In fiction 'issues' are accidental, sometimes incidental. The place and the people it creates are paramount.

For every moment the sea is peace and relief, there is another when it shivers and stirs to become chaos. It's just as ready to claim as it is to offer.

In Australia surfing was for the oiks. It was always rebellious. And sadly it was for a long time a bit unreflective and macho and anti-intellectual. Unlike other sports it was essentially a youth cult, like rock and roll. But like rock and roll its people grew up.

It's terrifying to think you can remember things you shouldn't possibly be able to. It's like that childhood fear of having your soul slip from your body in your sleep. The darkness, those black sheets of glass sliding over you, upping the pressure, pushing you through the time and space and story.

It's funny, but you never really think much about breathing. Until it's all you ever think about.

I was in my thirties before I learnt that I too would prefer not to see what I could no longer have

Humour is God's special gift to humanity. Handy, because it turns out to be necessary.