BRUCE ILIFF
...writer
I try to write in accordance with the words of Ernest Hemingway: "My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way."
Explore my portfolio of major works below and to learn more about these and my upcoming writings, please get in touch.
To contact me in my role as an engineer, please send me an email.
Thorns
Thorns is a fast moving, action novel set in the present time during a scientific research expedition on Lady Musgrave Island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.
It based around the marine environment of the reef. An objective of the book is to introduce many aspects of the reef, including scuba diving and the marine life of the reef, by intertwining these facts in the plot.
Published by Australian EBook Publisher.
Available as an ebook for Kindle or iBookstore or Kobo
The Lost Dutch Claim to Australia
The Lost Dutch Claim to Australia is a novel woven around the concept that Australia was claimed by the Dutch one hundred years before Captain Cook sailed up the east coast.
It is a fast moving, action novel pitting an Australian secret agent against Dutch agents as they race to find a 300 year old document buried on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The story starts with the shipwreck of the Dutch ship, The Hollandia, on the reef, and traces the sole survivor as he is befriended by the local inhabitants and manages to get back to Batavia (Jakarta).
Published by Australian EBook Publisher.
Available as an ebook for Kindle or iBookstore or Kobo or Google Play
Dive Debrief
Dive Debrief could have been called “What I Didn’t Learn in My Basic Scuba Course.”
This book is not a replacement for the diving textbooks, but a companion text for all levels of divers. Most of the information has been previously published in various Australasian scuba diving magazines, and is now brought together into one book.
Hints, tips and solid advice of all aspects of scuba diving; interspersed with real life anecdotes (some humorous, some serious). If you are a thinking diver and enjoy reading about diving, this is an excellent resource to glean those little added touches to make your diving experience more enjoyable.
First published in 2001 by Bobby Graham Publishers.
Only available as a PDF. Send me an email for a free copy.
Wreck of the Steamship Corea
This is a work of historical, creative non-fiction that formed the dissertation for my Masters of Letters.
In August 1893, the SS Corea, a small coastal steamship, ran onto Eel Reef off the eastern tip of Cape York in northern Australia. The ship stuck fast and was abandoned. There was no loss of life and both Captain Graham (the pilot and my great-grandfather) and Captain Ussher (the master) were exonerated from blame.
This book is in two sections. First is the story itself from when the Corea left Normanton to its grounding. This is followed by my research and supporting information.
Back in the early 1980s, I taught myself keyboards and played in a pub-rock band with a bunch of mates. We put out a four-song EP in 1981 titled "St Lucia Road".
Much has been written about the live music scene in Brisbane in the early 1980’s. Few mention The Bent Elbows, though all make extensive references to the many aspects of Brisbane in which The Bent Elbows were heavily engaged.
To get the record straight, another of my projects is to build a definitive history of The Bent Elbows.
If you've got old newspaper articles, photos or memories of the band, or for more information, visit the band's website.
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"
Vincent Van Gogh
