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The Flyaway Girls: what Wendy thinks
From Good Reading magazine, February 2016 Four stars ‘… In Chelsea we see a character who is determined and goal-oriented to the point of obsession. It’s the sort of drive that an elite athlete needs, but sometimes, no matter how hard the person words, the goal isn’t...
Perth Writers Festival is nigh
It’s that time again. This year, as well as MCing Schools Day, AJ Betts and I are chairing the Inspired Learning Program for teachers. (Side note: AJ has been driving me insane with jealousy by posting frequent pictures of her cycling expedition to New Zealand, but I...
Sweet 2016
Happy 2016 to you! 1. Above is my reading pile/s for Perth Writers Festival Schools and Teachers Days. Luckily I’ve already read a couple in that list, and it is proving a pleasure to make my way through the rest. 2. If you’re free on Saturday 16 January, come to the...
The Flyaway Girls: what Katy thinks
Waiting for first reviews to come in can be nerve-wracking, so getting one like this makes one’s writerly heart sing. I’m not sure about the recommended reading age – I would have thought The Flyaway Girls is definitely at the young (and younger) end of that spectrum....
The Flyaway Girls: what Kate thinks
I got my first two advance copies of The Flyaway Girls in the post the other day. This is my twelfth book, and the sight of the final product after years of writing, researching, editing, more editing, and even more editing never fails to delight me. This novel almost...
Meanwhile in Germany
… this will be published early next year by Random House. I’m sure you can guess which novel it is, even without a skerrick of German. If you have do happen to have a skerrick of German, however, the details are here.
The Flyaway Girls – book and blurb
Nearly five years after its beginning, the idea I wrote about here has turned into an actual book. With an actual blurb. And it has a title. The novel started with me musing: what do you do if you’re good at what you love, but not the best? Do you give up? Do you keep...
Kindling Words
Folk don’t often become writers, illustrators or editors without possessing a reasonable degree of introversion: it is necessary to get the work done. However, creators are in need of communion with their people. Often this happens informally: we meet up at festivals,...
Farewell to fourteen
1. It’s hard to think of a word to adequately describe this year: let’s settle for hectic. But I have managed, in spite of everything, to write in the margins (ha! see what I did there?). First, the indomitable Patricia McMahon and I have finished a draft and (almost)...
Persistence pays off
1. Way, way, way back a long, long, long time ago, I wrote about starting a new junior novel. I didn’t think I would ever finish it, despite spending a wonderful few weeks watching the talented gymnasts at Southside Districts Gymnastics Academy in January 2011,...