Nathaniel F. Robinson - don't ask what the ‘F.' stands for - is a seventeen year-old, vaguely attractive blond who lives in Melbourne.
Nathaniel enjoys reading and collecting comic books, dabbling in the dark arts, and attracting legions of female fans. His real passion is, however, writing.
‘The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne' is Nathaniel's second novel, but the only one in which he has plans to publish. He has been writing enthusiastically since he was just twelve years of age, but has only been considered any good when he turned sixteen.
Nathaniel takes a large amount of inspiration from the writings of Roger Zelazny (dead), John Brunner (also dead), and H.P. Lovecraft (very, very dead).
Nathaniel F. Robinson detests writing short biographies on himself, for exactly the same reason he hates writing in second person; he can't help but imagine the thing turning into a Choose-Your-Own Adventure.
Nathaniel's always been strangely fearful of Choose-Your-Own Adventures.
The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne
The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne, often abbreviated to just 'The Secret Vocab' or 'SV', is the first book in a trilogy that concerns the next three hundred years of Secret Australia's magical fate.
It came about as a strange amalgamation of many different sources: the author's dissatisfaction with 'conventional' urban fantasy/science fiction, a drive to write something experimental, and a macabre interest in all things horrible and twisted. It was also, in part, inspired by the New Wave style of science fiction writing, the caste system of India, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia and what is perhaps the most horrifying influence of all: Australian politics and sociology.
The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne is, at the present stage, planned as a trilogy - with 'The Secret Prophecy of Secret Melbourne' to begin in late 2008, and 'The Secret Purges of Secret Melbourne' to be written around late 2009, if all goes well. The novels have also inspired a screenplay - to be turned into a short, indie film in mid 2009 - and a pen and paper role-playing game, which is still in production.
The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne has always been designed to be confronting, comedic, and fantastic - inspiring a familiar sense of escapism within the reader coupled with the contradictory and disquieting sense of alienation. It was not planned until around chapter 46, though now it has some semblance of a plot - the protagonist just happened to be in the right chapter at the wrong time. Secret Vocab draws heavily from the occult and pagan traditions of the world, twisting and distorting these viewpoints beyond recognition. It may be easier to take if you see the whole thing as an allegory, a series of terrible and tasteless metaphores describing Australia at large - actually, that might make it even harder.
The Secret Vocab of Secret Melbourne will stand at about 100,000 words, to see publication in late 2008.