands of Roman Catholic nuns - at primary school - and brothers - at secondary school. A more suitable learning environment is found closer to home during a year spent studying at a local technical college.
'During this year I slowly begin gaining a measure of self-confidence, a quality that has been systematically ground down in previous years. For a short time I play competitive Australian Rules Football, only to throw in my lot with running, an activity better suited to one of my nature. I have been running on a regular basis for about twelve months when I set myself the goal of training for and running a marathon.
'Another thing that aids my bid to come to terms with the past is writing, an activity I have always liked though I have never written more than school essays. Buoyed by the feedback some creative writing receives at technical college, I decide to brook the challenge of writing a novel.
'Part three of The Second of Three examines how I fare in my efforts to realise both dreams, both the marathon run and the novel. The epilogue of the memoir looks briefly at the genesis of my writing ambitions and also at some of the pitfalls encountered as I strive to make a go of writing novels and screenplays as a career in my twenties. ' (Publication summary)
