The Sparky

Aaron's been living in what his friend Howie calls a sexual desert. But an oasis appears on the horizon when Paul, a divorced electrician with a five-year-old daughter named Sam, moves in next door. He's a country boy from northern Australia, and although he's never been with a guy before, he has an impression that anything goes in the city. They find that the ordinary things in life¿books, footie in the park, looking after Sam¿lead them into an unlikely relationship. But as their relationship slowly deepens, with Aaron spending time on Paul's family's cattle station, it becomes clear that Paul might have a harder time leaving the country behind. To him, happiness means a conventional life¿including a mother for Sam. Being with his old friends convinces him he's on the wrong path with Aaron, and he starts a relationship with a girl from his hometown. If he cannot find the courage to go after what he truly needs, he and Aaron will become nothing more than awkward neighbours.

Marek Moran is, in his day job, a computer science professor. If you want to know about shortest-path graph algorithms, he's your man. However, that's probably not why you're reading this. He currently lives in Sydney, Australia, and has previously lived in France, Germany, and the US. He enjoys traveling around and listening to people talk: he's learned to respond to enquiries after his wellbeing with a ça va merci, sehr gut danke, or copacetic, thanks. The only member of his book club to like George Eliot's Mill on the Floss, he's discovered that he enjoys writing romance as well as reading it; the other members of his book club don't yet know this. He plays piano, squash, and his cards close to his chest. The Sparky is his first novel. He will be delighted to receive your e-mail at marekmorangie@gmail.com.