Justin Sheedy's Blog, page 10
May 2, 2012
Justin Sheedy, Author of "Nor the Years Condemn", Speaking at the Gloucester Writers' Festival THIS WEEKEND
Well! Once again I’m more grateful than a Great Big Galloping GRATEFUL Thing to have been invited as a guest writer to this year’s Gloucester Writers’ Festival, 4-6 May, on the strength of my new historical fiction, Nor the Years Condemn.
Set in the mid-NSW town of Gloucester, a classic country centre nestled in the natural wonder of the Barrington Tops ranges, the Gloucester Writers’ Festival is known for its friendly and highly interactive atmosphere, a literary event where readers can truly meet the authors and get the ‘stories behind the stories’. The GWF is characterised by its mix of well-established writers and new writers (such as myself) and is also very much committed to supporting young authors who, thanks to the efforts of Festival Director, Lindy Dupree, will have a fighting chance of becoming Australia’s literary figures of the future.
As a writer, I’m passionate about Australian history – my first book, Goodbye Crackernight, having been a portrait of growing up in 1970s Australia (when a child’s proudest possession was not a Playstation but a second-hand bike). My latest book, Nor the Years Condemn, now available as an ebook at Smashwords and as a print-on-demand paperback at Amazon, is an historical fiction based on the stunning true Australian story of how, in World War II, the best and brightest of a generation ironically picked one of the fastest ways to die of the War. And won it. The title is taken from the 1914 poem by Lawrence Binyon, For the Fallen, a famous verse of which is better known by the Australian public (as well as in Commonwealth nations) as the ‘Ode of Remembrance’. In a nutshell, my story is one of shining young men destined never to become old, and of those who do: the survivors ‘condemned by the years’ and to their memory of friends who remain forever young. For more background plus reading excerpts of Nor the Years Condemn, go to Crackernight.com. http://crackernight.com/ To my delight and relief beyond measure, the book has received excellent early reader reviews. Please see them also at Crackernight.com: http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/gr...
So I honestly can’t imagine anything more rewarding than the prospect of taking part in the Gloucester Writers’ Festival writer panel “Mining the Past for Stories” on Sat 5 May with the following award-winning Australian historical fiction authors: Carol Baxter – latest work, Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady… And Isolde Martyn, her latest offering, Fleur-de-Lis. This panel will look at some of the following themes surrounding historical fiction writing…
What draws writers to this genre of fiction? Why does the past offer such a rich field of inspiration for fiction?
What can fiction do that non-fiction historical writing can’t?
What kind of research is required for historical fiction?
Why is historical fiction so popular with readers?
If you are interested in writing historical fiction, what do you need to know before you start?
All I can say, frankly, is LET ME AT IT. As well as a profound thank you to Festival Director, Lindy Dupree, for inviting me to this year’s Gloucester Writers’ Festival.
Yours gallopingly-gratefully, Justin Sheedy.
Set in the mid-NSW town of Gloucester, a classic country centre nestled in the natural wonder of the Barrington Tops ranges, the Gloucester Writers’ Festival is known for its friendly and highly interactive atmosphere, a literary event where readers can truly meet the authors and get the ‘stories behind the stories’. The GWF is characterised by its mix of well-established writers and new writers (such as myself) and is also very much committed to supporting young authors who, thanks to the efforts of Festival Director, Lindy Dupree, will have a fighting chance of becoming Australia’s literary figures of the future.
As a writer, I’m passionate about Australian history – my first book, Goodbye Crackernight, having been a portrait of growing up in 1970s Australia (when a child’s proudest possession was not a Playstation but a second-hand bike). My latest book, Nor the Years Condemn, now available as an ebook at Smashwords and as a print-on-demand paperback at Amazon, is an historical fiction based on the stunning true Australian story of how, in World War II, the best and brightest of a generation ironically picked one of the fastest ways to die of the War. And won it. The title is taken from the 1914 poem by Lawrence Binyon, For the Fallen, a famous verse of which is better known by the Australian public (as well as in Commonwealth nations) as the ‘Ode of Remembrance’. In a nutshell, my story is one of shining young men destined never to become old, and of those who do: the survivors ‘condemned by the years’ and to their memory of friends who remain forever young. For more background plus reading excerpts of Nor the Years Condemn, go to Crackernight.com. http://crackernight.com/ To my delight and relief beyond measure, the book has received excellent early reader reviews. Please see them also at Crackernight.com: http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/gr...
So I honestly can’t imagine anything more rewarding than the prospect of taking part in the Gloucester Writers’ Festival writer panel “Mining the Past for Stories” on Sat 5 May with the following award-winning Australian historical fiction authors: Carol Baxter – latest work, Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady… And Isolde Martyn, her latest offering, Fleur-de-Lis. This panel will look at some of the following themes surrounding historical fiction writing…
What draws writers to this genre of fiction? Why does the past offer such a rich field of inspiration for fiction?
What can fiction do that non-fiction historical writing can’t?
What kind of research is required for historical fiction?
Why is historical fiction so popular with readers?
If you are interested in writing historical fiction, what do you need to know before you start?
All I can say, frankly, is LET ME AT IT. As well as a profound thank you to Festival Director, Lindy Dupree, for inviting me to this year’s Gloucester Writers’ Festival.
Yours gallopingly-gratefully, Justin Sheedy.
April 24, 2012
ANZAC Day Review of “Nor the Years Condemn” by Justin Sheedy – ‘A Reminder of Young Sacrifice’ – North Shore Times 25 April 2012
A REMINDER OF YOUNG SACRIFICE
Meticulous Research Gives Novel Solid Local Roots
By Eleanor Pearson, The North Shore Times, Anzac Day Edition, Wednesday 25 April 2012
Picture by Danny Aarons
DURING World War II Justin Sheedy’s paternal grandmother organised a volunteer typing pool at the RAAF’s Bradfield Park training school in Lindfield. The typing pool were members of her Roseville tennis club. “Bradfield Park was the key training ground in NSW,” Sheedy said. The author has just written his first novel Nor the Years Condemn and some of the scenes are placed at Bradfield Park where he has drawn from his family’s real-life experiences. His paternal grandfather was the station master at Roseville during the 1940s, and witnessed many of the young men leaving the north shore to go to war. Sheedy’s father was born in 1932 and later became captain and dux of Christian Brothers, Chatswood. According to Sheedy, he was just the sort of young man who would have been snapped up by the RAAF had he been born a decade earlier. In his book, Sheedy tells the story of the young Australian World War II pilots sent to fight Nazism. “It’s about the shining young men who were destined never to become old and those who do are condemned by the years to the memory of friends who never got to grow old.” Mr Sheedy, 43, described the main character, Daniel Quinn, as the type of person he once aspired to be. Quinn is a Killara resident, who went to St Aloysius College, Milson Point, was a star rugby player and a law student, who initially trained to be a pilot at Bradfield Park. The title is from the ode of remembrance, but for Mr Sheedy it was particularly poignant in the context of the survival odds of these young pilots. Like the Gallipoli legend, Mr Sheedy said the novel (based on historical events) was about Australian mateship in the face of terrible odds. “It’s an iconic Australian story, but unlike Gallipoli many Australians are relatively unaware of it,” Mr Sheedy said. “It’s not one of Gallipoli-type defeat, but of victory at a tragic cost.” In the genre of faction, he wanted to take his readers on a journey, and have them imagine what it was like to be in the cockpit of a fighter. “I could have written non-fiction, but instead of reading about history, I wanted my readers to be living and breathing history.” Mr Sheedy researched and talked to veterans for about a decade before publishing the book. Nor the Years Condemn is available from print-on-demand paperback at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nor-Years-Conde...
or as an e-book from Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/...
My sincere thanks to Eleanor Pearson of The North Shore Times
– Justin Sheedy, ANZAC Day 2012.
http://crackernight.com/2012/04/25/an...
April 20, 2012
“The Power of Perseverance” – An Article by Justin Sheedy, Author of “Nor the Years Condemn” – article published by The NSW Writers’ Centre
I’ve just had the following article written by me published in the NSW Writers’ Centre Members’ E-Newsletter. My huge thanks to Portia Lindsay of the NSWWC.
Member Story
THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE.
by Justin Sheedy
Ow!
Any day now…
Ow!
If you bash your head against a wall long enough and hard enough, eventually you make a small hole in it. With a bit of luck, a hole in the wall too… Right now, I seem to be peering through the tiny hole I’ve made in a wall, on the other side of which lies the Bright and Shining World of Authorial Success. It’s a very small hole.
My name’s Justin Sheedy. My first book, Goodbye Crackernight (a portrait of growing up in 1970s Australia), was published at the end of 2009. Yes, it needed a NSW Writers’ Centre Mentorship Program manuscript assessment to transform it from good but unpublishable raw material into an actual decent read and, yes, I had to have a new brain fitted after the ordeal of the transformation but that was well worth it.
As I write this, I’m still a ‘new’ author, yet no longer a ‘brand-new’ one. And can now offer a nugget of advice to those still brand-new: There is one important thing about your first publisher. One thing. Their Distributor. Try it: Walk into a bookstore, say, “I’m from Mars and I’ve just written a book.” Bookstore manager will say, “Distributor?” You then tell them and start planning your first book launch. Brand new authors, say it with me: “Distributor. Dis-tributor…”
With my first book launched, I visited nearly every store in Sydney to which it had been distributed and secured media coverage for it in a string of local newspapers, also on community radio plus Regional ABC radio (all possible to secure without a paid PR Agent, just a metric s***load of phone calls, emails and leg-work). But then one morning I received a return phone call from a local newspaper. A nice lady said, “You don’t know me but I feel like I know you. Thank you for writing that book; I’m still laughing and crying.” After I’d regained consciousness she said she’d like to help me (insert heavenly choir sound effect here) get onto the program of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival 2010. Which I did. And the Rest is…
…a continuum of hard work, knock-backs and general head-against-wall bashing.
My latest book is entitled Nor the Years Condemn. It’s an historical fiction based on the stunning true Australian story of how the best and brightest of a generation ironically picked one of the fastest ways to die in World War II. And won it. This book, too, only became the book it should be after a NSWWC Mentorship Program assessment. …And I had my second new brain fitted in as many years.
By 2011, now being able to ring Australia’s major publishing houses and say the magic words, ‘published author’, I was able to get past reception at all of them and onto their commissioning editors. Each of whom said Nor the Years Condemn sounded great, ‘Please send it in’, and proceeded to reject it one after the other over the course of 2011. By the end of the year, however, having attended a Byron Bay Writers’ Festival E-Publishing info seminar subtitled ‘Bypassing the Gatekeeper’, I published Nor the Years Condemn as an ebook, then in January this year as a print-on-demand paperback at Amazon.
Soon after publication, reader reviews started coming in. Though such reviews have only been made possible by an international awareness of the book which I’ve built up through almost daily Facebook and blogging activity – I launched Crackernight.com in 2009. Plus I’m currently building on early gains made: The media contacts I secured cold in 2009 are now warm! Recent local press headlines for Nor the Years Condemn have included ‘A Must-Read’ and, poignantly, ‘The Fight for Survival’. One paper labels me ‘In Demand’. Two more Sydney local papers have already conducted their interviews and photo-shoots with me, two more with coverage promised.
If anyone from the major newspapers or ABC Sydney happens to be reading this, I have no PR Agent, only a story to which Australian readers as well as from the USA, UK, Philippines and Sweden are already demanding a sequel. Maybe you’d like to have a look at it. (?)
An Australian Publisher has yet to pick up Nor the Years Condemn though in the meantime I’ve just been invited to the Gloucester Writers’ Festival 2012 on the strength of it. This being the first time in the whole of my publishing experience that anyone has approached me from scratch, I asked the Festival Director what led her to me. Her answer? ‘Google.’
Yet back to work must I.
Ow!
Any day now…
Ow!
The above article by Justin Sheedy published by THE NEW SOUTH WALES WRITERS’ CENTRE…
“Justin Sheedy is a Sydney-based author attracting local and international interest. For more information on Justin, his books, or articles and reviews about his work please visit his blog.”
Reader feedback on the above article. (Writes Portia Lindsay of the NSW Writers’ Centre: “I just wanted to pass on some lovely feedback from one of the readers.”) “Hi there! I found Justin’s story absolutely spot on – honest, inspirational and simply wonderful! Kindly pass my comment on. May you fly, Justin! Ayshe”.
My massive thank you to Ayshe, NSW Writers’ Centre member.
JUSTIN SHEEDY – April 2012
http://crackernight.com/2012/04/21/th...
Member Story
THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE.
by Justin Sheedy
Ow!
Any day now…
Ow!
If you bash your head against a wall long enough and hard enough, eventually you make a small hole in it. With a bit of luck, a hole in the wall too… Right now, I seem to be peering through the tiny hole I’ve made in a wall, on the other side of which lies the Bright and Shining World of Authorial Success. It’s a very small hole.
My name’s Justin Sheedy. My first book, Goodbye Crackernight (a portrait of growing up in 1970s Australia), was published at the end of 2009. Yes, it needed a NSW Writers’ Centre Mentorship Program manuscript assessment to transform it from good but unpublishable raw material into an actual decent read and, yes, I had to have a new brain fitted after the ordeal of the transformation but that was well worth it.
As I write this, I’m still a ‘new’ author, yet no longer a ‘brand-new’ one. And can now offer a nugget of advice to those still brand-new: There is one important thing about your first publisher. One thing. Their Distributor. Try it: Walk into a bookstore, say, “I’m from Mars and I’ve just written a book.” Bookstore manager will say, “Distributor?” You then tell them and start planning your first book launch. Brand new authors, say it with me: “Distributor. Dis-tributor…”
With my first book launched, I visited nearly every store in Sydney to which it had been distributed and secured media coverage for it in a string of local newspapers, also on community radio plus Regional ABC radio (all possible to secure without a paid PR Agent, just a metric s***load of phone calls, emails and leg-work). But then one morning I received a return phone call from a local newspaper. A nice lady said, “You don’t know me but I feel like I know you. Thank you for writing that book; I’m still laughing and crying.” After I’d regained consciousness she said she’d like to help me (insert heavenly choir sound effect here) get onto the program of the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival 2010. Which I did. And the Rest is…
…a continuum of hard work, knock-backs and general head-against-wall bashing.
My latest book is entitled Nor the Years Condemn. It’s an historical fiction based on the stunning true Australian story of how the best and brightest of a generation ironically picked one of the fastest ways to die in World War II. And won it. This book, too, only became the book it should be after a NSWWC Mentorship Program assessment. …And I had my second new brain fitted in as many years.
By 2011, now being able to ring Australia’s major publishing houses and say the magic words, ‘published author’, I was able to get past reception at all of them and onto their commissioning editors. Each of whom said Nor the Years Condemn sounded great, ‘Please send it in’, and proceeded to reject it one after the other over the course of 2011. By the end of the year, however, having attended a Byron Bay Writers’ Festival E-Publishing info seminar subtitled ‘Bypassing the Gatekeeper’, I published Nor the Years Condemn as an ebook, then in January this year as a print-on-demand paperback at Amazon.
Soon after publication, reader reviews started coming in. Though such reviews have only been made possible by an international awareness of the book which I’ve built up through almost daily Facebook and blogging activity – I launched Crackernight.com in 2009. Plus I’m currently building on early gains made: The media contacts I secured cold in 2009 are now warm! Recent local press headlines for Nor the Years Condemn have included ‘A Must-Read’ and, poignantly, ‘The Fight for Survival’. One paper labels me ‘In Demand’. Two more Sydney local papers have already conducted their interviews and photo-shoots with me, two more with coverage promised.
If anyone from the major newspapers or ABC Sydney happens to be reading this, I have no PR Agent, only a story to which Australian readers as well as from the USA, UK, Philippines and Sweden are already demanding a sequel. Maybe you’d like to have a look at it. (?)
An Australian Publisher has yet to pick up Nor the Years Condemn though in the meantime I’ve just been invited to the Gloucester Writers’ Festival 2012 on the strength of it. This being the first time in the whole of my publishing experience that anyone has approached me from scratch, I asked the Festival Director what led her to me. Her answer? ‘Google.’
Yet back to work must I.
Ow!
Any day now…
Ow!
The above article by Justin Sheedy published by THE NEW SOUTH WALES WRITERS’ CENTRE…
“Justin Sheedy is a Sydney-based author attracting local and international interest. For more information on Justin, his books, or articles and reviews about his work please visit his blog.”
Reader feedback on the above article. (Writes Portia Lindsay of the NSW Writers’ Centre: “I just wanted to pass on some lovely feedback from one of the readers.”) “Hi there! I found Justin’s story absolutely spot on – honest, inspirational and simply wonderful! Kindly pass my comment on. May you fly, Justin! Ayshe”.
My massive thank you to Ayshe, NSW Writers’ Centre member.
JUSTIN SHEEDY – April 2012
http://crackernight.com/2012/04/21/th...
Justin Sheedy Interviewed on Sydney’s Triple-H FM re Latest Book, “Nor the Years Condemn”
This week I was radio-interviewed re my new book, NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN.
Sydney’s Triple-H FM Presenter of ‘The Hubbub’, Philippa Bird, writes: “Justin has just released his second book, 'Nor the Years Condemn'. It is an amazing story of heroes, Spitfires and much much more, hear it directly from the author! You will be quite spellbound!”
CLICK FOLLOWING LINK TO MY BLOG AT CRACKERNIGHT.COM TO LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW...
http://crackernight.com/2012/04/19/ju...
My sincere thanks to Philippa Bird of Triple-H FM Sydney and What’s On Sydney. — Justin Sheedy.
NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN by Justin Sheedy is available now as a Print-on-Demand Paperback at AMAZON, also as an Ebook at SMASHWORDS and all major Ebook websites. The book has received excellent initial reader reviews, CLICK THE LINK...
http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/gr...
Also great press coverage, CLICK THE LINK...
http://northern-district-times.wherei...
Sydney’s Triple-H FM Presenter of ‘The Hubbub’, Philippa Bird, writes: “Justin has just released his second book, 'Nor the Years Condemn'. It is an amazing story of heroes, Spitfires and much much more, hear it directly from the author! You will be quite spellbound!”
CLICK FOLLOWING LINK TO MY BLOG AT CRACKERNIGHT.COM TO LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW...
http://crackernight.com/2012/04/19/ju...
My sincere thanks to Philippa Bird of Triple-H FM Sydney and What’s On Sydney. — Justin Sheedy.
NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN by Justin Sheedy is available now as a Print-on-Demand Paperback at AMAZON, also as an Ebook at SMASHWORDS and all major Ebook websites. The book has received excellent initial reader reviews, CLICK THE LINK...
http://crackernight.com/2012/01/17/gr...
Also great press coverage, CLICK THE LINK...
http://northern-district-times.wherei...
April 15, 2012
Sydney Author Getting Radio Air Time
Justin Sheedy will be on Sydney radio tomorrow (Monday 16 April) at 4:20pm Australian time, talking about his latest book "Nor the Years Condemn" with Philippa Bird, host of "The Hubbubb" on Sydney's Triple H 100.1 FM. Please do tune in online from anywhere in the world - see the link below, "listen-live" button top left of the page. http://www.triplehfm.com.au/hhh/
April 9, 2012
New World War II Historical Fiction “Nor the Years Condemn” Presented to Toxteth Hotel, Glebe, by Local Author
I was in the Toxteth Hotel, Glebe, on Saturday night and was knocked-down-with-a-feather that the young barman said, “Hey! Saw your picture in the paper for your book. Go the local boy!” He was referring to a recent article on my new book, 'Nor the Years Condemn', in Sydney’s Inner West Courier – see below.
I thanked him sincerely and yesterday presented the pub with a copy of my book, spoke with manager and staff, and what a nice bunch of people they are. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I recommend to you my Local: The Toxteth Hotel, 345 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, NSW, Australia. Yours gratefully, Justin Sheedy.
'Nor the Years Condemn' is available as a Print-on-Demand Paperback at AMAZON and as an Ebook at SMASHWORDS and at all leading Ebook websites. GREAT REVIEWS! See the link:
http://www.amazon.com/Nor-Years-Conde...
April 4, 2012
Great Newspaper Reader Comment on Review of "Nor the Years Condemn" by Justin Sheedy
A highly rewarding newspaper reader comment has been posted online to a review received for my new book, Nor the Years Condemn , in Sydney's Northern District Times, Tues 27 March: The review begins...
FIGHTER PILOTS' BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL
"TRUE stories of Australian fighter pilots in a battle of survival are the basis of Justin Sheedy’s latest book, Nor the Years Condemn..."
Here is the Comment posted by Arthur Westerhoff to the online edition of that review...
"I served with 74 Sqdn. as ground crew during the Battle of Britain and realize what a great job Justin Sheedy has done in bringing to light the exploits of these young Australian fighter pilots during World War II."
My response...
"Arthur, please accept my profound thanks for your comment on my book. I'm privileged that an RAF Battle of Britain veteran such as yourself has read it. I'm also delighted (and relieved) that you - someone who lived and made the actual history upon which my story is based - finds it a worthy telling of that history. My intent in writing "Nor the Years Condemn" was indeed to ‘bring to light’, as you put it, the stunning exploits and sacrifice of the (very young) Australian pilots who flew and fought against Nazi tyranny in World War II. It’s just amazing to think that, based in England as they were, you must have actually met some of these young Australians along with the British and Commonwealth aircrew whose very survival depended on your expert work as a Ground Crew member. My passion in writing “Nor the Years Condemn” was to share with the Australian public a truly great ‘Australian Story’ which, unlike our Gallipoli story, many seem unaware of. So it’s rewarding indeed that my story works for you, Arthur, as you were THERE. My thanks again to you, sir. -- Justin Sheedy."
See the review and leave your comment if desired at Northern District Times online edition HERE: http://northern-district-times.wherei...
March 29, 2012
Parramatta Sun PS Magazine Feature on "Nor the Years Condemn" by Justin Sheedy
By Melanie Kembrey, Parramatta Sun PS Magazine April 2012 Issue, released 29 March 2012.
“Write the book that you want to read” has long been the advice passed onto aspiring and emerging authors. Former Epping resident Justin Sheedy found a story that he felt needed to be shared and followed the saying. His second novel, Nor the Years Condemn, was released last month and is based on the true stories of Australian pilots fighting during World War II. Mr Sheedy said the pilots were young, talented and had a one in three chance of survival during the war. “I wanted to write it because it hasn’t been covered in recent fiction. There’s all kinds of non-fiction about it but I wanted to really bring the story alive in a way that you only can in fiction,” Mr Sheedy says. “Every young man in Australia leapt for the glamour job which was to become pilots and navigators and the best and brightest were picked.” After some difficulty having the novel picked-up by mainstream publishers, Mr Sheedy decided to bypass the “gate-keepers” and publish in print on demand and in e-books. He is currently writing the sequel to Nor the Years Condemn. His first novel, Goodbye Crackernight, was about growing up in the suburbs.
Nor the Years Condemn, ISBN 9781468072655, print-on-demand paperback at Amazon.com or e-book available at Smashwords.com
My warm thanks to Melanie Kembrey and Pat Stringa of The Parramatta Sun
– Justin Sheedy.
See Here for lovely review of "Nor the Years Condemn" in the Northern District Times: http://northern-district-times.wherei...
March 27, 2012
Northern District Times Review of "Nor the Years Condemn" by Justin Sheedy
Sydney's Northern District Times 28 March 2012
THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
Tales of Sons Are Covered
By Robert Kennard. Picture: Brent McGilvary - Sydney's Northern District Times 28 March 2012
TRUE stories of Australian fighter pilots in a battle of survival are the basis of Justin Sheedy’s latest book, Nor the Years Condemn. The historical fiction depicts the heroism of young Australian men who trained as fighter pilots for the British Empire in World War II.
"The best and brightest of a generation crossed the planet to fly and fight against Nazi tyranny and won," Sheedy said. "It was the great sportsmen, the brains and young men of exceptional natural ability and character who went on to fly Spitfires, Mosquitos and Lancasters (with a) staggering one-in-three chance of survival."
Readers have described cockpit-seat flying sequences as "brilliant" and "cinematic", but Sheedy says the narrative moves beyond wartime feats. "It is also a story of the grieving mothers cursed to relinquish their wonderful sons to war, of first love, of strategic deception and betrayal, of brotherhood and once in-a-lifetime friendship on a knife’s edge," he says. The book is a time capsule of World War II, with contextual language, location description and cultural attitudes dominant throughout the narrative.
Sheedy, whose first novel detailed his 1970s childhood in North Epping, said the book struggled to get picked by a major Australian publisher. In spite of this he persisted and followed the trend to publish online. Nor the Years Condemn is an e-book and has been published in Print-on-Demand Paperback at Amazon.
Massive thanks to Journalist Robert Kennard and Editor Colin Kerr of Sydney's Northern District Times.
-- Justin Sheedy
See Article at Crackernight.com: http://crackernight.com/2012/03/28/sy...
See Article at Northern District Times website: http://northern-district-times.wherei...
THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
Tales of Sons Are Covered
By Robert Kennard. Picture: Brent McGilvary - Sydney's Northern District Times 28 March 2012
TRUE stories of Australian fighter pilots in a battle of survival are the basis of Justin Sheedy’s latest book, Nor the Years Condemn. The historical fiction depicts the heroism of young Australian men who trained as fighter pilots for the British Empire in World War II.
"The best and brightest of a generation crossed the planet to fly and fight against Nazi tyranny and won," Sheedy said. "It was the great sportsmen, the brains and young men of exceptional natural ability and character who went on to fly Spitfires, Mosquitos and Lancasters (with a) staggering one-in-three chance of survival."
Readers have described cockpit-seat flying sequences as "brilliant" and "cinematic", but Sheedy says the narrative moves beyond wartime feats. "It is also a story of the grieving mothers cursed to relinquish their wonderful sons to war, of first love, of strategic deception and betrayal, of brotherhood and once in-a-lifetime friendship on a knife’s edge," he says. The book is a time capsule of World War II, with contextual language, location description and cultural attitudes dominant throughout the narrative.
Sheedy, whose first novel detailed his 1970s childhood in North Epping, said the book struggled to get picked by a major Australian publisher. In spite of this he persisted and followed the trend to publish online. Nor the Years Condemn is an e-book and has been published in Print-on-Demand Paperback at Amazon.
Massive thanks to Journalist Robert Kennard and Editor Colin Kerr of Sydney's Northern District Times.
-- Justin Sheedy
See Article at Crackernight.com: http://crackernight.com/2012/03/28/sy...
See Article at Northern District Times website: http://northern-district-times.wherei...
March 26, 2012
More Good Reader Reviews of "Nor the Years Condemn" by Justin Sheedy
Another good review of “Nor the Years Condemn” by Justin Sheedy, this time from Andrew Landström of Sweden. Andrew writes...
“I really think it was good… I think a lot of social aspects go missing in a lot of novels about war… like family, love and the main characters’ own feelings… Some authors seem not to be able to get the balance right. I think you did… I laughed out loud in some parts of the book as well as being moved almost to tears. In short your book gives a very living picture of what went on behind ‘the stiff upper lips’…”
My huge thanks to Andrew L –Justin Sheedy.
See All reviews of "Nor the Years Condemn" here: http://crackernight.com/2011/09/10/le...
“I really think it was good… I think a lot of social aspects go missing in a lot of novels about war… like family, love and the main characters’ own feelings… Some authors seem not to be able to get the balance right. I think you did… I laughed out loud in some parts of the book as well as being moved almost to tears. In short your book gives a very living picture of what went on behind ‘the stiff upper lips’…”
My huge thanks to Andrew L –Justin Sheedy.
See All reviews of "Nor the Years Condemn" here: http://crackernight.com/2011/09/10/le...
Justin Sheedy's Blog
- Justin Sheedy's profile
- 15 followers
Justin Sheedy isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
