John Terry Moore Fiction

25/03/2025

24/03/2025

Dear People,

During 2023, we were given two dogs, both females, and sisters from the same litter.
Marilyn and Liz.
They replaced Jenkins, a GAWS dog who passed away in May 2023.
Marilyn and Liz will be 1 year old in April.
They are Labrador crossed with German Short-Haired Pointer.
They have been de-sexed, immunised, wormed monthly and are in perfect condition.
They are registered with the City of Greater Geelong.
Just after they were gifted to us, I became ill while on holidays overseas and was airlifted home.
In total, I spent 14 weeks in hospital and continue to have nursing treatment three times weekly.
I’m 82, and Russell, my husband will turn 70 in April.
Sadly, we have found the dogs too large for us to handle and wish to surrender them.
We could keep them here temporarily until new owners are found.
They are very much individuals and would flourish independently of each other.
They're very good with children, and humans of all ages.

THEY ARE FREE TO A GOOD HOME.

Many thanks

Russell Baum and John Moore

John Terry Moore
The Villa Peculiar
12 Wandana Drive
Wandana Heights VIC 3216
Australia
Telephone 61 3 5241 7434
Mobile 0407 048602
https://www.facebook.com/johnterrymoorefiction
Author of:
“Black Dog” Dreamspinner Press 2014
“A Nice Normal Family” Dreamspinner Press 2016
“The Eleventh Commandment” Dreamspinner Press 2021/2022
“A Gentle Man” Dreamspinner Press 2024

John Terry Moore Fiction is an 100% Australian. LGBTQIA+ related fiction site.
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11/07/2024

As a young gay man growing up in southwest Victoria, Nick Williams leads a charmed life. But when his father dies a few days before Nick’s eighteenth birthday, it changes the course of Nick’s life. From rural Australia to India, Nick builds a life as a successful businessman only to watch it cru...

05/07/2024

The international and Australian launches of my latest novel, "A Gentle Man" occurred in June. The Australian Launch was held at Beav's Bar, Geelong in association with the "Better Together 2024" conference for and by LGBTIQIA+ people, on June 14th and 15th.

24/12/2022

Happy Things!

2022 Villa Peculiar

Dearly Beloved,
Well, here we are staring down the barrel of yet another Christmas while we haven’t properly left the last one behind. As one ages, time, our only commodity of any value, accelerates like a jet. It’s impossible to control, the months speed past as our decrepitude finds new ways of coping with The Brave World of Senior Age.
This year saw “The Eleventh Commandment” my most recent novel launched overseas after covid and confusion with distributors stuffed the Australian launch last year. I’m working on another epic tome but as The Child Bride and I have both been unwell my writing has slowed somewhat.
in April, while searching for little trinkets at Vinnies South Geelong, I managed to fall over their parking barrier of one inch pipe when returning to the car. One would have hoped that God or Jesus would have saved me, indeed I have a sneaking suspicion a heavenly hand probably pushed me. As a result, I officially have A Dicky Knee which prevents me from performing in Swan Lake this year. They did offer me the part of the dying swan, but I declined, I can’t afford to lose any more feathers.
The Child Bride, some months ago, also had twinges in an awkward place --- the Achilles tendon. A lifetime of skipping around hard cement floors as a chef duly blamed for the injury. Eventually we shared the same surgeon at the 5-star hotel around the corner ---- Epworth Geelong. TCB is in recovery phase now with a very fetching and adjustable moon boot.
Oh, Senior Years ---- going to bed is even more interesting than ever. We have an evening shower, so TCB disposes of the moon boot, teeth, glasses bling etc and I help with the drying off. Taking care to ensure all the di**le dangles are perfectly dry. Then I follow, glasses, hearing aids etc are dispensed with. Naughty Thoughts?? Well, that’s a joke Joyce because there’s more of us in the bathroom than in the bedroom. TCB’s teeth glare at my hearing aids which are turned down to avoid the profanities. The bling sparkles and lights up the ensuite like preparation for a lunar eclipse. Out in the bedroom there is enough snoring to drown out the Australian Symphony Orchestra playing “The Flight of the Bumblebee.”
Around 2.00am my pacemaker “talks” to the monitor under the bed which transmits information all over the world, ensuring those interested that I’m still alive. If there’s a stumble or two the ambos come knocking at the door. If they’re not still ramped up at University Hospital, that is.
Great Fun!! Senior Age has its lighter moments, as it were.
On a more confidential note, keep an eye out for the New Year’s Honors List. I’ve been told I’m included.
Yes, the OBE ---- certainly somewhat anachronistic in modern Australia, but my proposer thinks it’s entirely appropriate.
OVER BLOODY EIGHTY

Merry Christmas and a Ripper New Year
from
THE GRUMPY OLD MAN AND ---- THE CHILD BRIDE #######################################X

07/08/2022

Dear All,

No doubt you’ve heard of the passing of Judith Durham, lead singer of The Seekers.
She and I had two things in common; we were both born in Hobart, and both in 1943.
Her voice was so clear and so powerful, yet she blended perfectly with the boys; Bruce Woodley, Keith Potger and Athol Guy.
I know I date myself, but I was fanatical about most folk music when I was younger ---- The Seekers tunes bring back memories of my youth every time they are played.
I had some sad periods in my youth, but Judith and The Seekers always gave me a lift
May she rest peacefully

John #####################xx

30/04/2022

Some time in the future:
Pages 327/328 of "A Nice Normal Family"

Angela Chan led the Labor Party to victory and became prime minister in the new government with an almost unchanged majority; Paul Sinclair retained leadership of the Coalition, and Jye Chandler continued on as leader of the Greens. Situation normal at that level of government.
But that’s where the normality ceased and the birth of a new country began. What the Australian people did was to elect me as their first president of the Republic of Australia, an amazing honor.
Whether I liked it or not, my name would be forever written into the history books as the first president. What I had to do was ensure I was a good president, someone that the public could point to and say that I inspired people to reach for the stars and be proud to be Australian.
The post required me to be somewhat of a figurehead, my duties not dissimilar to the old post of governor-general.
The administrative details were straightforward, but no one had written the Australian Presidential Owner’s Manual, and like pregnancy, I had the job in front of me. I was expected to offer advice to the prime minister of the time, but only after it was requested.
Fair enough, I was the executive arm of government, not the government itself. Furthermore, I was expected to be totally nonpartisan in approach and had resigned my membership of the Labor Party (somewhat sadly), to demonstrate my complete impartiality.
When I asked Sammy what he thought I should do, his response was typically Sammy. “Be yourself, Jacko. That’s why you were elected, don’t change.”

We began to look ahead again, as a family and as a country.
The messages flowing from the ASEAN countries on a daily basis were amazing, to look back on that period in office and realize we’d captured so many hearts and minds with some hard work, common sense, and courtesy was reward enough.
I had to be careful however; leaders always wanted to avoid the possibility of red tape and get an instant decision—from me. I had to explain even though I was the new president, I couldn’t get involved in the day-by-day decision-making process of government. But I would help facilitate the process for Angela and her ministers by referring our Asian friends to the right person.
Singapore had been the chair of ASEAN for that year, and Jimmy Tan, prime minister and our lovely mate, rang me at Yarralumla. He and Sanjay thrived, despite all the predictions to the contrary. They already had two kids and unwavering support from the Singaporean community. Singapore boomed again when everyone thought it had outgrown itself, but he was particularly happy today, I could hear it in his voice. “What about we hold the annual meeting of ASEAN in Canberra early next year?” he asked.
“That’s lovely, mate, but we’re not members of ASEAN.”
“You will be next week.”
My head spun.
This was just such good news, the culmination of all our hard work recognized at last. Our cousins in Asia embracing us because we were finally our own entity, not tied to a former colonial power. Our transition to independence had convinced our ASEAN friends we meant business and we wanted to belong to a new family, the ASEAN family.
Job done, and I actually allowed myself to feel a real sense of achievement. Because it was much more than trade and economic benefits, it was family, where we trusted each other and would grow closer as the years rolled on.

14/03/2022

Always look for the silver lining ---- even under the worst circumstances there's always hope. We tend to think that our problems are ours alone but in fact there are people close to us who have a better perspective because they're not so intimately involved. This passage is from "The Eleventh Commandment" where Matt disappears leaving a note for Ben thinking he is a straight man and as much as he likes him thinks him unsuitable as a partner in life. Chapter 38 pages 114/115:

Chapter 38
THE HUNT BEGINS
Mia and Garry were home around 10:00 p.m. By that time I’d calmed down a little, but I still felt like s**t. I was blaming myself for fu***ng up my life yet again, and I knew I was in a bad place, without having the faintest idea how to get him back. The moment Mia walked in the door and saw my face, she knew something was wrong. I showed her the letter. After she read it, she handed it to Garry, who looked like he was about to burst into tears. Through my pain, I realized it wasn’t only me that would feel the loss of Matt, but the entire family group.
I spread my hands. “What are we going to do?” I said and lost it totally.
Garry picked me up like a rag doll, carried me to the big comfy sofa, and enveloped me in his typical bear hug, while Mia started cooking eggs.
After I’d eaten, we sat around with a cup of tea. “What am I going to tell Peter?” I said, knowing his reaction would be extreme; the loss to Peter would be far worse than when Tammy left. He and Matt adored each other.
“You tell your son the truth,” Mia said. “He’s intelligent, and you’d insult him by telling him fibs. Show him the letter, and he’ll work through it himself… with our help, of course.”
I slept only fitfully that night, the peaceful sleep of Matt and me cuddled up seemingly gone forever. The next morning I struggled out. I had a rough plan in my head, but I would need a leave of absence from Waratah Centre and Jamie Weiss’s blessing before I went anywhere. I showered, dressed, and as stressed as I was, the smell of bacon cooking got my attention. Mum, still in her hospital gear, was cooking me breakfast, and I felt slightly better about life in general.
“Mia told me your news, dear. Stay calm, sit down, and eat,” she said, and I did. I helped clear away, showed her the letter, and she nodded, full of wisdom as usual.
“There was always something there, dear,” she said. “I couldn’t put my finger on it. He was happy, but he had moments of fear sometimes when you two were at your closest. But you have to find him and tell him how you view your own sexuality, a fact of life I’ve always understood, even if you haven’t.”
A mother’s intuition. How right she was. But this wasn’t going to find Matt.
“Ben, I know this is terribly hard on you because it looks like he’s rejected you,” Mum continued, “but he hasn’t. He’s terrified of his own feelings for some reason. Maybe he’s still grieving for his late husband, but don’t overlook the fact that he’s in love with you. He said so.”
“So what are you trying to tell me, Mum?” I asked.
“That things have a way of resolving themselves, particularly when people love each other as much as you two do.”

I rang Jamie on the way to work to ask him if I could see him very early, and minutes later, I sat down with him. He looked startled as I handed him the letter, and then nodded as he read it.
“You need to find him quick smart, mate, and you’ll need a leave of absence, won’t you?”
Before I had a chance to answer, he started rattling away at the keyboard on his desktop. I had compassionate leave on half pay for a month, and a smiling boss asking me if I needed more cash, which he’d give me from his own pocket.
“Think about what you need to achieve,” he said. “Don’t run all over the place. You need to plan this, because young Matthew clearly doesn’t want to be found, certainly at the moment. And take care, Ben. I have a feeling this situation will resolve itself in the long term anyway.”
“That’s what Mum said.”

21/02/2022

Remember, this is fiction.
I try to present stories to my readers which at the time may sound a little far-fetched, but I ensure the people and the scenarios are POSSIBLE!
Like a gay Prime Minister who takes his husband and kids around South East Asia on a trade mission!
Like an attempted assassination of said PM during the state visit of the President of the Philippines to Australia.
Like the frightening rise of the far right in Australian politics.
Like the creation of the Republic of Australia.
Etc.

This is from "A Nice Normal Family" Chapter 67:

I’m sitting here just staring out the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, quite a peaceful, almost bucolic scene. Suddenly there’s a high-pitched whine like a jet engine as the very latest of Indonesian garden and lawn care sweeps into view with the President driving. Surprise, surprise.
A group of bemused gardeners are looking on as he sweeps past the windows, waving to me with a huge grin all over his face.
The child is still there, the wonder of things mechanical, particularly those related to his first job, all those years ago at the City. And his love of talking to the workers. “Our mates,” he calls them, and it’s not hard to understand why everyone regards him as their special mate.
There’s some gray at the temples now, which makes him look even hotter, and while he appears to be a little thicker around the waist, he’s not even a kilo heavier—not bad for a forty-five-year-old. He won’t ever be 100 percent again; his left shoulder was smashed so badly it took surgeons five operations to reconstruct and rebuild it. Most people wouldn’t notice, but I do. He carries himself a little differently when he walks, and he just can’t swing his left arm as far as he should.
But as he says, he’s still here and continuing to give everyone buggery, as it were.
It’s now nearly three years since the tragedy; we regard it as such because it was a turning point in history where we finally had to say “enough is enough”—politicians and honored visitors shouldn’t feel threatened in any way, let alone risk their lives because a tiny minority doesn’t agree with the majority. The Army and our security retaliated swiftly and two people died that day: Andrew Fitch and Jeremy Lowther. Both of them had grudges against Jacko; Lowther was retired early because of his blatant homophobia, and Fitch, who was defeated by Jacko in Hinchcliffe, was mentally ill and allowed to roam unchecked, conning his way around his medical contacts to stay out of institutions. Both were embroiled in Australia First, blindly swept along in a shared hatred of minorities, particularly same-sex couples and Asian people.
The National Capital Private Hospital was front and center on everyone’s television screens that day, with one channel providing a round-the-clock commentary, even through the night.
Mine was a flesh wound, even though it hurt like hell, but Jacko was in a bad way. His shoulder was literally in pieces, he’d lost a lot of blood, and was put into an induced coma so they could stabilize his overall condition. I remember the kids coming in with Mum and Peter. Max was so frightened, but Kate was seething—so far as she was concerned, the people who tried to murder us were better off dead. I think she would have dealt with them herself.
Ferdinand and Raina were inconsolable, but it was Angela and Christina, together with Paul and Joan Sinclair, who stepped up and took over. And dear Jenny. Suddenly situations were reversed and she hadn’t forgotten.
She stayed close by me as I’d been able to do for her when she lost her husband. She wanted me on my feet as soon as possible, because of the kids. “Once they see you upright, they’ll relax,” she said, and she was right.

The shock and disbelief around the world reflected in the press at home and overseas. It was referred to as an assassination attempt, which it was, albeit carried out by two amateurs whose mental health in both cases was highly suspect.
But it was enough, and Angela was determined.
Jacko, finally conscious twenty-four hours later and able to comprehend her request, told her to do it.
“No,” she said, and I smiled, guessing what was coming. “I can’t take this legislation to the JPR and then the parliament without telling the people what’s going on and why. I need to do a fireside chat. Do you approve?”
I knew my husband was going to be okay as he turned his head and smiled at Angela. “You silly bitch, you don’t need my permission, just fu***ng do it.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Okay, boss, don’t get your knickers damp. I’ll just make sure they give you a telly in here tomorrow night.”
The following evening Angela Chan as deputy prime minister gave the nation an update on Jacko’s health and told the nation the government under the circumstances was preparing to tighten legislation much further to outlaw any individual or organization who threatened national security, such as Australia First. Membership of such an organization would mean immediate imprisonment for up to one year, whether or not those arrested had committed any crime. Membership and/or association was enough.
“This is extreme legislation directed at extreme people, and I don’t need to tell you it crosses the borderline between democracy and anarchy. If it makes you all feel any better, I asked the prime minister in a lucid moment and he agreed.
“This time not only was his life threatened, but also that of his husband, so the perpetrators made the decision for us. Our leaders and their families need to go about their business in safety. Being elected as your representatives shouldn’t mean we have to risk our lives doing what you’ve paid us to do. It is also vital that leaders of foreign nations, particularly our friends in Asia, should feel they can visit our nation at short notice, particularly if they want to do business with us. Recent events could have ruined our relationship with the ASEAN nations, but I know they will support us in what we must do. Support for us around the world has been extraordinary, and the prime minister’s room isn’t large enough to accommodate all the flowers and chocolates that have arrived. He asked me to assure you that he will be some months recuperating, but I intend consulting with him daily as he progresses. He thanks you all for your best wishes but asks that you focus on two things, luck and love, because if it hadn’t been for his husband’s foresight and bravery, he wouldn’t be alive today.”