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I am drinking a glass of virtual bubbles tonight! I am really excited to announce that Pearl Verses the World has been honoured in the USA, as a Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Teens.  You can see the listing here, and also read more about the Capitol Choices lists. And, while we're on the subject of Pearl, the stage adaptation of the book is going to running in Canberra from May 18. I was

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Have just spent a fun half an hour doing virtual jigsaw puzzles of the covers of Toppling and Pearl Verses the World, after fellow shortlisted author, Chris Bongers pointed out that Mrs B has a great interactive website which has puzzles and  other activities for shortlisted titles in the CBCA Childrens Book of the Year Awards for the past three years. How very cool. The Toppling page has links

I was asked recently why I only write sad books. I was quite taken aback by this question, because I don’t think of myself as someone who writes sad books. But at the same time I knew where the asker was coming from. After all, this person may have read some of my more lighthearted stories in the past, but most recently she had read both Pearl Verses the World and Toppling, both of which deal

Phew. I’m home, and have a little time to sit down and blog. My apologies to regular followers for my recent silence – my life has been a whirl! A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to fly to Brisbane for the announcement of the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Awards. Pearl Verses the World was shortlisted and, to my delight was named an Honour Book.  I travelled to and from Brisbane with

A couple of years ago I went through a period where I seriously contemplated giving up on writing as a career. I’d had books published, and was proud of that, but I had a very long spell of rejections, while the publisher of my first trade title went out of business, and the books I had had published didn’t seem to be selling. What kept me going was a combination of the inability to give up (I

Last month I had a blog tour with a difference (more on that in a moment) to celebrate the release of Toppling. This week my writer friend http://www.catrionahoy.com.au/embarks on her first ever blog tour, to promote her new picture book Puggle (she’ll be calling in here in a few days’ time). So, with all this blog touring happening, I thought it might be timely to talk a little about what a

Phew. It's the last day of March and I'm exhausted, but elatedly so (is it possible to feel both elated and exhausted concurrently?) I could scramble for my dictionary to check, but, to be honest, I'm just too tired. Instead, I am going to sit here in my comfy chair and tell you all about the month that was, and why I'm just so tired (and elated). To start with, the end of February saw me

The writing life is filled with highs and lows - and sometimes the lows are long and hard. There are rejections, the difficulties of getting a story right in the first place, and, when a books I published, the challenges of struggling for sales. But the highs are wonderful. Acceptances, holding a book baby in your hands for the first time, seeing your name on a book in a real life bookstore... Read the rest of this post

If you've been dropping in regularly then you'll know that all month I've been hosting visting bloggers who have been dropping in to help me celebrate the release of Toppling by telling me (and you) what it is that they like about chidlren's poetry. Please welcome today Jackie Hosking, poet, chidlren's writer and editor of the Pass It On newsletter. Welcome Jackie. Why I like poetry. I’ve

Time for another writing quote to start the week. I am cheating and posting this week's quote a day early, because I have set tomorrow aside for a visit by my friend and fellow author Claire Saxby, who'll be dropping in tomorrow to kick off her blog tour. Today's quote is near and dear to me. I'll explain why after I've shared it: No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. (Robert Frost)

Dear Santa It’s Christmas Eve and this children’s author is reflecting on the year that was, and, of course, thinking about what she’d like to find in her writerly stocking tomorrow morning. I have had the best year of my writing life and for that I am really grateful. The release of Pearl Verses the World in May was the beginning of a wonderful merry go round of nice reviews, excellent

Okay, it's not really a medal, but it is shiny and silver and it IS mine! I am still glowing with yesterday's announcement of Pearl Verses the World as Best Children's Book in the Indie Book Awards for 2009. I'm also delighted with the wonderful responses I've had from friends, family, industry colleagues and even people I don't know to the news of this award. I can truly feel the love.Reading

Great news. My book baby, Pearl Verses the World has won The Indie Children’s Book Award, 2009 and is now on the shortlist (of four) for the Indie Book of the Year 2009.What an honour – and what excitement. I have been happy dancing and singing and laughing and, yes, even crying, with joy.To learn more about the award you can visit the new Indies Website. And, in the meantime, feel free to dance

Day 29 of my month of celebrations for the release of Pearl Verses the World. Today I am delighted to welcome my friend and fellow poet, children’s author and blogger Claire Saxby to my blog. As part of my month long celebration of all things poetry, Claire has agreed to guest blog with a wonderful poetry exercise – and a beautiful poem.birthing a poemPoems can be like snapshots capturing a

Amidst the whirl of celebrations for the release of Pearl Verses the World, and some wonderful feedback in the form of reviews and emails and nice comments from lots of sources, I have to confess that the book got a bad review.I’m not naming the publication or reviewer (though will say the review is not, to my knowledge, online), because obviously I don’t want to send you off to read something

Week Three of the Verse Off – and a special welcome to any who may be joining us for the first time! (Feel free to scroll below to past posts and see what we’ve been up to.)If you’ve played before, you know the routine.. If this is your first time, here’s the drill…May is a dual celebration with the release of Kathryn Apel’s This is the Mud!, a humorous rhyming picture book, and Sally Murphy’s

Phew. What a wonderful start to the month! As we're now half way through I thought I'd pause and look at what has happened so far. If you've just joined me, then welcome! May is a really special month for me, because my verse novel, Pearl Verses the World, was released on May 1, and I am celebrating this with a month long cyber-party. So, if you've missed anything, you can catch up now. First

I am delighted today to have another guest blogger dropping by to help celebrate all things poetry in honour of the release of Pearl Verses the World.Lorraine Marwood is a fellow Australian children’s author and poet – and also an excellent verse novelist. Enjoy her post – an exercise in poetry writing. Welcome Lorraine.Patterning a poemThis is often a great technique to both read poems from

Phew! Welcome the tenth (and final day) of my blog tour to promote Pearl Verses the World.Today I am guest blogging at Robyn Opie's blog about getting published. I hope to see you there.Thanks so much for following my tour. Although today is the last day, the fun continues throughout May with all sorts of activities to promote Pearl Verses the World, so do keep calling by.

Good morning.Thanks for dropping in to see what is happening on Day 6 of my blog tour to celebrate the release of Pearl Verses the World. Today I am due to appear at Just Listen Book Reviews where the delightful Allie will be reviewing Pearl. I am also delighted to discover that, separate from the blog tour, Pearl has received two other wonderful reviews online. Susan Whelan has posted a