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”
Tag Archives: children’s books
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”
Year of the Horse
I have finally waved my little Princess off for her first week at big school, an emotional week for me. I’m trying to think of it as a start to a new era rather then the end of one, but we’ve had so much fun hanging out together for the last 4 and 3/4 years,Continue reading “Year of the Horse”
Showing my age at the ARIA awards night
My husband Sean and I were lucky enough to get invited to this years ARIA awards night in Sydney. For those of you overseas the ARIA’s is the night of nights in the Australian Music Calendar, and always has a long list of celebrities strutting their stuff on the red carpet. I must confess, I’mContinue reading “Showing my age at the ARIA awards night”
Writers Unleashed
On Saturday I attended the Writers Unleashed Festival in Sutherland Shire. It was a fantastic festival, providing the opportunity to hear from some very talented writers, including the hilarious James Roy, Suzanne Gervay, Emma Quay and Libby Gleeson. We also heard from a panel of publishers on what’s hot and what’s not right now inContinue reading “Writers Unleashed”
Reading Kids Books In Public
As I sat in the Dr’s waiting room yesterday with my step son, it occurred to me how strange I might look. Whenever I know I am going to be sat somewhere for a while I pounce on the opportunity to do some reading. On this occasion I had picked up Junie B. Jones and someContinue reading “Reading Kids Books In Public”
I’m procrastinating!
I’m procrastinating! I need to think of a scary creature that lives next door to my main character in my Marty Scott chapter book series and I can’t. I can’t move the story forward until I’ve worked out what it is. It needs to make a scary noise and look pretty terrifying, but turn outContinue reading “I’m procrastinating!”
shelly unwin 