Yesterday I met B, a bright seven-year-old with French-plaited hair and flowers painted on her fingernails. She has been doing some writing with the help of a wonderful young woman called Imogen; I read her A Girl Who Fell Into A Book; Imogen read me the latest...
I spent quite a bit of time working in and for writing and arts organisations back in the day, and am a proud member of the Australian Society of Authors, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and others (and I will get my act together and join the...
Bad things have been happening to a lot of people I know lately. It’s hard to know what to do at such times, apart from send good thoughts to the afflicted people, and be grateful that at this moment, I have been spared the random awfulness of events. In the spirit...
I hate best-of book lists. I can never include all the things I want in them, and they give you the impression that number 1 is better than number 10, or that those not on the list aren’t loved as much as those on it. Reading is not a ranked activity: it’s too rich...
I am changing blog-sites, in the hope I will get a little more functionality from this one, and in response to Sarah Dessen’s concern that LiveJournal might fold. Who knows, I might even be able to post more frequently. Previous blogs can be...
I loved my primary school. It was the epitome of what public education could and should be. I was not an easy student: I cried every day before school until I was in year three, I was painfully shy, and, when I got over being painfully shy, I was as naughty as I could...
