This new trilogy is officially called the Hidden series – but it could just as well be called the Renamed series. Ice Breaker started off as Ice Breaker, then became Frozen, then went back to Ice Breaker. Claw started off as Children of the Claw (a name that I was never wildly excited about), then... Read the rest of this post

It is now almost exactly four months till Ice Breaker comes out in Aust and NZ. This is always such an exciting time, as I get to see the cover (which I showed you a few weeks ago) and other good things. Yesterday the publishers sent me a copy of the map that is going... Read the rest of this post

Well, I think that competition was one of the hardest things I have ever judged. All the entries were so interesting and so carefully done, and so creative. We had a spread of ages from eight years old to adult. AND some people did drawings while others used computers. How on earth was I supposed... Read the rest of this post

The deadline has passed for those in Australia, and a few more entries have come in. I’ll put these up, and then I’m going to think about them for a few days. Picking a winner (or two) is not going to be easy! But I’ll get there – and I’ll probably announce the winner next... Read the rest of this post

The competition closes at midnight tonight (Sunday 16th), so if you haven’t sent your entry in yet, you need to hurry. In the meantime, I’m very pleased to see that we’ve had more entries, and they continue to be diverse and wonderful. Here are the latest ones: First we have a terrific poster from Gabi,... Read the rest of this post

I just got this today, and couldn’t wait to put it up. Here at last is the full cover of ‘Ice Breaker’, in all its glory.   Now of course I want to know what you think. Do you like it? Does it make you want to read the book? What do you think of... Read the rest of this post

I’m getting a bit worried about the lack of entries. Mind you, I always get worried about the lack of entries at this stage, and they always start coming in just before the close of the competition. (Hint hint!) Don’t forget the closing date is midnight on Sunday 16th June. Which is NOT FAR AWAY!... Read the rest of this post

How exciting – we’ve had our first entry! But don’t worry, there’s still a little over two weeks to go, so you’ve got plenty of time to get yours in. This first entry came from Chelsea, who is 13, and it’s a quote from the very end of City of Lies. As Chelsea said, the... Read the rest of this post

What a dreadfully sad and heart-sore day. Miss Mouse, my beloved cat for the last twelve years, died yesterday. She was sick a few weeks ago, then got better, then suddenly got sick again. Stopped eating, stopped drinking, stopped doing all the things she has always loved, and instead got more and more distressed. The... Read the rest of this post

Well, I thought Ice Breaker was as good as finished. After all, I had a contract with my Australian publishers, and we were about to start the copy-editing process. But one can never be entirely sure of these things. Last week I had an email from my American agent saying that she’d like me to... Read the rest of this post

One of my favourite things is when people send me cool pictures they have made, or drawings or photos. Especially when it’s not even a competition. This week, two drawings came from Lily. Here’s what she had to say: ‘I spent all afternoon working on this drawing. It was meant to be rough, but I... Read the rest of this post

I think this was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to judge. I’ve been looking at the photos over and over for the last few days, trying to decide who was the winner and who came second and third. What made it even harder was that it sort of became a photography competition... Read the rest of this post

Hooray, at the very last moment, a stack of competition entries arrived in my inbox! I’m very pleased that we had so many, at such a busy time of year. But of course it makes the whole thing much harder to judge … So here they are, the final entries. I’ve made them a bit... Read the rest of this post

Time is running out if you want to enter the dress-up competition! It closes at midnight on December 31st, which is tomorrow night if you are in Australia, and a bit longer than that if you are in the USA. In the meantime, Miss Mouse and I are delighted by the new entries that have... Read the rest of this post

It’s Boxing Day, and I’m still full from Christmas lunch, but I promised I’d put up the next entry, so here goes. This one is from Harry, aged 10, and is the coolest picture of Toadspit, in the snow with his sword. One of the things I really like about the entries that have come... Read the rest of this post

I’m getting a bit worried about the dress-up competition. We’ve had two terrific entries – and no more. Maybe it was a mistake having it so close to Christmas. Or maybe everyone is waiting until the last minute to enter. So if you are intending to enter, how about dropping a comment below, so that... Read the rest of this post

Yes, I am very pleased to say that we have another entry in the dress-up competition – which also seems to be a bit of an acting competition. Which is fine by me. The curious thing is that the first entry was from Lily, and the second entry is from Lilli. Who will the next... Read the rest of this post

Hooray! I am happy, Miss Mouse is happy, even the dead fish behind the sofa has a smile on its face. We have received the very first entry for the dress-up competition! And it comes from … LOUD DRUM ROLL … Lily, in northern Tasmania! Thank you, Lily. And I can’t wait to thank everyone... Read the rest of this post

I just love getting pictures from my readers, especially when those pictures were inspired by the Keepers. Here’s a picture that Romi sent through, and this is what she had to say about it: I really love the quote ‘What did you steal?’ … ‘Myself’ from  Museum of Thieves and have been doing collaging quite... Read the rest of this post

To celebrate the fact that all three books in the Keepers trilogy are now available, we are having a new competition! It was inspired by 11-year-old Maddy Lohse, whose father sent me a photo of Maddy dressed as Goldie No One for her school Book Week. It was such a great photo that I put... Read the rest of this post

I’ve already received some very interesting items in response to my previous post. And I am forced to conclude that my readers are extremely creative and clever people. I’m also starting to think that I might turn this into a competition. Is just before Christmas a good time to run it? Hmm, I’ll think about... Read the rest of this post

I had a great message left on my blog a few weeks ago. It was from an 11-year-old girl called Maddy Lohse, and here’s what she said: ‘Sometimes I act like Goldie in trying to be like a shadow. I dressed up as her for our book week at school. Lots of kids kept asking... Read the rest of this post

My apologies for being so far behind with these photos – my camera died halfway through the Launceston launch, so I had to borrow someone else’s. And before their photos arrived, I went off to Sydney and Brisbane to talk to schools, and then up to the Daintree rainforest for a holiday. (More about that... Read the rest of this post

Thanks to one of my very generous friends, Glenn Jeffrey, we have a video of the Hobart launch of Path of Beasts. Glenn has edited it down to highlights, which include the entrance of the mystery guest – who of course is no longer a mystery now that you have read the previous post. (You... Read the rest of this post

We had a brilliant launch of Path of Beasts last Sunday morning in the Baha’i Centre. So far I’ve only got a few photos, but I’ll put those up now, and next week I should be able to put up a highlights video. We had some gorgeous costumes, a wonderful Path of Beasts guard of... Read the rest of this post