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Things in spring
1. I have started a new kids’ novel. I felt despairing after my no-more-YA pronouncement; then I had more ideas for YA novels; but I returned to despair knowing I don’t have the time to bring the ideas to life. So I took my notebook on the train, and en route to...
Things various
Some thoughts: 1. After my decision to quit YA, I thought I’d be relieved. Instead, I felt depressed (and also really touched by the sweet responses I had from folk – thank you). I’m not sure what kind of perversity it is, to want to do something you have no time...
The end of the line
This is the first couple of chapters of the V novel, put into Wordle (thanks to Meg McKinlay). Neat, huh? It seems to me as if I’ve been writing this novel forever, and one of the things to come out of my editorial meeting was the decision to push back (to coin a...
Melbourneness
I am back from Children’s Book Week in Melbourne, having seen parts of the city and suburbs never before encountered, and boggled again at the variety of the place, and marvelled again at the wonderfulness of the inner city – the laneways, ACMI, the restaurants, the...
Modern phobias
I’m going to Melbourne shortly, mainly to talk to mobs of kids for Children’s Book Week (on which note, I congratulate my fellow writers for their success in the awards, particularly the magic-dusted Sally Murphy). En route I will be wearing a face mask to stave off...
The point of writing
… is getting reviews like this: I love to play chess, so when I went to the library yesterday and saw this book I instantly wanted to read it. I was right about the book. It was so good that I was reading till 11:30. My mum told me to go to sleep an hour and a half...
To the Middle Kingdom
My Aussie Chomp Famous! is going to be published in China. For a book whose inspiration was my experience of the uber-Australian (or should that be uber-bogan) Hey Hey It’s Saturday, that’s not bad. Lots of my writing friends have been multiply published all over...
Bits of things
Having sent off major rewrite of the V Girls to my dear, patient publishers, my head is full of scattery thoughts and reflections, like: 1. Last weekend I went to the 80th birthday of a third cousin, Dawnie, a wonderful, lively woman who is an inspiration re how to...
Telly love
I don’t have a television. It’s my daughter’s fault. I’d warned her that if we had another argument about turning the telly off, I’d get rid of it. She argued; I called the neighbours. After they’d taken my temperature, they took away the television, as well as...
The art of illusion
Maybe everyone in the world has seen this, except me, but it’s great. Almost as good as this.