What do the following books have in common? ‘Frankenstein: Or The Modern Prometheus’ by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley ‘Deception Point’ by Dan Brown ‘Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow’ by Peter Høeg ‘Burial Rites’ by Hannah Kent ‘Into the Wild’ by Jon Krakauer ‘Towards White’ by me! The answer is: they’re the…
I’m absolutely delighted to announce my YA novel ‘When Dark Roots Hunt’ has been signed by publishing rockstars MidnightSun Publishing. Here’s a rough idea of what you can expect… “Giant water-ants hunt anything that moves on the lake. Immense wyann trees search the shallows to spear passing prey with their…
What does it take for a short story to win a writing competition? A lot. Not only does a story have to be incredibly well written, but the judge has to connect with it, and it has to be so memorable that they feel unable to turn away and award…
This year, the CBCA’s Book Week theme was ‘Dreaming With Eyes Open’, celebrated with the rich illustrations of Jasmine Seymour. When asked about her engagement with the theme, Jasmine said it was based on how dreaming can be “now, then, and always”. This resonated with me, so when a local…
It’s been a busy few weeks preparing for the 2022 Creative Open, for the fabulous Local Author Table and Publishing/Writing Q&A Booth I organised to support local writers and writing on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I even did a little video to get readers and writers interested – what do you think?…
Did you know that in the 18th century, stories could only be printed and published in England if they were true? Powerful religious influences at the time otherwise deemed stories as ‘lies’ and thus ‘evil’. You can see the effect of this in the book titles published at the time,…
Of all the questions I ask my creative writing clients and students when mentoring and editing, this is the question I ask them the most. It generally has two manifestations, which I thought I’d share as insight into the storytelling process. 1. Studying Other Writers When reading and studying other…
