McClintock Ink

22/08/2023

After his morning beach run, Cashew loves to unwind and read character driven sports fiction. It's his thing. This will usually be followed by a three hour nap, then some lively taunting of the sausage dog next door.

06/07/2023

Coming soon … Another book by a different McClintock.

27/06/2023

Happy Birthday, to the man himself! He’s had a few now, but here’s to a few more! 🍻🍾🥂

30/01/2023

A huge thank you to all who have purchased the book so far. Your support and kind words have proven great motivators to put our heads down and continue on this merry journey. 🙏🏼👍🏼👏🏼

24/01/2023

The man himself, AJP McClintock. Back on the tools and wishing you all the best for 2023. We’re looking forward to sharing the next instalment of The Mortarboard Mysteries sometime this year. Stay tuned!

22/11/2022

Introducing Dr. Cowper and Dominic 'Domino' Cassidy
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Bruce watches a plethora of swallows, swooping this way and that, across the grass freshened by the recent storm. As he turns the corner to pass under the clock tower, he nearly collides with Dr. Cowper. Once again, she is questioning the student Dominic Cassidy in a state of agitation. Cassidy’s body odour is as arresting as the look Dr. Cowper gives Bruce, glaring fierce daggers. He presumes it is due to him taking no action over the theft of her ma*****na rather than her usual dislike for ‘blue collar’ admin. Either way, he feels uncomfortable, remembering that one of her nicknames is ‘The Campus Witch.’ He curtly nods an acknowledgement and walks on, hoping she doesn’t cast a spell and turn him into a cane toad.
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Excerpt from W**d in Eden - Available now via Amazon (link in bio).
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17/11/2022

Introducing Professor Withrington
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Initially, nothing had seemed at all strange about that Wednesday. When he got to his bird hide, which he constructed over the years from sticks, branches, and palm leaves, he performed his usual ritual, slowly un******ng and carefully folding his clothes, before placing them on an old milk crate in a corner. He shook the creases out of his balls, unbent his pe**er, and exulted in the cool air ventilating his naked person, before taking up the leather dog leash and giving himself six lashes. He finds it so invigorating. Then he took up his binoculars to bide his time.
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W**d In Eden available now! In print and digitally via Amazon (link in the bio).
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10/11/2022

Introducing ‘The Coven’.
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“Shall I play mother?” Di Perry asks, as she picks up the coffee pot. Another week has passed and it is a ritual never to be changed, like so many other functions at the university. She starts with Bruce, the youngest kid who must be assuaged, then Colquhoun, the king of the playground, and finally, her own mug. Meanwhile, Ratcliffe pours and sips his Earl Grey tea.
Bruce wonders when rituals become religion. It won’t be long until the graduation ceremonies are in full swing. ‘Ceremony’ being the key word. He remembers the outrage when some well-meaning visionary suggested the show should be more entertaining. Oh, the howls of objection! ‘It’s called the Graduation Ceremony because that’s precisely what it is!’ said one. ‘It is a ceremony, not a celebration,’ said another. ‘The guests are irrelevant. Next, they’ll be asking for side stalls!’
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W**d in Eden available digitally now!
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🎨 Image (watercolour) by AJP McClintock.
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04/11/2022

We have lift off! 🥳🍾👏

W**d in Eden is available digitally on Amazon Kindle now! To purchase, follow the link below, or for international readers search 'AJP McClintock' in Amazon itself and that'll take you to your region's website.

Thank you all and have a great weekend! 🙌

Bruce Springfield, facilities manager at John Oxley University, and his dog, Soul, are doing their best to navigate the day-to-day politics of university life, when all is disrupted by the murder of a young woman on campus. After one of Bruce’s staff, the quiet and talented Clinton, is cha...

02/11/2022

Murder on the campus! 🤭🫦🪓🩸

We are pleased to announce that W**d in Eden, the first of the Mortarboard Murder Mysteries, by AJP McClintock, will be out tomorrow! The book will be available to download at 11am (AEDT) via Amazon.com on Kindle for $6.99AUD.

We will post the link when it's up! 🙏

20/10/2022

Introducing Mervyn
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In rare moments of stress like these, which have recently occurred far too often for his liking, Jason Withrington sits in his bentwood chair, in front of his skeleton, Mervyn, with his knees tucked up beneath his chin in the foetal position. Dear Mervyn stands there in the corner with his right arm raised. Usually in welcome, but on this occasion it is to ward off the enemy. Curled up there, with his only remaining intimate friend (he knows Mervyn’s bones backwards), Jason Withrington sucks his thumb. It’s a habit he developed as a little boy, but not as a surrogate teat, rather out of curiosity. What were those hard knobbly pieces hiding beneath his soft skin?
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* An excerpt from the forthcoming W**d In Eden *

05/10/2022

Final edit of W**d In Eden now complete. Time to moisten the eyeballs and roll out stage two … Once we work out exactly what that is.

27/09/2022

Introducing Senior Security Officer (SSO) Saunders
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“It gets better: Having changed the two locks as per our instructions and having exited the said Residence, SSO Saunders and the undersigned were approached by a young lady who was walking up the driveway. Having ascertained who we were, she asked, ‘What the f**k are you doing here?’ SSO Saunders replied that such language was not becoming for a young lady. She repeated her enquiry, ‘What the f**k are you doing here?’ SSO Saunders informed her we had changed the locks and that she was barred entry. Whereupon the young lady, whom we recognised as the vice chancellor’s stepdaughter, Daphne, immediately raised her right knee into SSO Saunders’ groin. Whereupon the latter fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes and writhed around, repeating the aforementioned expletive himself.
‘The vice chancellor’s stepdaughter then asked the undersigned, ‘What the f**k am I supposed to do since you have locked me out?’
‘In order to avoid a similar assault on his person, the undersigned agreed to give the young lady a lift back to the campus in Security Car Alpha One. Despite the uncomely attack, Saunders managed to raise himself off the gravel and climb into the back of the vehicle, where he adopted the foetal position to be less vulnerable to further assault.”
Ratcliffe returns the report to the table. “The chappie who wrote this has hidden talents, don’t you think? It’s so Dickensian and graphic.
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* An excerpt from the forthcoming W**d In Eden *

13/09/2022

Introducing Bruce and Soul:
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“Clinton!” Bruce calls, standing by some trees where the groundsman has been pruning. He receives no reply. The man is as elusive as a koala. The heat is giving him second thoughts about his stroll across the campus and his shirt sticks to his body like a damp rag. He lets Soul off his leash to have a run around; if you can call it that, as with the groundsman, the dog is not one to expend energy unnecessarily.
“Clinton!” Bruce calls one last time, but again there is no response. He walks around the high chain-linked fence surrounding Eden – which he had erected after those initial complaints – looking for the man, but he is nowhere to be seen. “Come on Soul, we better go back to the office.”
But Soul has also vanished.
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* An excerpt from the forthcoming W**d In Eden *

06/09/2022

Some of you may be wondering what this caper is. It's a father (pictured) and son (unpictured) escapade to help my father, A J P McClintock (aka ‘Pippin’), share his novels with the world. W**d In Eden is the first of them. Number one in a series of murder mysteries set on a university campus in Brisbane. It should be ready by now, but my own children keep getting sent home from daycare, so I haven't finished the final edit yet. We will keep you posted!

10/08/2022

Woof!

“Soul, what are you up to?” Bruce asks, in the middle of Eden, having finally caught up with his dog. It strikes him that the breed ‘pointer’ must be part of his mutt’s pedigree, for there he is peering into the undergrowth with one paw raised, albeit somewhat awkwardly. As Bruce approaches, Soul drops his paw, followed by his tail. Finally, he lowers his head. He doesn’t like what he’s found.

“What is it, boy? Oh, no ... Come away, Soul,” Bruce whispers, putting the leash back on his pet. His eyes follow drag marks through the long grass to a shoe, a woman’s shoe, hanging from her toes, another bare foot beside. The heels are smudged with dirt from everyday life. Now, they are still and utterly pale. It is obviously the body of a female, probably a student.

“Come on, old man,” Bruce whispers again. “Let’s get out of here.” The dog follows, suddenly finding it too cold to pant.

* An excerpt from the forthcoming W**d In Eden by A J P McClintock 🐕👀😲 *

20/12/2021