Todd Alexander will be giving author talks at Hallidays Point library later this month.

The book is about Todd and his partner Jeff's tree change; their bid to cast off the shackles of the corporate world and intent to live an idyllic life by establishing a vineyard and b&b in the Hunter Valley/

It has been described as a hilarious and sharply observed memoir.

Todd says anyone coming to the author talk can expect to laugh.

"I think there's a lot of doom and gloom in the world and in writing this memoir one of my main aims was to just make people take a step back from all of that negativity and to smile at life," Todd said.

"For me it's laughing at myself and my mistakes, and thinking that some city kids could move to 100 acres in the country and make a go of it with only a pair of gardening shears, and quickly realising I was in for one hell of a steep learning curve.

"When my partner and I moved about seven years ago, we literally had no idea what we were doing, and I remember we looked at each other and said 'this whole grape growing and olive growing malarkey, how hard could it possibly be?'.

"Then we really started understanding just the amount of commitment and physical labour and cost that was required to do it.

"We've made a lot of mistakes but in the moment we try as best as possible to laugh at ourselves and that's what I want other people to get out of this as well."

Todd will talk at Hallidays Point library on Tuesday, August 13 from 1-2pm.

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