One woman’s remarkable story of love, adventures, disasters and wonderful times in the Gulf Country has taken her on a whirlwind tour promoting her novel.
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Jenny Old published 'McAllister' in 2017 however after being picked up by a traditional publisher, Allen & Unwin, the novel has undergone a slight transformation.
The new title is called 'Back of Beyond' and the cover has been updated as well .
Ms Old said she independently published the book and sold 2000 copies in nine months.
“Allen and Unwin were running a pitch and were interested in Northern Queensland stories.
“I sent my pitch in on the Friday and on the Monday I received a phone call saying they’d like to offer me a contract,” she said.
“There were minimal changes to the content. The chapters were made longer and I worked with two editors for 12 months with a fine-tooth comb, going through the content line-by-line.”
“As an author it was an amazing experience to go through.
“I learned a lot from this journey,” she said.
Ms Old’s book tour began earlier this month when she left the Gold Coast.
“We have been to Bundaberg, Gladstone, Emerald, Longreach, Cloncurry and Mount Isa.
“I did an author talk at the Mount Isa Library. It’s so lovely to meet the people and to feel the country hospitality is alive and well.
“I visited Harrison’s Book Country too. I’ve made some lovely memories on this tour,” she said.
Ms Old was invited to Normanton to help locals write their memoirs.
“It was really interesting, their stories were unbelievable.
“We sat around the table and talked about what they wanted to achieve and how I could help them.
“They all had such special stories, so hopefully I got them started and they’ll continue to write them down,” she said.
Another highlight of Ms Old’s book tour was returning to McAllister.
“When we moved up to McAllister we didn’t have a telephone so I wrote hand-written letters to our parents and both mothers kept all the letters,” Ms Old said.
“I prepared myself, knowing it would be different and I didn’t want to get emotional but when I got there, it had changed so much I couldn’t reconcile that it was our home.
“It’s an out station now,” she said.
Ms Old’s novel Back if Beyond is available at www.jennyold.com/