Les Zig’s first novel, Just Another Week in Suburbia (Pantera Press 2017), explores the questions of trust, fidelity, and how well you can ever truly know another person. It was originally shortlisted for the 2013 Hachette Manuscript Development Program, and has been described by 2017 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Winner Ryan O’Neill as a ‘hugely enjoyable novel.’
His new novel, August Falling (Pantera Press 2018) is a story about unconditional acceptance, reclaiming the past, and finding the best version of ourselves so we can move forward into the future.
As ‘Lazaros Zigomanis’, he wrote the YA novel Pride, a story about dreams, coming of age, community, love, and racism. It has been described by best-selling Young Adult author George Ivanoff as ‘an extraordinary book.’
His latest Lazaros Zigomanis book, a novella entitled The Shadow in the Wind, tells the story of six-year-old Keene, struggling to understand his mother’s terminal illness, and who goes into the Australian bush with only his Border Collie Bunch in tow to recover a pendant he believes will provide a cure.
‘Overload’ – Zig’s memoir about dealing with life with neurosis over the period of thirty years – was shortlisted for the 2012 Finch Prize, and was serialised as a blog on this website. He has also blogged about movies, (following) the Collingwood Football Club, and life in general.
He’s also had three screenplays optioned – most recently, ‘Racine’, a psychological thriller about a disgraced police detective’s investigation into his fiance’s disappearance, has been optioned by House of 4 Films. His sci fi screenplay, ‘Punishment’, was shortlisted for the 2014 John Hinde Award for Science Fiction and a quarter-finalist in the 2016 Screencraft Sci-Fi Screenplay Contest. His suspense/horror screenplay, ‘Shadows’, was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Stage 32 New Blood competition. His half-hour satire, ‘Producers’, was a semi-finalist in the 2019 1st TV Script Writing Competition, a quarter-finalist in the 2017 Shore Scripts TV Pilot competition, the redraft a semi-finalist in the 2018 Showtime’s Tony Cox Episodic Screenplay (30 Min) Competition, and a quarter-finalist in the 2018 ScreenCraft Pilot Launch Competition. His action screenplay, ‘The Principle of the Thing’, was a quarter-finalist in the 2017 Screencraft Action & Thriller Screenplay Contest, and is currently under pre-production. His quirky psychological drama, ‘For the Method’, was a quarter-finalist in the Stage 32 5th Annual Search For New Blood Screenwriting Contest.
His stories and articles have also been published extensively. His short story, Doorway, was published by Untreed Reads Publishing as an e-story; and he’s been published in The Ravens Perch, SQ Mag, Tincture, Little Raven Two, Thirteen Stories, Crack the Spine, Fiction Vortex, Furia, Etchings, fourW, Windmills, Mythic Resonance, Verity La, Short and Twisted 2011, Wet Ink, page seventeen, Perilous Adventures, 21D, Blue Crow Magazine, Skive, and Spunk2; and he’s had articles published in Healthy Mind, Joffa: Isn’t That Life?, on The Roar, One Page Literary Magazine, Writer’s Edit, Yawp, the Australian Writers’ Centre, in Business Strategy, Human Resources Director, Writer, WQ, ACTWrite, Back Page Lead, Living Now Magazine, Leader Newspapers, and Frontier.
He also blogs about writing and editing for Busybird Publishing, where he works currently as the Publications Manager and Chief Editor. A talented editor with an understanding of story and character, Les specialises in structural editing and also has a flair for dialogue.
He is currently working on a new novel.