ABOUT THE BOOK

I wrote this book over a period of two years, and in two distinct halves. The first half was borne out of a desire to pass the time constructively, when I found myself living in a house with no telephone line, and hence no internet connection to waste my hours. I slowed down at the halfway point, as I had to finish my university degree, and ground to a halt, when I was notified by upcoming horror author DARRELL JOYCE, that Screaming Dreams Publications may be interested in reading submissions. Steve Upham, the publisher and hard-working genius behind SD, contacted me and said he was impressed, so I was given new motivation to finish the book. It’s amazing what one can do when one sees the finish line in sight.

The book contains hundreds of things relevant to my childhood, and growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s. My parents bought me and my brothers a Spacehopper when I was about 6 or 7 years old, and I was fascinated by the type of animal it was, or was based on. I guess it’s a kind of kangaroo, but the insane grin and twisty antennae said otherwise. Incidentally, the word Kangazang was not based on the word kangaroo, but I did briefly toy with the idea that the spacehoppers lived on Kangazang. I eventually rejected it as I wanted the Hoppas to feature much earlier on in the book and keep the fabled planet of Kangazang to the climax of the story.

I was never a huge fan of Kylie Minogue, or the music produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, but they are arguably all classics and nothing seems to sum up the optimistic enthusiasm that was the 1980’s better. I was a fan, however, of Rick Astley (I bought his first single) and Bobby McFerrin. Both outstanding artists in their own ways.



It’s obvious - very obvious – that Kangazang the book was inspired by “The Hitch hiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. I’d been a big sci-fi and space travel nut since very young, and Adams’s books seemed to have immense fun with the genre, without insulting or spoofing it. All my life, I’d dreamed of writing a novel and it seemed that the only thing I could do to help myself take on such a mammoth task was to write something that would not constrain my imagination in any way, and something I could have lots of fun with, and I don’t want anyone to think for one second that I’m ripping Douglas off or plagiarising him. This book is a tribute to his genius and is dedicated to his memory.

The book title was either, “Jeff Spooner And The Man From Kangazang” or “Jeff Spooner and the Universal Remote” originally. I envisaged a kind of ‘Indiana Jones’ or ‘Harry Potter’ type of series of books, but after telling some friends about the idea, I got feedback that indicated that a one word title, using the most intriguing of words, Kangazang, would be best. I do however, have plans for at least two more books in this story - everyone loves a trilogy, don’t they? - but only time and sales will decide if these will ever come to fruition.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading - and sharing - the book, and I hope to see you again some time, when the story continues!


Oh, and by the way. If you haven't ordered your copy of Kangazang! yet, why not?
Click this spacehopper link and go buy it. You won't regret it.