The Next Big Thing

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Part young-love rom-com, part David and Goliath story, The Next Big Thing is a heartwarming, hilarious, quintessentially Australian debut. NORM has lived in Norman his whole life. It's where he grew up with his dad, where he went to school and met his best friend Ella. But the town is dying: the river has dried up, and with it all the jobs. One night at the pub, on the anniversary of his dad's death, Norm announces a plan. He's going to build a Big Thing like Coffs Harbour's Big Banana or Ballina's Big Prawn to drive tourism to the town and give it a future. And to show Ella that she could have a future here too, maybe even with him. ELLA, meanwhile, plans to leave Norman for the big smoke. She's tired of being a big fish in a small pond, especially when that pond is running out of water. Ella encourages Norm's big idea nonetheless. If it works, Norm will have a four-metre-high reminder of her. And if not, at least they'll have one last perfect summer together. Will Norm from Norman build a Big Thing in time to save his town, and to convince the girl of his dreams she belongs here too or is it too late

Author Bio

James Colley is a comedy writer and producer known for his work as head writer on Gruen, Gruen Nation, Question Everything and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering. Hes written on Summer Love, Bravest Warriors, Tomorrow Tonight and Tonightly with Tom Ballard and for live events such as FireAid and the ARIAs 2019 and 2020. James is a regular columnist for the Spectrum liftout in the Sydney Morning Herald, and his writing has been featured in the Guardian, Frankie Magazine, Crikey, the Big Issue and Junkee. He has performed live at Vivid Sydney, the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Splendour in the Grass, the Sydney Comedy Festival, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Next Big Thing is his debut novel.