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  Thanks for talking to Boomerang Books, Trinity. My pleasure! Pieces of Sky (Allen & Unwin) is your first published YA novel. How did you get published – an agent or through the slush pile? I got my deal through my agent. What is the significance of your title, Pieces of Sky? In the novel the […]

I’m just back from a tour of (mostly indie) London bookshops. My visit to the Tower of London was enhanced after seeing Sonya Hartnett’s Children of the King, which alludes to the missing princes held captive by their uncle Richard III in the Tower, in a Notting Hill bookshop. Australian YA, as well as children’s and […]

May was packed full of exciting book events, a number linked to the Sydney Writers’ Festival. My SWF week began with the evening announcement of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards at the Mitchell Library. It was a great opportunity to catch up with people and meet new authors. The other awards evening I attended was […]

‘Once Upon A Christmas’ dedicated to:-

SANTA CLAUS!

Launched in the heritage courtyard of Balmain Library with community, kids, parents, fabulous librarians on a balmy Sydney night.

Compiled and edited by Beattie Alvarez who did a brilliant job – it contains the funny, joyous, quirky stories, poems, snippets, illustrations of some the best known authors and illustrators about Christmas:-

Ursula Dubosarsky, Libby Hathorn, Duncan Ball, Kate Forsyth, Sally Rippin, Michael Pryor, Kim Gamble, Adele Geras, Pamela Freeman, Stephen Axelson  ……my small anecdote ‘Grandma’s Christmas’ remembers my children’s Grandma and Grandpa … I can’t wait to give it to my family at Christmas.

Melina Marchetta joined in with her daughter

‘Once Upon A Christmas’ is the brainchild of the multi-award winning author Sophie Masson and Christmas Press and the Christmas Press team – Beattie Alvarez, gifted illustrator David Allen and Fiona McDonald.

Fabulous authors Jesse Blackadder and Melina Marchetta came along to cheer on the launch.

Room to Read Writer Ambassadors were there spreading the word about literacy for the kids of Asia and Africa.

Who sets up a new publishing house in this crazy publishing climate? Sophie Masson of course. With its first title last year, it’s already selling out.

Called Christmas Press

A small press with big ideas..

Born in the early months of 2013, Christmas Press specialises in beautiful picture books for children, featuring traditional tales–folk tales, fairy tales, legends, myths–retold by well-known authors and stunningly illustrated in classic styles that reflect the cultures the stories come from. We also publish special anthologies, full of wonderful stories, poems, memoirs and illustrations, with the first of these, Once Upon A Christmas, just released now for Christmas!

The post Who’s Coming down the Chimney? Santa Claus! appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

Days of being an author – is called crazy-good and up-for-air.  Madly frantic!!!!

Racing from KINGS School, to TARA Girls School to Murray Farm Public School  to share my I AM JACK books and ‘Elephants Have Wings.’  The librarians are so hospitable – I got well fed and lots of coffee and I got to share my books with gorgeous kids.

Then it’s Gleebook shop Book Launch of Alice Pung’s first young adult novel – Laurinda – launched by my friend and colleague Melina Marchetta. Both Alice and Melina are Room to Read Writer Ambassadors like I am.  We’re all on a mission to get books to kids in the developing world.

Then it’s off to a fabulous Indian restaurant with the Room to Read team led by Jennie Orchard and stayed too late because I was having a great time.

Highlight was the citizenship ceremony at Woollahra Council. I addressed a packed house overlooking the beautiful harbour. Purple-blue jacaranda trees heavy with flowers greeted em and I got to hang out with the Mayor Of Woollahra Toni Zeltzer. Loved the gold chains and warm welcome by Toni and all the Council staff but more than that – I had the privilege of addressing 36 new Australians – from Hungary, Germany, Malaysia, Turkey, Pakistan …

I am an Australia Day Ambassador – it’s something I love doing. I’ll be flying to speak in Tamworth this year on Australia Day.

It was moving addressing the 36 new Australians and their families and friends from countries as diverse as Thailand, Singapore, Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, UK  … Pakistan.  The Pakistan young man and his 3 young friends were beside themselves that they became Australians today.

I loved speaking to them about our immigrant country that embraced them all and I did a show and tell and held up my Order of Australia.

They loved it. I loved it and it was very special. Made me think about my parents and their journey here.

The post Melina Marchetta, Schools and Citizenship address appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

What a buzz – writers, illustrators, publishers – pitches, publishing panels, brilliant masterclasses, launches, the magnificent illustrator duet with Stephen Axelson and Bruce Whately …

Melina Marchetta’s outstanding keynote about the adaptation of On Jellico Road into a Hollywood feature film – watch out for it …

and wonderful food by Vincent at The Hughenden  …

the dinner dance party with the fabulous Beatnickers of Meredith Costain, James Foley, Scot Chambers and on drums Mark Greenwood – thankyou Wolfie for being a ring in – and the wild singing and hilarity

…. and more and more and more … best ever SCBWI Australia and new Zealand Conference at The Hughenden!!!!!

The post Exhilerating, Amazing Friendships Across the Kids’ Publishing Industry at Sydney SCBWI appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

I’ve just returned from visiting some major cities in the USA. It was illuminating to see which Australian literature is stocked in their (mostly) indie bookstores. This is anecdotal but shows which Australian books browsers are seeing, raising the profile of our literature.

Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief was the most prominent Australian book. I didn’t go to one shop where it wasn’t stocked.

The ABIA (Australian Book Industry) 2014 overall award winner, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion was also popular. And a close third was Shaun Tan’s inimical Rules of Summer, which has recently won a prestigious Boston Globe-Horn Book picture book honour award. Some stores had copies in stacks.

http://www.hbook.com/2014/05/news/boston-globe-horn-book-awards/picture-book-reviews-2014-boston-globe-horn-book-award-winner-honor-books/#_

I noticed a few other Tans shelved in ‘graphic novels’, including his seminal work, The Arrival – which is newly available in paperback.

One large store had an Oceania section, where Eleanor Catton’s Man-Booker winner, The Luminaries rubbed shoulders with an up-to-date selection of Australian novels. These included hot-off-the-press Miles Franklin winner All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld and Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites, plus expected big-names – Tim Winton with Eyrie, Richard Flanagan’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North and works by Thomas Keneally and David Malouf. Less expected but very welcome was Patrick Holland.I chaired a session with Patrick at the Brisbane Writers’ Festival a few years ago and particularly like his short stories Riding the Trains in Japan.

Australian literary fiction I found in other stores included Kirsten Tranter’s A Common Loss, Patrick White’s The Hanging Garden and some Peter Carey.

One NY children’s/YA specialist was particularly enthusiastic about Australian writers. Her store had hosted Gus Gordon to promote his picture book, Herman and Rosie, a CBCA honour book, which is set in New York City. They also stocked Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca, John Marsden, David McRobbie’s Wayne series (also a TV series), Catherine Jinks’ Genius Squad (How to Catch a Bogle was available elsewhere) and some of Jaclyn Moriarty’s YA. One of my three top YA books for 2013, The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee was available in HB with a stunning cover and Foxlee’s children’s novel Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy was promoted as part of the Summer Holidays Reading Guide.

Elsewhere I spied Margo Lanagan’s The Brides of Rollrock Island, published as Sea Hearts here (the Australian edition has the best cover); Lian Tanner’s Keepers trilogy; John Flanagan’s Ranger’s Apprentice and Sonya Hartnett’s The Children of the King. These are excellent books that we are proud to claim as Australian.

The buzz is mega with some of Australia and New Zealand’s most loved authors and illustrators as delegates – Sarah Davis, Libby Hathon, Stephen Axelson, Corinne Fenton, Claire Saxby, Mark Greenwood, Dianne Wolfer, Sally Murphy, James Foley, Meredith Costain ….. and more ….

and then there’s Frane Lessac fighting off crocodiles to get from fremantle WA to Sydney!!!!!

Look out for the brilliant creators of  Looking for Alibrandi and Jellico Road;  Diary of a Wombat;Star Girl and Boy Versus Beast

Guess who they are?

Melina Marchetta

Bruce Whatley

Louise Park

And there’s more – Australia’s best publishers and editors from most publishing houses

And there’s more – US Senior editor from Roaring Brook (Pan MacMillan) USA

And there’s more – some of the best of Australia and New Zealand’s illustrators in the Illustrator Showcase

And there’s more – launches, illustrator’s duel, Christmas Press limited edition prizes; and there more …. and then the SCBWI BAND – dinner party sing along with the fabulous Meredith Costain, James Foley on the guitar with Scott Chambers and Chris Cheng

…….

The post Gorge yourself on authors, illustrators, kids’ books industry ~ SCBWI Conference at The Hughenden appeared first on Susanne Gervay's Blog.

I didn’t post on Saturday because the weather was gorgeous and the Ren Faire was packed. In my 7-year-old nephew’s words, it was his best day ever–in his entire life. I wish that I could say E got his flair for the dramatic from me. But it was a really fun day, and E was hilarious as usual.

He’s also a big reader. He read every sign at the faire, and when we turned on to Castle Rd he said “Oh this must be where the castle is–no, wait that’s cas-T-le, never mind.” When we told him he was right and the T is silent he said, “Oh! Like Django!” Yep. Just like that.

When I was a kid we would spend lots of time at the library each summer, and we would read books off a list our teachers sent home. But E’s 1st grade teacher is pretty great–she set the class a challenge to read 100 books over the summer, and he fully intends to (when he’s not in the pool or hacking apart worms). It got me thinking about how I don’t read nearly as much as I used to, even though I still love it.

Here are my top 4 favorites so far this year (in no particular order):

• The River of No Return – Bee Ridgway: chosen purely because the time period interested me, echoes of Downton Abbey but earlier, more Austen, with time travel and bad guys and intrigue and love. It was brilliant and exciting–impossible to put down.
• Invincible Summer – Hannah Moskowitz: Contemporary YA from a boy’s perspective, which is a rare find, and the writing itself is so achingly beautiful I couldn’t look away. I read the whole thing in one day.
• Quintana of Charyn – Melina Marchetta: hands down my favorite author these days, Melina Marchetta gives life to the most wonderful characters that I adore for their flaws and yearnings as much as their strengths. She’s a master of depicting social groups that you get drawn into and become a part of, and I am only sad that this trilogy has drawn to a close.
• Letters from Skye: a novel – Jessica Brockmole: I picked this up for 2 reasons. It is about an author living on the Isle of Skye, which we visited on our honeymoon and I have since fantasized about having a writer’s retreat there. And it is partially set during WWI, which is a time of particular interest to me at the moment. The narrative unfolds through a series of letters across 2 World Wars, making the story feel both grand and intimately nostalgic at the same time.

Of course I have a massive to-read list to keep me busy for the rest of the year. Who are some of your favorite authors, and what are some of the best books you’ve read this year? I always love suggestions!

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

After everything Lumatere has been through, it looks like it's on the brink of another war. Tensions have been rough with the Charynites in the valley ever since Phaedra's death.

Isaboe and Finnikin hear that Froi might have turned against Lumatere.

And Quintana is still on the run, trying to find safety, and everyone's after her, some who wish her to find safety, and many who do not.

When Quintana ends up in the valley, she's in the safest and most dangerous spot she can be. Everything depends on Isaboe's capacity for forgiveness, and to trust.

But everything's falling apart. Friends and families are fighting, and bickering. No one dares trust, and this is a plan that depends on trust, and faith.

Oh my. So many threads to follow as this trillogy comes to it's most perfect (oh, so perfect) conclusion. I like how we get little bits from Quintana's voice, in first person narration (although she's always talking to Froi during these parts.)

It's hard and it's messy, and it's utterly perfect. Because it's Marchetta, and it's a messy, brutal land that she's created. So, so heartbreaking. And perfectly wonderful

I don't want to say too much, I don't want to give it away. I couldn't even try to do it justice. If you've read the other two, don't worry-- this is an ending that's worthy in every way. If you haven't read them, go. Go now. Lumatere grows on you and sticks to the corners of your brain. I've read and reread these books, looking the devastation and beauty.


Australian copy of the book provided by... a super awesome friend

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hosted by Loving Books. Basically, a week dedicated to Patrick Ness’s amazing series, which I found out about from Lisa is Busy Nerding.

Anyway, I have no idea if this is some kind of coincidence or what, but…

…the Chaos Walking series comprises today’s Kindle Daily Deal. If you have a Kindle and haven’t read the series yet, the books are 99¢ each! You can’t go wrong!

I don’t mean to turn this into a buy-stuff-from-Amazon post, since I’m not a fan of many of their practices (I’m not, nor have I ever have been, an Amazon affiliate), but Melina Marchetta’s Finnikin of the Rock is currently (as of this writing) on sale for $3.49. And wouldn’t you know, last week was Marchetta Madness at Chachic’s Book Nook.

There are some awesome posts there, by the way, like Trish Doller on how Jellicoe Road influenced Something Like Normal. Which makes me want to read Something Like Normal even more.

Throughout Book Week 2011 I had the honour of accompanying Elizabeth Honey (The Boy in Berlin, That’s Not a Daffodil) and Melina Marchetta (Frio of the Exile, Looking for Alibrandi) as we drove our way across regional Victoria.

Imagine sitting in a car for numerous hours with two amazingly gifted and multi-award winning authors. The conversation flew over many different topics from film script writing to writing inspiration to process. I was in heaven.

The Centre for Youth Literature collaborated with Arts 2 Go to bring these two authors, and a local author, into many regional schools over Book Week. Melina took the students through her many international covers, her approach to dialogue and adapting her prologue (from On the Jellicoe Road) to a film script. Liz used the fantastic local models for a watercolour workshop. Students would be walked through the importance of a powerful pose, the use of light and then let loose. The results were remarkable as can be seen below.

The great feature of the tour was the use of local artists on every stop of the tour. Each day Melina and Liz were joined by a different author. Over the five schools we were joined by:

• Tim Pegler (YA author, Five Parts Dead)
• John Romeril (playwright, Miss Tanaka)
• Christie Niesen (playwright, Call Me Komachi)
• Lorraine Marwood (author/poet, Star Jumps)

The authors and I had a fabulous time visiting each of the schools from the outer suburbs (Manor Lakes p-12) and out into more country areas (Wedderburn College, Managatang P-12, Murrayville P-12 and Ouyen p-12).  The students and staff were so welcoming and asked some great questions, created beautiful pieces of art, prose and poetry.  Also, a big thank you to all the local personalities that contributed their time to act as models for the students.  We had maintenance men, grandmothers, librarians and ex-teachers all sit still for remarkable lengths of time.

I blogged on insideadog thrughout the week so you can hear what happened from day to day on the tour.  The authors would change their presentations up every day so there was always something new being revealed.  You can read all the posts and see the work produced in each school.

• Day 2 – Wedderburn
• Day 3 – Managatang
• Day 4 – Murrayville
• Day 5 – Ouyen

You can see more of the work produced via the 0 Comments on Writers Toolkit – Regional Tour as of 1/1/1900