Diane: The following quote appears on your website (http://georama.com.au/ChasAdlard): "Chas Adlard should be a thousand years old -- he's been there done that." Tell us a little about what you've been doing during those "thousand years" and how you became a writer.

Chas: Born in England in 1947 I was destined for a difficult childhood, inevitably due to a befuddled mind and not any obvious circumstances. I was extremely nervous and more than a little bit hyperactive. My attention span was non-existent and I developed a form of dyslexia known then as "mirror sight." Unfortunately, this set back my overall ability as a student and the cause went undetected until a few weeks before I left school while in my early teens.

My parents parted in the early fifties and we children -- my sister and brother and I -- remained with my mother who was given the sole responsibility of guardian. After attending two junior schools I was enrolled as a student at the Royal Wanstead School in east London (now the Snaresbrook County Court). I never shared the view held by many that Wanstead was a desirable place of education and a leading Boarding School. Five years later I left Wanstead a bit wiser, but only by the smallest margin. However, my extracurricular activities had expedited that period when a boy becomes a man.

During the last school holidays I was lucky enough to travel extensively through Europe. Not contented with that glimpse of the world, I joined the Merchant Navy and attended the National Sea Training School at Gravesend. After a very brief training period I went to sea as a steward with P & O Orient Lines. The early sixties were exciting years and the great liners were employed as luxury ferries transporting thousands of emigrants to a new life abroad.

I met Barbara on board the SS Himalaya. She was a passenger heading from Australia to England. Later, a maritime dispute brought the entire shipping fleet to a halt and like many shipmates I found work ashore and never returned to the sea. Barbara and I then had time for each other and in 1967 we were married. I had experienced travel and furthermore a phenomenon not known in England -- a place where the sun was an abundant part of everyday life.

A year later Barbara and I moved to Adelaide in South Australia. I joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1969 as an Airfield Fire-Fighter. It was a good life and a great career. We spent two and an half years in Penang, Malaysia, while I was stationed at RAAF Butterworth and then spent time in Victoria and South Australia. With two children to educate I decided to leave the Air Force in '81. Sadly, after a long and debilitating illness, Barbara died in 1985.

I have had many jobs including fire-fighter, swimming teacher, life guard, recreation centre manager, ambulance officer, first aid instructor, small business manager, carer, driving instructor and driving license examiner, driving development officer, security officer, clerical officer, silver service waiter, caterer, salesperson, heavy vehicle operator, Bobcat operator, brick-paver, landscaper, and owner builder -- to name a few. Oh, and a writer....

My second wife, Christine, and I were married in 1986 and suddenly we were a family of four -- a boy and a girl each. We have grown and prospered together over the years and live on a few acres of bushland paradise next to a national park. During this time in the early nineties I started writing. 

Without the family knowing I taught myself to touch type. Well, let's say I have developed a new approach to typing -- fifteen words forward and then twenty back - but I get there. Why did I start writing? I don't really know the answer but like many writers my first work THE BORN AGAIN AUSTRALIAN was definitely cathartic.

Diane: The quote continues, "His stories always reflect the love he feels for Australia and its people." Do you feel that you have a uniquely Australian writing voice? What are the qualities that comprise your voice?

Chas: I spend considerable time each year traveling through Australia's outback, and although the corrugated dirt roads have largely disappeared due to the progress of the Highways Department the overall splendor is still there. This is an arid country that is unique in its flora and fauna but the drawcard for me is the unknown history that dates back millions of years. In the red of the outback I feel totally insignificant. I know full well that my short visit on earth is as memorable as a solitary hiccup. Do I feel a connection to Australia? Yes! From the first time I saw this country I loved it. Over the years, friends have suggested that I should write less about Australia to make my novels more marketable for a worldwide audience. I don't agree. This country Australia is my voice.... We use the term "an Aussie battler" for those hardworking people who don't strive for glory but nevertheless do their best in a manner that is unassuming and honest. The "battler" is best summed up by a line I once wrote -- "His shadow, like most of all, was short of tall." My voice in literature is, I hope, honest, with a mixture of warmth, sadness and humor.

Diane: You have written two full-length novels, THE BORN AGAIN AUSTRALIAN and SILICA. The first is a yarn about life in Australia, while the second involves the sudden death of a miner and the disappearance of valuable opal. Where did the ideas for these stories come from? What did you enjoy the most during the writing process? What did you struggle with the most?

Chas: In THE BORN AGAIN AUSTRALIAN I took my weaknesses and strengths and made two characters out of them -- Charlie Windzor and Toby Carrington. I then let them lead me through the story.

Although I chose an appalling title for a non-religious book (I wouldn't listen to the warning given by Chris), the first published paperback run of 1000 copies sold out within a few months. Although I wrote a few short stories I didn't really believe that I was the type of writer who could produce another novel. I have friends in Coober Pedy, the South Australian Opal Town, and during a visit I stumbled over the true situation which I used as the opening gambit of my second novel SILICA.

I get excited when I write as I'm intrigued by the next line sentence and paragraph. I genuinely don't know what is about to happen until I touch the keys.

I don't suffer writer's block but I do struggle occasionally with inadequate knowledge of English Language, and were it not for Chris's guidance my knowledge would have stayed stagnant. Making a sentence was, and still is, difficult -- I just ramble on.

Diane: What has been your experience with becoming e-published, and what marketing strategies have you found to be most effective for selling your ebooks online?

Chas: With the exciting medium of the World Wide Web my wife and I believe that ebooks will be the next online "happening." When SILICA was finished OzAuthors published it as an ebook online, together with an ebook version of THE BORN AGAIN AUSTRALIAN, and Chris spent innumerable hours promoting my stories. The strategy we have used is to get my website high ranking in the search engines -- it is always number one or two on Google for the keywords "Australian author." My website gets lots of visitors -- I find that my short stories attract plenty of attention and I get messages and feedback from all over the world. However, the sales of the ebooks have not yet been comparable to the success I experienced with the paperback format. I think that people at the moment still want to curl up in bed with a paperback rather than their laptop. However, as hardware devices on which ebooks can be read get smaller and smaller, I think this will change, so I intend to hang in there.

Chas: I have just written a narrative, "Bites of Fright," that will be on my website shortly. This story, although my own work, follows the diaries written by my father during the First World War and his wartime experiences, including service at Gallipoli.

-- Chas Adlard, Australian Author