A unique short story collection, not just about Aussie blokes, but written for men everywhere. Crafted with wit and colour, this selection contains fiction and nonfiction stories aimed to entertain. There is suspense, drama, and a tongue in cheek look at the difference between the sexes. This volume proves that Aussie guys can hold their own with every style, anecdotes, short stories, memoir and many poetry styles. A group of Aussie blokes from all walks of life 'The True Blues' contributed to this book. With Aussie mateship and creative endeavour this anthology of unique stories was born, in the time-honoured style of 'the good Aussie yarn'.

I started writing poems when I was 16 and continued to do so all my life. Some even got published. They were okay. Then, along came Robert Wolfgramm. Robert found expression for my 'poetry' by turning them into song-poems, which is where this little book begins. Robert himself wrote both words and music, but he wrote more music than words. From the 1980s on, I wrote for other musicians too. Nothing formal. They'd pick up the book of words that lay around my study. 'Can I borrow these?' they'd ask. And they'd pick through the lyrics and come back with a song or two. Maybe you will too? After all, it's a songbook of sorts. In those days, people - generous people, people like my friend Clayton after slightly too much wine - occasionally described me as a 'poet'. I found that really awkward. I thought 'song-poet' was better. 'Poet' brings to mind 'real' poets. A flick through this book tells you I'm not one of those. There's nothing highfalutin about being a song-poet, it's not an elevated title. A tunesmith may treat my rhymes like works-in-progress. My words are seldom delicate. Ran widdershins in his brain, there's no widdershins here. Wrapped up in earth's diurnal course, there's no diurnals here. Sometimes the musicians finish off my lyrics. Other times, they tweak them. And, on a few occasions, my words are completely turned on their ear so the message of the song is nothing as intended when scrawled in my notebook, late that night. One consistent problem throughout the years is that I can't convincingly perform my co-written songs. Partly because, (1) I'm a crook singer, and, (2) there are too many tricky chords. Look at this from Robert - G13-9 leading to an A Flat. I don't even enjoy playing A Flat So how am I supposed to cope with G13-9? Then one day, when asked to perform at the Blue Mountains Music Festival, I thought - never mind the G13-9s, never mind the music. And especially drop the G-C-D7 bounce, that I do enjoy strumming. Never mind all that, I'll just read the words." Lowell Tarling

I started writing poems when I was 16 and continued to do so all my life. Some even got published. They were okay. Then, along came Robert Wolfgramm. Robert found expression for my 'poetry' by turning them into song-poems, which is where this little book begins. Robert himself wrote both words and music, but he wrote more music than words. From the 1980s on, I wrote for other musicians too. Nothing formal. They'd pick up the book of words that lay around my study. 'Can I borrow these?' they'd ask. And they'd pick through the lyrics and come back with a song or two. Maybe you will too? After all, it's a songbook of sorts. In those days, people - generous people, people like my friend Clayton after slightly too much wine - occasionally described me as a 'poet'. I found that really awkward. I thought 'song-poet' was better. 'Poet' brings to mind 'real' poets. A flick through this book tells you I'm not one of those. There's nothing highfalutin about being a song-poet, it's not an elevated title. A tunesmith may treat my rhymes like works-in-progress. My words are seldom delicate. Ran widdershins in his brain, there's no widdershins here. Wrapped up in earth's diurnal course, there's no diurnals here. Sometimes the musicians finish off my lyrics. Other times, they tweak them. And, on a few occasions, my words are completely turned on their ear so the message of the song is nothing as intended when scrawled in my notebook, late that night. One consistent problem throughout the years is that I can't convincingly perform my co-written songs. Partly because, (1) I'm a crook singer, and, (2) there are too many tricky chords. Look at this from Robert - G13-9 leading to an A Flat. I don't even enjoy playing A Flat So how am I supposed to cope with G13-9? Then one day, when asked to perform at the Blue Mountains Music Festival, I thought - never mind the G13-9s, never mind the music. And especially drop the G-C-D7 bounce, that I do enjoy strumming. Never mind all that, I'll just read the words. Lowell Tarling

You may start high school intending to be good, but if you try to be as tough as the Hood, keep notes in your socks in exams and always mess around, then you'll only end up in trouble. In this funny, deadly-accurate account of his first year at high school, Tommy Taylor learns his lesson all too well... 'In Lowell Tarling's funny Taylor's Troubles, Tommy Taylor is in his first year at secondary school, in the middle of every misfortune in his class, forever hoping for the best, but fearing the worst.' The Oxford Companion To Australian Children's Literature 'A very funny Australian story...thoroughly recommended.' Victorian Association for the Teaching of English 'Humour, frustration, intrigue and not a little curiosity about the opposite sex.' Newcastle Herald 'Taylor's Troubles is permeated with school atmosphere. The slapstick humour of young students, the classroom antics and frustrated teachers will ring true for many readers. This book demonstrates peer group pressure very well. It also shows how children respond to teachers, their own cliques and to others who may be different. Upper primary - Lower secondary.' Australian Book Review

Lowell Tarling wrote 'Edges' for that most wonderful of all author incentives - insatiable curiosity. Combined with a quest for enlightenment, he undertook a subject few would have chosen-the history of those people and groups that separated from the Seventh-day Adventist church. Of necessity, this also includes touching on the history of the mainstream Seventh-day Adventist church. Lowell's education and early adult experiences were deeply entwined with the Seventh-day Adventist church. However, it would be a mistake to assume that his writing on the subject suffers from any degree of bias. There is a sense that he took on the role of bystander, and this essentially gave him a valuable degree of separation and objectivity. Methodical in his approach and relentless with regard to research, Lowell delivers a surprising, connective, inside view of a divisive period in the growth and emergence of the separatist groups that were spawned within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Sparing nothing, he pares back the layers of doctrine, dogma and the heated nature of the schisms in the church. He deftly reveals the angst, divergence and egotism; but also humanity, desire for truth and humility. For all of these were present in the interchanges that shaped not only those movements that separated, but also the Seventh-day Adventist church. The first edition of 'Edges' was published in 1981. Reprinted now to a generation who did not share the past struggles is indeed worthwhile. It is because of the conflict and debate of those times that they now sit in the pews of churches of their choice, where 'saved by grace alone' is integral and unchallenged. Essentially, emergence from dissension is a human experience. It occurs with every doctrine, creed or organisation. There is a wider view - this is not only the history and narrative of one church's crises. It touches wherever we are in life. Ultimately, it is impossible to ignore the authenticity of Lowell's search. We sense that it means more than a disengaged treatise on a topic of interest. In the end it matters less whether he found viable answers to a religious dilemma. It is significant that he had the courage to ask questions. Above all, it is notable that at the close of the book he chose the words spoken by Christ, 'Whosoever will, may come'.