Writing

Marc Chagall, The White Crucifixion 1938 — It’s been over a year since the release of By Violence Unavenged – a year of death, heatwaves, fires, floods, injuries, illness, job loss, pestilence, and house renovations. I have had neither time nor energy to write. Yesterday, all that changed. I spent an quiet hour in a cafe and […]

Writing Outside Heaven’s Sway

October 21, 2020 in Outside Heaven's Sway / Writing by annette

It’s been months since I’ve posted; mainly because I’ve been at hammer and tongs finishing By Violence Unavenged. Now, quite frankly, I’m terrified. Terrified the new book is going to flop. Terrified at coming out of my shell to peddle my wares. Terrified of deadlines. Terrified of writing Volume Two, […]

Leech Gathering #12: And so, from hour to hour…

December 7, 2018 in Annette / By Violence Unavenged / Outside Heaven's Sway / Writing by annette

dolphin salt shaker — Dr Annette Young delivered a version of this text as a dinner speech for the Association of Australian Women Graduates at The Newcastle Club on 26 August 2015. In the course of writing fiction, there comes a point when your story metamorphoses from being simply a story to being a […]

Inspired by motherhood: life, literature, and plastic dolphins

October 17, 2015 in Annette / Events / Motherhood / Writing by annette

Preliminary character diagram for volume 3. France. — Here’s a preliminary diagram of my characters for volume 3. I wonder where they will take me? Vienna is mostly done, now for France. Click the picture for a closer look, and sign up to my email list for updates as the sequel gets closer.

Sketching my characters for the sequel – France

September 29, 2015 in Annette / Characters / Sequel / Writing by francis

Here are ten favourite books which I always carry around in my mind, and which collectively helped me to write the story arc, the themes, the characters, the settings, and to manage the narrative voice of A Distant Prospect. I wrote the first draft of my book while doing my […]

10 books that helped me to write A Distant Prospect

July 6, 2015 in Annette / Research / Study Guide / Writing by annette

Sonlight's 20th Century Literature sub-package 330 — Character, culture, plot, emotion, language. Only two or three books per hundred meet all of these tough criteria! If you ever need to choose truly memorable fiction books, whether for yourself, your children, or your school, you could do worse than add these seven benchmarks to your arsenal. Sarita Holzmann, […]

The Seven Pillars of Great Fiction, or how to choose ...

April 25, 2015 in Reviews / Writing by francis

Calling all teachers! Annette is preparing a Teacher’s Study Guide for A Distant Prospect, and will soon be seeking some volunteers who have read the book, to take a look and offer their suggestions. Of course, A Distant Prospect is wonderful to simply read as an engaging and uplifting story […]

Study Guide for A Distant Prospect – testers needed!

April 16, 2015 in Annette / Book production / Study Guide / Writing by francis

Time for a shelfie — Four notebooks full, writes Annette, and her loyal fans rejoice! A few insights into the writing process as the sequel to A Distant Prospect comes together. Lots of reading, lots of sketching, lots of typing. And, finally, here’s a “shelfie” with some of Annette’s latest research reads, focussing on Vienna […]

Here’s how Annette writes a sequel ….

January 17, 2015 in Annette / Sequel / Writing by francis

Charming Jozsef Karoly von Habsburg discussed with Annette Young her sequel to A Distant Prospect, particularly her research into Vienna between the wars, when they met last week in Sydney. Part of her sequel occurs in late 1930s Austria, stripped of its empire, under siege from all directions, and impoverished […]

Annette meets Jozsef Karoly von Habsburg

December 17, 2014 in Research / Sequel / Vienna / Writing by francis

Stocktake time. Haven’t done a precise word count but I’m about 30,000 words into Part II – trans. The Vienna section. Needless to say, I am pleased. I also realise how little I know and how much I need to ‘grow up’. The flip side is that I have learned […]

Vienna takes shape!

October 8, 2014 in Annette / Phoebe Raye / Sequel / Vienna / Writing by francis

Click the picture for a (slightly) closer look... — Annette Young today gave readers a rare public glimpse of her notes for the exciting sequel to A Distant Prospect! Post by Annette Young. So, what do we actually know? Not much more than Wien and wine! We left our characters in January 1929, and now we have a map […]

Wien und wine! Sneak peek at Annette’s sequel under construction!

July 26, 2014 in Annette / Maps / Sequel / Vienna / Writing by francis

Shelfie!

January 28, 2014 in Annette / Sequel / Writing by francis

Impatient readers who are missing the characters they loved in A Distant Prospect will be pleased to know that Annette has already filled three large notebooks with timelines and scenes for the sequel. Yes, it is a sequel! Annette’s powerful new story spans about a decade from the mid 1930s […]

Sequel is coming together! (No spoilers!)

November 10, 2013 in Sequel / Writing by francis

A Distant Prospect in Readings Hawthorn storefront window — Jonathon Welch AM, Artistic Director of the Choir of Hard Knocks, gave a small but engaged audience a heartfelt account of his response to Annette Young’s powerful debut novel, A Distant Prospect. Jonathon said he was “blown away” by Annette’s testimony and insights into the writing process, when she spoke […]

Jonathon Welch, Melbourne launch and School of Hard Knocks

February 14, 2013 in Events / Writing by francis

What does a writer do when she is missing her characters? In this case, Annette sits in the stands at Bellerive during the Sheffield Shield cricket match between the Tasmanian Tigers and the NSW Blues and makes copious notes for the sequel of A Distant Prospect! Watch this space.

Sequel underway!

February 9, 2013 in Cricket / Sequel / Writing by francis

Debbie Scholem’s fun interview with Annette Young, author of A Distant Prospect, was aired in the 4-7 pm Drive program on Sydney’s Fine Music FM 102.5 on Thursday, 7 February 2013. The audio of the interview, without music, is made available here with permission.

Debbie Scholem interviews Annette for Fine Music 102.5

February 7, 2013 in Annette / Reviews / Writing by francis

www.maitlandmercury.com. Wednesday, November 21, 2012 THE MAITLAND MERCURY Lifting the Lid on Lucy by REBECCA BERRY Lorn author Annette Young’s story about a young Irish girl called Lucy has been written in her head for years. But the words did not appear on paper until now in the form of […]

Maitland Mercury interview with Annette Young

November 21, 2012 in Annette / Reviews / Writing by francis

A Distant Prospect – ISBN 9780987435101