52 ratings | 12 reviews | avg rating:4.73

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David Allan-Petale

Goodreads Author

Born

Perth, Australia

Website

http://davidallanpetale.com/

Genre

Fiction, Contemporary

Influences

Lawrence Durrell, Tom Wolfe, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Gillian ...more

Member Since

November 2018

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David Allan-Petale is a writer from Perth, Western Australia, whose debut novel Locust Summer was published to critical acclaim by the renowned Fremantle Press and long-listed for the 2022 ALS Gold Medal for "an outstanding literary work."
The manuscript was shortlisted for the 2017 The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, with judge Stephen Romei praising it as ‘a sharp meditation on the separation of life from land.’
Locust Summer was selected for a development fellowship at Varuna, The National Writers’ House, which kindled an 18-month road trip around Australia in a caravan where David explored the country with his young family while advancing the manuscript, typing ‘the end’ on a beach at Kalbarri.
David is now back home in Perth working on ...more

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What mystery in your own life could be a plot for a book?

David Allan-Petale There's a family legend that says my great great grandfather stepped out to go to the shops for a pint of milk and never came back. All that remains o…moreThere's a family legend that says my great great grandfather stepped out to go to the shops for a pint of milk and never came back. All that remains of his legacy is an engraved butter knife my mother keeps with the silverware. (less)

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If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?

David Allan-Petale Like many children over many years, I was enthralled by C.S Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I'd love to step through the fur coats and se…moreLike many children over many years, I was enthralled by C.S Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I'd love to step through the fur coats and see the lamppost in the snow.
Grown up now, I would like to stand on the quarter deck of HMS Surprise with Captain Jack Aubrey and Mr Maturin in Patrick O'Brien's masterful naval books. (less)

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David Allan-Petale’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 281 ratings · 45 reviews · 1 distinct work • Similar authors

Locust Summer

3.88 avg rating — 281 ratings — published 2021 — 3 editions

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14 posts
David Allan-Petale's Blog

What reading “terrible” books teaches me about writing

While indulging in my procrastinating habit on Youtube, I stumbled onto a brilliant BBC Maestro video of the writer Alan Moore urging aspiring scribes to “not only read good books, read terrible books as well.”

He says the big reason for doing that is to have your tastes tested and confirmed, so that you can then utter the immortal phrase “Jesus Christ, I could write this sh*t.”

Moore reckons readin

David is Currently Reading

David Allan-Petale is currently reading

Bewilderment

by Richard Powers

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Nov 23, 2021 05:46PM

David Allan-Petale is currently reading

Bitter Wash Road

by Garry Disher

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Oct 27, 2021 07:07AM

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