Photo by: Paul Cristina
For years your head’s been buzzing with ideas, and your biggest challenge was to find enough hours in the day to explore your characters and their situation and write your novel(s). But what happens when you finish a novel – and there’s nothing new to take its place? No ideas, nothing!It’s a frightening feeling. The…
First up, I was delighted yesterday to receive an award for A Ring Through Time, which has just won the Society of Women Writers Biennial Book Award in the Junior/YA Fiction category. A great celebration for a book that’s close to my heart. It’s set on idyllic Norfolk Island with a flashback to the island’s brutal colonial…
I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be doing some more creative writing workshops at the Q-Station in the Sept. school holidays. We’ll explore the mysterious and haunted Q-Station on North Head hearing stories of ghosts and its grisly past, which will help to inspire a series of fun writing exercises designed to hone your skills…
I was asked this question by a student at a school visit this week, and my answer was to warn her about the dangers of plagiarism. But I realise now that there’s a whole lot more I could have said on this topic, and I hope this blog will be of benefit to students…
Book Week is always a great time to celebrate bringing books and readers and authors together, and I’d like to say a few special thank yous: to Beauty Point Primary – it was a special treat to have my grandson Will in the audience! And thanks for the great raspberry brownies and beautiful flowers, Carole! …
Congratulations to Kirsty O’Rourke of St John the Baptist (Freshwater in Sydney) who hosted a fabulous afternoon tea to bring authors and students together at her school on Tuesday. Groups of students, excited to meet some of their favourite authors, were moved from classroom to classroom at 10-minute intervals to share time with three out of the…
I spent a most enjoyable morning at Ravenswood this week, talking about researching and writing historical fiction. Using extracts from The Janna Mysteries and A Ring Through Time, I showed the girls examples of how to weave fictional characters into real historical events, how to disseminate information in an interesting way, how to create characters…
I’ve been asked for more information regarding the Plantagenet Society in Sydney as we’re meeting this coming Saturday, 20th July to listen to an illustrated talk about the depiction of Richard III on screen – although I believe the presentation might also extend to several other kings/queens in the Plantagenet line. We meet every two…
A super weekend at Darling Harbour listening to a range of speakers talking about ‘the king in the car park’ who of course has risen to prominence for that very reason after 500 years. Did he or didn’t he? We’ll never know for sure, but on available evidence and based on logic it seems highly…
So exciting: there’s a five star review in the Manly Daily today for my book on the little penguins of Manly: ‘They are unique, beautiful and vulnerable. This book is a must have for all locals to bring awareness of their plight and help us learn about these precious little birds who deserve our care…