Jeff Apter Writer

Jeff Apter

In a career spanning more than 20 years I've written 15 commercially and critically well-received books, including biographies of 'Shirley' Strachan from Skyhooks and Dragon's Marc Hunter.

I also co-wrote the recent Kasey Chambers memoir, called A Little Bird Told Me, and worked with Mark Evans of AC/DC on his bestseller, Dirty Deeds. Kasey's book was part of the '50 Books You Can't Put Down' / Get Reading program in 2011, while Mark's book made NPR's best music books of 2011 list.

In 2005, I worked with test cricketer turned commentator Michael Slater on his book, Slats.

My other books include studies of Jeff Buckley (which has been adapted for a feature film), the Finn brothers and Keith Urban. I was ghostwriter on a project called In Harm's Way, the story of a former Australian soldier and his attempts to emancipate two children in Lebanon.

My next book, a biography of Johnny O'Keefe, is due at the end of July through Hachette Australia.

I'm the Music Contributor to Australian Vogue and also write for South Coast Style, the Sydney Morning Herald and Rolling Stone (where I was on staff for several years). I was the music reviewer for The Bulletin for many years. I also contribute to on-line mag the Hoopla.

I'm on Facebook and can also be reached through this site. I'm represented by literary agency Curtis Brown.

Photo credit: Sabina Mayer

Click here for full bio

Click here to hear Jeff interviewed about A Pure Drop.

Watch an interview with Jeff talking about Chasing the Dragon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7kCEC0Mx8

Kasey chambers

Follow @jeffapter New Projects
	Johnny O'Keefe. Rocker. Legend. Wild One. My latest project is a new biography of the late, great Wild One, Johnny O'Keefe. It's called simply Johnny O'Keefe: Rocker. Legend. Wild One. It's released on July 31 and is published by Hachette Australia. Writing the book has been yet another intriguing trip back in time for me, starting with the madness of the Sydney Stadium shows in the 1950s and then diving headfirst into Johnny's sometimes turbulent 1960s and onwards into the last decade of his life. Everyone I spoke with had vivid memories of the man; JO'K put the "large" into living large. But Johnny was many other things, too: a husband, father, son, trailblazer, outspoken supporter of the local music industry, bandleader, recording artist, lover of fast cars (an obsession that nearly brought him undone), philanthropist and much more besides. He squeezed plenty of living into his 43 years. I'll post more soon, including information about how to purchase the book, but in the meantime here's some great footage of JO'K in action, tearing it up. First is She's My Baby, then the immortal Shout. For more on JO'K, this is the perfect place to start.

News
Southern Highlands Writers Festival I'll be speaking at the Southern Highlands Writers Festival in mid July. Details of this terrific festival can be found here. Sydney Morning Herald I've had a couple of opinion pieces recently published by Fairfax. You can read them here. Chasing the Dragon / Shirl Thanks to everyone who's written to me regarding both Chasing the Dragon and Shirl. The stories seem to have connected with a lot of people. A new edition of Shirl was published in April 2013. Kasey Chambers You can keep tabs on everything relating to Kasey Chambers' autobiography, A Little Bird Told Me, which I helped write, here. You can read what Kasey has to say about the book here. Here are links to two terrific interviews about the book, first with ABC Melbourne and then with ABC Sydney. Kasey also spoke with Richard Wilkins. The book was selected as part of the 2011 Get Reading campaign's 50 Books You Can't Put Down. Ebooks Ebook versions of my biographies of Silverchair, Keith Urban and the Finn brothers are now all readily available. Details for each can be found here. The Urban ebook is a steal at $4.99. Ebooks of Shirl and Chasing the Dragon are also available through iBooks. Jeff Buckley goes French The French version of the book is now available. Twitter If you're so inclined, I'm now on Twitter. You know the drill. more

Shirl
The life of legendary larrikin Graeme Shirley Strachan
Softcover / Ebook / Facebook
more

Chasing the Dragon
The Life and Death of Marc Hunter
Softcover / Ebook / Facebook
November 2011 more

Together Alone
The Story of the Finn Brothers
Softcover / Ebook
June 2010 more

Fortunate Son
The Unlikely Rise of Keith Urban
Softcover, 314 pages,
January 2009 / Facebook / Ebook more

A Pure Drop
The Life of Jeff Buckley
Hardcover, 256 pages,
North America, March 2009 Ebook more
For details of non-English language versions, click here.

A Pure Drop
The Life of Jeff Buckley
Hardcover, 256 pages,
Published in UK, Australia and Germany, September 2008; North America March 2009 more

A New Tomorrow -
The Silverchair Story
Paperback, 360 pages,
December 2006 Ebook more
Click here to read a Q&A about this book

A Simple Kind Of Life:
Gwen Stefani & No Doubt
Hardcover, 232 pages, July 2007 Ebook
more

Fornication:
The Red Hot Chilli Peppers Hardcover, 360 pages,
July 2004,
Paperback August 2005 Ebook
Also published in German, Dutch and Italian more

Never Enough:
The Story Of The Cure
Hardcover, 338 pages, September 2005,
Updated Paperback April 2009
Also published in German, Italian, French, Greek and Polish; Ebook more

The Dave Grohl Story
Hardcover, 277 pages,
January 2006,
Paperback April 2008 Ebook
Also published in German
more

Slats: The Michael Slater Story
Published 2005
more

In Harm's Way
Paperback, 288 pages,
September 2008
more