I’ve visited quite a few schools this year, and I meet a lot of kids who are keen story writers. They have great ideas, but they don’t know what steps they can take to put them on the path to becoming writers. Budding sports people, musicians and artists often get support from their schools. Sports … Continued
August and September are usually the busiest time for children’s authors as far as school visits and other appearances are concerned. Here’s where I’ll be in the next couple of months, in case any of you want to come and say hi. National Bookshop Day I’ll be helping one of my local bookshops celebrate. Fairfield … Continued
Ancient Tales Dragon stories have been told for centuries, millennia perhaps. But one of the most popular dragon stories, repeated, revised, relished again and again, is the story of the hero who saves the princess who is about to be sacrificed to a dragon. The oldest version is the ancient Greek story of Perseus. He … Continued
I recently received a tweet from some students who queried my claim that I was a dragonologist. So I’ve decided to write occasional dragon blogs, to prove my credentials. This is the first one on Japanese dragons which didn’t make it into by dragon encyclopedia Dragon Companion. Different At first glance, Japanese dragons look very … Continued
I haven’t been a good blogger recently. Not on my own website anyway. I have however written two guest blogs about my latest book, Stagefright. One is an interview with George Ivanoff. The other is a blog I wrote about the difference between writing a novel set in the past and writing one in the future.
On Sunday I will be appearing at the Williamstown Literary Festival with my black dog books buddies Karen Tayleur and Sue Lawson. We are together on a panel about YA books, chaired by Clare Kennedy. I am really looking forward to it. I figure I’ll just have to sit back while KT and Sue crack … Continued
I’m very proud to announce that Blood Brothers has been short-listed for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize. This is very exciting. The winners will be announced next month and you can see the complete short list, and the short lists for other sections here. Blood Brothers is the 4th book in the … Continued
Readers are often inspired to make drawings inspired by the books they read, but recently I got an email from a reader in New Zealand who has been inspired by Dragonkeeper to make a dragon garden in his backyard. And he sent me some photos. It looks lovely. Theo has a great collection of dragons. … Continued
31st March 2013 was an important date for me. It was the 50th anniversary of my family’s arrival in Australia. I came as a Ten Pound Pom (or at least my parents did). That means it cost them £10 each for the fare. My brother and I were under 15 years old so (just like Prime Minister … Continued
My latest book Stagefright has just been released in Australia and should be in shops now. Stagefright is the only book I’ve written that is set now. It is the story of a bunch of students at a sports-mad school, who put on a musical. The multicultural group of students, some who have musical talents, … Continued