ALASTAIR CARTHEW

Websitehttp://@AlastairCarthew1
Facebookhttp://facebook.com/carthewa
Twitterhttp://@AlastairCarthew1

 Alastair Carthew Biography

 

I am a New Zealander who has self-published three books, edited/rewrote a memoir, and am completing my fourth book (as of 4 4 24). The published books are Proud, a Tale of Rampant Ludicrousness (2019), Divines Choice; After the Windsors, it’s ALL BLACK (2021) and The Timid Bookseller (2022). All were available on Amazon, and Proud was sold through Unity Books. The memoir is Diana Kahn, about a prominent Jewish woman's life in Melbourne. The fourth novel still to be finished is And Off He Went. All novels are primarily set in New Zealand.  I am a former television and newspaper political journalist, editor and producer; have written and co-edited educational books on journalism, political polling and journalism and the environment in Asia/Pacific; corporate communications manager (TVNZ, Air New Zealand, Star Alliance, Wellington City Council), and government adviser (Cambodia). I am retired and live in Phuket, Thailand, with my New Zealand wife, Lyn and our cat, Milly: two children and four grandchildren in Melbourne. My family owned a bookshop for 115 years in Feilding.

Genre:

  • Comedy
  • Fiction
  • History

Skills:

  • Broadcast Journalism
  • Editing
  • Freelance Writing
  • Novelist
  • Print Media Writing (magazines/newspapers)
  • Proofreading
  • Reviews

Branch:

Wellington

Location:

Phuket, Thailand

Publications:

Proud, A Tale of Rampant Ludicrousness

Self-published on Amazon in 2019. Genre: Fiction/comedy/satire/political. Set in New Zealand, Proud is a satire about rugby, climate change, rural New Zealand and international relations. 319 pages.

Divine's Choice

Self-published on Amazon in 2021. Genre: Fiction/comedy/Parody/Saga. Set in the UK and New Zealand, the book is a parody of the British royal family, the All Blacks and historical events in NZ between Maori and the English. It is 320 pages.

The Timid Bookseller

Published mid-2022.. Genre: Historical NZ Fiction.The book is about a boy who starts a bookshop in a downbeat NZ town and hires identical triplets named after Katherine Mansfield, Janet Frame and Ngaio Marsh to help make it a success. The plot involves murder, romance, prison, the Treaty of Waitangi and much more. A commentary on rural NZ set between 1984 and 2000. Note: The picture is an illustration of the timid bookseller, a main character. I may illustrate the cover and back cover myself with this type of artwork. It is not the final cover.

Diana Kahn

Diana Kahn is a memoir about Diana Kahn, a prominent member of Melbourne's Jewish community, who arrived in Australia at age 14, could not speak English, and founded a large fashion house, Cherry Lane, for young women. The memoir follows Diana's cheerfully optimistic journey, from fleeing Nazism, losing family members and a husband at young ages, her pathfinding role breaking through male chauvinism in business and her community activism, particularly in the arts.   

And Off He Went

And Off He Went (currently being completed--historical fiction/fantasy) follows 15-year-old geek John Cargib's personal hikoi meeting famous Kiwis, alive and dead, to self-educate himself. Through his mother being a medium, he meets and talks to the ghosts of Sir Edmund Hillary, Katherine Mansfield, Billy T. James, Sir Peter Blake, Sir Robert Muldoon, Dame Whina Cooper, John Clarke (Fredd Dagg) Charles Upham VC and bar, Kate Sheppard and many more. He meets alive Kiwi heroes like Colin Meads (the book is set in 2011), Peter Snell and others. Along the way the ignorant boy becomes a man (loses his virginity) and learns from as diverse groups as Black Power  there is compassion in the most unlikely places. He learns everyone, no matter how famous, can impart values and lessons he can live by. This is a positive journey of discovery, joy, sadness, and, above all, learning.