Community & Business
14 October, 2022
Mareeba author releases adventure novel
PROLIFIC author Dick Eussen has just re-leased his second novel and this time, he is taking readers on a journey of murder and organised crime, all set around the peaceful fishing town of Karumba.
Mr Eussen has been writing articles and books since 1957, penning seven books on subjects he is passionate about fishing, hunting and travel and for a variety of fishing and hunting magazines over the years, being published in the UK, Japan and US.
He still contributes articles to several monthly magazines that cover shooting, hunting, fishing and 4WD adventures, but now the Mareeba author is trying his hand at fiction for the second time.
“I wanted to write fiction for a long time and I wrote a couple but I couldn’t get them published, now I’ve found an independent publisher, Greg Barron, who is a very well-known writer of Australiana and he was willing to give me a go,” Mr Eussen said.
He admits there is no real money writing books, and, for him, it’s more about self-satisfaction.
“I’m a frustrated writer, I’m 80 years old – people who are my age are bored, but I never get bored, I go fishing and camping and I enjoy the writing,” he said.
“I never get writer’s block because I write when I feel like it – I leave it for a while then go back to it but it’s probably taken about three years to complete.”
His first novel, “Stone Justice”, was released last year, and now he has just
completed “The Crocodile Coast”, a 260-page book that revolves around an organised crime gang who take over Karumba, setting off a chain reaction of murder and kidnapping along the wilderness coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria.
“I have gone back to the told style of adventure writing which has been dropped because of political correctness,” he said.
Mr Eussen has drawn on characters he has met during his life and relied on knowledge he has gathered from the many different occupations and experiences he has had over the past 80 years.
He would also love to see the book turned into a film and says he will continue to pursue this in the future.
While his latest novel has taken three years to complete, he already has ideas for a third novel which he is keeping close to his chest.
“The Crocodile Coast” is available at Mareeba News Agency or the Under Blue Skies Book Shop, in Byrnes Street.
