I am delighted to announce that I have signed a contract with Hachette Australia to publish my biography of the Australian aviation pioneer and global adventurer, Bert Hinkler. Because of the company’s current production schedules, the book will not be  in the bookstores until next year. It will also be available as an e-book.

Hachette Australia is a very respected publisher, part of the Hachette Livre group, the second biggest publisher in the world. Its Australian authors include Hugh Mackay, William Innes,  Gabrielle Lord and Favel Parrett. In 2012 the company is publishing J K Rowling’s first adult novel after her successes with Harry Potter.

The Hinkler narrative non-fiction manuscript was selected for the Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program in 2010, and I have been working diligently on it since that time to prepare it for publication.

Thank you to the many well-wishers who have offered me encouragement and support while I have been writing the book, to Kim Wilkins for her initial workshops and wise mentoring, to Ann Kelly and Mark Dymock for their frank critiques of the final draft, to Vanessa Radnidge at Hachette Australia for guiding the book and keeping me informed through the selection process, and to my agent, Sophie Hamley at Cameron Creswell for her ongoing advice and support.

Watch for forthcoming news about the book. If you have any queries in the meantime, please use the ‘Comments’ section on this blog, and I will respond to them.   D R Dymock