THE BLOG


Hello world! It has been a VERY long time since I last blogged. But today, for whatever reason, I felt compelled to share a few thoughts on the writing of my latest picture book, The Echidna Near my Place, illustrated by the amazing Cate James. Story ideas can[…]

Hello world! As both a writer and a teacher my go-to for inspiration and information has always been my favourite books. The writer in me habitually “reads like a writer” – examining and analysing authors’ decisions and choices, identifying the structural bones, the narrative drive, the character arcs,[…]

Hello world! I have just finished writing what could quite possibly be the worst first draft in the history of first drafts. I kid you not. And I feel the need to share. (Rant, more like. So be warned!) This manuscript has been a particularly difficult one for[…]

Hello world! About this time last year, I declared 2019 as THE YEAR OF PUTTING WRITING FIRST. You can read about it here, but basically I made the decision to scale back on my editing and mentoring business, say “no, sorry” to new clients, and put writing (and[…]

Hello world! Last year, I started an impassioned one-woman initiative to encourage the practice of daily writing in classrooms across Australia. I called my little initiative WRITE AWAY and you can read about it here. I was privileged to have many opportunities to speak about WRITE AWAY and[…]

Hello world! It is no secret that I believe the most important writing I do each day are the three pages I scribble in my notebook every morning. I call this process my DAILY PAPERS and have blogged about it here. This practice of allowing my mind the[…]

Hello world! As most of you would know, I left my job at Walker Books Australia about two and a half years ago. (I know! It has been that long.) My reasons for leaving a job that I really liked were many and complex, but they boiled down[…]

Hello world! When I was a primary school teacher I did a Graduate Diploma in Reading/Language Education to add a fourth year to my qualifications. By this time, my passion for children’s literature and literacy education had taken a firm hold, and it was no surprise that my[…]

Hello world! I have had a bit of a hiatus from blogging over the past several months. Mainly because I have been ridiculously busy, but also because I felt that I didn’t have anything new to say – and I always vowed to blog from the heart and[…]

Hello world! Wow. What a wonderfully exciting month March was. Missing finally made it out into the wild and I have been spinning like a whirligig ever since. The month kicked off with a fun launch and much love and support from colleagues, friends and relatives. Then I[…]