Indigenous culture, the natural environment and complex relationships flow from the pages of Bradley Christmas' first novel.
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His recently released book 'Saltwater Boy' is a "heartfelt and poignant coming of age story".
The Manyana-based author explores father-son relationships against a backdrop of small-town rivalries, buried truths, with themes of sustainability, preserving the past and environmental care in his debut novel.
The story is set on the South Coast and was mostly written in Manyana.
Saltwater Boy's main character, Matthew, when his dad was sent to prison, moves to the South Coast with his mum and then the story comes to life.
He [Matthew] strikes up a friendship with Old Bill, an Indigenous man who becomes a father figure to him.
However, when his dad gets out on parole - Matthew's newfound peace is once again at stake, and in peril.
Bradley is happy with the end product.
"It's been really satisfying to watch these characters grow and take shape in my imagination," he said.
"I'm really happy with how the story has grown from the seed that was a short story."
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Characters like Old Bill evolved from personal experiences.
"He [Old Bill] is more an amalgam of several older Indigenous people I know than one in particular," he said.
"I grew up having family holidays in Jervis Bay as a kid. Over that time I was lucky to befriend a number of the fishermen from the Wreck Bay community, many of whom were kind enough to share their knowledge and wisdom about fishing and so much more with me.
"I wanted to capture that wisdom and generosity of spirit in the character of Bill."
Saltwater Boy is available at Dymocks, Nowra.
Bradley, when he is not writing, does volunteer work for Manyana Matters and the Red Head Villages Association.
He supports the locally based environmental groups as he wants to protect the pristine and fragile natural beauty that surrounds the Shoalhaven.
The environment is another strong element within the book.
"I have always been passionate about conservation and had a lifelong love affair with the beautiful South Coast," he said.
"The natural environment is so important to this story and the development of the characters.
"I wanted it [the environment] to be a living breathing character in the book."
The book is targeted at 10-to-14-year-olds, but there are plenty of themes there to keep older teen readers engaged.
Bradley took some time to find a story he wanted to tell.
"It took a while to find a story that I felt could keep younger readers engaged for more than 300 pages," he said.
The book started as a short story published in the Big Issue Fiction Edition back in 2014, but it wasn't until the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 that he really "got stuck into the process of developing it into novel form".
"Spending three months locked down on the coast was actually very helpful for the creative process," he said.
He is currently in discussions with Ulladulla Library staff about a local launch sometime after May and is on the waiting list if some room in the upcoming BookFest schedule becomes available.
Bradley is happy to offer his advice to other budding novelists.
"It's a cliche, but the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step," he said.
"When you're looking at an empty page, the idea of shaping a novel out of nothing can seem like an insurmountable task.
"However, if you keep chipping away each day, you'll soon start to breathe life into your characters and your story will begin to take on a momentum of its own.
"I think getting in the habit of writing regularly is much more important than waiting for the blinding light of inspiration."
He also "moonlights" playing music with country band Copperline, indie supergroup the Gin Palace as well as touring bands including the Church and Boney M.
