Back in the day, I was a great journalist who fearlessly exposed wrongdoing and won many awards. At least that was the scenario which often unfolded in my head as I bitterly slumped over my newsroom desk puffing on my crack pipe after being beaten to the front page yet again.

In truth, I was a bit of a square peg in a round hole because it didn't take me very long to figure out newspaper journalism's alarmist, self-serving, superficial, celebrity-obsessed, holier than thou bullshit. Don't go to the beach cos even if you avoid skin cancer the sharks will bite off your leg! Strap a GPS to your kids otherwise those paedos on every street corner will get 'em! Oh, look it's a cute dog that can roller skate! And wow, Lady Ga Ga's in town and she's eating a Cornetto!

Those who became news editors and the like didn't strike me as actually being much cop at their jobs but tended to be people simply willing to take on responsibility. And what's more, a fair few journos I worked with were self-important, humourless types who lacked a critical perspective. They really thought all that PR-fed stuff with their little byline on it mattered.

Hell, I know I did.

Anyway, during my time in Perth I used to go to news conferences and if the story was big enough the TV crews would turn up. On occasion I'd spot this Channel Ten journo/news anchor called Charmaine Dragun. She seemed the polar opposite to me - professional, dedicated and actually going somewhere in the world of journalism. Once I even shared a lift with her, making me realise what a tiny frail little thing she was. I said hello and she smiled and said hello back.

And that was that. Except it wasn't and I guess that ten-second journey sharing a lift provided the spark to write my latest short story Dead Man's Fall. Charmaine, you see, killed herself by jumping off a cliff. I didn't write about Charmaine in the story but it's odd how even the briefest contact with someone who commits suicide can stay in your head.

If you ever watch the excellent documentary The Bridge (about the suicides from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge) it suggests that one of the myriad reasons that can cause people to kill themselves is to ensure they're not forgotten. I doubt very much this even played the slightest part in Charmaine's tragic demise as she was already on the telly most nights but I'm equally sure that all those who came into contact with her will also never forget her.

And apparently a million people a year worldwide kill themselves.

Dead Man's Fall is one of the stories in my collection of short fiction, Straitjacket Blues. It's on Amazon US and will shortly be available from all the other major ebook retailers. http://www.amazon.com/Straitjacket-Bl...