Local author Drew Bale launches his third book

An early Father’s Day present has arrived for local author and family man Drew Bale, with the launch of his latest title The Wrangler, that’s ready to hit bookshelves on September 17th.
The father of two children said “it's a nice little gift” in time for Father’s Day and one that he can share with his family in isolation.
The Wrangler is an action-adventure story that takes place in the surrounds of the Central West, following high school teacher Dennis Dodger who returns to Orange to apply his trade. He immediately finds conflict with a young man who seeks to undermine and cause him harm. Dennis develops unnatural abilities due to a cosmic disaster while attending a rugby training camp, from that point on, Dennis’s world is turned upside down. Unfortunately, he isn't the only one who has developed these powers and eventually he has to choose whether he stays hidden safely in the shadows or if he emerges to ensure the safety of his friends and family.
Drew stated, The Wrangler will kick-off a new series of books he’s planning called the Warriors of Westopolis. The target audience for the series are teenage and young adult readers.
On top of being an accomplished author, Drew who is much like his character Dennis Dodger, is a school teacher by day. Finding time to write is one of the many challenges he faces as an author.
“If there was a store where you could buy time, I would frequent it very often. Somehow, despite being completely uncoordinated, I manage to juggle the various aspects of my life quite well. From work, family and writing.”
Drew spent just under twelve months developing the book, dedicating himself to writing his third book afterhours and during the school holidays.
“I started planning The Wrangler in October 2020 and wrote a great deal before the end of last year. I had finished the book in April this year and have been tweaking it ever since.
The ideas themselves have been swirling around for a great deal longer than that,” Drew said.
One of these ideas Drew set himself to achieve in The Wrangler is building a superhero-style story in the Central West.
“In Orange and the surrounding areas we have a great variety of environments that could easily be the setting of not only books but also films.
Superhero films are all the rage these days, but they always happen overseas. So, I thought why not set my superhero-style book here locally.”
Not only was Orange’s diverse settings and locations helped inspired the story behind The Wrangler, but it was also the Colour City locals themselves that helped Drew bring his characters to life on the page.
“I take a great deal of inspiration from people who are close to me and I know quite well. I only ever try to portray them in a positive way,” Drew clarifies for any nervous readers who know the author before adding:
“The main characters of Dennis Dodger, Horatio Findman and Jiemba in The Wrangler are all based heavily on Orange locals whom I deeply respect, have great admiration for and cannot praise highly enough, especially for their encouragement in this endeavour.”
Besides from the launch of his anticipated book within a couple of weeks, Drew looks forward to spending this Father’s Day with his family and hoping for a nice, lovely day to enjoy.
“I would love to a get a fire going in the yard, sit back, relax, share some food and refreshments. Let the kids play and try to do very little,” the author said.