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A couple of months ago I revisited an iconic song by Eric Bogle, finding new breath in Bruce Whatley’s picture book, And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda. Bogle found the words and Whatley the images that profoundly capture all the raw emotion, loss and resilience that epitomises the Great War of 100 years ago. This […]

‘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.

Who better to introduce modern tweens to the minefields that are love and romance than Jane Austen’s little sister, Jenna Austen?

From an award-winning Australian children’s author writing under the pseudonym ‘Jenna Austen’ comes the perfect series for girls aged 9+ who have moved on from Harry Potter but aren’t quite ready for Twilight yet.

Parents will love the fact this series introduces their daughters to the works of Jane Austen; tween girls will love the diary format, great characters and sweet romance.

Protagonist Ruby is worried that her friends keep making the same mistakes when it comes to romance. Then she develops a theory: most girls go for either a ‘Jane Austen’ guy (funny, sweet, caring) or a ‘Jane Eyre’ guy (dark, brooding, serious) – when really they should be dating the exact opposite!

But when Ruby puts her theory practice, the results don’t exactly go to plan … And if she’s so smart about love, how come she can’t figure out who’s been sending her all the flirty emails and flowers?

About the author

‘Jenna Austen’ (aka award-winning author Sophie Masson) loves reading and writing. Especially the kinds of stories that end with happily-ever-afters. And she adores a good romance – she’s read EVERY Jane Austen novel ever written. She thinks Ms Austen is One of Greatest Writers To Have Ever Lived and used to wish that she was related to her. (She’s not – she checked!) But she doesn’t mind at all if people want to call her ‘Jane Austen’s Little Sister’…

Brian lives in Queensland these days, even though he still calls himself a New Zealander. He was down in Sydney on a publicity tour for his Sci-Fi books.

His Recon Team Angel series is capturing a dedicated audience of fans.  However I love Brainjack. It’s taken off in Texas would you believe.

It was good chatting to him at The Hughenden in Sydney, over coffee. The last time we caught up it was for a SCBWI catch up there.

Also caught up with Linsay Knight who has just edited a fabulous series of Stories for5, 6, 7 and 8 year olds – 4 books with stories written by some of Australia’s best authors – funny, sad, clever, smart and more – by Andy Griffiths, Paul Jennings, Jaccqueline Harvey, Ursual Dubosarsky, Sophie Masson, John Larkin, Bill Condon, Belinda Murrell – a feast of our best authors. Published by Random House – it’s great from Christmas.

The Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival at the NSW Writers Centre is different to other festivals in that the writing community, sharing, friendship, support of the creativity of authors and creators is at the heart of the festival.

The NSW Writers Centre located in the heritage Gary Owen House in the Parklands of Callan Park grounds give a feel of a fair as writers gather, share conversation and food, applaud the launch of a book, craft and the life of publishing children’s and young adult literature.

As the Chair of the Board of the NSW Writers Centre I opened the festival and was embraced by the warmth of the audience, personal interaction, welcome of novice to well published authors, publishers who generously donated their time, screen writers, playwrights, digital writers ….

There was a wealth of talent and commitment to youth creativity in a home of writers.

Loved it – thankyou to all the participants and especially to:-

Authors:-

Lisa Forrest, Sue Whiting, Dianne Bates, Kate Forsyth, Belinda Murrell, Moya Simons, Jacqueline Harvey, Sophie Masson, Aleesah Darlinson, Jeni Mawter, Michael Parker, Karen Robertson, Duncan Ball William Kostakis

Publishers/Agents/Reviewers:-

Lisa Berryman HarperCollins, Zoe Walton Random House, Brian Cook Literary Agent; Angie Schiavonne Symdey Morning herald Literary reviewer; Palmer-Higgs Publishing; Joel Blacklock Boomerang Books.

Screen writers:-

Gina Roncoli, Simon Hopkinson, Kym Goldsworthy, Samantha Strauss

Theatre:-

Monkey Baa Theatre for Young People and Director Eva Di Cesare.

This Festival supports PEN and PEN’s Empty Chair. This chair was empty, recognising a writer who is persecuted for their work.

At the Festival, the empty chair was for LIU XIA and SUPPORTERS oF Nobel Prize winner LIU XIAOBO 2010.  Since the Nobel Committee announced its decision in October 2010, Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, a photographer and poet, has been held under de facto house arrest by Chinese authorities.

Lisa Forrest the multi talented inspirational children’s author, media personality, actor, Olympian and Commonwealth gold medallist and a Mum, was a fantastic keynote to a full house.

Some highlights:-

Monkey Baa Theatre’s Eva diCesare, author Duncan Ball and HarperCollins publisher Lisa Berryman were in conversation about the new play Emily Eyefinger to be performed at Seymour Centre Sydney

Jeni Mawter’s launch of The Snugglebump Jump with heaps of cup cakes and a hilarious demonstration of Michael Parker author giving birth to a baby boy – well, baby doll.

Bestselling authors – Aleesah Darlinson, Belinda Murrell, Kate Forsyth, Moya Simons, Jacqueline Harvey, Sophie Masson, William Kostakis, Karen Robertson and more.

Kids’ TV with fabulous script writers; social media and insights into independent publishing as well as mainstream.

If I wrote these things more often I wouldn't have to cram multiples into one post, but my blogging is falling so far behind my reading I need to diminish the stack a bit. And I realize I've had a number of great YA reading experiences lately -- it's a category I don't read super-often, but that I tend to enjoy (if perhaps with an occasional smirk of superiority/relief that I am no longer a teen.)

Folly
by Marthe Jocelyn
(Wendy Lamb Books, May 2010)

This book and the following one I read "on assignment" -- I was asked to take part in a YA brainstorming conference call by our inimitable Random House children's book rep Lillian Penchansky, and these two books were our homework for the call. It was kind of a delight to plunge into something that I could read in a day, and the two works, while both historical fiction, were very different. Marthe Jocelyn's Folly was the better of the two -- the story of a 19th century British servant girl who gets knocked up by a dashing soldier (when that was both common and enough to ruin your life), it's told in first person by various characters whose dialects are both defamiliarizing and believable. The backstory of the book is fascinating too: Jocelyn found out that one of her ancestors grew up in a "foundling hospital" like the one in the story, and imagined his life and his mother's from there. Reading this led to a bunch of conversations about how of course, in whatever era you're born, you're a teenager and you're filled with desire, but in this era there's no sex ed and no birth control and no safety net -- in the case of a servant far from home, not even family or friends to take you in. I loved Mary Finn, smart and kind and resourceful but still screwed over; and I loved James, the boy in the foundling hospital whose story intertwines with hers -- his internal monologue contained some meditations on the lived experience of history that I wish I could quote (I gave my galley to a certain bookseller who is said to resemble the girl on the cover -- have to remember to ask her whether she liked it too.) And even the "cad" soldier, Caden, is sympathetic -- he's just a teen as well, and totally clueless about what to do. Though it's got no creatures of the night (as way too many YA novels seems to these days), this book is dark in the way real human life is dark -- recommended for the brave reader of any age, Folly is moving and eye-opening.

The Madman of Venice
by Sophie Masson
(Delacorte Books for Young Readers, August 2010)

This book, while a charming adventure story with some resonant historical detail, reinforces my theory that YA is just where romance novels have migrated. Reading it had the slightly guilty pleasures of a historical romance: the dialogue is dramatic but not especially believable, the heroine is plucky, the hero is brave but tongue-tied about his passion for her, and it takes some life-threatening adventures to bring them together. Nevertheless, the context gives it some added weight: the British boy, girl, and chaperone are on a mission in Venice to thwart some pirates and find a missing girl, who

Today multi-published, multi-talented children's author Sophie Masson drops in to share her seven asnwers to my seven questions. Welcome Sophie. 1. Tell us a little about your publication credits. I've had nearly 50 books published--all novels, except for a book of essays and short stories(and another one of my essay collections will be out next year.) Most of my novels are for children and