Earworm Colin Varney

Earworm

Colin Varney

Drenched in rhythm and the vividness of pop lyrics, Earworm explores the complexities of filial and romantic love, connecting us to our universal communion with music.

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About the Book

Earworm is a tale of grief, desire, infidelity and family secrets narrated by a love song.

‘Empty Fairground’ is a hit from the nineties. Nicole was conceived to it and now it dwells in her head—a living entity accessing her thoughts and dreams. When Nicole discovers her deceased father is not her biological parent, certainties disintegrate and the song strives to separate fantasy from memory and myth from history, building towards an extraordinary crescendo.

Drenched in rhythm and the vividness of pop lyrics, Earworm explores the complexities of filial and romantic love, connecting us to our universal communion with music.

Authors

Colin Varney

Colin Varney spent a feckless youth – and much of a feckless middle-age – drumming in pub bands. Not musically adept enough to play covers, he was reduced to collaborating on original songs and was therefore unable to relinquish his day job. He now finds himself drawn to writing about music and musicians.

His short stories have appeared in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Island and Southerly. He has written articles for The Lifted Brow and satire for Adelaide Review and Tasmanian Times. His children’s book, Jellylegs, is widely used to promote protective behaviours.

He completed a Master's in creative writing at the University of Tasmania, mentored by Danielle Wood. Earworm is his first novel.

colinvarney.wordpress.com

Photo credit: Ted Crosby

Reviews and Press

Kaleidoscope interview:

‘Colin Varney’s first book—Earworm’ – The Tasmanian Times

‘Colin Varney must be congratulated for the imaginative narration of Earworm…I was hooked by the characters, who are realistic, flawed and all cheaters.’ – Emma Stubley, Good Reading Magazine

Kaleidoscope Interview with Colin Varney

Watch and Listen

In this interview, Colin Varney dissects his debut novel 'Earworm', told from the perspective of a love song, and discusses his inspiration for writing the book.

‘Earworm’ Launch Speech by Danielle Wood

News

8 October 2018 Imprints Bookshop, Adelaide I know you’re all here for a book launch. But I feel like I’m here for something a little different. Maybe a 21st birthday party, or an 18th, depending on your generation or school of thought—a coming-of-age party for somebody I’ve known since they were really little. Earworm. Earworm, yeah.…

Sneak Peek: ‘Earworm’ by Colin Varney

Behind the Book

Nicole’s ringtone: breezy and pointless as a puppy. I’ve been reduced to a ringtone and it’s demeaning. Anti-music, bereft of emotion. Brief and functional as giving yourself a big hand, if you know what I mean. Playing a solo on your intimate instrument, if you get my drift. Ringtones only exist for as long as…

Quitting Writing. Forever.

MRP Guest Blogger

My most sustained attempt to quit writing forever was in the mid-nineties. I’d completed a novel that was greeted with indifference by publishers and was courting self-pity. I’d been writing for two decades, experimenting with scripts, comedy skits and short stories for adults and children, but had met with little success. The sensible course of…

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