One thing I love about the creative industries is that several people can have a similar idea yet express it in totally different ways. This was brought home to me the other evening when attending a talk by CBCA judge, Cathie Tasker. Cathie pointed out that two of the books shortlisted for awards this year […]
In Part 1 of this interview with Deb Kelly, we found out how she got started on the road to writing books for children. This week we focus more on how the books came to be picked up for publication and the setbacks and encouragements along the way: Deb, can you tell us the path […]
Deborah Kelly’s publishing career is really taking off! Since the publication of her delightful picture book The Bouncing Ball (Random House) in 2013 Deborah has had 7 books published, across a variety of genres. Deborah’s second picture book, Jam for Nana (Random House, Illustrated by Lisa Stewart) was published in 2014, the same time as […]
The value of festivals cannot be underestimated when it comes to both networking and nourishing our writing craft and career. So here are my top take home messages from the NSW Writer’s Centre Kids and YA Festival in June: 1 The Process of writing – hints from picture book authors: Don’t delete your rubbish ideas. ‘You have to […]
Today we continue and conclude the interview with Katrina Roe, awesome author and radio presenter. To catch up, you can find part 2 here and part 1 here. Katrina, what have been the discouragements for you in the writing/publishing process? How did you deal with these? I’ve been fortunate that so far I’ve been totally happy […]
This week my local CBCA Sub-branch listened to an address by Book of the Year judge, Cathie Tasker about the awards and judging process. These are ten items of interest I thought I’d share from this talk: 1. It is important to note that the CBCA Book of the year awards are judged for literary […]
In Part 1 of my interview with Katrina Roe, we looked at her inspiration for writing and the things that encourage and help her hone her craft. In this installment, we continue that and look at ‘what next?’ once the book is published. Katrina, I’ve often bumped into you at festivals and conferences. The CBCA […]
One of the elements in my Writer’s Action Matrix earlier in the year was to attend a conference or festival. Well, it seems like festival season at the moment for Kid’s Lit. There’s heaps to choose from – check out the events section of this website! I was fortunate enough to secure tickets to the […]
Katrina Roe is a radio presenter and author of picture books Marty’s nut Free Party, Emily Eases her Wheezes and Same, with Wombat Books. I am fortunate to share a book-bond with Katrina, as the illustrator of her first two books is Leigh Hedstrom, who also illustrated my When I See Grandma. Katrina is a […]
I’ve just added this accumulated pile of books on my desk to my Goodreads profile. It got me thinking about the importance of reading for writers. One of the things I put on my Writers’ Action Matrix at the beginning of the year was “Read books in your genre – study their elements.” It’s something […]
