Dear John,
We have been busy here at Just Done Productions and would like to share with you some of the results of our labour and some of our news. Firstly, please note that we will be closed from the 18th December 2006, till the 1st January 2007. This means that you will be able to place orders, but they will only be processed once we return. If you want to get your books in time for Christmas, then you need to order them now so that we can try our best to get them printed and in the post before the 18th.
The posters have been progressing well. You will have noticed that it is possible to add posters to your order already, although they are not carried through to the checkout. This will be implemented within the next few days. In the mean-time, you can add these to your shopping cart, and when the checkout is ready, we will let you know and you can then simply check these out. We have decided on a price of R36.00 each for the posters, and will charge R36.00 for postage and packaging. This amount applies for each order of 20 that you place, so from 1 - 20 the postage is R36.00, from 21-40 is R72.00 etc. Unfortunately posters are only available to South African clients. We are still investigating the possibility of making them available to overseas clients.
We have quietly made a whole slew of books available in the last month and haven't announced them. Please take some time to take a look at the various books that we now have available. Just click on the thumbnail image of the book cover to go directly to the information about the book you are interested in.
Peter Chapman
| A Cook's Tour South African Army Service Corps 1978 - 1980 |
| A Cook's Tour is the Memoirs of a conscripted National Serviceman, who served in the South African Army Service Corps between 1978 and 1980, including a year in South West Africa (now Namibia). He volunteered to join the Medics and was told that there were too many people on the course and was sent willy-nilly to become a chef. This story of his basic training and his deployment to the border (as well as his subsequent camps with the SA Irish Regiment as an infantryman) is a refreshingly "everyman" tale. The story of a normal man doing what he was compelled to do, and doing it with a willingness and good spirit that was probably more the norm than the now current concept of the "Unpopular War" might lead people to believe. This is a story that should resonate with the vast majority of those young white men who were called up to do their National Service, and did so with the attitude that they "might as well make the best of it". It is also a very good read. Paperback, 131 Pages, A5
Price: R75.00 |  |
| In All Weather Memoirs of the Ground-Crew - 2 Squadron, South African Air Force Korea 1950 - 1953 |
| No. 2 Squadron, South African Air Force served in Korea from late 1950 until late 1953. During that time they saw extensive active service, and were considered a valuable member of the United States Air Forces 18th Fighter Bomber Wing, to which unit they were attached. A number of books and articles have been written about the Squadron and its exploits in Korea, but almost all of these have been from the point of view of the pilots, and operations flown. This book is an attempt to redress that balance. It is the story of some of the men who served so faithfully, and without reward or renown, to see that the aircraft flew, and that the pilots returned safely to base whenever possible. This is the story of the ground crew. A brief history of events leading up to the war, and the war itself, are included, as well as an account of No.2 Squadrons exploits in Korea. This book originated from the Author's discussions with his father who's story is included in the book. What is remarkable is that both father and son served South Africa in "unsung" roles, although the author has pointed out that his son is breaking the tradition and is joining the New Zealand Army next year as an infantryman. The stories of each of these men in this book are related through the author's obvious sympathy and understanding, and are told simply and yet the quiet emotion and dedication of these men shines through. Another remarkable book of ordinary men placed into extraordinary circumstances. Paperback, 172 Pages, A5
Price: R95.00 |  |
| About the Author |
| Peter Chapman is now a New Zealander, with a passionate interest in First World War Aviation. He is a member of a number of organisations, including the League of World War One Aviation Historians (USA), Cross and Cockade International (UK) and the Australian Society of World War One Aero Historians in Australia, for whom he edits an annual journal. Like most young South African men of his generation, he was required to serve two years of National Service in the South African Defence Force. He believes that his service was unremarkable, but because it was undertaken at a time when South Africa at war, his story contributes to the understanding of the times. Peter says that the account of his service documented in "A Cooks Tour" was done mostly for the benefit of his sons and future grand-children, but he feels that the story of his year on the SWA/Namibia - Angola border is of general interest to anyone interested in those times. Peter lives in Auckland with his Wife and their three sons. Both of Peter's books have been published previously by him, but these versions have been re-edited and formatted by Just Done Productions and made available in South Africa. International purchases of the books may be done via the Lulu site, which is linked to from the book detail page on the Just Done Website. |   |
Fiction
Just Done is very happy to bring you a growing number of fiction titles. These are mostly South African or Rhodesian (Zimbabwean) stories. We have four that we have released, with another three that are in production at the moment.
| Landsong by Geraint Jones |
| In Africa things don't always go according to plan. Set in an era of political turmoil and change, the story that weaves itself around Jairos Mapfumo's life is one of promise, courage and dignity. A gifted boy is discovered by a schoolteacher and a priest who groom him for success; but fate has different plans. A small tragedy in his home village and a flurry in the winds of change sweeping Africa conspires to rob Jairos of his brilliant future. This story follows the fortunes of a talented young man as he is challenged by the maelstrom events of the end of the colonial era. Landsong is a uniquely African story that gifts the reader with imagery and insights, carefully and sensitively crafted by a writer whose love of Africa radiates from every page. Landsong is being considered by The Welsh Academy for their 2007 Welsh Book of the Year competition. Paperback, 319 Pages, A5
Price: R114.00 |  |
I am a Willow - Sally Fletcher |
| I am a Willow is a story of Jessica Batting, an ordinary, middle class wife caught up in the confusion of government corruption. Her life begins to unravel when husband Michael Batting happens across irregular government transactions. His refusal to relinquish the evidence is primarily to protect himself from a rising tide of hostility and is destined to destroy him personally and professionally. Against this backdrop Jessica battles with the issues of their life unravelling. She seeks truth and honesty in her husbands business ethics and in the overlapping boundaries of love and friendship. She holds herself and her children together against the demonic battle against the pretence to which she had come to know as her reality. Events unfold to purge the mysteries of her own past, to bring her face to face with the life and death. It tells of an ideology that failed her, a triumph over rejection, suspicion and fear. I am a Willow is a chronicle of Jessica’s life. It is her story. Paperback, 280 Pages, A5
Price: R114.00 |  |
Jim Zulu - Willem Steenkamp |
| "Jim Zulu" was inspired by the only recorded case of lynching in South African history, and is set in the diamond-rush days in the Northern Cape Colony towards the end of the 19th Century. It is a story as old as the old South Africa and as new as the new South Africa. Set in the trackless hinterland of the Northern Cape, a world of dust and heat - and uncountable riches - it tells of strong men battling for power, women and the most wonderful diamonds in the world, of love and hatred, of blind racial prejudice and stubborn adherence to the principles of justice. Its cast of characters are men and women of all races and creeds, from every level of society. For many the diamond diggings mean a new life and a new name ... and, perhaps, wealth beyond their imaginings. |  |
This Promised Land - Wendy Wright |
| Some called it the Promised Land – a Garden of Eden in the sunshine and open spaces of big game country, where a prosperous lifestyle was taken for granted. But the undeniable truth was that Rhodesia’s privileged lifestyle was not available to all. Prejudice and misunderstanding lurked beneath the idyllic surface and, inevitably, Cecil Rhodes’s own small piece of Empire was dragged into a bitter war from which it emerged as Zimbabwe. Surrounded by her parents’ staunch support of Ian Smith’s government, Tessa Harmand’s childhood is remote from the injustice and the first whisperings of the guerrilla war. With no concern for the complicated affairs of adults, she lives only to indulge her passion for riding ponies in between school hours. The crisis developing from the stalemate negotiations between the Rhodesian Front and the British Government are of little importance to her as she learns to master the skills of equitation with the aid of her friend and mentor Gill Owen. But the intensifying war eventually threatens to undermine the comfortable naivety of her world - classmates’ farms are attacked by infiltrating forces, compulsory conscription eventually catches up with her own family, close acquaintances are injured or killed in action. In class, the children are taught weapon recognition and bomb drill procedures, while petrol rationing and commodity shortages become an inescapable part of life. Friends soon begin to vanish via the departure lounge or the border post with South Africa. Tessa’s patriotism for Rhodesia begins to wear thin as the cruel war erodes the country’s manpower and resources. She begins to question her parents’ conservative views as the inevitable end of white rule approaches. When Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party claims an overwhelming victory in the 1980 elections, Tessa is caught up by the new government’s promise of reconciliation and, in spite of the gloomy predictions of Zimbabwe’s downfall, she is certain that her country can become the new Promised Land in Africa. But her positive outlook and her acceptance of majority rule under Robert Mugabe are unexpected and shocking to her parents. The close-knit Harmand family finds itself torn between the bitterness of a generation that fears it has lost everything it has striven to achieve and the apparently insensitive optimism of youth. The inheritance of an estate in England is the trigger that prompts Bob and Sheila Harmand to make immediate plans for emigration. Their younger daughter, Rosie, faces her new life with interest; in her eyes it is a long awaited opportunity to catch up with fashion and music, to break out of the insular community Rhodesia’s isolation had created. Tessa only sees what she will lose – her home, her beloved horses and Nathan Owen - Gill’s cousin – whom Tessa has come to love. Devastated, eighteen years old and beginning to tread the first avenues of her own independence, she makes the decision to remain behind in the potentially volatile new state. Zimbabwe is currently plagued by a deep economic crisis and by the combined threats of AIDS, famine and political instability, but Tessa’s story illustrates that once both blacks and whites were hopeful about their future together.
This is an exceptionally well written coming of age novel that gives a wonderful sense of the time and place as well as the politics of Rhodesia, without allowing it to interfere with the story. The Story is about Tess's life and how she comes to age during the transition period from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. - Proof Reader's Comment Paperback, 386 Pages, A5
Price: R125.00 |  |
Forthcoming Fiction
Collaborations
Just Done has decided to collaborate with a few other authors/publishers to bring you books that we think are of particular value. So far the ones we have available for sale are:
Interlude in Switzerland By Paul Schamberger |
| The story of the South African refugee-soldiers in the Alps during the Second World War. This book is beautifully laid out and illustrated with photos, diagrams and cartoons from the evades newspaper which they produced while waiting for the war to end. Paperback, 142 Pages, A4
Price: R100.00 (Postage and Packaging is free) |  |
The Happy Warrior: The Story of TC Robertson by Shirley Bell |
| Thomas Chalmers (TC) Robertson was an extraordinarily gifted man - accomplished journalist, gifted raconteur, ardent naturalist from boyhood, war correspondent, and Jan Smuts’s anti-Nazi propagandist during World War II. But his most significant work lay in his lifelong mission to save southern Africa’s soil and grasses, and for this he sacrificed any ideas of personal ambition. TC was widely known during his lifetime as South Africa’s doyen of soil conservation and was regarded by many, including some of the best brains in the world, as a genius. Yet many South Africans today know little or nothing about him. This is partly because he was little concerned with self-promotion and put off writing his autobiography despite many requests to do so. He wrote insatiably, but not about himself. His passion was the land. He was driven by three things: his mission to save the soil, his insatiable quest for knowledge, and his equally insatiable hedonism. He was of the intrepid, cavaliering stuff of which romantic heroes are made, a born musketeer, and a man with an enormous capacity for friendship. Outspoken, witty and able to hold an audience in the palm of his hand, he was immensely private when it came to his deepest feelings, sorrows, fears and any inadequacies he might have felt; his passion, his total commitment, was for his mission: saving the soil, conserving the land. No public monument of bronze or stone commemorates his achievements. Apart from the small evergreen sanctuary, the TC Robertson Nature Reserve in Scottburgh, his epitaph is written in the soil of southern Africa, whispered by the grasses and leaves, murmured by the streams, and engraved indelibly on the hearts of all who knew him. Amoung the great men our country has produced, he was truly one of the greatest.
This hard-cover book is beautifully produced, bound in green card, section stitched with gold writing on the spine. Colour Jacket. Hard Cover, 391 Pages, A5
Price: R220.00 |  |
The Story of the Forgetful Ice Lollies - Kriben Pillay
(Illustrations by Laura Pretorius) |
This is a allegorical story that will help children to understand that they should look inside themselves to ask themselves "Is it really true". It is a delightful story but carries a very important lesson in tolerance and self-awareness.
Full Colour Childrens Book, Litho printed. Paperback, 20 Pages, A4
Price: R80.00 |  |
We have a large number of books in production, and we will notify you about these as they are released. In the mean time, you can whet your appetite by visiting the web-site and looking at the books under the "Forthcoming Attractions" section on the main page.
We trust you find this information useful. If you have any questions or comments, then please contact us!
John Dovey
Just Done Productions - Publishing Just Done Productions - Publishing is a company located in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. We pride ourselves on producing quality, professional press-ready manuscripts for publication. We offer a publication option that allows the author to publish without spending any of their own capital ... and yet to receive a professional service. Your manuscript can be turned into a book. Contact publish@justdone.co.za for more information.
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