{"id":28636,"date":"2012-11-15T13:24:19","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T02:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=28636"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:46:26","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:46:26","slug":"peter-fitzsimons-author-of-eureka-answers-six-sharp-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2012\/11\/15\/peter-fitzsimons-author-of-eureka-answers-six-sharp-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Peter FitzSimons, author of Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution, answers Six Sharp Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter FitzSimons<\/h1>\n

author of Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution<\/a>, Mawson<\/a>, Batavia<\/a>, Kokoda <\/a>and many more…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Six Sharp Questions<\/h2>\n

————————————–<\/p>\n

1. Congratulations, you have a new book. What is it about and what does it mean to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution<\/a>, details the birth of democracy in Australia. Our version of the Boston Tea Party<\/a>, it was the moment when Australians insisted that they had rights, rights that they were prepared to fight for, the British bayonets notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

2. Time passes. Things change. What are the best and worst moments that you have experienced in the past year or so?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best moment was being at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London<\/a>. The worst moment? I dinkum can\u2019t think of anything particularly bad this year \u2013 touch wood!<\/p>\n

3. Do you have a favourite quote or passage you would be happy to share with us?\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, I love this part, where one of the diggers, is exhorting his brethren to take it further, and fight!<\/p>\n

Typically, Thomas Kennedy goes further.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe press,\u201d he says, \u201chas called us demagogues, who must be put down. But I for one will die a free man, though I drink the poison as Socrates of yore. We have come 15,000 miles, and left the enlightenment of the age and of the press, not to suffer insult, but to obtain greater liberty. We want men to rule over us, [not such as we have.] Most of all, we have to think of our children, who will grow up in this great colony, and all of us must never forget their own dearest interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, he asks, is this the way to proceed? Constantly signing petitions and passing resolutions, all for no result?<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cMoral persuasion,\u201d Thomas Kennedy says, with everyone leaning forward as before, to catch every word, \u201cis all humbug. Nothing convinces like a lick in the lug!\u201d<\/p>\n

Love that \u201click in the lug,\u201d line! It wonderfully summed up the view of the vast body of diggers \u2013 we have had a gutful, and are now going to take arms against a sea of troubles.<\/p>\n

\u00a04. Writers have often been described as being difficult to live with. Do you conform to the stereotype or defy it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t really think I am \u2013 primarily because I love what I do. Though, I must say, when I am in full writing mode, I am doing one of two things: either writing my book, or resenting the fact that I am not writing my book. I am involved in many activities and travel a lot, but wherever I am, I always have my laptop close, and write my books in planes, trains, automobiles and hotel lobbies, as well as at home, lying supine on the coach. Overall, though, I have noticed that I am at my most productive when on long-haul flights, where there are no interruptions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>5. Some writers claim not to be influenced by the needs of the marketplace, while others seem obsessed by it. Would you please describe how the marketplace affects your writing (come on, tell the truth!).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Writing books is hard. Of course I want my books to sell. Thus, in the range of the many subjects I want to write about, I do choose the ones that will sell well in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

6. Unlikely Scenario: You\u2019ve been charged with civilising twenty ill-educated adolescents but you may take only three books with you. What do you take and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Dickens<\/a> –\u00a0 Great Expectations:<\/a> most impressive novel ever written, in my view.<\/p>\n

Kahlil Gibran<\/a>\u00a0–\u00a0 The Prophet<\/a> \u2013 the values it evinces, without any religious gibberish, are wonderful.<\/p>\n

Bob Dylan<\/a> –\u00a0 The Complete Lyrics of Bob Dylan<\/a>. Even without him singing, and instrumentals, his lyrics are poetry for the soul:<\/p>\n

Suddenly, I turned around, and she was standing there,<\/p>\n

With silver bracelets on her wrist, and flowers in her hair,<\/p>\n

She walked up to me so gracefully, and took my crown of thorns,<\/p>\n

Come in, she said, I\u2019ll give ya, shelter from the storm.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Peter, thank you for playing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here to buy Eureka: The Unfinished Revolution<\/em> from Booktopia,
\nAustralia\u2019s No.1 Online Book Shop<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Peter FitzSimons author of Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution, Mawson, Batavia, Kokoda and many more… Six Sharp Questions ————————————– 1. Congratulations, you have a new book. What is it about and what does it mean to you? Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution, details the birth of democracy in Australia. Our version of the Boston Tea Party, it was the moment when Australians insisted that they had rights, rights that they were prepared to fight for, the British bayonets notwithstanding. 2. Time passes. Things change. What are the best and worst moments that you have experienced in the past year or so? The best moment was being at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London. The worst moment? I dinkum can\u2019t think of anything particularly bad this year \u2013 touch wood! 3. Do you have a favourite quote or passage you would be happy to share with us? Yes, I love this part, where one of the diggers, is exhorting his brethren to take it further, and fight! Typically, Thomas Kennedy goes further. \u201cThe press,\u201d he says, \u201chas called us demagogues, who must be put down. But I for one will die a free…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,9,118,84],"tags":[381,1879,4244,4899],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28636"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57043,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28636\/revisions\/57043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}