Love, Life and the Old Stench of Luck

Sabienn Feel and his brothers venture to the Deerland Protectorate of Luck in the Outer Territories. He seeks a read on a possession of an elusive person by the name of 'Impatient Ben'.Luck is under the control of the powerful and ambitious Lord Ramm. A thirty-year Treaty is to be signed by him which may tie his country to either Hayddland or Deerland as the new Protectorate. Sabienn's Father, the Grand Inquisitor Profound Murrlock Hyde, who still seeks Sabienn's death, desperately wants the signature to go to Hayddland.But why does Lord Ramm wish to seek out Sabienn? His talents as a reader haven't gone unnoticed and there is great political gain in using Sabienn as a bargaining chip. Sabienn just didn't count on, as part of Lord Ramm's plan, watching two of his brothers die before his eyes.Love, Life and The Old Stench of Luck is the sixth of twelve books in the Sabienn Feel Adventures.Interview with the AuthorQ - What inspired you to write The Sabienn Feel Adventures?A – I've always loved the idea of the epic journey. I'm acquainted with the book Journey to the West but was more familiar with the TV series in the 80's based on the book called Monkey. The idea of four souls travelling across a wide expanse of geography to complete a quest appealed to me. So I planned a series of twelve books to go from one place in the south of this space colony that they live on twice removed from Earth, to end up in the north, meeting danger at every turn.Q – Why does your main character Sabienn Feel grow wings?A - Good question. I wanted something very drastic to occur to these people physically. Something that would be difficult to hide and offer an immediate prejudice. The idea of growing wings constantly came up for me. There's a Pearl Jam song I found inspiring that says, "And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky. A human being that was given to fly". And in my mind's eye, I could see this figure. Almost like the Led Zeppelin Icarus logo but with bat wings. But they couldn't fly otherwise they'd hit the sky and the journey would be over in no time. I made them only able to swim because being submerged in water has elements of dealing with the subconscious. To me it satisfies all elements of those prophecy, fantasy, epic adventure type of stories that involve friendship and brotherhood.Q – That's six books down. How's the journey unfolding?A - The characters are evolving. The more adversity they face the more they grow. There's significant skin taken off Sabienn Feel in this book. His character is gaining wisdom. It was a pleasure to write this sixth book in the series. For the past thirty years, it has been Mark Barkley's great pleasure to have created work that has been appreciated by various audiences throughout Brisbane, within Australia and online.Primarily his focus had been on being a playwright within the 90's. But recently his sole focus has turned to creating the book series The Sabienn Feel Adventures.He has had several plays which have enjoyed a successful theatrical staging or reading within Australia. ("The Captains and The Kings"-1995, "Goodbye Melaleuca"-1996, "Sylvia Terry"-1998 and "A Kind of Belgium"-2000) Two of the plays featured here have been short listed in the George Landen Dann award, Queensland's premium award for excellence in playwriting. ("The Captains and The Kings"-1992 and "Goodbye Melaleuca"-1995).He also created the short film "Spades" as writer/director and this was short listed in the top ten films of the third annual What's On Short Cut Film Fest and screened in 2001 at the Brisbane Powerhouse.In 2007, he rewrote and updated his book "The Big Sugar Election" which was originally completed in 1990.Currently he is offering books in his fantasy adventure novel series The Sabienn Feel Adventures. "When The Stone Shepherds Awaken" completed in 2015 is the first book in this series, which is now free and on offer with its companion piece, "Stories From The Distant Planet", which is also free