AN HISTORICAL crime novel by Glen Innes author Michael Burge has just been picked up by an American publisher and will be distributed globally.
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Burge, 54, said the story was partly based on real life American preacher, William 'California' Taylor, who travelled around the Central West of NSW in the 1860s.
"Outback noir is having a real boom in this country and overseas," Burge said.
"In the United States, there's a tradition of what's known as the 'Gothic Western', and my new book has hallmarks of that type of story, although it has a very Australian setting and cast of characters."
The author is co-manager of The Makers Shed in Grey Street.
Burge's latest novel, which is not yet titled, follows the publication of his debut Tank Water, a story of gay-hate crime in rural Australia published in 2021 by MidnightSun Publishing.
"My first novel came about thanks to a pitching session, Pitch Independent, organised by the New England Writers' Centre," Burge said.
"It was a bit like speed dating, where aspiring authors such as myself had 10 minutes to pitch our novels to two publishers from Melbourne and Adelaide.
"The pitching session was held at Armidale Bowling Club and it was nerve racking, however, both publishers were interested in Tank Water and I got an offer a year later.
"Having such a resource is rare in the regions, I am forever grateful to the writers' centre for kicking off my career as a novelist."
Tank Water touches on themes close to Burge's heart; homophobia in families and institutions in rural Australia.
The protagonist in the novel is James, who must seek the truth outside the usual 'police procedural' method.
Tank Water also delves into intergenerational issues in country families, and one of the novel's main themes is how rural people are often required to dig deep when it comes to acceptance and love in the face of great prejudice.
"I had long wanted to write about the part of the world I was born and grew up in, and despite the fact that the towns and characters in Tank Water are all fictitious, the landscape is most certainly that of the northern New England region, Kamilaroi Country," Burge said.
Born and bred in Inverell, Burge honed his writing skills as a journalist before turning his hand to fiction in 2009.
Before then, he studied and worked in Britain, where he undertook media studies, later writing and producing documentaries.
Returning to Australia, Burge is now a full-time writer and freelance journalist living in Deepwater with his husband Richard.
Burge mentors budding authors and is increasingly invited as a guest speaker at writers' festivals.
On Monday, July 22 he is the guest speaker at Beyond Dorrigo, a new bookshop-cum-gallery-cum cafe in Dorrigo.
He is also a guest author and moderator at the BAD Sydney Crime Writers' festival at the NSW State Library in September.
Burge wants to encourage all authors in their endeavours to have their works published.
"To young and not-so-young emerging writers I always say this: identify yourself as a writer, and start writing, because no one else can do it for you," he said.
"We get better as writers the more we do the work. There are plenty of people out there claiming to be writers who rarely sit and create written material, and probably even more who read only sporadically."
