We have sold the American rights to Amanda Hickie’s An Ordinary Epidemic in a six-figure deal with Little, Brown. Check it out here. Continue reading An Ordinary Epidemic — Rights sold!
Review of An Ordinary Epidemic in The Australian
Amanda Hickie’s terrific novel has had a great review in The Australian. This is what they had to say:
With Ebola, SARS, superbugs and the anticipated exhaustion of antibiotics, the question of how Australians might behave if a deadly pandemic hit our shores is an interesting one. We are, despite our vast expanses, one of the most urbanised nations in the world, ideal perhaps as a destination for diseases.
An Ordinary Epidemic (MidnightSun, 400pp, $28.99) explores these issues in a tight narrative that views the event from the perspective of a middle-class Sydney family. It’s the second novel from Sydney author Amanda Hickie, following her reimagining of heaven in After Zoe. Continue reading Review of An Ordinary Epidemic in The Australian
YouTube video of Amanda talking about An Ordinary Epidemic
For those of you who haven’t yet read Amanda Hickie’s terrific An Ordinary Epidemic but are interested in doing so and for those who have read and loved the book, here is Amanda giving you some background to the novel: YouTube video of Amanda Hickie
Reviews of An Ordinary Epidemic
The reviews have been coming in for An Ordinary Epidemic and they are fantastic! Here are a couple to give you an idea:
Books+Publishing, review by Jessica Broadbent, librarian and former bookseller
‘What would you do in an epidemic? Stock up your pantry, gather your family and wait it out? But what if one of your kids was away on a school excursion? An Ordinary Epidemic explores these decisions and considers how broader society might cope with unexpected change—for example, what would happen if all the power plant workers decided to go home to their own families? It’s utterly fascinating, a little gruesome and impossible to put down. Continue reading Reviews of An Ordinary Epidemic
Reviews of One Step at a Time
The excellent children’s picture book One Step at a Time written by Jane Jolly and illustrated by Sally Heinrich has received many fabulous, insightful reviews. Here is one of them, from Magpies magazine. Continue reading Reviews of One Step at a Time
An Ordinary Epidemic launched in style!
On Friday 8 May 2015 we launched Amanda Hickie’s thrilling novel An Ordinary Epidemic at the SA Writers’ Centre in Adelaide. A supportive crowd braved the autumn rain to join us in celebrating this terrific novel. In her launch speech Lynette Washington made everyone acutely aware that Amanda’s story about a deadly outbreak could have been about us. What would you do if the epidemic hit? How far would you go to protect the ones you love? Amanda Hickie emphasised the importance of ethics in all of our lives and told us how the idea for the book came to her when she was living in Canada during the SARS outbreak. Continue reading An Ordinary Epidemic launched in style!
Adelaide Launch of An Ordinary Epidemic!
An Ordinary Epidemic
How far will a desperate mother go to keep her loved ones safe?
PB 384 | 198 x 129 | ISBN 978-1-925227-03-1 | $28.99
Fiction | MidnightSun Publishing | May 2015
Distributed by NewSouth Books
Hannah is stuck in the middle of a deadly outbreak. As Sydney goes into lockdown, she attempts to quarantine her home and protect her family from the alarming infection around them. How far will a desperate Continue reading An Ordinary Epidemic
Jane Jolly
After being a classroom teacher for 35 years, Jane Jolly now works part-time in the Resource Centre at Eastern Fleurieu School teaching creative writing and immersing classes in literature.
Jane has had three Notable picture books in the Children’s Book Council Australia Book of the Year awards, one CBCA Shortlisted and two CBCA Honour books. Jane strongly believes in the fight to rid the world of landmines and cluster munitions. On the road to getting One Step at a Time published she has met with the Safe Ground group in Adelaide and a representative from Medical Association for the Prevention of War.
Jane Jolly and Sally Heinrich‘s beautiful picture book One Step at a Time was published in February 2015, and was chosen as an Honour Book in the 2016 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Awards.
Jane and Sally’s second collaboration, Papa Sky, was published by MidnightSun in October 2017.
Jane and Sally’s third collaboration, Mama Ocean, was published by MidnightSun in August 2020.
Sally Heinrich
Sally Heinrich is a writer, illustrator and printmaker, who has published more than forty books. Her work has been recognised through fellowships from the Asialink Foundation, the May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust, Varuna – the Writers’ Centre, Arts SA and the Ian Reed Foundation and her original artwork and linoprints have been exhibited widely in Australia and Asia including in the Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize. Her commissioned artwork ranges from wine labels to a mural for the Singapore Zoo, painting a life-size baby elephant sculpture for Melbourne Zoo and community arts projects. Sally believes that picture books are a powerful tool to communicate ideas and build bridges of understanding between people from different cultures and Continue reading Sally Heinrich
Multi-Storied — Breaking Beauty
Here is the first Melbourne interview about Breaking Beauty. Lynette Washington and Anna Solding talking to Triple R. Between 32 and 44 minutes in: http://ondemand.rrr.org.au/player/128/201503181200
Source: Multi-Storied
Breaking Beauty Reading
The good news is coming in so thick and fast these days that we are having a hard time keeping up with it all. Here is a blog post from Mostly Books about the Breaking Beauty reading last week:
http://mostlybooks.com.au/blog/2015/03/18/breaking-beauty-a-reading/
An Ordinary Epidemic on the way
Have we mentioned that there is a new novel brewing at MidnightSun? The first review just came in and it’s fabulous. Here is a teaser: ‘It’s utterly fascinating, a little gruesome and impossible to put down.’ Jessica Broadbent in Books+Publishing
Buzz Words review of One Step at a Time
Another lovely review of One Step at a Time, this time in Buzz Words: http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com/2015/01/one-step-at-time_11.html
First Review for One Step at a Time
‘Jane Jolly has a knack for tackling unusual stories (Limpopo Lullaby) with tender, evocative writing. The striking illustrations are reproductions of hand-coloured lino prints. They are dramatic and engaging and the book is cleverly designed, taking in the elements of the lino cuts and leaving plenty of space for text. This is highly recommended, especially for classroom discussion.’
One Step at a Time just received its first review and it is fabulous! Read the entire review in Books+Publishing. Yay! Hopefully there will be many more positive words over the coming months. It is such a beautiful book, it really deserves high praise. Continue reading First Review for One Step at a Time