Les Pobjie

Author Les Pobjie has followed his two books of horror stories with a switch to laugh-out-loud humour. His full-length novel Local Rag Hero has just been published in both paperback and Kindle formats.

He called on his long career as editor of community newspapers to create a funny, weird newspaper world set in rural Australia.

As editor Les won several awards for best newspaper in Australia. Through his career he was also a photographer, reporter and sub-editor on metropolitan, provincial and local newspapers. He began as sole reporter and advertising rep on the Western Times in Charleville, Queensland. He moved on to work on newspapers in Bundaberg, Toowoomba, Brisbane, and Sydney.

While Local Rag Hero is funny, bordering on absurd, writing it was no laughing matter. Early on, Les had to have a second knee replacement and, already blind in one eye, he suddenly faced the possibility of losing sight in the other. He underwent two eye operations during the final stages of finishing the book -- including vision-critical proofreading. .

"It was a low period in my life," he admits. "I was undergoing painful physiotherapy and then my sight became threatened in my other eye." However, he kept focused, so to speak, and completed the almost 100,00-word novel.

His short story collections tell of scary events triggered when the everyday abruptly shifts into another disturbing reality. Many stories have surprising twists in the tail.

Now retired, Les lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife Helen, a TAFE teacher. They have four children: chief librarian Rebecca, novelists Emily and Ben and high school science teacher Alice.

Emily's most recent book An Isolated Incident is a crime novel which focuses on the victim and family more than the murder investigation. An Isolated Incident was short-listed for the prestigious Miles Franklin Award and Stella Prize. Ben followed his funny recap of Australia's history as it never was, Error Australis, with Aussie, Aussie, Aussie. A third sequel is on its way this year.

Les Pobjie can be contacted via eail at lesp4ever@bigpond.com. Check out his website, fictionalimpulse.com.