Cooktown author Eric George, who writes under the pen name of Jaqueline George, shows off his latest offering, Oasis, which promises readers thrills with spies, soldiers, dancing girls and ancient Egyptian ghosts. Photo: Supplied.
A Cooktown author is promising mystery, intrigue and just a little bit of romance with his latest book.
Eric George, who writes under the nom de plume of Jacqueline George, has just released Oasis, a tale he says is full of spies, soldiers, dancing girls and ancient Egyptian ghosts.
Mr George, who has more than 20 books credited to his literary alter ego, said she was best known for a “sexy-but-thoughtful romance” style of writing, but admitted the latest tale would be noticeably different for regular readers.
“There’s no sex in this one, and you have to wait until the last page for a single kiss,” he laughed.
Oasis is set in the western desert, with the battle of El Alamein casting a shadow over the whole story as it explores the true story of the German attempts at spying in Cairo during the build-up to the battle.
Life in 1942 Egypt is portrayed vividly throughout the pages, and Mr George said the reason why – old family roots to that part of the world – was explained in the book’s afterword.
While he said “Cooktown is used to the idea” of his alter ego, Mr George explained others were still surprised when they met him, but said it had been a necessary move to break into the romance genre early in his writing career.
“Initially, I did a retelling of Treasure Island, and I did it under my own name,” he said.
“It was only when I got a publisher and I’d written another book, the publisher said, ‘look, this is romance, and you can’t sell romance with a male name – find yourself a pen name’.
“So, I’m actually Jack Eric George, so I changed that into Jacqueline.”
When asked where he drew the inspiration for his stories from, especially living in a remote area like Cooktown, Mr George seemed to suppress a grin as he explained many of his works covered non-romantic topics.
“When you’re an old fart, you don’t get much in the way of romance, except, of course, the love of my life, my wife, who steadfastly refuses to be part of any books, especially naughty ones,” he said.
“But, actually, only about half of my output could be called romance.”
Oasis has been a labour of love for the well-known Cooktown resident, who admitted it had taken more than a decade to finish.
“This one is at least 10 years in the making, because I’d written the first section, and I knew it was there, but other things happened and I just didn’t continue, and I came back to it last year,” he said.
The book is available as a paperback and eBook from Amazon, with hard copies also available at the arts and craft shop in Cooktown.
