A Little of Don Tillman in All of Us

Greetings from the Paperchain Bookstore in Canberra, where Graeme Simsion is speaking about his book "The Rosie Project: A Novel".  Graeme started by making the case for independent booksellers (and he is at the top of their sales list at present). He related his own journey from an IT consultant, through being a struggling author. The book started as a script of a serious film called "The Face of God". The film rights have been purchased by Sony/Colombia. Graeme suggested Carey Mulligan for the character of "Rosie".

Graeme mentioned the problems in writing a book, including people identifiying with the characters. He said the character Peter Enticott was not based on "Peter G. Enticott", autism spectrum disorder researcher at Monash University.


It came as a surprise when I received an email from Graeme about his novel some months ago, as I only knew him as a data modeling expert, admittedly one who told wonderful stories as part of the education he provided. In reading the Rosie Project I could hear Graeme's voice and his development as a story teller.

Graeme's main character, Don Tillman, is a socially challenged academic, who tries to use intellect to navigate the perils of romance with hilarious results. When I first read the book I was a little annoyed that Graeme was having a dig at me (as with Don, if I am asked to "wait a minute" I will start my stopwatch, pre-plan exactly where to walk in a city on the other side of the planet), but then I realized that universities are full of such people. Graeme explained that he had met many characters in IT who were a "bit misunderstood", but the character is based on one friend.

Professor Don Tillman PhD has his own Twitter account. Also he can be found in a search of the Victorian Government website, under Geneticists. and on Zoom Info. There is also a real geneticist "D Tillman". Perhaps he needs together with my own fictional character, Professor Klerphell.

If you watch "Big Bang Theory" you will enjoy The Rosie Project.

ps: Federally funded Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Living with Autism Spectrum Disorders, is being set up in Australia.