Red Ferne, Writer

What do you do after spending more than three decades, both in and out of uniform, defending your country and protecting the people of Australia? Well, in my case, you take up writing books. Fiction, to be more specific. Thrillers, to be even more precise. 

I have written electronic warfare and intelligence reports, ministerial briefs and situation reports (yes, SITREPs are a thing), to name a few. At the heart of all these reports, is telling a story, albeit a factual one. Convincing the reader, whether that be the most senior person in government or the field commander, that the report matters, the story is real and the consequences are also real, has been my whole career. What a wild ride.

However, while defending my country has been my honour, and my life to date, I eventually felt a pull to write. Something different – possibly even normal (life in the Government and Defence world is anything but normal). Which has led me to writing fiction. (Department of Novels, anyone?) 

I am now writing my second novel.

I also write short stories and blogs for my subscribers, the first series of which I commenced part-way through writing my first novel. “From Writer to Author” documents the highs and lows this writer experienced while writing the first, and commencing the second, novel, so is somewhat autobiographical. The short stories are a mix of fiction and actual events.

My hope is that my fiction can entertain, and possibly provide some (limited) insights into this (sometimes stranger than fiction) world. I shall let you be the judge.

Yours, 

Red Ferne