Shadow Sister, the fifth book in the Dragonkeeper series will be available from 1st May. I have just received an advance copy, so I can finally show off the cover. It’s another gorgeous piece of art from Sonia Kretschmar. I love it!
The Bible might not be the first place you’d think to look for dragons, but they are there. In fact, the Bible begins and ends with dragons. The Hebrew word for dragon is tannin (plural tanninim). These are terrifying sea dragons conquerable only by God. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew between 13th and … Continued
I can hardly believe it, but 10 years ago this month, the lovely Gary Crew launched Dragonkeeper at the Children’s Book Council Australia conference in Hobart. I had no idea then that, a decade later, I would be in the middle of writing a 5th Dragonkeeper book (6th if you count the prequel Dragon Dawn). … Continued
So far, my dragonology blogs have been about dragons from ancient myths and legends. This time I want to talk about some modern dragons. Graffiti artists, like all artists, can paint whatever they want. In my search for dragons around my hometown (Melbourne), I have noticed that dragons often pop up as a subject for … Continued
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
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
I get quite a lot of emails/letters from young people who are writing their own stories. One of the most common things they say is “I’m writing a book. I’ve nearly got to the end of the story and it’s only 20 pages long. How do you make your books long?” Well the answer is, … Continued
My non-fiction book Alexander the Great: reckless conqueror has been rereleased with a terrific new cover to coincide with the Alexander the Great: 2000 years of treasures exhibition which opened recently in Sydney. The exhibition is at the Australian Museum and will run for several months. I have been invited to speak about Alexander in … Continued