Children's Author of Massive Acclaim ... just ask him
The author's life, so far
Richard Newsome’s debut novel, The Billionaire's Curse has received rave reviews (' ... an irresistibly fun-tastic tale that’s virtually guaranteed to keep youngsters reading, chuckling and desperately waiting for the next book in the series.' - The Independent Weekly), and has been sold to publishers in Australia, the US, Canada, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
He was born in a modest-sized town in the north island of New Zealand, a little place called Whanganui on a great roiling river, and lived the first few years of his life on an even more modest-sized farm outside of town. His family migrated to Australia when he was three and a half and graciously agreed to take him along.
Richard grew up on Queensland’s Gold Coast where he enjoyed his time at school and discovered the joy of the written word. He wrote his first book at the age of 12 as part of an English assignment. It was called The Six Dollar Man and detailed Australia’s first attempt to construct a bionic human on a shoestring budget.
Richard’s favourite books while growing up included Yertle the Turtle by Dr Seuss (a brilliant treatise on democracy) and Which Way to Mecca, Jack? by William Peter Blatty, which he bought for 40 cents from a second hand bookstore and opened his eyes to how weird the world of grown-ups can be.
Richard has had a number of careers.
Fast Facts
Favourite Colour: Green
Favourite Book: The Hobbit
Favourite Movie: The Princess Bride
Favourite Food: Cheese (duh)
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After finishing year 12, he deferred going to university to take up a journalism cadetship on the local newspaper, the Gold Coast Bulletin. This was the start of his ‘fun’ career. There he chased after police cars while they chased after bad guys. There was a period when every Friday afternoon there was at least one bank robbery. This was in the days before ATMs, and even crooks needed access to cash for the weekend.
After seven years working on various newspapers and with ABC TV and Radio, Richard finally went to university to study economics. This was despite the opinion of one of his friends that the only people who studied economics were those without the personality to become accountants.
This was the start of Richard’s ‘serious career’. After graduating (with … ahem … first class honours) he secured a job in Boston in the United States with an international strategy firm, where he did strategic things for big companies. He was once accused of being a corporate spy, which sounds far more glamorous than the truth: working silly long hours but learning lots.
Richard returned to Australia and moved to Sydney, where he did more serious career stuff with a media company. By then he was married and had started a family. In an attempt to bore his children to sleep at night, he started making up a story, which would eventually provide the basis for his Billionaire’s series of books.
Richard now lives in Brisbane and is back into a ‘fun career’ and writing. His books are very reasonably priced and great fortune is said to come to those who buy multiple copies.