The Official Matthew Reilly Homepage

Hey there folks. At the request of Roy Govier, my wonderful webmaster, I am
dedicating myself this year to being punctual with my Thoughts for the Month -
by that I mean uploading them on the same day each month.
So! On the 4th of every month, my Thoughts will appear in this space! Hopefully...

So what's been happening. Well:

This is the movie that recently won Jack Nicholson the Golden Globe for Best Actor, and it must be said, his performance is extraordinary. I actually forgot he was Jack Nicholson.

It is from the writers-and-director of Election, one of the great satires of school life and politics. About Schmidt is a bit slower than Election was, but as a story that captures the zeitgeist (middle-class baby boomers retiring after a lifetime in the same job), it is incredible. Not an action movie, but a truly thoughtful film that is worth seeing.

I've also recently seen Eminem's acting debut, 8 Mile. Excellent. Not exactly memorable, but Eminem shows both his humanity and his genius. The rap battles are very original and superbly structured.

At long last, Contest is coming out in the U.S.! You would not believe the amount of emails I receive from American readers asking about Contest. So here's the skinny: Area 7 comes out in paperback in early February, while Contest comes out in hardback at the end of February.

Contest has been completely rewritten for the U.S. market. Where the original version was set in a fictitious building, the "New York State Library", this new version is set in the actual, real New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. There were two reasons for setting the original in a fictitious building: first, I could design the building the suit my story, and second, because I was 19 when I first wrote Contest and I couldn't afford to go to New York to research the real Library! The story, characters and action scenes, of course, remain unchanged.

Rewriting the book was a tough task: kind of like smacking a round peg into the shape of a square peg, so as to fit it into the square hole! The real Public Library is a bit bigger than my fake State Library was (so sometimes characters have to run down "a hall" between rooms, rather than just run from one room to another).

That said, I think this new edition is far better than the previous versions. The real Public Library has some absolutely awesome features, like the glorious Main Reading Room, the Edna Barnes Salomon Room (home of a Gutenberg Bible), which all now appear in the novel. So now readers can go and visit the Public Library and see the settings in the book! Plus, I reckon I'm a better writer now than I was then, and as such, believe that this new U.S. edition has been made quicker, slicker and faster.

This is for those readers who live in Sydney. In the process of researching a new book idea, I went to the best second-hand bookstore in Sydney, John's Bookshop in Mosman, owned by my friend, John Purcell.

In short, if John doesn't have the book you're after, he can find it for you (he had a trade of Ice Station there last time I was there, and he has an original "Not For Sale" copy of Contest behind the counter).

He had what I was after, and much more (so he probably knows what the next book will be about!). If for no other reason, go there to check out his rather rude store signs. They are the best in Sydney: "CAN'T FIND THE BOOK YOU'RE AFTER? ASK JOHN, HE HAS NOTHING BETTER TO DO." And that's not even mentioning the sign out the front about books, coffee and sex...

Well, since my comments last December about how the media whips up "fear" to sell newspapers and TV commercials during the nightly news, two things have happened.

First, I have seen Bowling for Columbine. The must-see movie of the year, and all about the marketability of your fear. See it. See it now. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.

Second, here in Australia we have seen a series of Government TV commercials urging Australians to "Be alert, not alarmed."

In my humble opinion, these ads are nothing short of disgraceful. The role of a government is to make the people feel safe and secure. My federal Government here in Australia seems determined to keep the people of Australia on edge, afraid, frightened. Why? Because frightened voters don't change governments, they seek stability.

It's funny how just before the last federal election, my Government told me of boat people approaching my country's shores who "throw their children overboard" when they are ordered to turn around. My Government told me this. It later turned out that those asylm seekers did not ever throw their children overboard. In the end it didn't matter. The Government frightened Australia, and in the ensuing election, Australia returned the Government to power.

According to the "Be alert not alarmed" ads, Australians are "democratic, decent" people. Decent. My question is this: who is the more decent, stateless boat-people searching for a better place to live, who do not throw their children overboard...or the Australian Government who, to win an election, says they do?

Last week, my Prime Minister called some terrible bushfires that hit Canberra "our summer terror", that these fires were akin to "an attack" on our national capital. He could have made people feel safer, by proposing remedies, solutions. Instead, he whipped up the fear by using the language of terrorism.

The biggest problem, as I see it, is that here in Australia, we have little alternative to this fear-obsessed Government: we can choose between a Government that makes us afraid, and an Opposition that is quite simply a policy-free zone.

Sorry to rant. It's just that this really annoys me. I visit schools all the time and I try to tell kids that they can make a difference, that they can change the world, that they can be real leaders: inspirational people who lift others, who make people feel that they can achieve anything - and yet what do these kids see on TV every night: this sort of cynical political "leadership".

To lighter matters. You might have inferred this already from the section above about my visit to John's Bookshop, but yes, I have started researching a new novel idea. In all honesty, I wasn't planning on starting work on a new book until much later this year (since I am now looking to release one book every two years, rather than the old book-per-year that I did with Ice Station, Temple, Contest and Area 7), but I had an idea, and I'm kinda excited about it, so I'm doing the research! I'll keep you posted.

...is my new golf handicap! Yes, folks, I am now a single figure player. Woo-hoo!

Well, sadly now we sing again, to each and every one... Time to go. Thanks for tuning in, and I'll be back on the 4th of March!

P.S. This Monday the mighty Full Tossers indoor cricket team battles our old enemy, the Prodigals, in a sudden-death semi final. Not since Australia tied with South Africa in the 1999 World Cup has a match been this keenly anticipated. The cricket world holds its breath... The result: next month.

P.P.S. Okay, I admit it, I've been watching that TV show The Bachelor. It's utterly appalling stuff, but I can't avert my eyes. It's just so watchable. The final episode airs here next week...