Yearly Archives: 2012

“You ain’t heard nuthin’ yet!” Sydney audiences broke all box office records in late December 1928 when The Jazz Singer opened at the Lyceum, and The Red Dance opened at the Regent. In a week these two cinemas took £8,500! In November 1928, Western Electric engineers had installed Fox Movietone […]

The Jazz Singer and Sydney’s 1928 talkie war

 in Sydney by
1920s Sydney had the largest network of tramways in the Southern Hemisphere, with 1600 tramcars running daily on 291 km of tram lines. This amazing video clip shows trams shifting 1000 passengers per minute at the end of the final race of the 1928 Sydney Cup meeting at Randwick Racecourse.

Trams in 1928 Sydney

 in Sydney by
Annette signing copies of A Distant Prospect at Maitland 15 Dec 2012
McDonalds Booksellers, an institution in Maitland’s Heritage Mall, invited Annette Young to spend some time signing copies of her novel for customers this morning. In two hours, A Distant Prospect sold ten copies, while the late Bryce Courtenay’s Jack of Diamonds sold just two. One customer, unable to decide, bought […]

Outselling Bryce Courtenay

 in Book production by
GoodReadingGuide.com is a great resource for book lovers, and especially for parents and others wanting to choose books wisely. Here are a couple of quotes from Clare Cannon’s review of A Distant Prospect: “The author’s … love for and extensive knowledge of music, fine arts and literature shines through” “The […]

Good Reading Guide review by Clare Cannon

 in Reviews by
Shipping preorders
Well, the elves have been busy, and there go the last of the preorders! A few lucky readers got hand delivered copies, but the rest should reach their destination later this week. And don’t forget the world premiere book launch at the Seraphine Cafe, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, High Street, […]

Out they go!

 in Book production by
The first printing is done, and will ship tonight from Griffin Press in Adelaide, arriving in Maitland by this weekend! We will send out all preorders from Maitland on Monday 3 December. You can still order a copy from the first printing by clicking on the link at the top […]

First printing news

 in Book production by
Lucy and her father speak Irish quite a bit in A Distant Prospect, requiring Annette to study the language in order to write it. Some of the funniest moments in the book see Lucy blurt out something in Irish in mixed company. Here’s an Irish grace before meals: Beannaigh sinne, […]

Beannaigh sinne, a Dhia

 in Irish / Prayers by
Men in the trenches awaiting the attack at Fromelles 19 July 1916
The 1914-18 Great War had long-lasting effects on Australia, including the families of our four string quartet members in A Distant Prospect. As the Australian War Memorial’s official synopsis of Australian involvement in World War I recounts, “For Australia, as for many nations, the First World War remains the most […]

Australia and the Great War

 in War by
Sub tuum Presidium papyrus 250-280 AD
Since many modern readers will be unfamiliar with them, we hope you will find it useful to have several posts and links about this and other prayers and expressions in the book. The Sub tuum praesidium may be the oldest Christian prayer dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, with this Greek […]

Sub tuum praesidium

 in Prayers by
Great news. We have just signed with Ingram Books to supply the US and UK markets, including Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and The Book Depository! They now have our book and we expect a proof next week, so it should become available everywhere by mid December. Meanwhile, our first printing is already […]

USA and UK book deal signed

 in Book production by
Another milestone, as Griffin Press in Adelaide has just shipped the proof copy of the book. Annette gave her first media interview today, to the Maitland Mercury. Stay tuned for a link to the review. And don’t forget to like our page on Facebook.

Proof has shipped!

 in Book production by