5 April 2017 - 'FLYING THROUGH CLOUDS' – Blog Tour – MICHELLE MORGAN

'FLYING THROUGH CLOUDS'

Michelle Morgan

- Blog Tour -

G'day folks,

Today, I'm taking part in a blog tour for Australian author, Michelle Morgan, who has just released her latest book, Flying Through Clouds.

Welcome Michelle ...

I was inspired to write Flying through Clouds by two historical events – the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in March 1932, and the landing and take-off of Southern Cross by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith on Seven Mile Beach in January 1933. Several relatives of mine were at the opening of the Bridge and one had an official invitation. I was amazed to discover that people started climbing the bridge before it had even opened, and some of those daredevils kept a flag from the top of the arch as a souvenir. When I discovered that Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (aka Smithy) led the flypast in Southern Cross at the opening of the Bridge I was hooked.

In January 2013, I wandered into the Gerringong Historical Society Museum on the South Coast of New South Wales to see their special exhibition. It was 8o years since Smithy landed Southern Cross on nearby Seven Mile Beach at Gerroa, before taking off again early the following morning, 11 January 1933, on the first commercial flight to New Zealand. I'd been toying with the idea of somehow including this amazing historical event into the new novel I ‘d begun writing. As I wandered around the exhibition, inspecting each old photo and artefact, reading every newspaper and magazine, I became more and more excited. A couple of hours later, I walked out of the museum and headed straight to Seven Mile Beach. 

After parking my car on the side of the road, I headed along one of the tracks to the beach. I walked slowly, taking in every sight, smell and sound in the surrounding bush. I ran over the sand dunes to the beach, just as I'd imagined my main character would. I was channeling the teenage boy deep inside who I could picture there on the beach as Southern Cross was landing and taking off again in 1933. That was the inspiration I needed to develop an important part of my main character's story. Over the following months, I finished the first draft of Flying through Clouds. It has taken me nearly four years to edit and reshape that raw manuscript into a novel that was ready to be published.

I am sincerely grateful to pioneering aviators like Sir Charles Kingsford Smith who flew such basic planes with canvas bodies and timber wings across oceans and continents. If it wasn't for their courage, tenacity and adventurous spirit, the airline industry wouldn't have developed at the rate it did. Many of the early aviators lost their lives, including Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who disappeared in his plane, Lady Southern Cross, off the coast of Burma in 1935.

I hope you enjoy Flying through Clouds!

AUTHOR: Michelle Morgan

TITLE: Flying through Clouds

ISBN: 978-0-9953865-0-1

AGES: 12+

RRP: $18.99 Pbk

Available now at bookshops, educational and library suppliers, and can be ordered on Michelle’s website: www.michellejmorgan.com.au

Check out Sally Odgers’ blog tomorrow at http://promotemeplease.blogspot.com.au/ for Day 4 of the Flying through Clouds Blog tour.

WEBSITE

Clancy's comment: Well done, Michelle. I hope your book sells well.

I'm ...

14 November 2014 - ADEM BESIM - Blog Tour

ADEM BESIM

- Blog Tour -

G'day folks,

Today I participate in another blog tour for another rising Aussie author.

Welcome, Adem ... 

  Q. Describe your book in five words or less.

A. A fictional, yet realistic teenage novel.

Q. How did the ideas for your book come to you?

A. Being born and growing up in Kyabram, I watched the effect it had on local teens. When I was looking for a subject, it wasn’t hard to come up with an intriguing idea for a book based on these experiences.

Q. Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

A. The messages in the novel that I want readers to be left with are; follow your dreams, love your family and friends, and trust that your struggles will make you a stronger person. 

There are also important messages about the big issues in society today, especially among young adults. For example: reporting bullying, the serious dangers of drink -driving, suicide prevention, binge drinking and teenage pressures.

Q. Why did you choose to write in this genre?

A. I’ve always been attracted to writing for young adults, because these hard teen years are something that everybody goes through. I am able to use some of my own experiences and in doing so I hope that my readers will be able to relate to my novels. I also enjoy writing works targeted for adults.

Q. Does the life of your main character parallel with yours in any way?

A. There are certain similarities between my protagonist, Nathan Thompson, and myself. It is not long since I was his age, so I understand him and his motivations, and we were both born and raised in Kyabram. The way he sees some things is also the way I do, or did at his age. We’ve both had our own set of obstacles and have similar beliefs about life. Some of the people who read my earlier drafts of the novel told me that he sounds like me – which was to be expected. I think that there is a part of every author in their characters.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Adem Besim was born, raised and still lives in Kyabram, Victoria. He is presently studying for a Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing at Bendigo TAFE. 

Adem started his writing journey at 14 years of age.

He says, 'I started writing because I'd always had a passion for it from when I was a small child. Visits to bookshops with my father and author visits at school inspired me. I always felt at my happiest listening to authors speaking about their books. Writing gives me that same feeling. That's how I knew that this was what I was born to do; there was nothing else I felt more certain about.”

BOOK INFORMATION:

This is a deeply emotive story told in the first person voice of a seventeen-year-old boy. The themes are many: bullying, friendships, dealing with death, and falling in love. This book will be loved by male and female. 

SYNOPSIS:

This is a coming-of-age story about triumph and tragedy, love and loss, acceptance and letting go.

Life's looking pretty awesome for 17-year-old, Nathan Thompson. He's the goal-kicking superstar from the small town of Kyabram. Nathan's in his final year of school and has big plans set for the future; like winning the Thirds’ premiership cup, acing his Year Twelve exams, and finally graduating. One problem – his tough and over-bearing father, Mark, has other plans for him. He desperately wants Nathan to be the next AFL player to come out of Kyabram. 

He seems set to stop Nathan from following his dreams of studying architecture at university. But a thirty-year-old secret of Mark's that resurfaces on Nathan's 18th birthday changes everything. Will it force Nathan and his father further apart or help them reconcile their fragile relationship? 

On top of that problem, Nathan’s year gets worse as he deals with death, bullying and first love.

BOOK INFORMATION: TITLE: My Unforgettable Year    Author:    Adem Besim                     ISBN:            978-0-9925052-7-1              FORMATS: Paperback and eBook EXTENT:    258 pages AU RRP:     eBook: $4.95                     Paperback: $22.95 PUBLISHER:  Morris Publishing Australia PUB DATE:    November  2014   CATEGORY: Coming of age story AUDIENCE:  Young Adult   WHOLESALE AND RETAIL ORDERS: Morris Publishing Australia - http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com Dennis Jones and Associates: www.dennisjones.com.au James Bennett library suppliers: www.bennett.com.au The Nile Bookshop: www.thenile.com.au Paperback and eBook available on Amazon and many online stores. DETAILS OF BLOG TOUR: http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com/blog-tour-my-unforgettable-year.html
Clancy's comment: Well done, Adem. I know Kyabram well. It's a great farming area.  Good luck.  Your book sounds like a gripping yarn. Keep writing. I'm ...

15 September 2014 - ROYCE BOND - Blog Tour

ROYCE BOND

- Blog Tour -

G'day folks,

Today I'm participating in a blog tour for a very interesting author - Royce Bond. Royce is a well published author. His first book, Kitchen Science, was published by Ashton Scholastic after he won the prestigious National B.H.P. /
C.S.I.R.O. Science Teacher's Award. This book was used in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, and in some schools in South America.

He went on to publish two children's books; The Case of the Smelly Armpit and other Scientific Mysteries, and Mars Attack, with Random House. These children's books were translated into Chinese and Korean. Hodder Headline published his next book, Spare Body Parts, and seven teacher reference books were published by Scholastic Australia.

Since his retirement, he has changed his writing to young adult fantasy novels, which have been just as popular.

Welcome, Royce ...

BOOK INFORMATION:

Title: The Summoning of The One – Book 2 in The Knights of Katesch                                 

AUTHOR: Royce Bond

ISBN:  978-0-9925052-0-2       

FORMATS:  eBook and  Paperback

PUBLISHER:  Morris Publishing Australia

CATEGORY: Fantasy/adventure

AUDIENCE:  12 + 

SYNOPSIS:

Andrew Weatherby, a bullied computer nerd from Central Queensland is ripped from his world to lead The Knights of Katesch in their direct attack on Maligor the Destroyer. In the midst of the battle in Mountain City, he rescues princess Katarin to find he has been betrothed to her since birth. 

This feisty young lady risks her life to save Andrew. The Knights believe that have finally defeated Maligor after ten thousand years of conflict. In an attempt to escape the fanatic red guards seeking revenge for the death of their god, Agmar accidentally releases a monster army: the Kazdoom.

INTERVIEW:

Why did you choose to write in this genre?

I am a medieval re-enactor so I spend a lot of time pretending I’m living in medieval times. It wasn’t hard to move from this make believe activity to writing about medieval style fantasy. As a child, I used to love make believing that I had some sort of super powers, so it wasn’t hard to include this in my writing as well.

Does the life of your main character parallel with yours in any way?

Yes, what happened to Andy at school happened to me at high school. In my book, Andy is attacked with a knife, in my own experience I was attacked with a hammer. In my book the bullies ganged together against Andy, in my life they did the same.

In the book, Andy ends up knowing kung fu. In my life, I learnt judo and thus ended the bullying. 

In the book, Andy meets two friends: 

Hepzebah and Agmar. In my life, I made two close friends.

In the book, Andy meets a young lady: Katarin. She turns his life around. In my life, I met Karen. She turned my life around and we have been married for 34 years.

Follow the blog tour by selecting the link below. Each day you will learn a little more about this exciting book and its unique author. 

http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com/blog-tour-the-summoning-of-the-one.html

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL ORDERS: 

Dennis Jones and Associates – 

http://dennisjones.com.au

James Bennett library suppliers

Peter Pal library suppliers

http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com

eBook available on Amazon, Smashwords and many online stores.

AUTHOR INFORMATION: 

Royce is available for school visits. Please phone Elaine on 07 54 981 332 or email info@morrispublishingaustralia.com 

Clancy's comment: Royce, love the personal connection between your own life and how this book pans out. Well done. Keep writing. Hope you sell heaps.

I'm ...

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