Leaving Bondi
How’re things?
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The
Blue Mountains, NSW.
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So what’s happened since my last message in cyberspace? Well, I’m in the middle of a new Les Norton. And I’ve just got back from the Blue Mountains, where I was doing some research. Thank God I got out when I did: it was cold, raining and miserable enough when I was up there, but since then it has snowed and all the roads were closed and some motorists were trapped in their cars overnight. I would have loved that – sitting in the front of my ute, freezing my orchestras off.
I imagine you’re wondering ‘what’s the new book about?’ Okay, as Becker’s dizzy assistant Linda says, "Here’s the thing."
At the moment, the working title of the new book is ‘Leaving Bondi’. Les puts a bundle of money into a movie – Leaving Bondi. On the second day of filming, the set gets blown up. Because of Eddie, Les gets the blame. With the help of Price, Les manages to get bail and he’s got six days to prove his innocence. So, after asking a few questions here and there, and greasing the odd palm, Les is off to the Blue Mountains, then Adelaide, then Victor Harbour. He even ends up on Hindmarsh Island. It’s a sort-of whodunnit? There’s sufficient sex, ample violence, some good locations and a reasonable plot. I reckon you’ll like the part when Les is in the Blue Mountains passing himself off as a publisher called Forrest McNamara amongst all these weird woment poets.
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The
original Boofhead.
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So what did I find in the Blue Mountains? Despite all the rain and the gloom, there were lots of nice houses and colourful trees. I found a hotel where the band plays on top of the bar. I even found a statue of myself in a park in Leura – the original Boofhead. I found a bloke painting a great big mural in a tunnel in Katoomba, and I thought this would be a great place for Les to have a fight with four blokes. And I stayed in this fully restored ard deco hotel with great views of the Megalong Valley. Real Agatha Christie territory.
The Blue Mountains are a nice place and the people are friendly. I imagine in warmer, sunnier weather it would be quite beautiful. The sun did come out for a few minutes on one day, and you can see by the photo I took of Leura, the views are quite beautiful. Anyway, I got back, typed my fingers to the bone and am pretty much on schedule with the new book. Next time you hear from me, I’ll have been to Adelaide and Victor Harbour. See you then.
Regards,
Bob.