Look what came in the post today!

Yay! Look what I got today.
An advance copy of my latest picture book, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Gorgeous illustrations by the talented Sarah Davis and a CD with the story narrated by Antonia Kidman.

Happy day.

Freaky Interview

Interested in a Freaky interview? I have been interviewed by Sally Murphy - author and reviewer - about the writing of Freaky and also about writing for series in general. Thanks, Sally!

Catch the interview at: http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/ and also http://aussiereviews.blogspot.com/

It's a gloriously wet Sunday afternoon here, perfect for curling up in bed with my laptop and working on WIP. So back to it.

Ciao
PS: Watch out for Sally's new book out next month - Pearl Verses the World. It is gorgeous.

It's all in the telling

Many years ago, when I first started out trying to write stories for publication, I wrote a story called The Baker and the Bunyip. It was, at the time, the "best" story I had written. I loved it and was very keen to see it get published.

In my enthusiasm to find a publisher, I rang the editor at an established trade publishing house and very cheekily asked: "Do you have an aversion to stories with talking bunyips?"

The editor laughed (thankfully!) and said, "Well, actually, yes. Talking bunyips aren't really my thing. But send it in anyway as, after all, it is all in the telling."

Well, obviously, my "telling" at the time wasn't quite up to scratch as the manuscript was quickly rejected and returned. But that bit of advice - it's all in the telling - stuck. It is the one truth that informs all my writing to this day.

No matter how wonderful your story idea, how exciting your plot, how quirky your characters - it all comes down to the telling. To voice and style. To the way your words flow into sentences and weave their magic on your readers. It is all in the telling.

Now ten years on, the editor I spoke to is a very well-respected publisher.

The Baker and the Bunyip was reworked and became The Baker and the Bush Beastie. I sold it to Macmillan Education in 2005. (Seems it's okay for bush beasties rather than bunyips to talk!)

And I am now an editor who very frequently utters the words: "Well, it's all in the telling, really ..."

Happy writing.

Playing With Spiders

Any Aussie will tell you that you shouldn't play with spiders. But here's a link to a spider that begs to be played with.



http://www.onemotion.com/flash/spider/



Drag the spider around with your mouse. Feed it some insects and be ready to shudder. Not recommended for anyone suffering with arachnophobia!

Yours in skin-crawling freaky fun. (Thanks for the link, Paul.)

No Stopping Now

I work as an editor four days per week and have Fridays "off" as my PWD (Precious Writing Day).

My current WIP (work in progress) is a teen novel that I think will end up being about 50 000 words long. At best, on my PWD I seem to be able to do about 1000 words, which means that it is going to take at least one full year, minimum - especially when you factor in school visits, life interventions etc - to get down my first draft. Ouch!

Will I make it?

Answer: yes!

Why?

Because I can happily announce that I have already managed to get over 15 000 words down and that means I will keep going until I finish, no matter how long it takes.

I have many 5000 word "starts" on my hard drive - but once I have got over the 10 000 hurdle, history tells me I'm in for the long haul.

And that makes me very happy.
And satisfied!

CBCA at the Southside Festival

Yesterday I joined a group of authors and committee members from the Illawarra CBCA to do some readings at a lakeside community festival. Stalls, buskers and artists were sparsely scattered along the foreshore walkway for about three kilometres. (So I was told, as I didn't walk all the way to the end!)

To be honest, despite valiant efforts from Di Bates in lassoing and herding in passersby, we were only able to secure two very small groups to read to - which we did with much enthusiasm, might I add.

So what did I gain from the experience?

In terms of publicity and books sold - very little!


But heck, it was fun. It was a gorgeous day. We were sprawled on picnic blankets overlooking the sparkling lake and distant escarpment. I got to catch up with fellow local authors, Di Bates, Bill Condon and Richard Harland and hardworking CBCA committee members and talented writers, Anke Sieb, Vicki Stanton, Sandy Wooton and Maree Smith (and Maree's gorgeous daughters). I listened to three fantastic young girls from Di's Book Buddies Reading Club enthusiastically and confidently recite poetry. And I met a wonderful family who stayed and listened intently to a number of readers and whose daughter, Elizabeth (10), was a delight: an avid reader and aspiring writer. (Her brothers were very patient and pretty cool too!)

All in all, a lovely day, me thinks.

Pics thanks to Vicki Stanton: Above left Richard Harland and moi / Above right Di Bates and moi. Yes, I'm the silly one in the yellow raincoat pretending to be a firefighter. (Again!)

First Freaky Reviews

I received a lovely surprise last Friday. On my doorstep was a plastic sleeve with a letter and "reviews" of Freaky from the Year 6 at my local primary school. The teacher, who has been a wonderful supporter of my books, read Freaky to her class in a couple of days. She wrote that: "the children forced me to read the last five chapters before Dictation this morning! I agreed though 'cause I couldn't put it down!"

There is no better validation than responses like these - it truly is what keeps you writing and believing in yourself, especially in those dark - and often too frequent - times when you start doubting yourself and wondering what the heck you are doing! So thanks, Year 6 and Mrs B! You have helped charge my enthusiasm and resolve and helped me add 2,000+ words to me latest novel this week. Yay!

Here is a sample of some of the kids' comments: (Sorry I couldn't post them all Year 6! They were all so great.)

"... Best book ever!" Mitchell
"... The story was great and chilling to the bone. It seemed so real. Please write more." Aidan
"... I loved this story. It is really FREAKY!" Emily
"I loved this novel because of how Jayden isn't used to the country ... It was an excellent book." Ella
"The novel Freaky was fantastic. It had everything a kid wants in a book: thorns, skateboards, computer games, spiders, fire and lots more! I recommend this book to anyone from the ages of 8 - 15." Thilo
"I loved Freaky because it's so funny and exciting ..." Sophie
"I hate spiders and it gave me the chills when the spiders came out ... I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to reading more of Sue Whiting's books!" Nadine.
"My favourite part was when Jayden fell off his board and landed on a cactus. It made me have goose bumps ... I'd recommend it to anyone." Zoe