A Kiwi Guy: Stories

When Corey James rescued a young woman from drowning, he set off a long train of events. He never wanted recognition or payment. But running from himself came close to wrecking four lives. Resolution came in an unforeseen way.

In medieval times, a gleeman was a strolling player (in today's terms, a kind of street performer). With echoes of the Pied Piper in this updated version of the folk tale, the Gleeman of this story has a grim purpose hidden behind the jester's mask. But this time an opponent -- a young woman -- arrives to try and thwart his aim.

There is no word in English to describe the relationship between me and my children's in-laws. However, there are at least two ways to solve the problem. One is to use the invented term “kinlaw”. The other...

A sacrifice of love brings an end to a long-standing feud between two families.

Santa Claus is forced to carry out market research on how families enjoyed Christmas. (Note: this is set in a Southern Hemisphere country, where Christmas is celebrated in summer.)

Rachel Mears – a promising young athlete – has her life turned upside down when a drunken driver knocks her off her bicycle, rendering her a paraplegic. She faces a fragile, long journey on her way back to wholeness. (NOTE: No sex, but there is a brief discussion about intimate marital relations.)

Two Family Court lawyers are bitter enemies. How can the finding of a toy rabbit change anything?

As the owner of a flourishing construction business, Roy Burke had little time to look for a wife. So his secretary and mother decided to take matters into their own hands. No-one foresaw the chaos that would ensue.

This tale is based on a time in 1969, when I hitch-hiked from Sydney to Perth, some 2,500 miles (4,000+ km). This, in the middle of a very hot Australian summer. The main road, a lot of it unsealed at that time, runs across the Nullarbor Plain, a desolate land inhabited mainly by kangaroos, with a few small settlements along the way. I must have been mad, but I did actually complete the journey, taking only 3-and-a-half days. The latter part of the story is fiction, but the majority was true.