Category Archives: short story writing

‘Hustling Hinkler’ and other productive stories

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Being productive 1

Things are starting to hot up as the launch of Hustling Hinkler: the short tumultuous life of a trail-blazing Australian aviator, draws near. Hachette Australia will publish this narrative non-fiction book on 30 July, so it will be in the bookshops and online from that date onwards. The book is currently with the printer, and I’m looking forward to finally having a copy in my hands.

The publicist I’ve been working with at Hachette, Alice Wood, has been setting up author events with libraries and bookshops, and it will be great to be able to talk about Hustling Hinkler on those occasions, and meet with prospective readers. If you’re in southern Queensland, watch for details here and in the press; if you’re not, watch for the book in your bookshop and online.

Being productive 2

On 10 July, the Brisbane Courier Mail published a feature article by Fran Metcalf about the Queensland Writers Centre/Hachette Australia Manuscript Development Program, based on interviews with fellow Hachette author, Charlotte Nash and myself. Charlotte and I took part in the 2010 development program, and Fran Metcalf did a good job weaving our stories together.

Being productive 3

In regard to my other book published this year, Extending your use-by date, I recently submitted a related article, ‘Have you got a use-by date?’ to a new e-magazine, Starts at sixty, which was published on 26 June. I hope to contribute more articles to this publication, which, as its name suggests, is aimed at people of older age.

Being productive 4

Marc Freedman, founder and CEO in the US of Encore.org, a nonprofit organization working to promote encore careers – ‘second acts for the greater good’ – was in Australia recently. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to hear him speak, but I understand there are moves afoot to establish ‘Encore Fellowships’, pioneered by Freedman and his organisation in Australia, through local not-for-profit activist, Doug Jacquier. While Extending your use-by date is about more than working with non-profit organisations in later life, it shares similar themes to those espoused by Freedman.

Being productive 5

And speaking of being productive into older age, I promised a former Army colleague, Bob Whittaker, that I’d mention his book, Jellybeans in the jungle, in my blog. Bob and I did our Australian Army recruit training together when we were both conscripted as National Servicemen (Nashos) in our 20s, but our subsequent postings were very different. Jellybeans in the jungle is described as ‘one man’s attempt to make sense of his experience as a conscripted soldier during Australia’s war in Vietnam.’ You can find the book by clicking on the highlighted link.

Hustling Hinkler: Learning to be a writer

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I often wander around bookshops, entranced by the range of titles, but at the same time overwhelmed by the number of authors there are. So to think that soon my book, my name, will be on those shelves alongside (well, close to) some of the world’s best-known authors is mind-boggling. And I have mainly the 2010 Queensland Writers Centre/Hachette Development Workshop to thank for it. Applications are currently being called for the 2013 workshop, and the deadline has been extended to 12 July.

The author in his Hustling Hinkler T-shirt

The author in his Hustling Hinkler T-shirt

When I turned up for the first session of that 2010 workshop, I discovered I was the only one there who was a) writing non-fiction, and b) of the masculine gender. The other seven were wrestling with the manuscripts of novels in a range of genres, including crime, reality-based fiction, various sorts of romance and relationships, and speculative fiction (whatever that was). That was a very supportive time, and I’m still in touch with most of my fellow writers, several of whom have since been published.

The funny thing is, that my narrative non-fiction book started life in a different genre – as a young adult novel. I had the rather limited idea that if there was already an existing biography, it wasn’t worth writing another one. So when I re-discovered this intriguing pioneer aviator called Bert Hinkler, I did a lot of research

Author Kim Wilkins

Author Kim Wilkins

about him, and decided to aim a fiction book at a young adult audience. Keen to develop my craft, I registered for the QWC workshop series with Kim Wilkins, Year-of-the Novel, then the follow-up, Year-of-the Edit. And I learned lots, not only about writing, but about publishing in general.

In that second year, I saw an advertisement for the Writefest event in Bundaberg and, thanks to the ever-obliging Sandy Curtis, had an opportunity to send a portion of a manuscript for consideration by a real, live literary agent, the sort of person who can tell you whether your book is any good or not, and if it is, might find a publisher for it. The agent turned out to be Sophie Hamley, a senior agent with the Sydney literary agency, Cameron Creswell, and the deal was that she’d give each of the budding authors selected, 15 minutes each. The scenario with me went something like this:

Sandy Curtis, author and key figure at Bundaberg Writefest

Sandy Curtis, author and key figure at Bundaberg Writefest

‘I’ve read the 30 pages of your YA novel,’ Sophie said, ‘and I think it’s got legs, as they say in publishing.  I’d like to see the rest of it. Can you please send me the full manuscript.’

When I finished opening and closing my mouth like a goldfish, I managed to say, ‘I’ve been doing a lot of research on Bert Hinkler, and his life story is pretty interesting in itself. I reckon there’s an adult novel in there too.’

She looked straight at me. ‘Why don’t you write his life story?’

‘But there’s already a biography,’ I said.

My dynamic agent, Sophie Hamley

My dynamic agent, Sophie Hamley

‘When was that published?’

‘1962, with a slight update in 1979.’

‘Might be time for another one,’ she said. ‘Non-fiction outsells fiction three to one in Australia.’

‘Does it?’ I said, eyes wide.

[I know this sounds like bad dialogue from a cheap novel, but that’s how I recall it.]

‘You could write it as narrative non-fiction,’ she said.

Up to this point, I thought there was fiction, non-fiction, and there was politics. What the hell was narrative non-fiction?

Now I do know something about the English language, and my lighting fast brain reminded me: ‘narrative – that means a story’. So I cleverly said, ‘You mean tell a story using non-fiction.’

She nodded, and I nodded in return. ‘Uh huh.’

Sophie must have realised I was scrambling a bit, because she gave me the titles of a couple of big-selling narrative non-fiction books. I carefully wrote the titles down, told her I’d get hold of them, and would immediately begin writing a new biography of Bert Hinkler. And after some pleasantries during which time I tried to show her what a well-read, fascinating writer I am, my 15 minutes was up.

That was five years ago. Since then, the (rewritten) young adult novel has been highly commended in a publisher’s competition, but is so far unpublished. However, I’ve had two short stories published after being selected in competitions I’ve entered, and, thanks to my agent, Sophie Hamley (see above) I signed a contract with an emerging Sydney e-publisher, Xoum Publications, for publication of a non-fiction e-book in March this year, Extending Your Use-By Date, which attracted heaps of media attention (www.xoum.com.au/shop/extending-your-use-by-date/). I’m continually working on other writing, including another non-fiction book.

And the biography? It was the one selected for the 2010 Development Workshop, and in August this year Hachette Australia will publish Hustling Hinkler: the short tumultuous life of a trail-blazing Australian aviator. In my next blog post, I’ll tell you about that book and what I learnt on the rocky road to publication.

[re-blogged from Queensland Writers Centre http://www.qwc.asn.au/connect/blog/]

Hustling Hinkler and the cyclone: a wet and windy tale of bad timing

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I’d revised the manuscript for the umpteenth time, in response to the editor’s numerous suggestions, and had negotiated further changes with the always cheerful Vanessa Radnidge and Kate Ballard at Hachette Australia. My narrative non-fiction book, Hustling Hinkler: the short tumultuous life of a trail-blazing Australian aviator, was looking good for publication. Now it was time to add the photos.

The subject of my biography, Bert Hinkler, was born in Bundaberg, Queensland,  and late last year, I had contacted the Hinkler Hall of Aviation in that city about obtaining a selection of images of the pioneer aviator from their extensive collection. All I had to do was finalise the arrangements. Then Oswald intervened.

Cyclone Oswald had swept in over the Gulf of Carpentaria in January 2013 and, although soon downgraded to a tropical low, dumped masses of rain on communities in Tropical North Queensland before heading south. On its way down the coast, it continued to suck in moist tropical air and spread its largesse on the areas below. When Oswald reached Bundaberg at the end of January, it whipped up several typhoons as an initial demonstration of its power, then lashed the area with torrential rain. The Burnett River, where Bert Hinkler once famously flew under two of the bridges, reached record heights, and much of Bundaberg was inundated. Some 7500 residents were evacuated and there was widespread damage, particularly in  North Bundaberg (where Hinkler grew up and went to school).

Flooded Bundaberg North January 2013

Flooded Bundaberg North January 2013

The Hinkler Hall of Aviation is located in the botanic gardens in North Bundaberg, and 30 centimetres of water washed through the building, depositing clinging mud across the displays and in the foyer. Significantly for my particular interest, the floodwaters also found their way into the collection store and research rooms. Needless to say, the staff had enough to worry about in restoring the exhibits, cleaning up the place and saving the records (with help from Queensland Museum experts). Lex Rowland, long-time Hinkler enthusiast and one of the Hall of Aviation trustees, rang me to apologise that they wouldn’t be able to help me out with photos on this occasion. In fact, this key tourist attraction has remained closed to the public since that time, although when I was still missing a couple of key photos recently, Lex was able to supply them from the Hinkler House Museum and Research Association database.

Fortunately, many of the Hinkler photos held by the Hall of Aviation are also held by State and national libraries in Australia, and the national archives. Each library holds only a few, however, so it was quite an exercise to go through the full catalogue (which is held on the central Trove database), select the required images, then submit requests to each library individually, complete with payment.

State Library of Queensland

State Library of Queensland

 

Most of this was done through completing order forms, printing them off, scanning them, and emailing them back. In most cases, the requested photos were sent (in TIFF format) very promptly online, but the denseness of the images meant relatively slow download times on my laptop (up to 30 minutes each time). Each library also indicated how it wants the source of the images acknowledged in the book, and none of the requirements are exactly the same. It was about this time that writing a fiction novel seemed particularly appealing – no photos, no fact checking.

There will be eight pages of black and white photographs in Hustling Hinkler. This will be the first time many of the images have been published in a book, including some I have sourced from elsewhere. What’s more, there is at least one image in the book which has never been published anywhere before, that I think will be a surprise to readers.

Missing out on a few photos hardly compares with coping with the inundation the people of Bundaberg suffered in the floods of January 2013, and I was also fortunate there were alternative sources for the images. The city is still recovering, but I hope the Hall of Aviation might be open again by the time Hustling Hinkler is published in August this year.

P.S. The Queensland Writers Centre earlier this year organised a fund-raising venture called ‘Writers on Rafts’, to help communities affected by Cyclone Oswald.

 

 

 

 

Preview: Bert Hinkler biography to be published August

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I’m delighted to tell you that my book, Hustling Hinkler: The short tumultuous life of an Australian aviator, will be in the bookshops and online in August. The publisher, Hachette Australia, have now posted details on their website. I’ve been working on this book for several years, and it’s based on research I’ve done on three continents. I hope readers will be as satisfied with the outcome as I am.

Hustling Hinkler tells the remarkable story of Bert Hinkler, who rose from humble beginnings in the sugar town of Bundaberg in coastal Queensland, Australia, to become a world-famous long-distance pilot. On the ground, however, things weren’t always quite so smooth …

Click here for a preview of the cover and a brief synopsis of the story of Hustling Hinkler.

Meanwhile, I did another newspaper interview this week about my e-book, published in March, Extending your use-by date:Why retirement age is only a number, and have been invited to speak about it at a library event at the Gold Coast.  Extending your use-by date  is available through the publisher, www.xoum.com.au, and  Amazon.com,  iBookstore and Kobo.

Book Launch: Ryders Ridge – Charlotte Nash

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It was great to go to another book launch of another friend this week. Ryders Ridge, by Charlotte Nash, has just hit the bookstores (although Big W released it a couple of weeks earlier). It’s a rural romance set in north-west Queensland. Not my usual sort of reading, but hey, sometimes you have to push your own boundaries.

From the back cover blurb: ‘Shaken after a tragic incident in the city hospital where she worked, Daniella figures that the small north-west Queensland cattle town of Ryders Ridge is just the place to hide. Caring and dedicated, she quickly wins the trust of her patients, and the attention of handsome station heir, Mark Walker. As their relationship grows, Daniella begins to think she could make a new life for herself in Ryders. But country towns have their own problems.’

I first met Charlotte in 2010 when she and I were two of eight writers chosen for that year’s Manuscript Development Workshop sponsored by the Queensland Writers Centre and Hachette Australia. Ryders Ridge* draws on Charlotte’s medical expertise (she has a degree in medicine) as well as her experience of living for a short time in rural Queensland. Write from what you know…

The prolific author, university lecturer and workshop tutor, Kim Wilkins, launched Ryder’s Ridge with aplomb at Avid Reader bookshop in Brisbane’s West End. Kim’s also a friend of Charlotte, so we heard some inside stories about the development of the book, which was

Kim Wilkins launching 'Ryders Ridge'

Kim Wilkins launching ‘Ryders Ridge’

apparently written over a short period, but followed by a longer editing process. There was a big turnout for the launch, which augurs well for the book’s future. And of course, it’s published by Hachette Australia, who also recently published Fractured, the debut novel of another participant in the 2010 Manuscript Development workshop, Dawn Barker (see my earlier blogs re Fractured). Poppy Gee’s novel, Bay of Fires (another earlier blog topic), is from the same stable.

* I wanted to put an apostrophe in Ryders – must ask Charlotte about that sometime.

 

Red hot e-seller? Who knows?

I’m frequently asked how my ebook, Extending your use-by date, is selling, especially after the spate of radio and TV interviews I’ve done in the past few weeks. My answer is: I have no idea. If you publish a print book, there’s a worldwide commercial system called Bookscan that collates sales results weekly; if you publish an ebook, paradoxically there appears to be no centralised collecting agency that records sales. I must be missing something here, but you’d think an ebookseller would be able to register every electronic sale immediately and update the total sales at the same time. Apparently not. So the ability to report on ebook sales lags behind the reporting of print book sales. My publisher, www.xoum.com.au, will be able to give me updates on sales through their site, but it seems I will have to wait for  Amazon.com,  iBookstore and Kobo.

Extending your use-by date – on national Today show.

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On Tuesday, 26 March, I was interviewed on the Australian national breakfast television program, the Today show, by one of the co-presenters, Lisa Wilkinson, about my e-book, Extending your use-by date: Why retirement age is only a number.  This was a great chance to share the book’s theme with a national TV audience on Channel 9: that we sometimes head unthinkingly into retirement at a time when people are generally living longer and when we have built up a formidable array of skills and knowledge.

Lisa asked a number of well-focused questions, and I was able to get across the main points of the book. The dozen or so radio interviews I’d done in the previous week prepared me well for the sorts of questions that came up. I didn’t have time to be (too) nervous.

I was pleased that Lisa didn’t ask me how old I am. Only a couple of interviewers have, so far. Just as I think retirement age is only a number, so I think there is too much focus on precisely how old a person is, when it’s mostly irrelevant. I’m happy to acknowledge that I’m working into older age, and that I have no plans to retire, but my specific age should not define me. Fortunately, only a few selected occupations in some Australian states are now subject to a compulsory retirement age, such as judges and police officers, and even in those vocations the Australian Law Reform Commission  favours assessment of an individual’s capability, rather than compulsory retirement on the basis of age.

I wasn’t the main feature on that morning’s Today show, of course. Ellen DeGeneres was in Australia at the time to record a show and make some appearances, and for some reason she got more air time than I did…

I still have more interviews coming up, including one with Radio New Zealand.

WHERE TO BUY IT

Extending your use-by date is available as a digital ePub eBook file and can be downloaded for AU$9.99 from the publisher: www.xoum.com.au, and from Amazon.com, iBookstore and Kobo.

If you’ve never downloaded an e-book to a computer or laptop before, the process is straightforward: you first need to download a free e-book reader, such as Adobe Digital Editions, Aldiko, or Calibre, then download the book from one of the above sites. If you use a Mac, iBookstore is your best source, and if you have a Kindle e-reader, Amazon is the linked bookstore.

How do you launch an e-book? ‘Extending your use-by date’

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As the release date approached for my e-book, Extending Your Use-By Date: Why retirement age is only a number, I wondered what would be an appropriate way to launch it. After all, it’s not in hard copy, so there’s not much point in having a ‘traditional’ launch, often held in a bookshop, with the author signing copies of the newly purchased book. With an e-book, there’s nothing to sign.

Then it came to me: a launch via Skype – using technology in line with the e-book concept. And Dr Karen E. Watkins, Professor in Adult Education and Human Resource and Organizational Development in the College of Education at the University of Georgia. Athens, USA, generously agreed to say the appropriate words – online.

Professor Watkins is the author or co-author of six books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters, was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame in 2003. She’s been to Australia several times, most recently as a consultant on organisational learning.

So, on Sunday 24 March, a small crowd gathered in Brisbane, Karen Watkins SkypeQueensland, to hear Karen talk from Athens, Georgia, USA, about her own personal experiences as an ‘older worker’ with no intention of retiring, and to send the book on its way. The only limitation with a Skype launch was that we couldn’t invite her to join us for champagne to celebrate the occasion 🙂

In the past week I have done twelve radio interviews about Extending your use-by date, with more to come. Many of the interviewers were intrigued by the notion that more than 1 million Australians aren’t sure Darryl ABCwhen they’ll retire and more than 650,000 say they’ll never retire, but all of the interviewers were supportive of the idea behind the book. You can  listen to or download an interview here with Natasha Mitchell on Life Matters, ABC (Australia) Radio National, which went to air on Thursday 21 March.

Extending Your Use-By Date is available as a download for AU$9.99 from the publisher, www.xoum.com.au, as well as at Amazon.com, Kobo, and the Apple iBookstore. If you want to download onto a desktop computer or laptop, you first need to download a free e-book reader, such as Adobe Digital Editions. If you have a tablet or other mobile device, it should have e-reader software already installed.

‘Extending your use-by date’ now online

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This is an exciting time for me. My e-book, Extending your use-by date: Why retirement age is only a number, is now online.* It’s available through the publisher, www.xoum.com.au, as well as at Amazon.com, Kobo, and the Apple iBookstore.

The starting point for Extending Your Use-By Date is that we sometimes head unthinkingly into retirement at a time when we are living longer than ever and when we have developed skills and abilities we can keep on using. The book also argues that continuing to work can maintain our wellbeing as well as contribute to our bank balance.

Extending Your Use-By Date draws on the real-life experiences of people who have worked or are working into older life in lots of different ways. They tell us how they’ve made the most of their knowledge, skills and talents as they’ve grown older, and why they decided to pick up and move that milestone known as ‘retirement age’. We also learn what we can expect of our minds and bodies as we get older, and about the current phenomenon of ageing populations and the greying of the workforce, and how these developments could mean new opportunities for older workers.

While the book uses Australian examples, the lessons from the personal stories and latest research are universal.

In the forthcoming week, I am doing radio interviews across Australia about the book. Most of these interviews are on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC:  www.abc.net.au) stations, and you can listen direct, online or via podcasts, wherever you live in the world. Two of the interviews will be broadcast nationally: on Tony Delroy’s Nightlife at 10.10pm Monday 18 March, and on Life Matters, with Natasha Mitchell at 9.20am on Thursday 21 March (times are Australian).

*For the uninitiated, the following information comes from LexisNexis (http://www.lexisnexis.com.au/ebooks/downloads/faq_ebooks_guide_a4_online.pdf)

What is an eBook?
Also known as electronic books, eBooks are digital versions of books that can be read on personal computers, mobile handheld devices such as iPads or eReader devices such as the Sony eReader.

What is an eBook reader?
An eBook reader is the software you use to read your eBook. You may need to download eBook reader software to your device or computer, to read your eBook. Most mobile devices already contain software that allows you to read eBooks.

[I am still learning about e-readers and e-books, but I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions software on my laptop (easy), and Aldiko Book Reader software on my android tablet (harder), before I downloaded the book, but there are various e-readers available. I understand you need a Kindle device or program to download books from the Amazon.com site, and other software (such as I used) before you can download files with an ePUB ending from other bookstores.

I know that some readers will be using e-readers for the first time with Extending your use-by date, so if anyone knows of a site with straightforward information for newcomers about downloading ePUBs to any device, I’d love to hear from you via ‘Comments’. DRD]

Fractured – Dawn Barker

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It’s fantastic to see good writing rewarded, and at last Dawn Barker’s novel, Fractured, is in the bookshops. I first met Dawn at the 2010 Hachette/Queensland Writers Centre Development Workshop, and Hachette Australia have now published the book she developed through that process.

I said in my last blog that I was fortunate to be in Launceston, Tasmania, when another Hachette novelist, Poppy Gee, was in town to talk about her book, Bay of Fires. I was still there when Fractured was due out, Tuesday 26 February, and inquired at a local bookshop (all bookshops are independent in Launceston) a few days ahead whether they were expecting any copies. No, but they could order one for me. (They’ll be sorry they don’t have a good supply on hand.) I had only another week in Tasmania, so checked with another bookshop, Fullers, and yes, they had five copies on order. They promised to let me know when it arrived.

I was leaving on the Saturday, and it wasn’t until Friday that my phone whistled to let me know the book had arrived. After keeping in touch with Dawn throughout the publication process, I was delighted to finally be able to buy Fractured across the counter. I started reading it on the plane on the way home to Brisbane, and am finding it very compelling, as well as a little chilling. As you can see from the image on this page, it has a fantastic cover too.

As a result of this publication, Dawn, who is a psychiatrist by profession, is a local celebrity in Perth, Western Australia, where she lives with her husband and three young children – she was an invited speaker at the Perth Writers Festival and will be at the Margaret River Writers Festival in May, and has media interviews completed and lined up. In the release week, a Perth bookshop devoted its whole window display to Fractured. Go Dawn!

Bay of Fires – Poppy Gee

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One of the exciting aspects of being a writer is meeting other writers and hearing about their experiences. I was

Poppy Gee at Fullers Bookshop, Launceston, Tasmania

Poppy Gee at Fullers Bookshop, Launceston, Tasmania

fortunate to be in Launceston, Tasmania, when Poppy Gee gave a talk last Friday evening about her new crime novel, Bay of Fires. I met Poppy a few weeks back at the Hachette bowls night in Brisbane (see my blog, ‘A question of bias’). Poppy is originally from Launceston and she attracted a good-size, appreciative audience to her talk at Fullers Bookshop. The book is set in Tasmania – Bay of Fires is a world-renowned natural recreational area.

As a writer, I was particularly interested to hear how Bay of Fires had developed and how it came to be published. While, as she said on the night, Poppy has friends 20130222_185504who are good writers but can’t get their novels published, her own success shows that it is not impossible. Her book is currently available in bookshops in Australia, and very soon will be published in the US and the UK. I have started reading my (signed) copy and am enjoying getting to know the characters and the build up of ‘who done it?’

Bay of Fires