![\"Bruce_K\"](\"http:\/\/zenashapter.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Bruce_K.jpg\")
<\/a>Bruce lives in Sydney without a view of the Harbour or the<\/em> Bridge but, despite these shortcomings and his rural roots, is a devotee of this city. He was a parade ground dodger in the military for more years than he cares to remember, spent time in diplomatic circles working for Gareth Evans and more than a decade building a small business which started in a daughter\u2019s bedroom, complete with Blue Tongue Lizard, and which ended up on the ASX. The business that is, not the lizard. He is a keen alpinist and rock climber, spends as much time outdoors and travelling as possible and enjoys working in extreme environments. He has just returned from Afghanistan where he was working for a private firm and living in the suburbs of Kabul. He is a keen creative writer. His travels to Iraq in 2007 in the middle of \u2018the Surge\u2019 became the basis of \u201cFlowers of Baghdad\u201d, a well-received novel based on the lives of ordinary Iraqi folk he met on that visit. \u201cFlowers of Baghdad\u201d is being published in Turkey in 2015.<\/p>\n