Tamarind Book Club Newsletter ISSUE #2
sharing stories under the tamarind tree
FEBRUARY 2016
The Murder of the Roses By Damon Bereziat I wouldn’t say that my neighbour and I got off on the right foot. The rotten sod poisoned my wife’s prize roses when spraying a patch of bindii in a corner of his front lawn. By Christ did the missus hit the roof! It wasn’t like the cheese-n-kisses to hold a grudge, being a stalwart Christian woman. I gave the bloke the benefit of the doubt, but we shared an unspoken understanding from that day on. The new arrival and myself took our time gauging one another from a distance over the first year of uncomfortable neighbourly relations. Twenty-five feet was as about as close as we’d gotten, and a tip of the hat about the only gesture of acknowledgement. The standoffish façade might’ve been a tactic for marking his turf as taboo, but it was the prolonged odd behaviour leading me to suspect he’d killed the roses on purpose - but I never once put him on the spot about it. I reinterpreted the roses act as deliberate. A passive-aggressive display to be translated: I don’t want to be here or to know the likes of you. It was obvious the bloke wasn’t happy. I walked in his shoes and wondered how I’d have coped moving away from my home town. I’d never known life besides living in a busy neighbourhood, unlike him, born and bred on the outskirts of the Darling Downs, where life was simple. It took a cyclone to bring the two of us to talking. Round here, when a force of nature threatens the community, neighbours put aside their differences and muck in. I’d lost part of my roof, it landing in his driveway, and a huge bough sheered from his jacaranda took out my wife’s Hills-Hoist, annihilated my budgie aviary, the colourful contents of which were never seen or heard again. A month long clean-up working side by side helped forge our friendship. While sipping a couple of coldies one sweltering early-evening, a comforting aroma of grilled T-bone wafting around the salty still summer ether, he confessed to romantic motives behind the sea-change. As part of his matrimonial pitch, he promised that once their only child was old enough to get-on-with-it, the couple would see out their days at Golden Beach. As gentlemen do, he made good on his word. The cough began in ‘81, followed by buckling chest-pains and the runs, taking the wind out of his sails. After a lot of medico to-and-fro, the specialists agreed on a diagnosis. This all came a few years after the first rumblings of the James Hardie asbestos debacle. Prior to getting crook, the square jawed sun-hardened sandy-haired bloke was built like a brick shit-house and as fit as a scrub bull. “We all gotta go somehow. Could be dead tommorra,” he’d always say.
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ISSUE #2
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FEBRUARY 2016
My neighbour never smiled. Like that Indian Brave in our favourite John Wayne western, he was always poker-faced. The only way I knew his mind on any given day was by the measure of brightness in his eyes. I reckon there’s a mutual respect between two fellas when they decide to become friends— one often lacks a character trait the other has in spades— I don’t know what he saw in me. As a businessman of sorts, I always reserve judgement on a fella until introduced to his wife. My neighbour’s beloved was a fine-style of a woman; stoic, loyal and handsome. The aloof sort that wouldn’t have looked at a boy like me sideways at high school, let alone granted me a dance on a Saturday night. Butter wouldn’t have melted in her mouth, but she was no saint by any stretch. His better-half loved him as if not another man existed on the face of this earth. She wanted him all to herself. My friend and I never shared intimate details of our wives, although the little old house next-door whispered some of his secrets, most often at the crack of dawn. The playful whispers emanating through the walls gave way to despairing whimpers and shallow wheezing once my mate’s ailing health took a turn. One year after his passing a most miraculous event took place. The poisoned roses my wife pruned down to a thorny stump threw a new shoot producing the most magnificent single bloom. Turns out there never was a murder of the roses, just a putting them on ice for a while, same as our friendship for now, until we meet again.
Congratulations to Damon Bereziat For this story, Damon has won a $50 gift voucher from the Blue Orchid Thai Restaurant in Caloundra. Our sincere thanks to the Blue Orchid Thai for supporting writers around the Caloundra area. This prize will continue for the next few issues, so get cracking!
STORY CONTRIBUTIONS Many thanks to Damon Bereziat for contributing this story with a local setting. Another short story will feature in the next issue. Please send your story to fastfiction@tamarindbookclub.com Details: Maximum story length: 800 words Submissions close: 15th da of each month for consideration in the next issue. Stories need to be in a word document to allow for minor editing and any formatting changes. Please provide a phone number too. Preference will be given to Sunshine Coast writers.
Be Part of the Magic, Write The Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize Now Open The 2016 Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is now open. As with other ABR competitions, it is open to anyone writing in English. Stories need to be new and between 2,000 and 5,000 words. This year the prize money has been increased to $12,500. Entries close on 11th April, 2016. For more information, go to www.australianbookreview.com.au Continued on page 3...
ISSUE #2
www.tamarindbookclub.com
FEBRUARY 2016
Your Tamarind Book Club News New Book Clubs Starting
Coffee and Catch-up for Book Clubbers
On Thursday 25th February a new women’s book
On Monday 21st March book clubbers and guests are
group is starting, aptly called the 4th Thursday Book Club.
invited to a coffee catch-up at the Caloundra Powerboat
There will be no set book, just bring along whatever you’re
Club.
reading and talk about it. TIME: 10.30am
Come and meet some readers from other groups and
LOCATION: Caloundra Powerboat Club, 2 Lamerough
have a chat. We’ll be on the smaller deck from 10.15am
Parade, Golden Beach
until 11.30am. There’s no prepayment for this event but to
RSVP to Mary on 0404 266 665
help with booking tables, please RSVP on 0404 266 665 or
On Tuesday 15th March another group will begin.
at mary@tamarindbookclub.com.
This is a men and women’s group, so guys, don’t be shy. Again, there is no set book to read. Just come along and enjoy a chat about what everyone’s reading. Get some
About the Tamarind Book Club Newsletter
recommendations too.
This newsletter is an avenue for readers and writers to
TIME: 10.30am
share our love of books and writing. Each month, the
LOCATION: Caloundra Powerboat Club, 2 Lamerough
newsletter is delivered to select cafes and businesses
Parade, Golden Beach
around Caloundra and online, to the world. To get your
RSVP to Mary on 0404 266 665
next copy, go to www.tamrindbookclub.com. To support this venture, contact Mary on 0404 266 665.
Visit www.tamarindbookclub.com for more news.
A stroke? But I’m only 49. A Stroke of Poetry is a touching and intimate collection of poems written by a 49 year old stroke survivor. ‘Informative and uplifting’ Tamarind Magazine Shelagh Brennand's journey to recovery will show you that anything is possible with a positive mindset. Available from The BookShop at Caloundra or online at www.booko.com.au
Find your audience…. Local writers, you are invited to advertise your latest work here. Rates start from $40 per ad. Contact the editor at mary@tamarindbookclub.com or call 0404 266 665. ISSUE #2
AN EXCITING DEBUT NOVEL FROM COAST WRITER PAM MARIKO Revisit the magic of being young in the sixties and be glad that you’re not there anymore! Available at Sunshine Coast book stores and at Booktopia, Amazon and other online book sites.
www.tamarindbookclub.com
FEBRUARY 2016
Nest
Book Reviews
by Inga Simpson As an avid birdwatcher, it was a real pleasure for me to read Nest. All through the chapters bird lives are told in intimate detail by a true observer. The narrator, Jen, lives in the Sunshine Coast hinterland on a bush block inhabited by many small birds. Yellow robins are her favourites.
Red Moon: Secrets of a sixties school girl by Pam Mariko The novel starts dramatically with fourteen-year old Andrea fretting that she is pregnant. Drinking lots of gin while sitting in a hot bath seems to be the answer. She reflects on all that’s gone wrong in her life lately, starting with her father dying while crossing the road to buy some smokes. I laughed out loud as the headstrong Andrea navigates her way through the large and small traumas of growing up. Being dumped by friends, sexual fumbles with the boy she loves, who happens to look a lot like John from the Beatles, fights with her mum and on it goes. This is a fast-paced story, told with humour and empathy. The dialogue is sharp. Mariko has set the book in Sheffield in northern England. It’s the sixties and Andrea is into fashion and music, the Beatles and Herman’s Hermits. It’s cleverly written and reminds me of a time when music really was a soundtrack for your life. Andrea may take you on a trip down memory lane or to somewhere new. Whichever it is, she’ll delight you.
Jen builds a “nest’ for comfort and to live in a protected space to come to grips with her life’s dramas. Winding in and out of this natural environment are two missing children, one from the narrator’s childhood, the other recent. This reminds us of our Daniel. Domestic trauma, a lonely childhood, a mother with many problems - all impact on our writer, weaving in and out rather like a bird nest. A school reunion helps with the solving of the mysteries. In summary, this is a weaving mystery that brings our natural environment to life. Reviewed by Dot Crane The 3rd Thursday Book Club
Book Reviews If you’d like to contribute a book review, go ahead. Here’s the guidelines:
Red Moon is available at most independent bookshops on the Sunshine Coast for $20 or online at Booktopia. Note: Pam Mariko is a Sunshine Coast author who welcomes the opportunity to speak to readers about her novel. Contact Pam on 0417 784 177.
No spoilers Word length: words can be short or long Number of words: between 100 to 200 words Due: By the 15th of the month for consideration for the next issue
Reviewed by Mary Barber Book Club Convener
THANK YOU
Turning Paper into Trees For every printed copy of the Tamarind Book Club Newsletter, I will give 10cents to the Sunshine Coast Environment Council to support their activities. This is my green tithe.
Authors, Do you need help promoting your latest book? Mary Barber
Freelance Journalist 0404 266 665 Media releases, media advice, book launches and promotions mary@tamarindbookclub.com
ISSUE #2
www.tamarindbookclub.com
FEBRUARY 2016