Melbourne Book Launch!
Well! Switchback is now officially launched here in Melbourne and we had a great gathering to boot! It was wonderful to see so many of you from near and far. Thanks so much for coming. It was a sort of double celebration because it had looked as if we were not going to have the books in time for the launch due to Covid delivery issues. However Tellwell -the Canadian publisher- kindly forwarded the document to a local printer in Melbourne who was able to print it up in under a week; just in time for us to collect 200 copies for the launch!
The book was official launched by the Rev Cannon John Sanderson, my local vicar but also the Priest-in-Charge at St George’s Anglican Church East Ivanhoe. Like me, John is from England and has spent much time serving as an Army Chaplain with the Australian Defence Forces, working in East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Afghanistan. John and I sat down to discuss the book including the nature of memoirs, the role of faith, but also my inclusion of Jungian analytical theory throughout the text.
A chat with the author, featuring the Rev Cannon John Sanderson
A reading from Chapter 2: Wartime 1941
Another highlight of the day was a book reading, by my good friend Anne Radvansky. After much discussion with my marketing team (Bruce!) we decided to use a local actress to do the reading rather than myself.
There were many reasons for this: partly it would give me a bit of a break from book signing; but also to highlight the various “voices” that I have written into the text. Those of you have seen the book already will understand, but I have written Switchback using various viewpoints. There is the voice of my young self, but also the thoughts of an older me, looking back and analysing the events using the framework of Jungian analytic theory. I wont explain more, but I do think Anne captured the essence of my younger voice quite beautifully. Click on the button above and you can hear her read from the chapter “Wartime 1941”. Enjoy, and thank you Annie so much for bringing your many talents to the day.
It was such a great feeling to actually hold the book in my hand after all that angst and hard work, so now I hope you will be able to do so too. Having read it do please let me know via our review page what you think of the book. Alternatively you could write us an email at info@switchbackmemoir.com. That would help me so much in writing the sequel.
The author discusses why she decided to write the book
For those with an Amazon account, you might also like to consider writing a review on the relevant Amazon webpage. Just scroll down the page where you bought the book and click the “Write a review” button. I’m told this kind of “chatter” will really help sales and push Switchback up the various social media “algorithims”
I will put some more videos and photos of the day below for you to enjoy. In the meantime have a very happy new year and we look forward to some more exciting events in 2022!
