​It's no secret that writing In the Shadow of an Elephant was an emotionally charged experience for me. Allowing raw emotion to flow onto the page is as cathartic as it is confronting. Not only was I working through the grief of losing my mother, but...

In my last blog post, I shared the story behind my latest picture book, In the Shadow of an Elephant. Now I would like to share with you Sandra's creative process as the illustrator of our book.   I also recommend visiting Sandra's website ...

In the Shadow of an Elephant is my grief story.  At the 2016 SCBWI conference I was approached by a publisher wishing to express her condolences on the recent passing of my mother. We chatted for a bit and she asked me if I had written anyt...

After reading Kate DiCamillo's latest book, Louisiana's Way Home I reminisced about the beautiful autumn morning in June 2017 I spent chatting over coffee with the two-time Newberry Medallist. The sun was beaming through the taxi window as I made my ...

Just like a surprise left under the Christmas tree, a copy of Kate DiCamillo's latest offering, Louisiana's Way Home arrived on my doorstep.  Louisiana Elefante captured hearts in Kate's 2016 story, Raymie Nightingale. Her latest creation tantal...

​Bigger Than Yesterday, Smaller Than Tomorrow by Robert Vescio and Kathy Creamer This family fun story begins with Hannah and her Dad busily making plans for a father-daughter adventure while Mum stays home to care for baby Connor. 'I'm BIGGER t...

At the risk of sounding cliché, this past week I have experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. I don't usually blog in a diary format, but there's a couple of things that happened in my world this week I wanted to share with you, and I figured, it's ...

In Sue Whiting's new picture book, Beware the Deep Dark Forest published by Walker Books we are introduced to spunky young Rosie. Rosie like her dog, Tinky are two very independent and determined personalities. The story begins. ​'You must beware the...

​It's on again! I know I said there would be only one but seriously look at the amazing line-up for next year's festival. How could I not? Our next theme is INVEST. When you INVEST, you put time/money/effort (usually a combination of these) into some...

There's no doubt, The Forever Kid tugs at the heartstrings and it tugs hard. I was moved by Elizabeth Mary Cummings' latest picture book, The Forever Kids published by Big Sky Publishing. 'Johnny is not in that photo, but we know he is with us. Johnn...

'In a pearl-like egg, hidden in the rainforest, Little Spiral grows.'It was this magical beginning from Pat Simmons delicious new book, Little Spiral that dragged me from my book review hiatus.Nature can be one of the harshest environments to navigat...

In summary, a whirlwind week of smiles, smells, hair raising excitement and sheer panic. Authors spend countless hours preparing for Book Week. Making sure presentations are polished, giveaways are packed, costumes are pristine, and of course our car...

I've been an avid reader of picture books for as long as I can remember, devouring their rich text and mouth-watering illustrations. I had assumed my knowledge of them to be extensive and together we had developed a healthy relationship. It wasn't un...

I recently found myself deep in thought, with three kids and a busy life, time to reflect doesn't happen too often. While washing the dishes I'd drifted back in time to my youth, as I said time to reflect doesn't happen often and washing the dishes i...

I've heard this talked about a lot lately and never really paid it much thought, as it goes hand in hand when I am writing. It wasn't until I attended a recent course at my local writers' centre and the presenter talked about the importance of playin...

Here is part 3 of my Author Etiquette article. Competitions Always read the guidelines. Never tell the organisers of that competition they are wrong unless you legitimately find an error within their guidelines. Never request to make a change to...

Here is part 2 of my Author Etiquette article. Reviewing Reviewing books is a great way to enhance your skills as an author and build your name within the community. It also helps bring your name to the attention of publishers.Some key points to reme...

Dear Ms Lawyer, I have a pending legal matter that needs urgent attention.I know you are no doubt busy with other cases but I believe reading through my 20,000 word complaint, providing detailed feedback as to what action I need to take should take y...

I was recently asked by a writer friend how do I handle rejection? After so many of them I guess you could call me a rejection pro. I realised long ago being accepted by a publisher straight away wasn't going to happen. I had to earn my stripes. What...

We always endeavour to answer as many questions as we can and to provide you with the necessary tools and services to assist you on your journey to publication. After all, publication is what it is all about right? You work hard writing, editing, re-...

During your writing career you will have many questions, be confronted with many obstacles and let's face it sometimes you will be pulling your hair out and wondering why you wanted to be a writer in the first place. It happens to all of us, even tho...

I am proud to say I am an alumni of the Faber Writing Academy. Although the children's writing community is wonderfully supportive, it can be soul-crushingly isolating. When you hit one of your writing goals, your writing family is there to celebrate...

In my last blog post, I talked about my experiences with K-2 school visits. In this post, I share what I have learned from visiting grades 3 - 6. I guess it's more the older kids that scare me the most, although that fear is slowly being replaced wit...

Beaming little faces, big hugs, lots of laughter, high fives and the occasional tears. That sums up my experience with school visits. No joke, there have been tears shed and not by me. I've tipped toed around school visits over the years doing a few ...

I have written and re-written this post dozens of times. After all, the first one should be magnificent; it should be memorable, it should inspire. Shouldn't it? Confidence is something I have always wrestled with, and despite my success with Creativ...