By KATH GANNAWAY
AS A person, and as a writer, Healesville author and psychologist Dr Bob Rich refuses to be categorised.
“I’m a storyteller – rather than a square peg in a round hole, I am a fractal-shaped peg that makes its own hole,” he said.
His books – whether his Earth Garden Building Book published not long after he came to Healesville more than 30 years ago, his psychology self-help books or his science fiction and historical adventure books – come from a rare and insightful perspective.
“My main aim is to entertain, but as with every other writer, my belief system underlies everything I write,” he said.
His latest book, Ascending Spiral – Humanity’s Last Chance, as does its author, defies attempts to place it within a genre.
Magdalena Ball of CompulsiveReader.com describes it as a genre-buster that incorporates elements of historical fiction, literary fiction, science fiction with a hint of nonfiction that she said creates an entertaining novel with an important message.
The main character, Dr Pip Larkin, has lived for 12,000 years, incarnated many times as man, woman, and even as species beyond our world and senses.
He is on earth to pay restitution for an ancient crime by working to save humanity from certain destruction.
Ascending Spiral takes the reader to many different places and times, showing, ultimately, that our differences and divisions, even at their most devastating, are less important than our similarities.
Frances Burke, author of Engless Time, in her review speaks of the book in relation to karma which she observes rings true for many people these days.
“This book is a very well written and thoughtful expression of its message,” she writes.
“It is also an historically accurate series of linked stories that will hold the reader in his chair for a single sitting.”
The message is what drives the book, but Dr Rich is adamant he is not a preacher.
“It was designed to be an exciting page turner, but it is an expression of my passions for working for a sustainable world – a world where our children can survive, and one that is worth surviving in.
“I want to entertain, and make people think.
“Fiction or non-fiction, any genre, intended for any age group, published in any format, the details matter not one whit.
“What matters is that the readers of your books may become inspired to change the way they think and act,” Dr Rich said.
It is not surprising that when Dr Rich launched the book earlier this year, he chose to do it at the Healesville Library – making the book accessible to anyone who has the desire to read it.
“I want it to be read – I’m not so interested in making money, although it’s good to pay the bills,” he said.
“I’m interested in being of service, and of being of benefit.”
Printed by Marvelous Spirit Press in Australia, Ascending Spiral is available at book shops, or directly through Dr Rich at www.bobswriting.com/ascending.
