With all my attention on getting Dragon Moon finished, I haven’t mentioned my latest book: Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter. This is the second book in black dog books’ series called True Tales. [For readers outside Australia, Ned Kelly was a bushranger (outlaw, bank robber, cattle thief) who is nevertheless something of an Australian hero.] So … Continued
Dragon Moon has finally gone to the printers. We had put the finishing touches to it on Sunday night, fiddling around with maps etc. Then at 4 am on Tuesday morning I was woken by a loud noise. I sent my husband to investigate. I have this bell, given to me by Korean friends, that … Continued
The Dragon Moon cover has been finalised. Here it is. I love it. It fits with the other two books but is bold and different as well. Now all I have to do is finish writing the book! I’m working through the final draft with Ali, my editor, and then it goes to the printer … Continued
black dog books has got this new feature on their website. There are slideshows of how a bookcover evolves. As it happens, both examples are covers of my books! One is the Australian Dragonkeeper cover which is made up of many different layers. The other is Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter, which doesn’t come out till … Continued
I have just heard that Dragonkeeper (or Huterin des Drachen) has won the German Kalbacher Klapperschlange award. This is my first award outside Australia, so it is very exciting. It’s hard to find out how my books are going overseas, very hard to get sales figures etc. So it is wonderful news. Klapperschlange means ‘rattlesnake’ … Continued
I’ve been getting a few emails from UK readers who are wondering when Garden of the Purple Dragon will be out in that part of the world. Macmillan tell me that it will be out in February next year, along with the paperback edition of Dragonkeeper. Meanwhile I have to have a second draft of … Continued
It’s been my year for kids’ choice awards. Dragonkeeper has won the NSW KOALA award for older readers. It’s the first children’s choice award Dragonkeeper has won, so that’s very exciting and thanks to all those readers who voted for it. I went to Sydney to attend the ceremony which was held at the Taronga … Continued
Yesterday I received copies of the Japanese edition of Dragonkeeper. It’s always exciting seeing the covers of overseas versions of books. Sometimes I’m pleased with them, sometimes not so much. In this case I’m delighted with the cover. It’s lovely. Very different to the original Australian cover. The illustrator has obviously read the book (which … Continued
The first draft of Dragon Moon is finished, so I am having a bit of a breather before I start on the second draft. Not that I’m sitting around doing nothing. There are final touches to be done to what will be my next book The Jerilderie Letter which is an illustrated version of Ned … Continued
I have just returned from three days in Perth. I went there to accept the 2006 WAYRBA Award for Younger Readers for Garden of the Purple Dragon. This is Garden‘s first award and it is my first ‘Children’s Choice’ award, so I was thrilled to receive it. I am in esteemed company as Christopher Paolini’s … Continued