Christopher Ogden, twice on the NY Times bestseller list ( Life of the Party, Maggie, Legacy, renowned correspondent, lecturer )
" ...I could not put it down."
"Good descriptions and dialogue..."
"..good job, interesting/ believable characters, great storyline." "...Smart writing, move along theme, incorporation of Brexit with enough detail to make it credible, but without getting bogged down."
""Congratulations."
As for using my comments about Oo-roo: absolutely.
“... I have finished Oo-roo by way of London, Dublin, Bend and Glenbrook - with snippets of Moscow, Leningrad, Cairns, Canberra and Tuross Head interlaced - and enjoyed it very much.
Thank you. And let me add, good job, you, er ... mister.
Good characters. Good story line. Smart pinning it, the move along theme, to Brexit with enough detail to make it credible, but without getting bogged down.
Certainly lots of relationships, adventures, and stories told that should suit one of your main goals - a legacy to so many who know and care about you - who has seen, done and cared greatly about them and has much to share, not all of which can or should be classically on the record.
I'm not going to ask one thing about how much actually happened and how much you created for novelistic or "enhanced reality" purposes.
I choose to believe everything - the Jack stuff, the AIS, the ops, the folks in shadows - is true.
Good dialogue and descriptions especially the Christmas visit in Oregon with skiing, fishing and just dealing with all that family. You set a nice atmosphere and scene there, mister.
Your leavening of the tale with art and cultural references, the visits to museums and natural history sites, the focus on aboriginal/indigenous histories was all excellent value added, I thought.
I liked the attention you paid to the chalice and Tara brooch, special care when, let's face it, the Hermes scarf and a simple Tiffany solitaire might have sufficed.
Then, of course, I went to Google maps and checked out Tuross Head because, well because that's what I do. Looks pretty great too, nice double beach, manageable town.
So, thank you again …”