Neridah McMullin is the author of two books for children. Her next book is an Indigenous folklore story called 'Kick it to me!'. It’s an ‘aussie rules’ story that’s being endorsed by the Australian Football League. Neridah loves family, footy, and doing yoga with her cat Carlos (who also loves footy!)
When did you first know you wanted to be an author?
I’m a Scientist (a cheesemaker actually) and worked in Flavour Development for a long time. Part of my role was technical report writing and I admit I used to sneek in a little bit humour until my boss said, “Neridah, this really isn’t appropriate in a scientific report.” And I said, “Yeah, but it’s funny, right?” And so on maternity leave, (I had a perfect baby boy) I had a creative rush and was inspired to write more seriously: mainly poetry and short stories (for all age groups).
What was your road to publication like?
It’s a bumpy one for sure. There are so many wonderful writers out there, so it’s competitive. I won a prize in the ‘Banjo Paterson Writing Awards in 2008’ for a Short Story and then in 2009 I won the Poetry Prize in the ‘Henry Lawson Literary Awards’. These awards were really encouraging. I also had some pieces published in The School Magazine, Stories for Children in the U.S, and The Scrumbler in the U.K and that’s when I decided to self-publish ‘Ponkidoodle’. Ponki has done well for me (and still is) and from his quirky name I gained the attention of my current publisher One Day Hill Publishing in Melbourne. These guys rock, I love what they publish, and we have congruent values.
Tell us about your books.
Okay. Ponki is a picture book and he’s about a little guy who lives in the roof. He’s nocturnal and clumsy, so if you are ever scared of any night time noises – there’s no need to be as it just Ponkidoodle...and he’s friendly and cute and he’s there to protect you.
Ponkidoodle sells solidly and I take him on school visits twice yearly (Book Week just gone – I’m exhausted) and late in Term 1. I’m from country Victoria so I like to go to a lot of country schools, those kids don’t get to see many writer
2 Comments on Interview with Children's Author Neridah McMullin, last added: 9/11/2011
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Wow, what a full and entertaining interview. I love the idea of a creature who lives in our roof to protect us. Sounds like we have many little Pinkidoodles in our roof.
Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers
Hi Charmaine,
Thanks for your comment. I've been online friends with Neridah for probably a year and we met for the first time at CYA. She's just lovely and hugely talented at writing and illustrating.
Ponkidoodle is one of my favourite picture books! I definitely think Pinkidoddle and Ponkidoddle need to meet.