Books with author Richard Meryman

MCALISTER’S WAY FREE Weekly Serialisation Volume 13 Chapters 24 — 25The FINAL Volume!A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersThank you for taking the time to read this serialisation. I hope you liked reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.EpilogueWhen I first wrote McAlister’s Way I had no plans for a sequel. In fact I was thinking of turning my Viking novel, The Wealth, into a trilogy, which still might happen. However after writing the epilogue I realised I couldn’t leave the story hovering so Danny and Angela’s adventures grew into a four-volume set.I wrote McAlister’s Spark in the middle of it all, which is a post-apocalyptic survival adventure with our collator Zach taking centre-stage.I have also added three McAlister prequels set in the Napoleonic Wars, Wild West and WWI. I’m working on a fourth, set during the Spanish Civil War and into WWII which will give an uninterrupted 200 years of McAlister Family action and adventure.FOLLOW Danny, Angelia, Monty, Frenchy and the rest of the characters in this series in action-packed adventure after adventure across South East Asia, Africa, the USA, the UK, and beyond in the other books of The McAlister Line.Download this FREE volume to get the full list.Richard Marman, Author==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, Danny, military, helicopters, choppers, soldiers, airmen, boarding school, priests, child abuse, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, New Guinea, CMF, enlist, Kodoka Track, MIA, Missing In Action, Japanese surrender, WWII, war, WW2, Tropic of Capricorn, Rockhampton,, aerodynamics, airport, Andrew, Ange, assign, Aunt, beach, behead, bio, Bishop, bloke, burial, chemo, coach, Cobar, Collins, colony, Commissioner, complaint, complete, concentrate, Dad, Daiman Ailan, Daiman-Sikmanmeri, Dana, DC-3, Dakota, C-47, Skytrain, Desmond, die, disease, doctor, Doris, dorky, dozen, egg-heads, Elizabeth, engines, England, enroll, experience, fleet, flight-planning, Frenchy, friends, future, gaol, Gertrude, Girls, glam, Googled, Goose, Gordon, Grace, Grandpa, grandson, handsome, happy, holiday, Hons, Horii, hospital, island, Jack, Jane, Joan, Kago, kinda, knew, know, Lady Burdekin, Lae, landing, laptop, Lenny, London, looker, man-hug, Manus, marry, maths, MBE, McAlister’s, medical, memories, military, Monsignor, Monty, Nan, Natalie, Navy, Nem, nerdy, New Guinea, Nogat, NSW, ocean, Pacific, paddocks, PhD, physics, pilot, pirates, plane, Professor, Rabaul, radio, samurai, scarper, school, scum, sea, secret, Sister, Southern, Stanley, stories, sugar cane, sword, Sydney, tall-tales, Taylor, Tynan, University, Ursicinus, wicked, Will, woman, Wynter, Zach, Zachary. leprosy

Zach McAlister’s mother is sick and due to go into hospital for an operation. To “get him out the way” his father puts him on a flight to Merimbula, New South Wales, Australia where he is met by his Grandfather Danny McAlister.Out on his Grandfather’s ranch, or what’s left of it, it didn’t take Zach long to become bored silly. Hunting around for things to do, he finds a box of old photos and a strip of six medals hidden away. The photos were mostly dog-eared and ragged at the edges. Mostly they were of young blokes hanging around tanks and military stuff, and there were lots of choppers. You know, those beat up ones you see in all the war movies. When he looked closer he realised that most of the guys in the photos didn’t look much older than Zach himself! And then there were the letters from a woman named Angela.He takes the box to his Grandfather and asks him about the medals and the photos, and that’s where our story starts, well kind off.KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, Danny, military, helicopters, choppers, soldiers, airmen, boarding school, priests, child abuse, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, New Guinea, CMF, enlist, Kodoka Track, MIA, Missing In Action, Japanese surrender, WWII, war, WW2, Tropic of Capricorn, Rockhampton,

MCALISTER’S WAY - FREE Weekly SerialisationVolume 6 Chapters 10 — 11A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersMore personal insights from the author.Chapter 10New Guinea was a great place to visit during the 1970s, but if don’t know much about today. I remember snorkelling on the reef off Madang. It wasn’t until I came back to the beach I saw the ‘Beware of Crocodiles’ sign which faced seawards. The ‘are-see’ gag actually happened on a flight across the United States.Chapter 11When I was a school kid I hated study and research, but now I love it because it leads you to unexpected places. I’d never heard of the Tuskegee Red Tails, before writing McAlister’s Way.Richard Marman, Author, Sunshine Coast==============For the FREE DOWNLOADS of Vols 1 through 5, go to https://www.facebook.com/McAlistersAdventures/==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, military, helicopters, choppers, DC3, Dakota, Gooney Bird, soldiers, airmen, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, abroad, air, airspeed, Angela, boat, calm, canoes, , All-Black, American, Angela Holyman, appear, Army, believe, Chennault, Christian, Corps, cyclone, Danny McAlister, fishing, Flight school, God, Goose, gunny, islands, lieutenant, Mad, man, military, Montgomery, Monty, New Guinea, niggers, Pacific, pilot, plane, planes, Port Moresby, sharks, village, villagers, war, water, yoke

MCALISTER’S WAY FREE Weekly Serialisation Volume 3 Chapters 4 & 5A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersHere are some more reflections to ponder over the next two serial chaptersChapter 4A teenager’s first sexual encounters can be awkward and embarrassing and I’ve tried to tackle the issue sympathetically and with tolerance. But, here’s a conundrum for you. In the case of boys an experienced woman may be just what they need to get the ball rolling — forgive the double-entendre — yet for girls an older man may be seen as a sexual predator.Chapter 5I fell in love with the Great Barrier Reef when I first went there in 1972 and have often snorkelled and occasionally dived there since then. Despite the latest bleaching, it’s still the most spectacular reef in the world. There is something extra special about sighting your first shark when snorkelling.==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, Danny, military, helicopters, choppers, soldiers, airmen, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, New Guinea, enlist, MIA, Missing In Action, Japanese, WWII, war, WW2, Tropic of Capricorn, Indo China, Vietnam, , accompanied, advantage, alcohol, a-penny-a-point, attention, AWU, bambino, barmaid, barracks, barroom, Beatrice, Beryl, Bob, Calm, camp, cane-cutters, Canna, cigarette-smoking, Cobar, Coles, coraggioso, Cowra, Criterion, cutters, damage, Danny, deck, den-of-iniquity, diesel, diggers, discover, dockside, drink, English, equipment, GI, Giovanni, girls, Gladys, Great Barrier Reef, grog, handsome, hell, Hotel, hover, Hoy, hydro-electric, inch-by-inch, Italian, Jack, killed, Lady Burdekin, Lenny, luck, machine, Mackay, Margaret, married, meat-and-two-veg, Noemi, north, opportunity, Penina, Plantation, POW, prawn, Ricci, roared into life, rozzers, Saturday, scatter, shack, shotgun, soon, stiletto-heeled, trawler, truck, under age, union, veranda, Whitsunday Islands, woman, work, XXXX

McALISTER’S WAY VOLUME 09FREE Weekly Serialisation - Chapters 16 & 17A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersChapter 16I had some fun writing chapter with Monty teasing Angela at every opportunity. I’d never thought about the origins of a Big-Mac but it didn’t take much digging to find out, so I thought I share that information with you in this chapter.Chapter 17Take-off for float-planes is a lot trickier than land-bases planes. The water surface acts like glue and a huge amount of drag has to be overcome before the plane becomes airborne. It’s like water-skiing — once you’re planing it’s easy to jump above the surface. This chapter introduces Sim Long Li, for whom I have a special affection. Although I nearly went crazy getting his accent right and changing his ‘Rs’ for ‘Ls’.Richard Marman, Author, Sunshine Coast, Australia==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Angela Holyman, Zach, military, helicopters, choppers, DC3, Dakota, Gooney Bird, soldiers, airmen, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, MIA, Missing In Action, surrender, WWII, war, WW2, Tropic of Capricorn, Vietnam, Korea, Indo China, , Ailan, airstrip, Asian, beach, coral, daddy, Daiman-Sikmanmeri, Danny McAlister, fish, girls, Goose, Graham, hospital, island, Japanese, jetty, Kago, Kagotaun, Lae, landing, medical, Montgomery, Monty, plane, sea, shack, shirring, shore, supplies, surged, tidal, tsunami, volcano, war, wave

MCALISTER’S WAY FREE Volume 10 - Weekly Serialisation Chapters 18 — 19A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersChapter 18So many ex-servicemen, especially those who’ve seen combat or been wounded are now diagnosed with PTSD, some people feel it may be a band-wagon in many cases. PTSD manifests itself in so many different ways how can anyone judge what is a genuine case or simply a bad day. I have a completely irrational reaction to crashing kitchenware, bicycle bells and I’m rubbish as a car passenger all of which may be PTSD symptoms. So many Vietnam vets were unable to re-assimilate after coming home many went back to SE Asia where they felt more at ease.Chapter 19One mystery of WWII is revealed in this chapter — well it’s a possibility I couldn’t let pass by. Sometimes the joy of writing a historical novel is the actual events were so exciting, you just place your characters in the middle of it all and let the story tell itself. What was the mystery? Well there’s only one way to find out - and it's FREE. So what are you waiting for…………==============FORMATS: ePub, Kindle & PDFFor the FREE DOWNLOADS of Vols 1 through 9, go to https://www.facebook.com/McAlistersAdventures/ or check out your favourite eBook store.==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: Richard Marman, Author, Sunshine Coast, New South Wales, Australia, McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Angela Holyman, Zach, military, helicopters, choppers, DC3, Dakota, Gooney Bird, soldiers, airmen, attack, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, MIA, Missing In Action, surrender, WWII, war, WW2, Tropic of Capricorn, Vietnam, Korea, Indo China, Ailan, anaesthetic, atrocities, beach, big-house, Blimey, bloody, boat, Celeste, cheongsams, clambered, Daiman, girls, God, half, hands, huts, Imperial, islands, Japanese, jetty, jungle, Kago, Kagotaun, Kennedy, landslide, Mayu, Monty, out-rigger, people, pier, prisoner, punch, race, Rocky, shoreline, Sister, soldier, Stanley, Struth, sword, undergrowth, volunteers, war, wave, wharf, wound, yell

MCALISTER’S WAY - FREE Weekly Serialisation Volume 4 Chapters 6 & 7A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersMore musing from the author……….Chapter 6When I first immigrated to Australia, Aboriginals were not yet citizens and the cultural-clash this caused still exists. For native people to evolve socially in two hundred years when it took Europeans ten thousand is a big ask and all the well-intentioned interventions won’t change that.Chapter 7I started flying sixteen years after Danny McAlister’s adventure, but know Townsville and Port Moresby Airports well. The weather is wonderful in the dry-season while it can be treacherous in during the wet.Richard Marman, Author, Sunshine Coast=================KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, military, helicopters, choppers, soldiers, airmen, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, Townsville, Port Moresby, , airborne, ammunition, beach, Bob, bully-beef, Cape York, cargo, Clements, Coastwatchers, Cobar, cockpit, contraband, co-pilot, crates, Dakota, Danny, DC-3, dingy, engines, Garbutt, gooney-bird, Guadalcanal, inspection, instruments, Island, Jack, Japanese, Lady Burdekin, Lou, Magnetic Bearing, Major, military, New Guinea, Penina, pilot, plane, RAAF, radio, Royal Australian Air Force, runway, scramble, service, sharks, Sid, slam, slipstream, smuggle, soldiers, spear-fishing, take-off, tarmac, Townsville, underwater

MCALISTER’S WAY - FREE Weekly Serialisation Volume 05 Chapters 8 & 9A Young Adult Action and Adventure Story for Baby BoomersBy now you’ve probably got the idea. I add a few thoughts about each chapter as we go along.Chapter 8A couple of years before Cyclone Tracy (1974) I flew through the eye of a cyclone en-route from Changi (Singapore) to Darwin (Northern Territory, Australia). I was a C-130 co-pilot at the time and was all for turning back to Singapore, but the skipper pressed on and boy did we cop a pounding on the approach to Darwin with just enough fuel to divert to Tindal where the weather wasn’t much better.Chapter 9One of the features of cyclones is how they build up over days, but can dissipate in hours. In 1986 I captained a Fokker Friendship around Australia on a Woman’s Weekly charter. We were in grounded in Katherine by a late season cyclone. We spent the day at Mataranka and went swimming in Bitter Springs. Water temperature 30°C, air temperature 30°C, humidity 100%, pouring rain. The next day the weather had cleared entirely.Richard Marman, Author, Sunshine Coast==============KEYWORDS/TAGS: McAlister’s Way, action, adventure, Zach, military, helicopters, choppers, DC3, Dakota, Gooney Bird, soldiers, airmen, attack, New South Wales, Australia, Sydney, Merimbula, plane, flight, fly, Young Adult, YA, explore, discover, aboard, air, airspeed, Angela, boat, calm, canoes, cargo, close, coconut, controls, crate, Danny, drop, engines, fin, float, fuselage, gooney-bird, ice, Indianapolis, jacket, life-jacket, little, Lou, natives, ocean, outrigger, palm, plane, pretty, propellers, raft, reach, scream, sea, seemed, shark, sharks, Sid, sky, start, storm, storm, surface, surround, swirl, tail, tropical, turned, Unfortunate, water, waves, wing, wings

What happens when a Vietnam War veteran chopper pilot puts pen to paper after retirement? Imagine the adventures and escapes a young RAAF pilot could, get up to in war-torn Southeast Asia and New Guinea. Just think of a volatile cocktail including the late Robin William’s "Good Morning Vietnam", Mel Gibson and Robert Downey jnr’s "Air America", Eagle comics "Luck of the Legion" and "Apocalypse Now", injected with Richard Marman’s own experience serving with the RAAF in Vietnam and New Guinea - and the result is The McAlister Line! So travel back to a time in quite recent history when so many young people were thrust into conflicts of the politicians’ making just as they are today. And like young men and women everywhere, when put into extraordinary circumstances, the adventures and escapes too, are extraordinary.As an ex-military chopper and heavy transport pilot who has visited many of the locations forming The McAlister Line backdrops, Marman knows what he is talking about. By his fifteenth birthday, Danny McAlister in on the run. He has escaped from a draconian boarding school after seriously injuring the principal. His flight takes him through Northern Queensland to the New Guinea Highlands where he searches for his father, lost while fighting the Japanese on the Kokoda Track. Thrown into an unforgiving adult world he grows up fast and becomes embroiled in union wars amongst cane cutters, joins the crew of prawn trawler in the Gulf of Carpentaria, gets mixed up with smugglers and New Guinea's burgeoning aviation industry. He teams up with ‘Mad’ Monty, an eccentric Afro-American pilot and Angela, the stunning teenage daughter of an English missionary. They must endure a series of harrowing adventures as they journey through New Guinea's Central Highlands and the islands in the Bismarck Sea where they face their final challenge against vicious Filipinopirates and discover the final secret of Danny's missing father.‘...Masterfully handled and quite eloquent ...Wonderful.’‘I liked this book....it covered issues that needed to be addressed.’2012 Australian CYA Writing Competition Judges

On his seventeenth birthday, New South Wales farm boy, Callan McAlister joins the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and is swept away to war. His first taste of blood comes from an unexpected enemy in the Sinai Desert, before being shipped to Gallipoli. Callan receives a shock while convalescing in peaceful, idyllic Ireland during the Easter of 1916. But the Western Front awaits — all before his nineteenth birthday.Callan falls in love with a lovely English beauty, Ivy Brown, but their path to happiness is neither easy nor pre-ordained. A lowly Australian private soldier is viewed with doubt and disapproval by Ivy’s aristocratic family — not to mention Callan’s chances of surviving the brutality of the Great War.An offer to join the fledgling Royal Flying Corps (RFC) may be Callan’s chance to escape the endless mud-filled trenches, infested with rats, lice, trench fever and foot-rot, and tormented by German machine-gunners and artillery bombardments. But, with minimal training, an RFC pilot’s life expectancy is tenuous at best. Ivy also experiences her baptism of fire as an ambulance driver for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY).Callan and Ivy’s struggle reaches its startling climax in an air race to the far reaches of the British Empire where law and justice are the domain of the most powerful and those ruthless enough to go to any lengths to achieve their desires.If you read only one book set against WWI during its centenary anniversary, make it McAlister and the Great War. This novel, ranging across a truly global canvas, explores many fascinating and thrilling historical incidents that occurred during the tragic conflict.