The Official Matthew Reilly Homepage

Since I'm still reading the same book I was reading last week (the biography of the music and movie mogul, David Geffen), I thought I'd make a recommendation. One of my favourite novels is Fatherland by Robert Harris. It's a truly gripping read, set in 1964 in a world where the Nazis won World War II and Adolf Hitler is still alive. Harrowing, fast-paced, brilliant. Read it!

Some people have asked me if I can mention anything about the new book. Okay then, how about this: look out for a prison escape near the beginning of Area 7 that (I like to think) rivals the escape of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. Actually, I will be talking to my publisher about putting a teaser from the prologue of Area 7 up on the site in the lead up to its Australian release in the first week of September. I'll get back to you on that one!

First of all, I hope the 24 American crew members are safe and well. The first thing anyone should be worrying about is their safe return - the fate of the plane, while important, should definitely be secondary. After that, though, I am watching the responses of the new Bush Administration to this confrontation with a keen interest (considering what I write about in my books, this is of great interest to me). I read a fascinating piece during the week by Maureen Dowd from The New York Times in which she mentioned the "Grumpy Old Men" of Bush's advisory team, and asked whether they are "too belligerent, too conservative, too blunt, too negative" to deal with modern-world issues. My question would be, are they also too slow. This isn't the 80's anymore. The world moves a lot faster now. Bigger isn't necessarily better anymore. Faster is better. Is George W Bush relying on people who are locked in the mindset of another age? We shall see.

Last week, I was an ambassador for National Youth Week here in Australia. It was an initiative designed to inspire young people to get out there and chase their dreams-something I have always advocated. Apart from being in the TV commercial (!), my participation included being a guest for an on-line chat-room session. Got a lot of excellent, straight-to-the-point questions (in my experience, young people are the best questioners, since they don't beat around the bush! Usually they just ask me how much money I make). It was a great experience.

However, I noticed that a large number of the questions I got were from young writers asking (a) how to get a literary agent and (b) how to get published. I get quite a few emails about this, too. So rather than just touch on it superficially now, I'm going to think about it over the next seven days, and next Monday, give you a warts-and-all opinion on the best ways to get published. So, if you're interested-or you know somebody who might be interested-tune in next week!

P.S. IMPORTANT NEWS: the Full Tossers break their drought!
After a devastating three-game losing streak, the indoor cricket team I play for-the mighty Full Tossers-have finally won, and, dare I say, in stirring style! (I know all my readers around the world have been worrying about this disturbing lack of form.) Chasing a big total of 129, Dirty Dave Gillett smashed a six on the second last ball to put us one run in front. Well done, boys!