Great Books: Holes

Posted on 30th November 2011 in great books for 8 to 12 year olds, great kids books, great YA books

Probably more suited to the upper end of the 8 to 12 year old age group, and for YA more generally.

Very popular and deservedly so. Sachar weaves many plot threads together with much skill. Jumping between time periods and tales, you have a sense that its all going to come together at the end, and it doesn’t disappoint.

His main character Stanley is very likeable and navigates his strange hole digging punishment with a real stoicism.

The small mysteries keep you turning the pages. It’s not edge of your seat stuff but I guarantee will keep you moving forward.

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And the Winner is…

Posted on 13th September 2011 in Jasmine Jones, my writing exploits, Uncategorized

Congratulations to Marian McGuinness for taking out the Chapter book prize at the 2012 CYA Conference. It’s a great achievement and i hope she is kicking back & celebrating somewhere :)

My manuscript came second, which im very happy about!  :D

BIG THANKS to Tina & Ally the conference organisers whose hard work provided us newbies with such a wonderful opportunity.

Im more fired up than ever to finish my 4th and potentially final draft so i can begin doing the rounds of agents & publishers. Im aiming for the end of November so ill keep you posted on my progress.

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. introducing Jasmine Jones…

Posted on 6th September 2011 in Jasmine Jones, my writing exploits

jasmine_coverIve been working on a kid’s fantasy novel, late at night, for almost a year now. It’s pitched at 8 to 12 year olds and stars an eccentric, gutsy twelve year old girl named Jasmine Jones.

I’m aiming to finish my final draft by the end of this year, then I’ll be doing the rounds, pitching it to publishers. It’s a long process and a tough industry to break through, so don’t expect to read it anytime to soon — but don’t worry, i’m pretty determined.

The cover art to the left was something i borrowed from the web (couldn’t find the original artist), but it really is just something to make it seem more real to me during the long wait.

Fortunately Ive had something better turn up. I recently submitted my first 5 pages and a synopsis to a major competition run by the Australian Children & Young Adult Writer & Illustrator Conference. And I’ve been shortlisted!!  :D

I’m in the top 3 for my category and the winner will be announced at the conference in a few days time. Even if i place 3rd it’s a wonderful acknowledgement and provides invaluable practical help — the conference organisers send on my submission to key publishers.

It’s what prompted me to start this blog now and has been a great confidence booster. Big thanks to the conference organisers for helping newbies like me to take a step through the slush piles!

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. hiya & welcome

Posted on 26th August 2011 in Uncategorized

Maybe you’ve come via my parenting blog or just happened upon it some other how, but now you’re here let me say thanks for popping by.

This will be an occasionally updated  blog focusing on kid’s books and my writing exploits.

Now you’ve obviously noticed the banner above — ie. the purple rubber duck floating through space. You’ve no doubt realised that this image is highly symbolic. The rubber duck of course is consumer society’s commodification of nature. The duck itself is one of evolution’s ultimate achievements in a creature that can traverse air, land and water. And when juxtaposed with the orange nebula backdrop reveals a paradigm of… ummm…

Well, actually… I like ducks. I like purple. And space is pretty cool by any standards. So the banner seemed like a good idea at the time.

So hello, thanks for coming and feel free to subscribe (see box right) to very rare email updates i might send out…

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