This edition of KidLitland is bursting with kidlit joy – and much delayed due to some overseas travel and running around after another bundle of joy – a new puppy! More on him later… This Saturday (22nd June) I am celebrating the release of my gorgeous new picture book, Lights Out, Little Dragon! at Dymocks Neutral Bay at 1.30pm. I’d love you come along and say ‘Hi!’ It’s already getting fabulous reviews, and is Readings Bookshop children’s book of the month!! Read about it here. I’ve also been a guest on Joy Lawn’s Paperbark Words blog and a Quick Six interview on Just Write for Kids in which I’m offering a giveaway of a signed book and dragon plush (in picture) – check out Instagram to enter. If you can’t make it on Saturday, never fear… I’m also organising bookshop signings at Penrith Harry Hartog on the 29th June (hopefully), Hornsby Berkelouw on the 6th July and Gleebooks on the 13th July. As well as my exciting new book news, Anchored is still bringing much joy too! It was reprinted with its shiny new CBCA Notable sticker, it’s a finalist in the SCWBI Crystal Kite Awards, and was published in German with a super-long title that means ‘I Will Always Come Back to You.’! So my little Schleppboot and Containerschiff are chugging along nicely! I’ve been out to launches of wonderful books over the past months. Nat Amoore’s new series Showerland was a hoot, as you’d expect, as was the launch of Kate and Jol Temple’s very clever and fun, Frog Squad complete with giant undies! I missed out on getting to the launch of Nisaluk Chantanakom’s debut picture book with author Peter O’Connor A Teaspoon of Light. It’s a beautiful, luminous book in both words and pictures about loss and hope, connection and love, full of the magic of friends and memories. And it has a little white dog in it - a bit like my new puppy (sneak peek below!). What I've been reading (or hope to soon): Here are some other wonderful new releases that I couldn’t help but buy. Two Turtles by Kiah Thomas and Jake A Minton is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a while – it made me laugh out loud; Dinosaur in my Pocket is a clever book about taking something that isn’t yours, and is a theme I’ve tried and failed at writing – so kudos to Ashleigh Barton and Blithe Fielden! Little Angler by Zoe Gaetjens and Heidi McKinnon is a bold and bright and wonderful lift-the-flap board book with intrigue and warmth, and Everyone Wants an Octopus Book by Liz Ledden and is a very clever, fun and informative book that subtlety references representation in books. Pet Sitters Club is a series that I love, co-written under the pseudonym Ella Shine, and there’s a new instalment featuring one of my favourite animals – a goat! But as with all the animals in this series, it’s not just an ordinary goat – this one has rhythm in his hooves. Other books on my radar that I’ve yet to source are: Allen the Alien by my former writing buddy and good friend, Stephanie Ward, and wonderfully, quirkily illustrated by Alek Morton. I saw this manuscript as it developed and it is super fun! Can’t wait to grab my copy! How to Move a Zoo by Kate Simpson and evocatively illustrated by Owen Swan. It’s the amazing true story of moving the elephant from the old zoo in Moore Park across the harbour to the zoo’s new home at what is now Taronga. As a regular to the zoo, I was aware of the story and always thought it would make a good picture book – and Kate beat me to it!! It looks amazing! And you can rely on Amelia McInerny for a fun romp, and her latest, Jeff the Giraffe: the Great Escape, with illustrator Alexandra Colombo, looks like no exception. The Dinosaur Did It By RM McGurk and Aleksandra Szmidt: I love the messy look of the pictures and the fun premise of this book – a girl who blames a dinosaur for her mess, and then the dinosaur actually turns up looking for answers! Fun! Emma Quay’s new picture book, Happy All Over – I’ve been a fan of Emma’s since my kids loved Rudie Nudie. Deb Abela’s new mid-grade verse novel The Kindness Project – it’s getting rave reviews and I can’t wait to read it, as is Grace the Amazing by Aleesah Darlison. And a graphic novel series, Ducky the Spy by Sean E Avery, featuring another animal close to my heart – a donkey! Talking about Sean, check out his amazing resources: Story Blocks for kids creating stories and, in conjunction with his occupational Therapist wife, Sensory Monsters, a sensory processing support pack. Follow him on Instagram if you don't already! Other Outings: I have been recently recruited as the regional director for the Northern Sydney region of CBCA NSW, which is a tall ask for someone who likes to embrace her inner loser (that is to say, recognise her leadership limitations - not everyone has to be a leader, you know!) Anyway, I’m giving it a shot! I must admit, our first event for the year was fabulous - a Notable Nonfiction evening with Pip Harry moderating a panel with Pamella Freeman and Isolde Martyn and with guest video presentation by Louise Park – all amazing CBCA notable and shortlisted authors! I managed to have a wonderful short break in the UK and France in April, and stumbled across an amazing exhibition Write, Cut, Rewrite, at the Bodleian Libraries, with original manuscripts from renowned authors and how they had been edited and rewritten. My favourite was a Tolkien manuscript that he had drawn a scene on to better describe the landscape. Of course, I had to buy the book! I hope to write an article about it soon. With book week speeding up at a rate of knots, I’m pleased to say I’m almost fully booked, but if you would like to try your luck for the spaces I have left, please contact Creative Kids Tales Speaker’s Agency. And now for the puppy I mentioned at the start (although you already had a peek in the photos above)He's a real snuggle bundle… Casper is a 4 month old Italian Greyhound and a pure delight! He has brought fun and laughter with his hijinks and boundless puppy energy. He has also brought early mornings and constant vigilance to ensure he doesn’t have any ‘accidents’ or accidentally injure himself by fearlessly launching off things or munching on things he shouldn’t.
Things I’m looking forward to: Casper not being so puppy-nippy! All the bookshop visits. 4th July Being a guest on Picture Book Book Club on Twitter – it’s the most fun you’ll have online (I refuse to call it the other name) More here. 7th July Launch of Lara Porter’s picture Book, Running With Wings, written by Sam Squiers. 3rd August Launch of Ramona Davey’s picture book, Tree Rex. August book week author visits – those details again if you want to book me: Creative Kids Tales Speaker’s Agency That’s about the year up to date now. I’d love for you to join me on Saturday, if you’re around. Until next time, Take Care, Debra
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It's the beginning of March! Is it too late to say Happy New year? I've been slow to start my kidlit adventure-writing, so now there is much to celebrate! On Tuesday the CBCA longlist for the Book of the Year was announced. The books on this list get to be called ‘Notable Book,’ which I think is great! And guess what? Anchored was on that list! And not just once, but twice!! In the Early Reader and Picture Book categories. Did you spot the shiny sticker on this photo (left)? Doesn't it look smart?! :-) I was at the announcement event hosted by CBCA NSW Branch at Writing NSW, where Aura Parker entertained the crowd with her fabulous artwork and sense of humour. It was such fun and there was much merry-making!! It was wonderful to see many of my friends on the list too. Some with even two or three books on the list! Special mention must go to Jodie McLeod and Eloise Short. It’s not very often a self-published, crowd funded book gets on the list, like The Black Cockatoo with One Feather Blue has this year! Fabulous recognition for this beautiful book. It's hard for self published authors to have their books looked at and stocked in bookshops and libraries, do I hope this recognition helps Black Cockatoo fly. Talking of joy, there were smiles all round at the launch of Megan Daley and Max Hamilton’s picture book, The Beehive at Gleebooks recently. The kidlit community was out in force and the books were flying off the shelves. It was the first time I’ve actually met Megan in person, having followed her on social media and listening to her and Al Tait on the Your Kids Next Read Podcast. If you are a children’s book lover and you haven’t tuned into the podcast before, you’re in for a treat! I especially enjoyed the Christmas holiday mini episodes where Al spoke with kidlit industry professional each week. The book designer was especially illuminating as we don’t often hear from their perspective. A launch I didn't get to was Belinda Murrell's new junior fiction series, The Daredevil Princess, who is ‘Bold and brave, clever and curious, daring and determined.' This sounds like such a fun, adventurous series that I would have loved as a child - complete with two golden dachshund friends! Another new book to celebrate has been the Just Write For Kids community publication of Our Australian HeART. Brainchild of Romi Sharp, this is a picture book bursting with colour! A different illustrator each spread gives an artistic representation of a part of Australia that they love. It’s a glorious way to help children open their eyes to the country we live in, as well as different artistic styles and representations. So clever! And best of all, the sales raise money for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation! The cover illustration sits perfectly alongside The Beehive!! In January, I took a little holiday to Hobart, and was delighted to find tug boats tied up right outside my hotel!! They were so close, I could pat them! It was such fun, watching them and the people who cared for them each day. I may not have seen much else of Hobart!! I even saw one do a pirouette! It was so lovely also, being emersed in the world of Kate Gordon’s Whale Song, which I read a while ago. I got excited when I spied some places in the book, and could imagine the characters there. Talking about Kate, I see she has a new book coming out in the award-winning Aster series. These are gorgeous books, full of heart and I do recommend you look out for Esme in the Limelight, with Yellow Brick Books. Also in the holidays, I had the joy of spending time with children and parents at Penrith Library and Eden Gardens nursery, for special holiday storytimes. The Eden gardens event was with Ashling Kwok, who’s latest picture book with Anchored’s Illustrator, Arielle Li, Butterfly Girl, was a perfect fit for a garden nursery. We had such fun together, singing and dancing and reading our books. So much fun that I temporarily forgot something very sad that happened… Do you have a tissue or hanky handy? In January we said a final farewell to StoryHound Archie: irrepressible, irreplaceable bundle of pure joy, and loved by many in the kidlit community for his zany book reviews on Instagram. If you want the full tear-jerking tribute to my best buddy, you can find it on my Instagram page. But I can’t finish this news wallowing in sadness, so I can tell you that we will hopefully be welcoming a new furry friend into our family soon! Not to replace Archie (note- ‘irreplaceable,’ above!) but because love is not finite, it expands and embraces others in its path, and that path is leading us to a little rescue dog, who I hope to introduce to you soon. So the things I am looking forward to until next time are: Welcoming said furry friend. The announcement of the CBCA shortlist (fingers crossed!!) Launch of Nat Amoore’s new Junior Fiction series, Showerland, 9th March in the newly renovated Gleebooks. The launch of Arna Radovich’s book of short stories (not for children this time) in the Blue Moutains. So until then, I'll leave you with that tug doing a pirouette! All the very best, Debra As I am starting this news, the sun is shining, cruise ship’s horns are booming and tugs are chug, chug, chugging across Sydney harbour, heralding the start of summer and Christmas coming! Glasses are clinking at parties and gifts are being exchanged. I’ve had a few sparkly-melt-your-heart Christmas gifts this week… Firstly, a gorgeous ceramic Tug arrived in the post all the way from WA from legendary author, Sean E Avery. It’s the perfect Christmas ornament! His mum is a ceramicist and she makes adorable book characters and Sean sends them off to the creators. How generous is that?? Check out Naidina_avery_art on Instagram. You also must be following Seaneavery, the uber-talented and uber-generous author of hilarious and acclaimed Frank’s Red Hat, amongst many other fabulous books. His author, illustrator, and plain old life advice, is gold! Another super-generous author, Michelle Worthington has posted some great snippets of tips on Instagram (and maybe tick tock too?) on what makes a great bookshop book signing. Any author who’s sat, dejected, behind a table at a bookshop will want to hear what she has to say. I also need to get me a t-shirt as worn by Kristy Nita Brown on Instagram – that might help too! Check Kristy and her t-shirt out at Kristynitabrownbooks. But I digress! Back to the second (and third) Christmas present. Anchored was mentioned on Your Kid’s Next Read Podcast as one of Allison Tait’s favourite books of the year. Not only that, but it came with a heartwarming anecdote about how my little Tug book helped a family dealing with separation anxiety issues. A two-for-one gift! As an author, my job is done! Check out the review on episode 133 here. PLUS Anchored made it onto The Children’s Bookshop top selling books for 2023! So thrilled to know Anchored is getting into the hands of readers!! Following on from these precious gifts, here’s a tip for inexpensive yet meaningful gifts for any author/book creator: if you love a book, shout about it to your friends, post on social media (it doesn’t need to be a fancy review, it can be as simple as ‘I/we/my child loved this book – a bit like food posts) and tag the creators, or leave a longer review on sites like Goodreads and amazon. Requesting the book at your local school or public library is a bankable gift, as we get paid lending rights. I’m sure your time is limited right now, just days before Christmas, so the next bit will be in hyper-drive: * I’ve signed off all the illustrations, internals and cover for my picture book due out next year with HarperCollins!!!! It has been so exciting watching this book come together and I can’t wait to share it with you mid next year!! I also had the joy of meeting my publishers, Lisa Berryman and Nicola Nelson at their author day recently. * I forgot to mention last time that Katrina Roe and I took over Dani Vee’s Words And Nerds Podcast in August: Episode 618. We talk about our picture books, disability representation in literature, living in regional Australia and hints to promote your books to the media, from Katrina’s journalism background. And news just to hand: BIG congratulations to Dani for her podcast reaching 1 MILLION views!!! She is such an incredible support for authors! * Talking about Katrina Roe, she has recently published an immersive audio book for children based on her father’s wartime experiences: When I was Twelve: A Wartime Childhood. She launched it in Wagga Wagga on Remembrance Day. You can find out more here. * Amelia McInerny and I were judges of the picture book section of the Just Write For Kids Pitch It competition! There were some outstanding pitches and we were sorry we couldn’t award more prizes!! I hope to see many of these stories in print in the years to come. * Speaking of Just Write For Kids, have you seen the new picture book anthology Romi has produced, called Our Australian HeART? It’s a tribute to the many different facets of Australia, by Australian artists and illustrators. You can find out more here. I've pre-ordered my copy, and for each sale a donation is made to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. *I was a guest author at the CBCA NSW Illawarra Sub-branch Literary Lunch and had the pleasure of sitting with Berkley Public School students, whose imaginations were firing furiously as we wrote a story together. And as a prize for the Northern Suburbs Sub-branch writing competition, I had a wonderful visit with year five girls at Pittwater house. * I loved bumping into instagrammers Shannon @ohcreativeday and Cristin @artsplorers_au and kid’s author Heidi Walkinshaw (you must follow them on Insta) at a literary event at Stanton Library in North Sydney – we were in the audience to hear adult author Trent Dalton talk about his latest book, Lola in the Mirror (which I have finished and loved). I adored his last book, Love Stories, and mention it often in relation to Anchored and the power of love. * The year is ending with lots of celebrations! Here’s a photo snapshot of some other events and Christmas gatherings: CBCA NSW Aspire and Celebrate with Craig Silvey and Chemutai Glasheen; The School Magazine contributors Lunch, Barefoot bowls with SCBWI Sydney; CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Sub-branch at Terrey Hills Tavern. Where you can find me over the holidays?
I’ll mostly be relaxing with a (hopefully) good book, around Sydney, Canberra and a trip to Hobart. But I will be running a Storytime at Penrith library on the 20th January, so if you’re in the area, book in! And keep a look out for Storyhound Archie who's starting to post his kids book reviews a bit more lately. That’s it from me for the year, Wishing you a joy and love filled Christmas with lots of books and relaxing time to read them! Leaving you with a photo of the cutest crocheted gingerbread folk by Crochetables by Mandy who crocheted my gorgeous Tug (seen in previous news). Until next year, Debra Ahoy there fellow adventurers! The last couple of months I've felt like I've been swooped up and carried along by a wave of activity, only managing to occasionally pop my head up to leave brief posts on social media before the wave rushed along! But now I'm floating in calmer waters, I can linger longer and collect my thoughts about the past couple of months. A highlight for children's authors each year has to be CBCA Children's Book Week, in August, and for me this year was very special. It started the week before with a tour of the Riverina region of NSW. I visited eight towns, speaking to school groups from kindergarten to year 2, mostly in the wonderful country libraries. It was so fun! We played sound games and guessing games, dabbled in some performance poetry and had an illustration challenge - and that's only part of it! I was worried about my voice giving out, and it did get a bit scratchy by day three, but then it seemed to miraculously get better - I'm sure the use of microphones REALLY helped! Out of the nine sessions, only one had technical difficulties and the show went on without power points. Thanks so much to fellow author and friend, Katrina Roe, who was my wing-woman for the hardest day, and who helped garner publicity for the tour as part of her job with Riverina Regional Libraries. I've popped a few photos above, but you can visit my social media for more :-) Massive thanks to the Riverina Regional Libraries who hosted my tour and to Katrina and Sharon who did the heavy lifting of organising! Book week fun continued back home with a visit to some preschools, and to Wentworthville Public School (amazing TL Melinda Hall, with me, below right) and Shore junior school and prep. The wonderful teacher librarian at Shore sent me through some adorable drawings the kids made after my visit. I had demonstrated how to draw Tug using party food as a guide, and showed them a video of Arielle Li illustrating Tug. I totally love how they took the ideas on board, especially the one below left, which shows the thought that went into layering colour, as Arielle demonstrated. There are more images on my social media. It's been such a joy celebrating with friends at their book launches over the past couple of months. Fiona Lloyd's middle grade novel, Being Jimmy Baxter is fantastic! Fiona has tackled difficult themes of domestic violence and depression, but it's written with such sensitivity and a lightness of touch, that it doesn't ever seem heavy. I'm usually not a big fan of naïve narrators, but Jimmy's voice is quirky and engaging and I couldn't put the book down. Also on the theme of parental depression is Amanda Leiber's gorgeous and heartfelt picture book, My Giant Sea Shell, illustrated by Kathy Creamer. I couldn't be more delighted for Amanda! She is such an enthusiastic member of the kidlit community and it was great to see so many of the community at the launch to celebrate her debut book. The book is a beautiful metaphor both in words and pictures. Friend of many in the kidlit scene, Rory H Mather flew into town to launch not one, but two picture books at Better Read than Dead, Newtown. Both books had Rory's trademark rhyme, rhythm and humour. Sebastian Stands Out (illus by Sofya Karmazina) was even set to percussion and performed by the incredibly talented Johan Rahman (you really must check out Johan in action on Instagram @johanrahman1 !!) Illustrator of Bookweek Bear, Ruth Mary Smith was there too, signing books with a handmade bear stamp! Country Town, by fellow CBCA NSW sub-branch committee member, Isolde Martyn was flying off the shelves at the launch at Gleebooks! It's already into reprint! Co-written with Robyn Ridgeway and illustrated by Louise Hogan, this book, follows an un-named country town through 200 years of history, full of visual and textual detail. Reminiscent of My Place by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, it's a teacher's dream! Also on a slice of Australian history, although slightly tangentially, is Jorn's Magnificent Imagination, by Coral Vass and Nicky Johnston, about Jorn Utzon, the architect of the iconic Sydney Opera House. The story behind the production of this book is amazing in itself, and well worth hearing if you get a chance to listen to Coral or Nicky give a behind the scenes recount! I was spellbound! It was delightful to celebrate with them and other friends under the sails of the Opera House, at the bar last week! Nicky even made opera house headbands for us all!! Other adventures recently include a super-fun Anchored pyjama party at Stanton Library, thanks to children's librarian and author, Rebecka Sharpe Shelberg (look out for Rebecka's new junior fiction series, Saskia Spark-Lee), and the CBCA NSW Branch Northern Sydney Sub-branch Lunch With the Stars. Enthusiastic speakers this year at the lunch were author and survivor survivor, Wai Chim, and illustrator Mike Barry. The buzz at this event is always so cool to see so many kids excited to meet and greet lots of authors and illustrators over lunch! Talking about the CBCA, I was so thrilled for illustrator friend Max Hamilton whose picture book with Vikki Conley Where the Lyrebird Lives WON the Early Childhood section, and for friend and fellow sub-branch committee member, Pip Harry whose MG novel, August and Jones WON the Shadow Judging (by kids) award!! I loved this novel so much, about the friendship between two children, one of whom is going blind. It's a must-read! You can see all the winning and honour books here. I've heard the behind-the scenes stories of these books on the First Wednesday Book Club that's run over zoom by CBCA NSW Branch. This is an amazing resource for all lovers of kid's books. It's free for members (and a small fee for others). It's so worth hearing from the book creators and gives you another layer of insight into the books and the creative process. I highly recommend them. I was disappointed that I didn't get to hear from Lian Tanner this month due to family birthdays! I'll have to try and catch up. Monster Fun: A friend took her kids along to the NSW State Library in the holidays for a monster activity day, and I was so excited when she sent me photos of monsters from mine and Kim Siew's The Scared Book included in the monster treasure-hunt!! They hid literary monsters around the library and kids searched for them, ticking them off their booklet. So fun! It made me think what a great book-ish Halloween activity this could be for the kids. Talking about illustrators, Arielle Li, the amazing illustrator of Anchored has a new book out this month with a friend of mine, Ashling Kwok, called Butterfly Girl. How gorgeous is this cover (below)? I've seen a few butterflies fluttering around the blooming flowers recently, so there couldn't be a better time for this book to launch into the world! That's about all my news for now. Until next time, here are some things I'm looking forward to: Judging the Just Write for Kids Pitch It competition. Being an author guest at the Illawarra Literary Lunch hosted by CBCA NSW Branch Illawarra Sub-branch. Seeing Trent Dalton at Stanton library Hearing from Caig Silvey at the CBCA NSW Branch Aspire and Celebrate lunch. You can find out more here. Wishing you all the best, Debra Wow! Has it been that long since I last wrote? It’s been a wild ride since the publication of Anchored!! Sending out a big THANK YOU to everyone who has encouraged and supported me, and helped Anchored sail into the hands of booksellers, libraries and, most importantly, readers. My heart is full of gratitude. I have been posting lots of photos on social media so hopefully you’ve seen a bit of my adventures closer to ‘real time!’ But as we left off last episode of KidLitLand on the eve of the big launch, let’s do some catch up! The wonderful Kristin Darell helped me launch the book, and gave me a wonderful ‘softee’ bottle of bubbles to christen it with – it was so fun!! I was overwhelmed with the warmth and support of so many people! If I have one regret, it was that I didn’t make enough fuss of Kristin Darell and her books which were also on sale on the day (thanks to the amazing support of Dymocks Neutral Bay). So let me rectify that now: Kris oozes warmth, enthusiasm, and talent across the board. Some of her favourite things are writing and interviewing, and she is brilliant at both! Her junior fiction Football Fever series is not just for sport-loving readers, but their stories of friendship, navigating conflict, team work and valuing others are above sport and speak to real issues kids (and all of us face). Highly recommended! Back on the Anchored afterglow, I am thrilled to say that my little Tug and Ship have been generating lots of amazingly wonderful reviews. I won’t bore you with them all here, as most of them are collected on my website here. But what has blown me away even more recently has been the Anchored love in the UK! It got a mention in the The Times in the UK in an article on ‘Best Children’s Books for Summer 2023’ where it was the FIRST of five mentioned (cover shot and all - see below) in the first category of 0-5 y/o along with new books by legends Michael Rosen and Anthony Browne!!!!!!! Gobsmacked!!!! It was also shortlisted for the Rubery Award (an international award for books from independent publishers and self-published creators) AND was also in ‘Our picks of the best children’s books coming out in summer 2023' by The School Reading List in the UK. Since the launch of Anchored I have been out and about with the book, at the Sydney Writer’s Festival, Sate library, Gordon Library and visiting an array of bookshops, as well as online on blogs and podcasts - with more events to come! You can find links to all the online stuff here. And BIG THANKS to everyone who’s reviewed Anchored, hosted me or mentioned my book on their online and/or social media world! It means so much! Special thanks to Dani Vee for having me on her podcast, and Andrew Dittmar, Dee White and Romi Sharp from Just Write For Kids for having me on their blogs. Reading Anchored to groups of kids has been such fun! I’ve developed a cute craft activity to make a rocking tug boat with a paper plate that has been a hit (find it here) and I’ve started to learn the ukulele and I can play a few (very) simple songs to go along with the reading. Kids love live music, and it’s been such fun for me to learn- I’ve been so excited to see the steady improvement practicing regularly has made! I’ve been learning online with Bernadette and you can find here on YouTube, if you’re interested. I’ve also been a joy to celebrate the wonderful launches of friend’s books. Strangely, it seems the sea theme is catching! I’ve been to the launch of Nathan Luff’s first book in a new series: Family Holidays/Disasters: Crash Landing, and Heidi Walkinshaw’s picture book, Some Fish Have Moustaches and I’m looking forward to Amanda Lieber’s My Giant Sea Shell (Illustrated by Kathy Creamer) on the weekend! Friends bucking the sea trend have been Mick Elliot with his picture book Dads and Dogs (perfect for Archie!) and Kristin Darell with her fourth and final Football Fever: Gala Day and Serena Geddes with her We are Matildas picture book (written by Shelley Ware), both tie-ins with the FIFA Women’s World Cup, but great books about friendship on their own. Another wonderful event that was a long time coming due to Covid delays, was the CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Sub-branch’s The Great Debate Dinner in which a team of authors and a team of illustrators battled it out over the pressing question: Are words better than pictures? The night was such a hoot! My sides ached from laughing! The teams put in so much effort preparing signs and slogans and even witty t-shirts before-hand, and the ensuing debate was lively and hilarious! Thanks so much to the debaters, Nathan Luff, Mick Elliot and Dani Vee for the words team, and Aura Parker, Serena Geddes and Jules Faber for the pictures team, and Oliver Phommavanh as MC and Marian McGuiness as moderator. You made a lot of people very happy!! PS the words team won – but the real winners were the readers (I stole that line from Oliver P ;-)) Talking about hilarious, I’ve read some funny books recently: Hamlet Is Not OK – Hamlet relived and re-imagined! What’s not to love? I heard author RA Spratt talking with Al Tait on the YKNR podcast (ep 109), and I knew I had to read it! I was chuckling to myself on the train when I read this one, nudging my daughter and sticking the book in her face saying ‘read this bit!’ Classified as YA due to the themes, but it's an easy read. Rita’s Revenge by Lian Tanner (illus by Cheryl Orsini) is hilarious, heart-warming and deserves all the awards it’s accruing. Of course, Amelia McInerney and Lucinda Gifford’s Neil the Amazing Sea Cucumber is so much Deadpan fun! I am also reading and recommending:
Black Cockatoo With One Feather Blue – a stunning new picture book by the creators of Leonard the Lyrebird, Jodie McLeod and Eloise Short, and a must for anyone who loves the blue mountains. Runt by Craig Silvey – you would have seen this one recommended everywhere, and a book Story Hound Archie especially loved. Sick Bay by Nova Weetman – I’m late to the party on this one, that doesn’t sugar-coat life. These are two kids dealing with real life and real problems, and sick bay at the local high school is the unlikely conduit for growth. Heart warming and amazing! Looking forward to: book launches! Yay! Fiona Lloyd’s Being Jimmy Baxter tomorrow (22nd) at Berkelouw Books Leichardt Amanda Lieber’s My Giant Sea Shell on Sunday (23rd) at Bondi Beach. Rory H Mather’s DOUBLE launch of Sebastian Stands Out and Book Week Bear at Better Read Than Dead, Newtown on 29th. Looking forward to: CBCA book week and other events: Pyjama Storytime at Stanton Library, North Sydney on Wednesday 26th, 6-7 pm Riverina tour in August – I’ll be speaking to NINE schools and signing books at Collins Bookshop in Wagga Wagga. CBCA Book Week – exhausted from Riverina tour, but excited to visit schools and preschools in book week and beyond!! I'll leave you this time with something to tempt your taste buds! These are the gorgeous and yummy biscuits my daughter made for the Anchored Launch! Until Next time, Take Care, Debra April has been a whirlwind of activity with the publication of Anchored and all the associated activities both in the real world and online!! So forgive me if this post is rather self-indulgent :-) I'd like to start by thanking everyone who has enthusiastically supported this book's journey into the world, from the publishing house, booksellers, librarians, teachers, bloggers, reviewers, readers and friends. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Now let me tell you about the events still to come, so you don’t miss out if you want to join me in the new book celebrations!! The official launch party is on the 29th April 2pm at Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre! Kristin Darell of Football Fever fame will be helping me ‘christen’ Anchored. I’m putting the bubbles on ice, so please let me know if you can come, so you don’t miss out! (See flyer below for details). Other dates for the diary include: Sunday 30th April – Woodlands Open House Family Day (home of ‘Seven Little Australians’ author Ethel Turner) and storytime. Information here. Sunday 28th May – Sydney Writers Festival! YES I’M READING ANCHORED AT THE SYDNEY WRITERS FESTIVAL!! And look at the rest of the fabulous line-up at the Storytime Clubhouse:
Certainly, worth a visit for the day!! And now to back-track a little: where have I been, what have seen?? On the eve of Anchored’s launch I spoke at the CBCA NSW Branch Northern Sydney Sub-branch event about the ‘Pathway to a Picture Book.’ I also got to hear Aura Parker read and talk about her sublime and lyrical new picture book, Bowerbird Blues, (a must-buy) and Kristin Darell spoke with publisher Holly Toohey about her fabulous Football Fever series. Talking about Bowerbirds – there are so many books popping up about these fascinating creatures! I went to the launch of Sophie Masson and Lorena Carrington’s Satin, at Better Read Than Dead bookshop. It’s an almost philosophical picture book for older readers with a magical, ethereal quality, and sumptuous endpapers! I was sad I couldn’t get to the same bookshop for the launch of Freckles by Sarah Wallace and Lesley McGee, a picture based on the Gaelic mythology of freckles! Check out Sarah discussing it here. Look out for that one! At Easter I took a little trip to Canberra and dropped in to sign some books at The Book Cow in Kingston. I got to see Anchored in a bookshop window for the first time (what a thrill), and the amazing Peter even recorded a little video interview with me! Thanks Peter. The wonderful Gina at Dymocks Neutral Bay hosted a reading and signing day last week, which was a lot of fun. We made paper boats and discovered if they could sail on the makeshift ‘lake.’ And of course, I read Anchored to an enthusiastic crowd! Thanks Gina! I then flew up to Where the Wild Things are bookshop in Brisbane for their Storytime Festival with Sophie Beer, Dannika Patterson and Rachel Burke. This was a great event with all four picture book creators reading their books and fighting it out in an extreme crowd-sourced story telling challenge! I was put with the amazing Sophie Beer who illustrated my story of a chip-stealing dragon on a boat being chased by a seagull and the magical Easter Bunny and fan that come to its rescue! Crazy-fun! I totally recommend all the books by these great creators: Craft Roach, Heavy, You're Fabulous as You Are (and Anchored)! Check out my socials for some fun photos and videos. Thanks to Genevieve for organising all the mayhem! And just this past weekend, I was signing books, making paper boats and enticing children to play a fishing game at Berkelouw Books Hornsby! Thanks to Ally, for having me, and thanks to those who dropped by to say hello. It was great catching up with many friends and celebrating the CBCA awards shortlist at the NSW Branch celebration. congratulations to all the shortlisted creators! I got to finally meet impressive author Kate Foster, after having been social media friends over the years. Oh, and Kate and Dee White have teamed up to bring author pen-pals to schools, and I’ve sent my first package off to the tiny QLD Clare State School – I can’t wait to hear back from them. Dee White has also had me on her blogs: Monday Motivators here, and Writing prompts for kids here. What a dynamic duo! It was a warmth filled room for the fundraising evening for Room to Read, where we heard from Deb Abella, Sarah Davis, Tristan Bancks and Paul Macdonald, about this inspiring charity and the importance books have made to their lives and are making to the lives of many children in less wealthy countries around the world. Find out more about Room to Read here. Gleebooks put on a ‘housewarming’ party and ‘ladder launch’ for Sue Whiting and James Foley’s new books. Sue’s is another Pearly and Pig adventure, and I did love the first in the series, and James’s is a graphic novel, Secret Agent Mole, with a very recognisable spy flavour – lots of fun! I'm collecting so many wonderful reviews for Anchored, and rather than bore you with them here, I’ll direct you to my website where I’m trying to keep up with collecting them all. I’ve also been on a couple of blogs – Dee White’s as mentioned above (thanks Dee), and on the Just Write for Kids blog (thanks Romi) with a Quick Six interview with me and another interview with Anchored’s illustrator, Arielle Li. Thanks to Dani Vee for having me on the Words and Nerds Podcast recently and allowing me to talk about writing with these other amazing guests (see photo)! You can check out the episode of April releases here. Anchored was sailing with the big ships in this ep of thrillers and mystery writers! I also loved chatting with kids about writing and seeing their imaginations fire in a writing workshop I took for Westwords in Bowral last week SCBWI offers writers and illustrators for kids amazing opportunities, and a recent one was an online Critique-a-Palooza. I got to have a zoom assessment with an agent from the US. Such a gift - and a great reason to belong to the supportive SCBWI community. And finally, congratulations to the winners of the Forevability Book awards for books with a disability, illness or inclusion theme. I was pleased to be one of the judges, and I was excited that the winner of the Australian picture book section (in which I was NOT a judge) was my writing buddy, Katrina Roe and her beautiful picture book, Same, based on her experience having a brother with cerebral palsy. Yay!! Find out more about the awards here. On my radar:
That's about the round up for now. Apologies if I've left out anyone/anything - it's been a lot to keep a track of!!
Things I'm looking forward to: The launch on Saturday - don't forget to RSVP via 'reply' or to [email protected]. And then Woodlands the next day. Sydney Writer's Festival in May No doubt there'll be more opportunities to help get Anchored into the hands of readers: I'm chatting with a few libraries about upcoming events and even a regional NSW tour! Thank you, fellow adventurers for your interest and support. Hope to see you on my adventures, either in person or online. Until next time, Debra PS I'll leave you with Captain Archie ready to set sail... or is he??!!! Maybe I need to change the blanket - he's taking it literally ;-) :-) Welcome to my first KidLitLand for 2023! What may look like a sluggish start to the year, has actually been my engines on full-throttle, propelling my latest picture book, Anchored, into the world! Just like a tugboat, a lot of the action happens beneath the surface! But finally, here I am with a whole lot of writing-related goodness! PUBLISHING NEWS Firstly, as my subscribers will know, I have been organising book launches and events for when Anchored sails into bookshops on April 5th! Note the ‘Save the date’ tile (left). In addition to the big launch in Kirribilli on the 29th, Dymocks in Neutral Bay is hosting a smaller, bookshop launch Thursday afternoon, the 13th April. I hope I can see many of you at one or the other! Books and Publishing has already written a stunning review. It’s behind a paywall, but here’s the first sentence: “A sensitive tale of connection near, far and across the waters, Anchored is a hopeful, heartwarming story demonstrating to young children that no matter the distance between them and a loved one, fondness always remains with a little tug on the heart.” I’ve also been excited to see the gorgeous colour character sketches and initial roughs for my picture book with HarperCollins that comes out next year. It’s another fun, interactive book, this time with a very cute child narrator and dragon. I can’t wait to introduce you to them next year! Something a little bit different for me, is having a non-fiction article published in The School Magazine (March 2032, Touchdown). It’s all about something that kids wear to school every day, but have they ever really thought about the unsung heroes of the clothing drawer… the mighty sock?? This non-fiction piece is truly a testament to my ‘dream team’ writing group - the finished piece is unrecognisable from the first draft I brought to group! It’s always fun seeing the finished piece illustrated (this one by Fifi Colston and with photographs). PREPPING Part of the fun of having a book out in the world is opportunities to share it with kids – picture books are begging to be ‘performed!’ So I’ve collected an assortment of bits and bobs to help bring Ship and Tug alive to young readers! And I’m not forgetting the adults! I’m off to Sydney Uni this month to talk with some 4th year early childhood students about how books impact children’s lives, and then I’m speaking at the first CBCA NSW Branch Northern Sydney Sub-branch event on the eve of Anchored’s launch, about ‘Pathway to a Picture book.’ OUT AND ABOUT I had the joy of attending a YA book launch at Kinokuniya recently: Two Can Play That Game by debut Asian-Australian writer Leanne Yong. It’s a YA gamer rom-com and it sounds like great fun. I’m yet to read it, but you can find a review by Oliver Phommavanh here. Talking about Oliver, I saw him at the launch AND at the Night of the Notables in Sydney this year – and I was thrilled that his What About Thao is a CBCA Notable! I love this book so much! Congratulations Oliver! Congratulations also to all the creatives on the Notable list – it is a hotly contested space, with a record number of entries this year. The Notables announcement is always bitter-sweet, as not all of my author/illustrator friends make the list – but I reckon to have a book out in the world and impacting young lives makes every book creator a WINNER! It was great to hear from Rebecca Young, about her Simultaneous Storytime book The Speedy Sloth, and from Kate Foster about her books and neurodiverse representation more generally. It was great to finally meet Kate in real life, and I'm excited to be part of the Author Pen Pals program that she's organising with Dee White (more details here.) Sue Whiting also spoke about her history with Walker Books - celebrating 30 years in Australia this year! - and how reading the right book for a child can change them from a non-reader to an enthusiastic reader! For Library Lovers Day and International Book Giving Day this year, I showed some library love to Lindfield Library by dropping by and gifting them a copy of The Scared Book (photo above right). They used to have several copies, but they were loved out of circulation! One of the downsides of have an interactive book, I reckon! I’ve been told some heart-warming stories lately, about how The Scared Book is still impacting children’s lives. Over the Christmas holidays I got to see the brilliant Cressida Campbell exhibition at the National Gallery. I was blown away with Cressida’s artwork – both the technique she uses and the finished products! Mind blowing!! I was even more delighted to find a tugboat in her work!! Bellow, as a triptych (left) and close up (right). AM READING: Substack seems to be gaining momentum for all sorts of kidlit people. Here are a few I’ve signed up to: Books on Tour; Katrina Germein; and YKNR (as well as listening to their podcast!). You might like to look them up too! Here are some of my latest purchases (with a note on a few): Dani Vee’s My Epic Dad: Camping (Illustrated by Marina Verola) is an hilarious story about an indomitable Dad who’s camping exploits are the stuff of horror campfire stories! It’s the first in a funny picture book series. And as a double bonus for buying the book, I WON a spot on Dani’s podcast, Words and Nerds!! Winner! Thanks Dani! Look out for that! The Whole Story by Kelly Canby is not a recent release, but it has played on my mind since I saw it in a bookshop a while ago – so when I saw it again, I HAD to buy it! I bought What to Say… by Davina Bell and Hilary Jean Tapper, on the review of my friend, Penny J Reeve, on LinkedIn. I’m not usually on that platform, but I clicked a link and was rewarded! And I can never go past a Magnolia Moon book (Edwina Wyatt). They are all so charming, wise and gently deep. Not pictured: Kristin Darell’s Junior Fiction Series Football Fever, which is selling like hotcakes to all the football (soccer) obsessed fans! ON MY RADAR: Joining in the nautical theme: Amelia McInerney’s Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber (illustrated by Lucinda Gifford) is getting stand-out reviews ahead of its release at the end of next month. Aura Parker has another incredibly stunning new picture book out this month, Bowerbird Blues. A story close to StoryHound Archie's heart is Hedgehog the Wonderdog by Dannika Patterson and Ross Morgan, about the healing power of dogs. Something Archie knows to be all to true! And one close to my heart is Mama's Chickens by Michelle Worthington and Nicky Johnston, about a mum with early onset dementia (my mum had this, but not quite so young!) … and chickens (I'm a mad chicken fan)! And I love the sound of Dannielle Viera’s The Leftover Lemon Dilemma (illustrated by Paula Deuber): ‘A multicultural celebration of food and community.' LOOKING FORWARD TO… SO MUCH! Anchored book launches and events! Speaking to trainee teachers at Sydney Uni. Speaking at CBCA NSW Branch Northern Sydney Sub-branch meeting and AGM in April. Gleebooks Housewarming Party and book launch with James Foley and Sue Whiting on the 9th March. Being on Words and Nerds Podcast! Thanks for joining in on all these adventures! Until next time, Debra PS: If you’re excited for the release of Anchored and want to dive in early and pre-order: in Australia, my publisher’s website works best, here, and Amazon in other countries will be great. Asking your local and/or school library to order a copy is always a super-duper helpful thing for book creators too! Hello fellow adventurers, It’s a joy to share with you many excellent bookish adventures over the past months, and look forward to the extraordinary joy that we celebrate at Christmas. Starting close to home first, I was so excited to be able to reveal the cover of my picture book, Anchored, with illustrations by the amazing Arielle Li and published by EK Books. I’ve now seen the whole book and it’s gorgeous! It’s already off to the printers for an April release. I’ve been excitedly ordering custom merch to promote it (I’m getting a bit carried away!) – magnetic business card, anyone??? You can pre-order your copy here.
As part of the CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Sub-branch Lunch With The Stars writing competition, I had the privilege of meeting one of the young winners and provide a writing workshop for her class. Ava’s story was about a monster cat, so it fit brilliantly with my workshop theme of creating a monster character. Congratulations Ava! I’ve been lucky to win a couple of book give-aways recently – a fantastic Koala pack from Shae Millward with her funny Dr Suess-like Koalas Like to… (illustrated by Brent Wilson) and a MG novel, A Little Spark, by a favourite author, Barry Jonsberg. And I ran a give-away for a couple of my When I See Grandma for World Alzheimer’s Day in September – and I was thrilled that they went to a couple of wonderful librarians! I’ve done a bit of historic adventuring these past few months. Firstly to Ethel Turner’s cottage in Lindfield as part of Historic Houses Open Sydney events. We had an informative tour guide in fellow children’s writer and Ethel Turner aficionado, Abbey Lane who looked the part for the day. And then to Nutcote, May Gibbs’ harbourside home for SCBWI ‘sketch and scribble’ day with sumptuous high tea. It’s been wonderful to spend time in the company of inspiring creatives and immersive experiences. Talking about inspiring company, none is more so than SCBWI regional advisor, Susanne Gervay. Her latest YA novel, The Edge of Limits, was launched recently at Gleebooks by Melina Marchetta. This is a gripping page turner, with hard-hitting and important themes. I can’t do better than to point you to a review of this book here. Here’s a taster: ‘a searingly important book that addresses issues of connection, courage and consent with a visceral reality that is gripping from start to finish.’ I had the joy of judging the Just Write for Kids 'Pitch It' competition again this year. It’s always so fun to read the fabulous pitches, but so hard to pick a winner!! You can read the winner and runner's up here. Congratulations! And I’m gearing up for some more judging over January with the entries now closed for the Forevability award for books that relate to or include disability, illness, inclusion and diversity. I managed a flying visit to Brisbane in September and was so happily surprised by the tea towel exhibition at the State Library: 'Queensland to a T.' It’s an art and story form that I’ve never given much thought to, except for collecting them as souvenirs and popping them in my bag to take home from holidays or at special events – like the My Fair Lady teacup tea towel – it makes me smile in remembrance every time I use it. I also recognised quite a few of the tea towels in the exhibition, from our many family trips to Queensland when I was a child. The exhibition was brilliantly curated and the information boards were so clever, funny and 'punny' - I hope you can get a taste of them in these shots: I’ve been writing this news around corks popping off bottles of bubbly, the aromas of gingerbread and Advent Christmas tea, and the chatter of friends! Christmas is well and truly in the air! With events like my writers’ group Christmas party and the CBCA NSW Branch Northern Sydney Sub-branch dinner at Terrey Hills Tavern, and, of course, the discussion of books! Here are three latest releases we celebrated: Two picture books that are a MUST for Christmas – both very different but stunning in their own way: A Christmas Rose by Wendy Blaxland and Lucy Hennessy (the soft-cover edition has just been published) is a quiet, heartfelt story about the first Christmas, and Meerkat Christmas by Aura Parker is fun and zany meerkat mayhem. And one picture book that is essential in any dentist surgery - The Fangs Visit the Dentist, by Jean Saxby and Ponyo Nguyen. Another gorgeous picture book to pop in Christmas stockings is Ashling Kwok’ s A Star For Mamma. The beautiful, whimsical illustrations by Kathy Creamer sit softly on the page alongside the charming story about a child penguin’s love for his mother, and the lengths he will go to show her. Don't forget to check out Story Hound Archie's recommendations for great books too - he's over on Instagram at @Story_Hound. And now it’s time for the joy of Christmas preparation. Isn’t that often the best part? (Once the pressure of presents is sorted!) Here’s a photo of me prepping for Christmas in an apron designed by my talented SCBWI friend, Kristian Aus! You can find his website to browse his amazing illustrations here. I’m wearing his Reindeer design t-shirt in the photos above- can you see it peeking out between the books? If you love reindeer and leaving carrots out for Rudolf, you'll love my present for you… I’m gifting all my subscribers a Christmas story for you to enjoy. You can download it from the email I sent. Didn’t get an email? Pop to my ‘home’ page and hit ‘subscribe!’ Wishing you all a joy-and-book-filled Christmas. Until next year, Take care, Debra xx Spring is in the air! And it’s not just baby currawongs hatching in the tree outside my door or my orchids bursting to life – so many new books are springing from launches onto bookshelves and into my eager hands! Every weekend lately one or other of my friends is launching their new books – it seems like the publishing industry is making up for time lost over Covid! And I've been as busy as a bee flitting from one event to another this past month or so. What a delight! But first, in my writing news, I am patiently waiting! I have a non-fiction article accepted by The School Magazine that I can't wait to see in print and illustrated! I'm thinking about ways to promote my next picture book, Anchored, when it comes out in July next year. And I’m liaising with my publisher at HarperCollins about an illustrator for my book with them due out a year later. I was thrilled with the outcome of my publisher assessments at the CYA Conference, despite my being a no-show due to catching rotten Covid! Undeterred, one generous publisher liked both my manuscripts so much that she is taking them to her team to discuss! How good is that?? Fingers crossed!! Talking about the CYA conference, I was so pleased it was online again this year. I’m still looking forward to getting to a LIVE CYA conference, but online this year I was able to network and make some new friends, as well as catch up on the sessions I missed due to not feeling well. The most helpful session for me this year was Claire Thomas with School visits: How to primp and preen your presentation and was timely - I got to do a bit of primping and preening before heading back into schools for book week! And what a hoot Book Week was! To be able to get back into schools and Preschools felt like a hit of oxygen into depleted lungs! Here are a few happy snaps from a preschool visit (I always find the school photos trickier to get!): And for those who have yet to catch up on the Book of the Year news, you can find it all here. The announcement video is worth watching, as we get to see the reaction of the winners in real time! And remember to check out what the kids thought too, in the Sun Project, Shadow Judging section. I was unable to get to the Kids and YA Festival at Writing NSW, but again, was able to catch up on some of the sessions I was keen to get to, via their podcast here. My local CBCA NSW branch sub-branch had a fabulous evening exploring the latest exhibition at the State Library of NSW – Imagine… the Wonder of Picture Books, and then retiring to the Library Bar. I highly recommend both – the exhibition and the Bar (it has amazing sweeping views from the rooftop). It was fantastic to see books included by my friends, like Lisa Nicols and Bethany Macdonald. The evening was also a time to celebrate the launch of our sub-branch previous president, wildlife photographer and author of children's True to Life books, Jan Latta's inspirational memoir, Doing it My Way. Pictured at right with me, Abbey Lane and Carla Fitzgerald. Still on the subject of CBCA NSW Branch Sub-branch, our legendary Lunch With the Stars was back this year after two years of Covid hiatus - and what a delight it was! Catching up with a room full of authors/illustrators, chatting to kids and teachers, and hearing from amazing author guest speakers (this year it was Louise Park and Oliver Phommavanh) is always a highlight of the year! Photo below... And now for a gallery of new book photos: some launches I got to... And a few I didn't get to but got to catch up with the authors at Lunch With the Stars! #Reading: I’ve read two books from Kathryn Apel recently and they couldn’t be more different! What Snail Knows is an achingly beautiful story of a lonely girl with a pet snail and how she (and her father) start to come out of their shells. It’s sublime! Miss Understood is a riotous fractured fairy-tale picture book (illustrations by Beau Wiley) casting the wolf from the Three Little Pigs as a misunderstood hero and the pigs as, well – pigs! Told in Kat’s exquisite rapping rhyme and full of jokes and puns and great hilarity! I’ve finished Oliver’s book, What About Thao? (above), which is warm and wise and just altogether wonderful! And I adore Carla's Keeping up with the Dachshunds (above) - it's funny with a great message and... dogs! I'm sharing this one around lots - it's one of Archie's favourites! #Winning! 'Ya gotta be in to win it! I have been so fortunate to WIN TWO Books recently, from giveaways! The first is from the ASA - A Little Spark, the latest from Barry Jonsberg - I love his books and I look forward to reading this one (photo to come)! The second is actually a whole package of goodies from Shae Millward including her adorable and fun picture book, Koala's Like to... which young children will delight to read over and over again (illustrated by Brent Wilson). I also received a book that I was the winning bid for in the Lismore Flood Relief auction earlier in the year - The Naked Sheep by Crystal Corocher and Rebel Challenger. This one is a rhyming romp of hilarity. It was my birthday recently, and one of the treasured gifts I received was this totally loveable book with a gentle dual language story that captures the essence of donkey's personalities perfectly! The illustrations are so unique - hand woven sculptures by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers, a social enterprise of indigenous women. There's also a gorgeous animated film clip you can view here. With my little donkey mate no longer with us, this will be a book I treasure forever <3 Looking forward to:
The Just Write for Kids Pitch It! Competition is back on for another year and I’m one of the picture book judges. This is such a fun competition to judge, and I’m looking forward to reading those entries! Find out more here. Next week is Australian Dementia Awareness Week with World Alzheimer's Day on the 21st. Look out for my posts on socials - there might even be a give-away! SCBWI is having a sketch and Scribble at may Gibbs' Nutcote in December - it should be great fun! Until next time, or I see you somewhere in my KidLitLand adventures, I'll leave you with StoryHound Archie trying to keep up with the latest totally bow-wow trends, and the Dachshunds! Debra Dear fellow adventurer, Winter has begun with an abundance this year – an abundance of freezing days!! But there have been many sunshiny moments to warm body and heart. I can finally announce the news that I hinted at last time… I have a new contract for a picture book to be published by HarperCollins, probably in 2024 - I’m so thrilled! This manuscript has had a long and winding road to publication: A Tale of Many Publishers! It began with an idea from one publisher, but in the end didn’t get through acquisitions :-( I then took it to another publisher at an assessment at the CYA Conference last year, and they loved it but didn’t think their publishing house was quite the right fit for it. But super-kindly they sent it to their friend, a publisher at another company, HarperCollins, and they took it on! After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing and ‘noodling,’ the contract was signed last week. I’m thrilled! And so are all the publishers who had a hand in it, and for whom I am thankful! It's also been wonderful to get glimpses of my picture book with EK books (illustrated by Arielle Li) progressing! I have some cover art designs to comment on - they are all so good, it's so hard to choose! I’m excited to be part of the State Library of NSW online Storytime, this week (It's actually tomorrow, 15th June, 11 am). I’ll be on zoom with a The Scared Book and a big bag full of toys for some MONSTERous fun! I’d love you to join me – you can register here. And a reminder - book week is coming up next term and I still have some availability for author visits. If you'd like to book me for your school or preschool, contact Creative Kids Tales Speaker's Agency here. Talking about The Scared Book, it was lovely seeing photos of Wendy Fitzgerald reading my book at the Words on the Waves Festival – thanks Wendy! There are so many festivals and conferences at the moment - and I have a serious case of FOMO! Eg the CBCA Conference in Canberra looked like such a fun and fascinating program, and so many people I would have loved to meet and catch up with!! The Kids and YA Festival at Writing NSW is coming up in a couple of weeks – and the FOMO is intensified! Although I really can’t complain because it’s also wonderful celebrating special life events with family and friends! I did get to drop in on the Sydney Writer’s Festival Family Fun day and bump into a few kidlit friends. I even got myself drawn into a pretty cool looking super-hero by Mike Barry and finally got my We Run Tomorrow book signed by both Mike and Nat Amoore! Doubly cool! Another friend I bumped into recently was Paula Stevenson, doing the rounds of bookshops with her delightful new picture book, Buster Follows His Nose. You may remember I mentioned this book last time, as the illustrator is one of my writing group buddies, Jenny Hale. It’s so cool that I’m friends with both the author and illustrator of this gorgeous book! On the subject of writing friends, I was thrilled to hear that our SCBWI Australia East and NZ leader, Susanne Gervay won this year’s SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for her novel, Heroes of the Secret Underground! Susanne is such a force for encouragement and good in the KidLit world, and she was recovering from an operation when the award was announced: I’m sure this news gave her a much-needed boost. I remember how meaningful it was for me to be honoured with this award for The Scared Book a few years ago. If you know Susanne and would like to send her warm wishes too, she’s made a fundraiser for helping those displaced by war in Ukraine (an issue close to her heart), in lieu of cards and flowers etc. It’s just another example of her big-hearted engagement with the world. You can donate here. Talking about SCBWI, I got a lot out of one of their recent digital workshops - Marketing for Authors: From Self-Promotion to Getting the Most from Your Publisher with US author Margot Wood. It was such a helpful insight into the role of various people in the publishing house and schedules for publishing etc! I really recommend these free workshops to SCBWI members – I catch up on them after the event, but you have to be quick – they're usually only up on the website for a month. Something else I've found insightful and helpful for my work is reading George Saunders’ A Swim In The Pond In The Rain: What Reading the Nineteenth-Century Russians Can Teach Us about Stories, Truth, and Transformation. I am loving this book – the gentle and wise insights given and the way Saunders interrogates and reflects on the writing of the Russian masters. The lessons are simultaneously wise, heart-warming and instructive. Another heat-warming moment was reading an article in April’s The Literature Base Magazine (Part of the Magpies Magazine) by Allison Paterson, who mentioned When I See Grandma amongst many other beautiful recommended books about grandparents. It’s so gratifying to know that this book is still quietly working to bring love and compassion behind the scenes. #amReading Whilst I miss chatting to Katrina Roe on the radio, it hasn’t stopped me reading some wonderful children’s books lately! A few junior fiction/Mid grade reads that have had me hooked recently are: The Magic of Magnolia Moon – I couldn’t love this book more – gentle, wise and quirky - I adore Edwina Wyatt’s writing, and I didn’t think she could top her first Magnolia Moon book (The Secrets of Magnolia Moon), but I think this one was even more lovely than the first! the Magnolia Moon books sit on my most-cherished-books shelf! The Callers is Kiah Thomas’ first mid grade novel and it’s a cracker! It’s a fresh, gripping adventure story set in a fantasy world that’s easy to read and keeps you guessing and glued to the last page! I loved it. I interviewed Kiah on the Just Write for Kids blog about her picture books, a while back. you can find the blog here. Sue Whiting’s new series, Pearly and Pig is another great (albeit icy) Antarctic adventure story: with characters that are lively and quirky, and similes and metaphors that are fresh and fun along with many great puns! I’m in the middle of it at the moment, and loving every page. Books on my radar:
Two books by Kathryn Apel - one picture book and one verse novel - Miss Understood (illustrated by Beau Wiley) and What Snail Knows. More on them next time... Things I’m looking forward to: SCBWI zoom about picture books on Sunday 26th June, details here. CYA conference and assessments in July. Details here. Something I’m sad to miss: Kids and YA Festival - but I hope some of you get there! It's on the 25th June. Details here. Until next time, I'll leave you with a photo of a visitor I saw on a harbourside walk last week! Cheers! Debra |
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June 2024
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