Last night I navigated my way through the maze of Sydney University campus to attend the Maurice Saxby Lecture. This year’s lecture was delivered by the very accomplished Libby Gleeson. After a moment to reflect on the life, work and achievement of the wonderful Maurice Saxby, Libby went on to discuss the topic of STORY.Continue reading “Maurice Saxby Lecture”
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An Announcement Here Soon!!
Apologies for my silence. I am swan-like at the moment, with everything happening like crazy under the surface. I look forward to sharing my news with you soon! But whilst I’m here, I’ll do a couple of quick recommendations. Girl Online by Zoe Sugg. Whilst I haven’t quite finished this fabulous Young Adult novel IContinue reading “An Announcement Here Soon!!”
How Audio Books have improved my self-editing
I find School holidays leave very little time for writing. However as we approached this six week long break I committed myself to as much reading as possible. And I discovered the wonder of audio books. What is so brilliant about audio books is that you can watch the kids on the beach whilst listeningContinue reading “How Audio Books have improved my self-editing”
How I Got My Agent
Firstly woohoo!! I have an agent! Now that’s out of the way, here is the story behind my signing with Alex Adsett of Alex Adsett Publishing Services. It all started three years ago, when I decided that I was going to be a writer. I threw myself into this decision whole heartedly, signing up forContinue reading “How I Got My Agent”
The beginning of the Christmas festivities already!?
We had a wonderful evening at the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Northern Sub Branch Christmas Dinner last night. It was great to listen to the incredibly talented Peter Carnarvas as he told us about his writing journey. He also played a couple of little songs on his ukulele and drew a quick picture ofContinue reading “The beginning of the Christmas festivities already!?”
Bringing Characters to Life
On Saturday I attended the 8th annual Shire Writers’ Festival. It was a great event with some truly inspiring speakers. PM Newton spoke on ‘Writing is Re-writing’. The two take aways for me from this session were: Make sure any extra characters in the book have a ‘real’ place and know them well. They shouldn’tContinue reading “Bringing Characters to Life”
Sculpture by the Sea
A little off topic, but I wondered into the world of art, and more specifically sculptures last night when I attended the preview of the Sculptue by the Sea exhibition in Bondi. We were blessed with a beautiful evening and the company of some incredibly talented sculptors. Stephen King, winner of last years Sculpture PrizeContinue reading “Sculpture by the Sea”
Becoming Australian
Last Wednesday, after 12 wonderful years in this spectacularly beautiful country, I finally became an Australian Citizen. It was an emotional evening for me and my family, I have an Australian husband, two Australian kids and two Australian step kids, and it seemedContinue reading “Becoming Australian”
In Conversation, The Australian Children’s Laureates
Last night I had the pleasure in joining Australian Children’s Laureates Jackie French (current) and Alison Lester (2012-2013) in the beautiful Harper Collins offices in Sydney, as they discussed what it means to be the Australian Children’s Laureate. To Alison, The Laureate is about reaching out to communities that have been left behind. She believesContinue reading “In Conversation, The Australian Children’s Laureates”
Pitch Perfect
It’s been a busy couple of weeks – months actually. Last weekend I attended a course on pitch writing with Claire Craig from Pan McMillan. The take away message: The simpler the better. Using the best words in the best order. Deconstruct, delayer and get to the core of the story, then write a pitchContinue reading “Pitch Perfect”
shelly unwin 