Under the Apple Tree

Art in Auckland

2011-11-10T08:26:00.006+10:00

Recently I flew to New Zealand to visit friends and family and network with the NZ children's book industry. Below is a little sketch I did on the plane.

Auckland is my home town. This is where I first drove my car to uni, had my first date at the movies and made the friends I have for life. Whenever I go back, I like to visit some of my old haunts. I thought I'd share with you three of my favourite historic buildings in downtown Auckland.

The Civic Theatre. Built in 1929, when I was a kid it was a movie theatre and the queue would stretch up the hill and around the corner. I used to love looking at the twinkling stars on the blue night sky ceiling. After a complete restoration in 2000 it is now a live theatre venue. The inside is so beautiful it is heritage listed and people often miss part of a performance because they're too busy staring at the ceiling. It is internationally significant as the largest surviving atmospheric cinema in Australasia (and also one of the only seven of its style remaining in the world) in which lights and design were used to convey an impression of being seated in an outdoor auditorium at night.

Top left of the photo is the Town Hall tower - where I graduated from uni many years ago.

Smith and Caughey's Department Store. A classic art deco purpose built store which has retained its character, charm, personal service and extensive range of quality goods. They've been in business since 1880, so they must be doing something right. It was about 1979 that I had my first 'application of make-up' lesson together with my besties in one of the rooms upstairs. We laughed so hard as we walked down Queen St later - none of us looked like our normal selves.

This is the Auckland Art Gallery - Toi O Tamaki. Opened in 1888, it is New Zealand's oldest established and largest public art gallery. I used to walk past it every morning up the hill on the way to uni. And I always wished I could just stop and immerse myself in the art for the rest of the day.

So that's what I did on one of the days while I was visiting. Above is the new modern section and new front entrance of the Art Gallery which opened late this year. It joins the old building on the right and is just perfect!

Don't you love the vaulted wooden ceiling?

The floral installation above was a gift from the artist. Made from a type of parachute fabric, the petals open close on their own - just gorgeous and huge.

The interior of the old art gallery is breathtaking and beautifully restored.

A highlight of any visit are the many Goldies in the gallery's collection. Charles Goldie was a New Zealand painter well known for his portraits of Maori dignitaries.

Lunch with friends at the gallery. Life is good!

Even if it's raining outside.

A few days later I catch up for lunch with my cousin, Tania Sunde, who is also an Auckland artist. (It runs in the family). That's Tania below in the cafe which recently purchased her triptych in acrylics above the fireplace. It's just fabulous.

We are National Winners!

2011-11-04T00:30:00.000+10:00

We won!!!

We are the Eastern States Winner, open section!
and....
WE ARE THE NATIONAL WINNER, open section!!!

My writers group, Prana Writers have been awarded ‘National Winner’ and 'Eastern States Winner' for our book,The Coral Sea Monster, in the open section of the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day 2011challenge!!!

Woo Hoo, Yee Haa!
In a single day, between 8am and 8pm, our Prana Writers team planned,plotted, wrote, illustrated, printed and bound a 16,500 word children’s book - The Coral Sea Monster.

and... raised $940 insponsorship for the Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane.

And we did all of this without a single meltdown!

The team that worked on the Coral Sea Monster were: Tom Betts, Rob Brown (my husband), Margaret Choinski, Rebecca Fraser, Janis Hanley, Kerry McGuicken, Helen Stubbs, Angela Sunde and Amanda Worlley (We also acknowledge the assistance of my daughter, Daniela Sunde-Brown).

The Coral Sea Monster was illustrated by Angela Sunde (me)!

And here are the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day judge's comments:

“The Winner of the Open Section this year is the most beautifully illustrated as well as the best written story of the bunch: ‘The Coral Sea Monster’ by Prana Writers.

"The team was given the challenge to include a podiatrist, a sheep shearer and a sea animal in their work, as well as to employ the setting of a motorway and the theme of love.
“The result is an amusing and engaging story of a 13 year-old sheep-whisperer, Jack, whose hopes of competing in the shearing event at the Ekka showgrounds are shot through when a truck overturns on the motorway into Brisbane, blocking the traffic in both directions. The truck in question is carrying a sea monster, of course, and Jack and his new found friend, a teen podiatrist (yes, there is such a girl!), set out on a fun-packed adventure to save the sea monster from the clutches of Lionel Measly, the greedy Ocean-World curator who hopes to make a million out of the endangered species.

“A competition like Book-in-a -Day challenges all of its competitors to take an imaginative leap, to work together against the ticking clock, to produce something extraordinary and new. ‘The Coral Sea Monster’ is a delightful example of the best kind of new work this competition is capable of producing." Judge (Open Section) - Julienne van Loon, (Vogel Award Winner 2004), Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA.

In the words of Prana Writer, Janis Hanley (more photos of the day are on her blog): “Words that come to mind are cohesive, talented, creative, in tune – but that really doesn’t come near to describing it. Being there was like arriving and plugging into some sort of communal brain. We didn’t just network our laptops - we somehow networked our minds.”
See more photos of our day here

So... just who are Prana Writers you're wondering...

Prana Writers are dedicated to the craft of writing. By supportingeach other and sharing our knowledge with others we hope todevelop, learn, and celebrate together, whilst also contributing to thecommunity. Our work spans a range of genres including speculative fiction,children’s, young adult, chic lit, contemporary drama, literary fiction, shortstories and more. We meet five times a year for a full day of workshops, freewriting and critiquing and in between for coffee, drinks or special events.

Originally brought together through the Gold CoastCity Council’s Creative Juices program, Prana Writers hope that winning the WaBiaDNational Award will help to promote the Gold Coast as a centre for creativityand culture.
Prana Writers are: Tom Betts,Margaret Choinski, Rebecca Fraser, Bridget Gray, Janis Hanley, Kerry McGuicken, Helen Stubbs, David Stringer, Angela Sunde, Nicola Tierney and Amanda Worlley.

Find us on Facebook here.
And our blog.

Acknowledgements:
I'd like to thank Louise Cusack, who is not only our mentor, but also a close friend and lifetime member of Prana Writers. Louise worked with the Prana Writers group from 2009-2010 through the Gold Coast Council's Creative Juices development program in 2009 and the support of a RADF grant in 2010.

I'd also like to thank the Gold Coast City Council for bringing Prana Writers together through the Creative Juices Write That Book program in 2009. Three years on and we are great friends and writing buddies. We appreciate your support!

Thank you to the Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre and the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day team for the opportunity to raise funds ($940) for the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane. With a twelve hour time limit it was tough going attimes, but we knew it was even tougher for the kids in the hospital, and thatdrove us on.

Thank you to my husband, Rob, for all the muffins on the day, for taking photos and blogging throughout the challenge, for cooking sausages at lunch, for his cool calm serenity under stress as he and Amanda loaded all the chapters, placed the illustrations, formatted the book and emailed it off. Whew! I'm glad it wasn't me.

Thank you to my Prana Writers buddies. This last year has been so enriching and so much fun. I'm very glad to be on this journey together with you.

And finally, congratulations to all the teams who entered Write-a-Book-in-a-Day. The real winners are the many children we have helped through raising funds for children's hospitals around Australia.

Shortlisted for the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day Awards

2011-11-03T14:06:00.000+10:00

In August this year I posted about the Write-a-Book-in-a-Day challenge. Our children's book, The Coral Sea Monster, is a shortlisted entry in the open section, and my writers group, Prana Writers have been waiting eagerly for the official announcement. We won't have to wait much longer... the announcement is tonight.

The Write-a-Book-in-a-Day challenge is a wonderful, fun, teambuilding and writing experience, open to people of all ages and offered by theKatherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre, WA.

Teams register 5-10 people in the Open, Secondary or Primarycategory and get sponsors to donate to their local state's hospital forchildren. Each book is also donated to their chosen hospital.

On the day of our challenge, our team was emailed a random setting,two human characters, a non-human character, an issue and five random words at8.00am local time. Then we had twelve hours to write a book and email it toKSPWC by 8.00pm the same day.

Unfortunately we won't be able to attend the awards ceremony at the Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth, West Australia, but I am expecting an email as soon as it is announced.

So fingers crossed everyone! We worked very hard for this.

Baby Tawnies

2011-10-28T14:06:00.000+10:00

There is great joy at our house when the Tawny Frogmouths return to nest in the tree outside our kitchen/family room window. While we relax in comfort on the sofa, Mum or Dad Tawny perch on their egg/s for weeks as rain and strong winds threaten to push their knitted collection of down and twigs off the intersection of branches they have chosen. It must work for them as every year they chose the same spot exactly.

After two weeks visiting New Zealand, there was good news for me on my return. A chick had hatched; a creamy bundle of fluff with wide eyes was staring at me as I made my breakfast.

This mini me, carbon copy mimicked Mum's every stance.

And grew day by day, turning a light grey with beautiful markings and inquisitive eyes.

The orange glow of a bush fire reflected on matching feathers.

But is this the same baby chick?

Wasn't there another rustle of down on the other side of the nest?

Kindle Fire Re-ignites the Picture E-book Market

2011-10-26T09:28:00.000+10:00

Have you ever played with an iPad picture book? I say 'play', because its interactivity can no longer be simply termed as 'reading'. Before the iPad came onto the market, the picture book looked to have a longer life as a traditional book. But now times are changing.

Here's a sample of an iPad picture e-book, 'Wild About Books' from Random House Books, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown:

Ipad's reign over the picture e-book market may soon be challenged however. Amazon's new Kindle Fire Tablet, which comes out on the 15th November in the US, is set to open up the world of e-books to a wider picture book market, using a new format called Kindle Format 8 (KF8). Not only is it smaller than the iPad, it's also cheaper, retailing at US$199.

In their announcement Amazon said, "As showcased on Kindle Fire, KF8 enables publishers to create great-looking books in categories that require rich formatting and design such as children's picture books, comics & graphic novels, technical and engineering books, and cookbooks"; "Kindle Format 8 replaces the Mobi format and adds over 150 formatting capabilities, including fixed layouts, nested tables, callouts, sidebars and Scalable Vector Graphics, opening up more opportunities to create Kindle books that readers will love"; "Children's picture books come to life with brilliant images, fixed layouts and Kindle Text Pop Up."

Read more about it here and here.

It looks like the last frontier of traditional publishing, the paper picture book, is now also heading for the archival vaults of the National and State Libraries (and also at my house, even if I have to hide them under the bed).

Below is a sample of an award winning picture book, 'I'll follow the Moon' by Stephanie Lisa Tara and illustrated by Lee Edward Fodi that has successfully been translated to a tablet while retaining its integrity as a book to be 'read'.

Roses and Tea

2011-10-25T16:01:00.000+10:00

I'm taking some time out, time to cut some heritage roses from my garden, pop them in a milk jug and pour myself a cup of tea. It's been a tough year.

After a summer season of disasters it was a slow start for me creatively. But recently I attained the goals I set for myself. A new manuscript is sitting with my publisher and a new picture book has just been mailed off to my mentor at Create a Kids' Book.

Not only that, but the book I illustrated and co-wrote with my writers' group, Prana Writers, has been shortlisted for the Write a Book in a Day Awards. We're in with a good chance.

The original manuscript, The Coral Sea Monster, was written within the twelve hour deadline, but now prior to publishing it, we're giving it a serious edit this weekend.

The tea has brewed. Won't you join me?

Halloween Book Launch Hoe Down

2011-10-24T11:15:00.001+10:00

Pumpkins make me smile; pumpkin soup, scones, roasted or mashed, it doesn't really matter how they come. There's something about the sweetness of Australian grown pumpkins that have us lining up at the buffet table for second helpings.

At Halloween, pumpkins take centre stage with funny faces carved or drawn onto their rotund bellies. You can hear them smirking with mischief or giggling in embarrassment. Could a pumpkin be embarrassed? Of course, why not.

But if you don't have pumpkins in your yard or market this time of year (it's springtime in Australia after all), never fear. Take a look at a wonderful site called Pinterest - an online pin board where you can organise and share the things you love or even just pics you've found on the internet that inspire you. Beware however, because this site is addictive. It's like your favourite magazine with an endless array of creative ideas to play with. While you're there, look up Halloween.

Here's something my daughter, Daniela, created on the weekend from a Halloween idea on Pinterest.

From a selection of glass jars she found in the garage (you know in case I ever decide to make jam or pickles) she has created smirking, sneering, and scared Jack o' Lantern faces (painted with acrylics) to light up a veranda or room for Halloween. Just fill their tum with a tea light. I especially like the squat fat ones.

Yesterday I went along to Marks and Gardner Gallery on Mt Tambourine for the launch of the 'digital' version of my sister, Nadia Sunde's delightful new picture book, Three Little Pumpkins (you were wondering where I was going with all the pumpkin stories), illustrated by Jody McGregor.

Nadia is an international award winning songwriter and Three Little Pumpkins is a story adapted from one of her children's songs. The song Three Little Pumpkins is so catchy children and adults all joined in loudly for the chorus 'Hay hoe, what did I see? One little pumpkin looking at me'.

In the book - a riotous celebration of all things growing, the main character, Nadia, cares for a whimsical garden full of scratching, catching chickens, chirping crickets and two mischievous friends - a goat and a goose. Each day when Nadia tends to her garden she finds a new pumpkin growing in amongst the tangle of plants. All is perfect until one morning she discovers the pumpkins are gone! Oh dear. Who has eaten them all? And now what will Nadia cook for her Halloween feast?

Here's Nadia setting up the sound equipment.

Hootenanny Books is the Australian publisher of Three Little Pumpkins and you can purchase the digital version at their website or pre-order the hard copy, which will be available in January 2012.

Nadia sings the Three Little Pumpkins song

'I went down to the pumpkin patch...'

Nadia Sunde and Jody McGregor

Nadia and Jody read from Three Little Pumpkins

The mischievous goose

Kids join in with maracas and music sticks.

Also launching at Marks and Gardner was award winning illustrator and my dear friend Lucia Masciullo, whose gorgeous book, Come Down Cat, written by the internationally awarded Australian children's author, Sonya Hartnett, will certainly win more awards for for them both.

Lucia demonstrates how to draw 'Marl Cat' from 'Come Down Cat', while Janene from Marks and Gardner Gallery shows Lucia's original illustrations from her portfolio.

Tickling the Cat at Woodlands

2011-09-08T14:09:00.000+10:00

Under an azure sky Woodlands dwarves the marquee set up for larger groups of students.

The Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature hosted some 9,000 school children over the two weeks. It's an ideal venue with so many large outbuildings and seminar rooms.

Here I am on my first day at the festival in my 'Pond Magic' dress, waiting to be picked up for my first author session at Lockrose State School. I had a class of Prep to Year 3. Then I was whisked back to Woodlands for two sessions with Years 5-7. My presentation was called 'Tickle the Cat' , and did I make the Year 7's laugh out loud - absolutely!

Book signing for three adorable Year 7's.

I've never had anyone ask if they could hug me before.

Ghost Tour

2011-09-07T21:14:00.000+10:00

During the day Woodlands Mansion reigns over expansive views of vineyards, farms, valleys and mountains - a majestic queen with layered skirts of cream lacework. But at night it breathes inwards with a sigh of longing. Once home to a wealthy family near the historic Queensland village of Marburg, Woodlands yearns for its rooms and lawns to be filled with the laughter and chatter of children again.

Every two years her sighs are suspended as busloads of children spill out onto her grounds. The squeak of a bicycle on the veranda stops - a little ghost has playmates once again. The Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature has arrived. And the night tour for authors begins.

In the cellar nine lost souls buried beneath the foundations remain quiet. There is no rush to frighten the school children in the morning. No need to interfere with the authors' power point presentations.

Hush, the authors huddle and listen at the foot of the stairs to the turret. Is that the sound of a mother's cry at the window? Notebooks flip. Pens scratch. Lips bite.

Let the festival begin.

Speaking at Schools with Tania McCartney

2011-09-03T07:35:00.001+10:00

A warm welcome to Tania McCartney - author, editor, publisher and founder of well-respected children’s literature site, Kids Book Review.

Besides being an experienced speaker, magazine and web writer, photographer and marshmallow gobbler, Tania is also the author of the popular Riley the Little Aviator series of travelogue picture books, and is both published and self-published in children’s fiction and adult non-fiction.

I've invited Tania and Riley the Little Aviator to stop by Under the Apple Tree on their whirlwind blog tour of Riley's latest travel adventure, Riley and the Grumpy Wombat. And Tania has kindly agreed to share below some tips on speaking at schools.

Riley and the Grumpy Wombat Blog Tour

Riley and the Grumpy Wombat: A Journey around Melbourne

Tania McCartney

illustrations by Kieron Pratt

Ford Street Publishing

Riley has discovered a wombat in his nanny’s garden. But why is this furry creature so grumpy? Join Riley and his friends from books one, two and three, as they zoom around the stunning sights of Melbourne in search of a wombat that simply needs a place to call home.
Featuring gorgeous black and white photos of Melbourne and surrounds, Riley and the Grumpy Wombat combines photos, illustrations, adorable characters, humour and an adventuresome storyline in a travelogue-style book that showcases Melbourne at its very best.

Congratulations, Tania, on the release of the latest Riley the Little Aviator adventure. Riley and the Grumpy Wombat is the fourth book in the series. You must enjoy taking your books out to schools and introducing the characters to new readers.

One of the best things about being a children’s author is reading to kids. Sure – it can be exhausting and I always have a stash of headache tablets on standby! – but I honestly have never enjoyed the children’s book process more than when I am reading aloud to a bunch of poppets.

Riley and the Sleeping Dragon was the first book you wrote in the series. How was it received the first time you read it to a class?

I remember the first time I ever read Riley and the Sleeping Dragon to a class of school students. The thing that struck me the most was that they just GOT IT. They understood. They reacted EXACTLY – to the precise points – I wanted them to in the story. Watching their eyes light up, seeing their light bulb moments flash behind their eyes, seeing their brows knit in curiosity – oh! – sheer literary heaven.

I've just experienced my first Children's Book Week as an author visiting schools. Do you have any advice on keeping up with the kids?

Although they are a joy, you need a lot of energy to read to kids, especially younger ones. A lot of stamina. And you must be prepared for curly questions. I’ve had them all. My favourite to date: “Do you ever have writer’s block or mental breakdowns?”

My answer?

Yes.

His eight-year-old response? “How do you deal with them?”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t say “vodka”, so I rambled something more appropriate – about “just pushing on through”.

My other favourite questions have been: “I like your dress.” and “My cat pooped in the laundry basket.” (True!)

All funnies aside, reading your books at schools is not only a glorious way to get your work out into the community, it’s incredibly rewarding and loads of fun. Here are my tips for making your school visit the least headache-inducing.

Approaching schools

You can either approach local schools directly or go through a speaker’s agency like CreativeNet http://www.fordstreetpublishing.com/cnet/. Your local writers’ centre may also help, as can your local CBCA branch.

Book Week is the perfect time to visit schools, especially if you are new to it. If you are not well-known or have not developed a reputation yet, you should understand that teachers and librarians may be wary about having you speak at the school. I have heard enough horrors stories to know not everyone is born to speak to kids in an entertaining or appropriate manner. You may struggle to ‘prove’ yourself, but if you present with panache, energy and commitment, you’ll soon develop a positive reputation and be asked to speak to more schools.

Insurance and background checks

You will need pubic liability insurance to speak in schools – $10 million dollars’ worth. I know. But there’s no getting around it. I go through AAMI, which offer affordable cover on a monthly debit basis. Some states may require you to provide a Working With Children police background check. You can ask the school their requirements.

Who are you speaking to?

The most important thing to ascertain before your talk is who you are speaking to. What age group and class size? You may want to start out small and speak to a handful of kids to start – or you may feel confident with a larger group. Schools want to maximise your time with them, so you will probably find yourself talking to over 100 children at a time. This is easy to do with powerpoint presentations. You can even put your book pages on a powerpoint screen to project for the children – I always do this.

What are you speaking on?

Talk to the teacher about their needs. What are they looking for in a presentation? Do they want you to cover a certain topic, like story structure, or can you have free reign? Make sure you clearly outline what you will perform, how you will perform it, how long it will take and what is involved.

Equipment

Check in advance what equipment the school will provide and what you will need to bring. Most schools can provide a smart board or projector, so all you will need is a USB stick with your presentation on it. Check they have the capabilities for your software.

Ask if the school can have a techie on hand to help you set up the smartboard/projector. Up to eighty per cent of the time, there’s a technical glitch – without a word of a lie – and you don’t want this drama, especially if you are on a time schedule.

If doing multiple sessions, ask the school to provide ONE venue for your presentation, to save you moving around.

If you are doing an activity with the kids, ask the school about providing resources. When I fold paper planes with younger students, the school happily provides red A4 paper.

Timing

If I have multiple sessions, I always ask the school to book them back-to-back, with little break in between. This means I may be at a school only 4 hours all up rather than an entire day (which is a lot of time when you have other things to do, like write more books or wash your hair!).

Don’t hesitate to negotiate a time that suits you when visiting schools. Most of the time, I’m happy to accommodate schools as I know timing is hard for them, but if I need to travel far, I request a later start time to avoid traffic. I always request to be finished by 3pm, too, so I can be home in time for my own kids.

You will need to add 15 – 20 minutes to the end time of any session, just to factor in autograph requests from kids or any delays.

What to prepare

I always take a few books with me when I visit schools, even if they have requested no book signing. The school often asks to buy a few copies and I use them for display purposes and to show the children during my presentation.

I take my USB presentation stick and any extra paraphernalia, like printouts, but more often than not I email these through beforehand. I also email through my web links, book covers, an author photo and bio.

I take easily-gobbled, non-messy snacks, a large bottle of water and some peppermints.

I take my Riley doll, the appropriate soft animal toy, my Riley aviator scarf, the red tin plane and any other props I can find, as well as any giveaways I have on hand.

I take my Grumpy Wombat mini cards with the book cover on the front and a blank back so I can use them for autographs.

I take books and change if I am going to be selling. If I’ve had heaps of book orders, I sign some books in advance, then add a personal message later.

Lastly, I take a printout with all addresses, contact names, phone numbers and session times. Oh – and a street directory. If I’m doing multiple sessions, I print off pages from the directory for quick and easy directions.

Your presentation

At the moment, I present a visual powerpoint presentation on how I quite literally put Riley and the Grumpy Wombat together, but I change it up every 6 to 12 months as new books come out.

I create the presentation in a way that allows me to do lots of talking in and around the pictures (visuals are the focus). This allows me to not only engage the children well but to tailor the same presentation to suit the age group in question. For younger kids, I can whiz through the pages without elaborating. For older kids, I can pause and go into greater detail.

There is nothing worse than text-heavy presentations for kids of any age. Make them interactive, fun, fascinating and funny.

Presenting tips

Be animated when you talk to kids. The younger they are, the more like a monkey you will need to act. This helps engage the kids and keep them focused and entertained. Yawning kids or kids that wander off = bad.

I have been known to bring on a headache with my presentation antics, especially when it comes to really young kids. Talk loud. Yell. Whisper. Use funny voices. Change your voice frequently. Clap your hands. Jump up and down. Dash. Run. Leap. Crawl on the floor, use props – do whatever it takes to engage the kids.

If kids begin to talk or giggle or lose focus, teachers should step in, and most of the time they do, but I’ve presented at schools where teachers have done nothing to help me. Thankfully, this is rare because it makes presenting extremely difficult. I usually stay silent and put one hand in the air, fingers outstretched. Kids usually respond and go quiet. Ask teachers to step in, if you need to.

Fees

The ASA has a list of industry fees on their website that you may like to follow but I have never achieved these kinds of rates. Schools simply cannot afford them, alas. If I am in book launching mode and heavily book-promoting, and the school will allow a book signing, I visit for a call out fee to cover petrol. During Book Week, the CBCA take care of my payments and I am able to charge a very decent amount.

If the school isn’t willing to have a book signing, I charge a set fee to cover my time – and you would need to set and/or negotiate your own fee. If you find no one is booking you, you may need to lower your fee but you can’t compromise your time, either. The fee has to suit you and what you are putting in.

Book signings

There is no harm in asking schools if they will host a book signing. Many oblige but many don’t. It’s about 50/50. It may help if you offer an ‘easy’ solution to host the signing. I offer pre-designed book order slips (in Word format so extra info can be added by teachers) that kids can take home, asking parents to send in the correct money and the name of the child they want the book signed to.

At the end of my presentation, kids who have ordered a book line up for signing and I take care of the money and change, if need be. It’s actually a lovely way to chat one-on-one with the students.

Book signings are a truly lovely bonus for authors who often earn little from school presentations, but you can’t rely on them. Consider them a bonus. As a thank you, I offer a free copy of my latest books to school libraries who allow a book signing.

Other Tips

Email or phone the school a day or two before your visit, to confirm you are good to go. Be sure to provide a mobile phone number.

Be sure to ask the school about parking and clear directions to the front office. I have spent 20 minutes wandering school grounds in the past. Seriously. Also ask for a mobile phone contact in case of emergency.

Each visit you make will be as unique as the school you visit. Sometimes you will be introduced to other teachers who will welcome you with a lovely chat and make you a cup of tea, sometimes you will be taken straight to a hall and left to fend for yourself. Each visit is completely different but all are enormously rewarding.

You will also find the students enormously different, but always a delight.

Consider travelling to remote or country schools in your region. These students are rarely treated to author/illustrator visits, and they backflip at the opportunity. Country towns also readily buy books, which is great.

I hope these tips and ideas help you on your own school visit journey. They are truly one of the highlights of my career as an author. If you have some of your own school visit tips – leave a comment below!

Thanks Tania! I so agree with the need to take lots of easy to nibble snacks. There never seems to be enough time between sessions. Your practical advice is invaluable for those authors who are venturing out into schools for the first time.

Follow Tania and Riley on tour here: Riley and the Grumpy Wombat Blog Tour Dates

For more on Tania’s work, see http://www.taniamccartney.com/ and http://www.fordstreetpublishing.com./

Riley and the Grumpy Wombat - Ford Street Publishing A$22.95, hardcover

Children's Book Week - Picture Book Workshop

2011-09-02T09:11:00.000+10:00

The Tuesday of Children's Book Week stormed on the Gold Coast. There was heavy rain, blustering wind and a gale was blowing in from the sea. In spite of it all a large group of determined workshoppers patiently waited in the foyer of the Palm Beach library.

My first workshop session on 'Writing and Illustrating a Picture Book' was fully booked. Another workshop session was hastily organised for the following week at the Elanora Library and that too was quickly booked out. There were even six people on the waiting list. Gold Coasters are keen.

As the workshop group filed into the room they were eager to get started...

storyboarding

working out plot structures

analysing visual narrative

developing characters.

Testimonials from 'Write and Illustrate a Picture Book Workshop', August 2011:

My head has held onto so many stories and characters and I have not known what to do with them, until now. Since yesterday I find myself with exploding enthusiasm to the point I have just realised I forgot breakfast, which never happens. Everything I have kept for so long inside my head is now uncontrollably spewing out onto pages. Kim

Your workshop was informative, entertaining, and presented in such a professional manner with just enough humour to keep it flowing. A million thank yous. I now have a list of books to read before I do anything more with my childrens' book idea. Lin

I just wanted to thank you, for all the hard work, and the amount of material that was covered in today's workshop was incredible. I never imagined the amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into creating a children's picture book. Linda

Absolutely amazing day - so much more than I thought was covered and so inspiring. I now just HAVE to write a children's book! Anne

So fantastic, fun, exciting. Loved it and am so glad that I came! Can't wait to get home and start creating! Rosalie

I found this workshop extremely informative. It has opened my eyes, inspired me and given me a sense of direction and a good guide towards writing and illustrating. Fiona

Made me change perspective 100% in all aspects of a child's book. I appreciate the efforts and learnt so much for myself to help me follow a passion of mine. I was very lost in which way to go and now I have confidence to go the next step in writing children's books. Lisa

A fun, interactive, interesting day to help kick start my inner author. With so much information and handy hints to take home and get started. Ingrid

A really detailed workshop given with insight and humour. Much appreciated time spent. Joanna

Fabulous, fabulous workshop today, Angela ... left feeling confident, empowered and inspired!! Thank you so much! Wish you'd been my teacher at Art School 30 yrs ago!! Terri

Thank you to the Gold Coast Libraries and the Gold Coast City Council for your support.

Join my Facebook author page to find out about upcoming workshops.

Contact: angelasunde@live.com.au

Children's Book Week - School Visits

2011-09-01T22:18:00.000+10:00

I've just completed a week of school visits and library workshops for Children's Book Week. It has meant putting my family and friends on hold while I raced around between gigs, checking and double checking: my bag, my books, my notes, my handouts, my art folders, my sketchbook, my scrapbook, my sketch pad, my USB, my giveaways, my cards, my lunch, my water... my head. Yes, that was screwed on.

Monday kicked off with a full day of Illustration Workshops at a local primary school for classes from Prep to Year Seven.

The focus of the workshops was to learn how text and images work together in a picture book with expected outcomes for students being: improved visual literacy and understanding of narrative structure.

This was also a wonderful opportunity for me to trial my unpublished picture book The Blue Tutu on an eager audience of 5 to 12 year olds. I relished their reactions to the story and my main character, Molly's problem. The page turning suspense kept them hooked and the plot twist in the second act caught them by surprise. I could've cried for joy.

The Prep – Grade 1 workshop was purely visual and auditory, looking at how a picture book is developed and created, with hands on drawing. Some children focussed very hard on 'drawing from the shoulder' and keeping their hands relaxed.

The Grades 2-4 workshop also involved story structure and first rough illustrations. They went back to class with a simple storyboard and ideas for developing characters.

The Grades 5-7 workshop included looking at picture book structure, the visual narrative, page layouts, story flow, developing characters, preliminary storyboarding and creating a dummy book. The highlight for me was when a group of Years 5-6 stayed behind at lunch and asked me to help them with plotting. We had fun mind-mapping ideas on large sheets of paper. They came up with more plot twists than a crime novel!

All classes saw first hand examples of preliminary sketches for my picture book The Blue Tutu, as well as rough illustrations, a storyboard, a full size dummy book, final sketches and final artwork. It gave them an insight into the work that goes into creating a finished picture book. There was a lot to cover!

If you would like to book a workshop in your school or library please contact me: angelasunde@live.com.au
I’m able to tailor a workshop on writing and/or illustrating for children to suit your needs.

If you enjoyed this post then pop back on Saturday, 3rd August when author Tania McCartney will be visiting my blog to share some tips on Speaking in Schools.

Tania is stopping by on her blog tour for the launch of her new book, Riley and the Grumpy Wombat.

The Coral Sea Monster begins life on its own

2011-08-15T13:07:00.000+10:00

Janis and Kerry bind our team book for mailing to Write a Book in a Day.

I run between the printer and the binder bringing the pages.

We only have to reprint one page which was accidentally crushed.

We are on a roll!

Rob and Amanda prepare our book, The Coral Sea Monster

for emailing to the Write a Book in a Day panel.

And here it is, our baby.

Introducing to the world...

The Coral Sea Monster

Prana Writers

illustrated by Angela Sunde

(An excerpt will follow soon)

The Prana Writers team looking justifiably proud!

We have delivered a 16,500 word children's book with illustrations within 12 hours

and keeping within the parameters given to us by the judges.

We have raised over $650 dollars (and still coming in) for The Royal Children's Hospital Qld

and we have been able to donate our well crafted, fast paced 'fish out of water' story to the patients

of the Royal Children's Hospital and their siblings.

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SPONSORS!!

To sponsor us in this challenge please visit Write a Book in a Day ,

choose The Royal Children's Hospital Qld

and our team Prana Writers.

Sponsorship is open until the 31st August.

Coral the sea monster lives

2011-08-14T17:01:00.001+10:00

The illustrations for the chapter headings are scanned into the main computer ready for formatting by Rob and Amanda.

Don't be fooled by her cute guise. This is no guppy. Coral is the size of an adult sheep and that could be useful for the sheepshearer, Jack.

Oh, yes. Looking coy, Coral.

Edit nearly complete

2011-08-14T17:00:00.002+10:00

Pairs are working furiously to refine the work. Then we swop and re-edit another pair's.

Checking with the dictionary.

Even with a broken foot, Amanda soldiers on through the strain barrier.

And me the illustrator... I'm still working on the cover image! Aaah!
The deadline is looming and you can see it's dark outside. Thank goodness for my hairdryer; it dries watercolour so quickly.

First read through completed

2011-08-14T15:12:00.005+10:00

OMG (LOL) we have smashed the 8,000 word minimum and now have over 16,000!

Now to the pairs edit stage.

Cover artwork well underway:

Lunch

2011-08-14T13:29:00.001+10:00

12,000 words and still counting. Soon the first reading and the all important edit!

But lunch on the veranda is the priority now, while Tom reads aloud the manuscript to check for consistencies and voice.

We're laughing so hard at the podiatrist references throughout. What seemed like the impossible character has turned out to be the best.

We're all confident the afternoon will go smoothly.

Here's how the chapters were designated and it's now 2pm.

Time to edit in pairs.

Don't forget the illustrator

2011-08-14T12:17:00.002+10:00

I quickly make sketches of how I see the three main characters. Luckily a wheelbarrow features prominently and I run with that (as do the characters!)

The new born baby whale who washed up on Surfers Paradise beach last week influences my sea monster.

Writers busy at work

2011-08-14T12:15:00.002+10:00

Everyone found themselves a cosy place to work. The Gold Coast morning sun streamed in on the veranda where five Prana Writers merged their muses.

Others were lost in a cloud of cushions, couch comfort and character conundrums.

And here are our character profiles and chapter outlines for consistency across the whole book.

MMMMMuffins

2011-08-14T12:13:00.001+10:00

Rob kept the troops sustained with various muffin flavours: cheese and herb, choc cinnamon, raspberry and white choc, lemon and coconut.

And we're off!

2011-08-14T12:08:00.001+10:00

Well it was a hectic start to the Write a Book in a Day marathon with the starting e-mail going into my junk section. We were underway at 8:07.

Early morning breakfast and briefing.

The parameters we have been given are quite clear: Our characters are a podiatrist, a sheep shearer and a sea creature, set on a motorway with the issue: LOVE! Lots to work with and a very robust discussion for the character mapping.

Kids Book Review Interview

2011-08-12T23:11:00.000+10:00

I have been interviewed on Kids Book Review by the lovely Tania MacCartney about the Write a Book in a Day challenge!

My writers' group, Prana Writers, is raising funds for the Royal Children's Hospital Qld by writing a children's book in one day. See more details here. You can sponsor us on the Write a Book in a Day site here .

Only one day to go!!

A Writing Marathon

2011-08-06T23:07:00.000+10:00

I have never been in a marathon. The thought of pushing myself to reach a nigh impossible goal scares me silly. So why is it then that next Sunday, 14th August I am racing against the clock and against all odds?

I'm a Prana Writer, a Gold Coast group of eleven writers, who first came together three years ago through the Gold Coast Council's Creative Juices 'Write That Book' mentorship, and we have entered a team in the ‘Write a Book in a Day” challenge to raise funds for the Royal Children's Hospital Qld..
http://writeabookinaday.com/index.html

It’s a writing marathon to write a children's book in 12 hours. Between 8am and 8pm next Sunday our team will plan, plot, write, illustrate, edit, print and bind an 8000 word book.

Why, you may ask...

Yes, we're crazy! But we love to write and we want to support the Queensland children who inspire us.

The aim of the Write a Book in a Day challenge is to raise funds for children's hospitals in each Australian state. We will be supporting the Queensland Royal Children’s Hospital. Currently we are the only group registered in Queensland in the open category!

At 8am on 14 August our team will be emailed a random setting, two human characters, a non-human character, an issue and five random words. Our 8000 word story must be written around these and delivered or emailed to the judges by 8pm the same day. There are even awards for the best book.

Can we do it?

There will be a lot of coffee, a lot of stress (did I say a lot of stress?) before the deadline, but just think of the team building!

The funds we raise and a copy of our completed book will be donated to the Royal Children's Hospital Qld.

To sponsor us in this worthy cause, donations may be made online by credit card here – and it’s tax deductable! Just select our hospital - Royal Children's Hospital Qld and our group - Prana Writers.

Thank you sincerely for your support.

Mid Year's Resolutions

2011-07-18T10:54:00.000+10:00

Last week during the one hour ‘International Writing Sprint’ on Facebook, I wrote a blog post entitled ‘What Warms My Heart’ for award winning children’s author, Sally Murphy’s blog. You can check out what warms my heart here.

This week during ‘The Sprint’ I thought I’d catch up with a few blog posts of my own. Life has been very busy lately as I try to attain my goals. Now with the year well and truly half gone, I thought I’d go over what resolutions I’d made at the start of the year and see how I was doing so far. Here they are:

1. Work/write every day from 9am.
2. Exercise 3x a week.
3. Lose 3-4 kilo. (ha ha)
4. Practise my art.
5. Complete and submit my short novel wip.
6. Complete my novel wip.
7. Complete illustrations for pb.
8. Blog 2-3 times per month.
9. Promote my book Pond Magic.
10. Initiate work as a workshop presenter/speaker.

I know, this is a ridiculously long list of expectations. But, I’ll be happy if I can check even three off the list. So how have I been going?

1. Yes, I have worked every day. The support of the one hour International Writing Sprint has really helped here. It’s a Monday morning kick start that sets me up for the week and my family know ‘I’m working’ and leave me alone.

2. Hmm…I think this one has averaged out to once per week as I was really sick in March (excuses).

3. Ditto. Lost 2 kilos being sick, then visitors arrived and well…

4. I’ve been working on my picture book and doing other illustrations for fun.

5. My short novel first draft is complete and I’m editing it.

6. My novel is sitting patiently waiting for me.

7. My picture book illustrations are up to the final draft stage before colouring.

8. I’m enjoying my blog and may even have found my ‘blog identity’.

9. I’ve been able to promote Pond Magic through my author talks and workshops and I was interviewed on radio when Pond Magic was book of the month on ABC 91.7.

10. My ‘authorpreneurial’ work has started to increase rapidly. In the next few months I will be speaking and conducting workshops at writers’ groups, libraries and schools. So far ‘word of mouth’ has been getting my name out there.

Having evaluated how far I’ve come this year, I feel a little more confident now that my writing and illustrating is heading in the right direction. Here’s a little sample:

And the year is only half way through, right?

Did you make any goals at the start of the year? And how’s it going so far?

Writing Sprint

2011-07-04T10:00:00.000+10:00

I have had a very good reason to get up early on a Monday morning the last few months. Over on Facebook I convene the International Writing Sprint group. It's an open group, so anyone can join in and bring their writing friends.

The idea is to write for a solid hour with no interruptions, no self-editing and the nasty critic within us locked away in the downstairs cupboard. That means you switch your phone off, tell the family you're too busy to talk and shut the door to the rest of the world.

See the focussed determination set in that bottom lip.

At 9am every Monday morning Australian Eastern Standard Time we kick off the sprint and write like crazy until ten. Sometimes there are only three of us scribbling away, on other days we've had up to ten people with some well known names popping up amongst them.

It doesn't matter whether you're new to writing or a seasoned author trying to meet a deadline. The International Writing Sprint is for everyone. By writing together simultaneously there is the knowledge that you are not alone and the camaraderie of sharing your word count or success at the end of the hour is uplifting.

And you can write anything. It might be that blogpost you've been putting off, or an edit of that first draft in your bottom drawer, it might be a poem that's been wafting around in your head or the next scene of your novel.

Don't worry about stumbling along.

Kicking off your Monday morning with a solid hour of free writing not only sets you up for the working day/week ahead, it also nurtures your muse and puts you in 'the zone'.

Believe me it's the best way to start your week!

Try it. You'll like it. International Writing Sprint Then we can all be winners.

The Calamitous Queen with Special Guest Ian Irvine

2011-06-19T08:48:00.000+10:00

I am so pleased to have Ian Irvine, writer of fantasy series for adults and children, visiting the blog today.

We're celebrating with Ian the release of 'The Calamitous Queen', the final instalment in his four part humorous fantasy series for 10- 14 yo children, 'Grim and Grimmer'.

Welcome, Ian. Thanks for stopping by as the last port of call on your 'The Calamitous Queen' blog tour. I've been enjoying reading all the blogs leading up to this one and it got me wondering where the ideas for the series 'Grim and Grimmer' came from.

Good question. It’s hard to remember, because I’m not the kind of writer who suddenly has a flash of inspiration in the shower, or while walking in the garden, and thinks, ‘Wow, that’d make a great idea for a story.’ Nor do I often go through the newspaper clippings, random scribbles on coffee napkins and hieroglyphs on pieces of paperbark that pass for my system of notes around here, in search of a brilliant idea I had last week, month or year. When I do delve into such uncertain troves, I end up scratching my head, wondering, ‘What the Dickens does that mean?’

But I did have a framework in mind. I wanted to write a fantasy adventure series for readers roughly 9 - 14 years. I hadn’t written for this precise age group before. My Runcible Jones books, http://www.ian-irvine.com/runciblejones.html, are much larger and more complex books for older readers, while the Sorcerer’s Tower, http://www.ian-irvine.com/sorcererstower.html, comprises small books with simple storylines, aimed at reluctant readers in the 7-10 range. I had a lot of great feedback from librarians about the latter books and wanted to write more, but this time I wanted to do larger books (45,000 words versus 10,000) for slightly older readers.

And I also wanted to write funny stories, because I felt this would make them more accessible to readers, particularly reluctant readers. Reading is incredibly important and I want to encourage it any way I can. Writing humour was a new adventure for me, and one I wasn’t sure I could pull off, since I’d never attempted it before. However there aren’t a lot of funny fantasy novels around for this age, at least not ones with strong, compelling plots, and since strong plots are my forte I thought I’d have a go.

So to characters. My huge fantasy epics, which are by far my most widely read books, http://www.ian-irvine.com/threeworlds.html, have often used strong female characters as the main protagonists, however in the Grim and Grimmers I wanted the hero to be a boy, and a hopeless boy at that, a tall, gawky kid who’s no good at sport and bottom of the class (in fact he’s just been expelled for a dreadful misunderstanding). Useless Ike. I’d not written about such a character before. I thought it would be a nice writing challenge to take this kid who’s totally cowed by life and his many failures, and no good at anything except drawing, and over the course of 4 books and 180,000 words, turn him into a hero.

A duffer of a hero needs a strong sidekick, hence I paired Ike with Melliflua di Sorrowgrove (Mellie), an apprentice thief who’s everything he’s not. She’s small, pixie-pretty, clever, hot-tempered and reckless, and has such a high regard for her own brilliance that she’s constantly getting them both into dire trouble – as when her failed spell blows Ike’s backside up to the size of an airship and he spends the next day bobbing around the ceilings of the dwarf city of Delf, being mocked by angry dwarves while Mellie laughs hysterically.

And of course, the book needs a cast of zany and bizarre characters, such as the malicious demon Spleen whose speciality is looking inside her victim’s heads (literally) to find out their deepest fears so she can take advantage of them. And the sweet but bloodthirsty old granny, Fluffia Tralalee, who lives in a cave carpeted in pink shag pile, with fluffy bunny wallpaper, yet is hiding an arsenal of weaponry large enough to start the next war. And the smirking conman dwarf, Con Glomryt, who could pass for the sleazy host on an afternoon TV game show.

There are four books in the Grim and Grimmer series. How did you know the story arc would unfold to four books?

Well, being a long-winded kind of guy who writes gigantic fantasy epics (The Three Worlds saga is 2.3 million words to date) I’d actually planned the Grim and Grimmers to be six books. But because of the GFC, my publisher was reluctant to commit to more than four, so four it became.

As it turned out, the story needed four books, because poor Ike suffers so many trials and failures that his first real success only occurs at the end of book 1, The Headless Highwayman, when he makes the firewyrm-dung fuelled balloon that carries him and Mellie to rescue the princess. And after all, if you start out with a hopeless protagonist, it takes lot of story to turn him into a believable hero.

Thanks so much for stopping by on your blog tour to answer a few questions, Ian.

As a writer I've gained some valuable insight into the choices you make when determining character traits for your novels (27 to date). Ike is the sort of hero whose vulnerability kids will truly identify with.

You can find covers, blurbs, reviews and first chapters for the Grim and Grimmer series at http://www.ian-irvine.com/grimgrimmer.html.

And if you'd like to read other guest posts by Ian Irvine on The Calamitous Queen Blog Tour, here are the links:

THE CALAMITOUS QUEEN, BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

DATE HOST BLOG URL TOPIC

May 27, 2011 Gabrielle Wang’s Blog http://www.gabriellewang.com/archives/how-writers-work-ian-irvine-guest-post/#more-4295

May 30, 2011 Onyabus, Omnibus Books http://onyabus.blogspot.com// Interview

June 6, 2011 Ian Irvine http://bloggingwithianirvine.blogspot.com//

Introducing the Calamitous Queen blog tour

June 7, 2011 Nords Wharf Public School http://www.blogger.com/goog_943567517

Questions from students

June 8, 2011 Susan Stephenson, The Book Chook http://www.thebookchook.com/

Literacy and writing

June 9, 2011 Catriona Hoy http://catrionahoy.blogspot.com//

Humour and writing

June 10, 2011 Kid’s Book Capers – Dee White http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/

Review of book and interview

June 11, 2011 Sally Murphy http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

The exciting (or otherwise) life of a writer

June 12, 2001 Claire Saxby http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/

FFF(fun, fantasy, fiction): mix and stire (or how it all comes together)

June 13, 2011 Alison Reynolds http://www.alisonreynolds.com.au//

Why Ian wrote this book

June 14, 2011 Dee White (deescribewriting blog)Tuesday Writing Tips http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Tips on how to finish a series

15 June 2011 St Joseph’s Primary School http://stjyear52011.blogspot.com/

Questions from students

16 June 2011 Sheryl Gwyther http://sherylgwyther4kids.wordpress.com/

The 10 Best Things about writing 'Grim and Grimmer' + Things that Almost Drove You Nuts!

17 June 2011 Braemar College,

Christine Wilson http://cawilsontl.edublogs.org/virtural-blog-tour/

Questions from students

18 June, 2011 Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/

The How-to's of Writing a Series

19 June 2011 Angela Sunde http://angelasunde.blogspot.com//

Where Ian's ideas for the series came from and how he knew there would be four books in it

I am grateful

2011-06-11T10:02:00.000+10:00

Hello bloggees,

I'm guessing that's the name for those who read and follow blogs. Firstly thank you to all those who tune in occasionally or more often. I truly appreciate your support and company on my journey as a writer, illustrator and blogger.

Today I am a guest on the blog of the wonderful Dr Anita Heiss here, where I share what I am most grateful for in life. I met Anita early last year when I attended the launch of her book, Manhatten Dreaming, in Brisbane. Her effervescent personality won me over immediately and we have stayed in contact ever since. I so admire and enjoy Anita's wit, intelligence and humour mixed together with a genuine ability to connect with others.

Me, Sheryl Gwyther and Anita Heiss (photo Anita Heiss)

'Dr Anita Heiss is the author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, poetry, social commentary and travel articles. She also lectures on Indigenous Studies, is an Indigenous Literacy Day Ambassador and a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales.'

In Manhatten Dreaming, a commercial women's fiction novel, Anita Heiss has brought modern indigenous culture and an internatonal setting together in a fun light-hearted plot. Her aboriginal heroine, Lauren, is offered an art curator fellowship in New York. But how does she choose between her dream job and her commitment-phobic boyfriend back home?

This year Anita has followed up the success of Manhatten Dreaming with the equally fun novel, Paris Dreaming.

I attended the launch for Paris Dreaming at the State Library in Brisbane and had a magical evening in the Red Box Room as actors performed excerpts from the novel. The Red Box has three walls of glass overlooking the Brisbane River and if you blinked you'd have thought you were on the Seine.

This was followed by French Martinis, hors d'oeuvres and an elegant young woman crooning Ediath Piaf songs on the balcony below.

And did I mention the Eiffel Tower?

Living the author life is not all Martinis and French raspberry macarons (yes, there were those too.) But when it is I am very grateful, and I am sincerely grateful for all the friendships I have made in the writing community.

Pop over to Anita's blog to read my post on what I'm most grateful for and then come back and tell me your top five.

I'd love to hear it!

Write and Illustrate a Picture Book

2011-05-29T14:18:00.000+10:00

The Calendar of Events booklet has just been released by the Gold Coast Libraries. It's full of interesting and fun-filled activities for Gold Coast residents in the months of June to August.

It caught me by surprise to find my workshop advertised on page 9 as a full page promotion. So I thought I'd share it with you.

Now if you live on the Gold Coast it's free and I promise you a full day of creative enlightenment. You will read, view and understand picture books from a completely new perspective.

It is not necessary to be able to draw to participate in this workshop. Here are the details:

Ever wondered how to go about illustrating a children’s picture book? This workshop will take you through the process step by step as you learn to develop a visual narrative to a supplied text (or your own). From sketching preliminary roughs, developing characters, storyboarding, page layouts, creating a dummy book to preparing artwork for submission, all areas will be covered, including how to approach a publisher.

Join me on the 23rd August 2011 from 10am to 4pm at the Elanora Library.

Phone the library to book yourself in on (07) 55 811 671.

Elanora Library

The Pines Shopping Centre

Guineas Creek Road

Elanora 4221

Gold Coast

Privacy Settings on Facebook

2011-05-12T12:28:00.000+10:00

I'm giving a presentation at this Sunday's SCBWI Queensland meeting on how to edit and customise privacy settings on Facebook. Some of the author and illustrator members have expressed concerns about using Facebook because they believe there is no way to protect their privacy.

While everything you put on the internet is in the public domain, Facebook has taken the time to install privacy measures to ensure you can choose just who exactly gets to see that photo of you on Christmas morning in your PJ's that was posted by your 'have a laugh' relative.

So for those of you who are unable to attend here below are the notes:

Privacy Settings on Facebook by Angela Sunde

Editing your Privacy Settings

At the top right in the blue header of your Facebook page click on ‘Account’.

From the drop down list click on ‘Privacy Settings’.

The first one to appear at the top of a new page is

‘Connecting on Facebook’.

(This is how you choose to connect with others and how you wish to be connected/befriended/viewed.)

Click on ‘View settings’. (This is in blue).

Have a look through these and for each one (in the drop down menu - padlock and arrow pics) choose from:

Everyone,
Friends Only,
Friends of Friends.
OR
Customise.

Not all have customise as a choice.

For example ‘See your friends list’ does. Click on the drop down menu and see.

Using the Customise feature

Click on ‘customise’.

A small window will appear called ‘Custom Privacy’. This allows you to customise this particular aspect of Facebook. Eg Who can see your friends list.

You can then choose from:

Make this visible to (green tick) or Hide this from (red cross).

Under Make this visible to you can choose from:

Friends of Friends
Friends Only
Only Me
OR
Specific People.

With ‘Specific People’ you can specify exactly who you give permission to ‘see your friends list’.

OR

You could choose the Hide this from.

In which case you put in the name of the person/people you don’t wish to 'see your friends list'.

Note: If you have your friends organised in groups, then you may also write the name of the group for either Specific People or Hide this from. (It’s faster). For example I have a group called ‘Publishers’ and I hide certain photo albums from them!!

Now, don’t forget to ‘Save setting’.

The small window will close and you are back on the ‘Connecting on Facebook’ page.

Scroll to the top and click on ‘Back to Privacy’.

You have successfully edited your ‘Connecting on Facebook’ privacy.

Now you need to decide on what privacy settings you wish to choose for ‘Sharing on Facebook’.

How to privatise what you share on Facebook

‘Sharing on Facebook’ controls who can see what you share. Eg photos.

Again you can choose by clicking on the grey list on the left:

Everyone
Friends only
Friends of friends
Recommended
Custom

I have chosen ‘Custom’, which is short for customise.

Now click on the blue words below (with the little edit pencil icon) ‘Customise settings’.

Just as before, here you are able to choose exactly who may see your shared information.

Note:

‘Friends can check me in to Places’. Make sure you edit and disable this one. It shows all of Facebook where you are in the world at any given time if your friends tag you in a post.

Also, customise 'Places you check in to' as this shows everyone on FB where you are if you have a smart phone. Not so smart, eh? I have this one customised to ‘Only me’.

You might also want to edit Photos and videos you're tagged in. Especially if you’ve had friends take unflattering photos of you at that last conference!

Work your way down the page, customising each privacy setting for whom you share each Facebook experience with.

How to privatise photos

On this same page (‘Choose your privacy settings –customise settings’) you will notice a small blue link (at the bottom of the 'Things I share’ list), which says

'Edit privacy settings for existing photos albums and videos'.

Click on this.

‘Control who sees each of your photo albums and videos’ will appear.

Now have fun choosing who may see your photo albums and who may not.

Remember, each time you customise a privacy setting, click on Save setting.

Good luck everyone!

My Radio Debut

2011-05-11T14:47:00.000+10:00

As promised, here at last is the link to my debut on radio.

A few weeks ago Pond Magic was chosen to be the first Book of the Month for 2011 in ABC 91.7 Gold Coast 's Book Club with the lovely presenter Nicole Dyer.

And so one sunny Friday morning I turned up at the ABC 91.7 studios beautifully dressed and coiffed for my 'live' radio interview. Joining me was Stephanie Laverie who had won a copy of Pond Magic and the opportunity to meet the author and review the book live on air through ABC 91.7's Facebook page . - No pressure for me!

Nicole Dyer, Angela Sunde and Stephanie Laverie

Some of you will know that my sister, Nadia Sunde is also a radio presenter. So naturally, I went to her for advice...

"Put on your happy voice," she said. "Speak with a smile on your face the whole time and the listeners will 'hear' that smile."

I took that on board. Just like when teaching, you cannot show your fear. Luckily Nicole Dyer has the knack of making her guests feel relaxed and at home, so I was soon chatting away in my 'happy voice' with remnants of a Kiwi accent.

The segment went for 12 minutes of which an edited 5 minutes (plus a written review) has been published on the ABC 91.7 website. If you'd like to have a listen to the stories behind Pond Magic, my inspiration and how I came to be published, pop over to the link below and scroll down to the audio file. You'll also get to hear my ... voice. (Scary, I know).

"March Book Club Review: Pond Magic. How do you turn creative ideas of yours into a book that will not only grab a child's attention but keep them hooked? "

Building your Author Brand

2011-05-11T13:00:00.001+10:00

Recently I gave a presentation 'Building your Author Brand' to the Prana Writers group on the Gold Coast. The Prana Writers came together as a group three years ago when we were all successful applicants for a Gold Coast City Council initiative called 'Write That Book'. Under the mentorship of international award winning author, Louise Cusack, the members of our group spent one year completing a novel and the following year editing it. The second year was possible through a Regional Arts Development Fund grant.

This year we have continued to work together towards achieving our goals. At our last meeting I wished to share with the group the experience and knowledge gained from the publication, marketing and promotion of my first book, Pond Magic.

‘Author branding’ is a term I first heard a couple of years ago at a writers’ conference. The concept made complete sense to me; the author is the brand. And while many writers may find self-promotion daunting, I took it on with gusto.

But just what is a brand and how do you create an author brand? Someone once told me it is:

‘a promise, an experience and a memory.’

Recently a writing friend complimented me on my website. As I encouraged him to create his own, he said: “Oh no, I don’t have a product.” The truth is you don’t need a product (or a published book) to promote your author brand. In fact the earlier you start the better. As a writer you are already producing ideas readers may find interesting. You are self-employed – a one man band. And, unless this is a hobby for you, you should begin to look upon your writing as a business and yourself as a professional. Once you do, walking into a pitch session with a potential publisher or agent will be so much less intimidating.

So just how would I describe my author brand?

Fun, creative, flamboyant, international

and above all…

professional.

Now, think of five words to describe yours…

I am available for Author Talks and Creative Writing workshops for adults and children.

Contact: angelasunde@live.com.au

A Radio Star is Born

2011-03-23T18:52:00.004+10:00

I'm appearing on radio this Friday, 25th March at 10.40am Qld time. Now can I say 'appearing' when no one will actually see me?

Nicole Dyer presents the Book Club, a program on ABC 91.7 Gold Coast FM once a month on a Friday morning.

For half an hour two listeners will review my book, Pond Magic, and ask me questions. And we will all be 'live' in the studio. It's exciting stuff.

Nicole Dyer and Louise Pieper

And so for my 'appearance' I'm having my haircut tomorrow. I know, I know they won't see me, but Nicole usually takes photos of guests and puts them on the ABC 91.7 Facebook page. Plus I'm meeting two listeners/fans for the first time.

Can't wait!

Here are the details:

ABC 91.7 Coast FM
10.40am Qld Time (AEST -1)
Friday, 25th March 2011

Author Talks and Presentations

2011-03-20T22:54:00.000+10:00

One of my goals this year is to give more author talks and workshops at schools, libraries and literary festivals. With more than twenty years of teaching experience behind me, standing up to speak in front of a crowd doesn't worry me in the least. School assemblies of 1000 plus was just part of the job.

As a children's author, however, I am aware that children at an author talk are more expectant than the usual school situation. They want to get to know you better. They want to interact with you. They want to be engaged. They may have read your book and they may be looking forward to your presentation very much.

With that in mind, it's important to deliver this expectation and to engage your audience.

Children's Author Event at Black Cat Books, Paddington, Brisbane, Feb 2011

Of course the audience is sometimes a mix of children, parents, grandparents and writers, such as my last speaking event at Black Cat Books, Paddington, Brisbane. In that situation I spoke about the 'Seed of an Idea' and the steps I took to develop that seed into a story.

Reading from Pond Magic

Last week I spent three days at the Somerset Literature Festival. This is the sixth year that I have attended this festival, and it was in fact back in 2005, when I was at a Somerset literary breakfast, that the desire to become a children's author and illustrator was first born within me.

As a newly published author and as a presenter at the Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature later in the year, my intention was to observe the speakers and take notes on what engaged a young audience and what did not.

Many speakers gave anecdotes from their youth, told stories from their life experiences and talked about their road to publication. With older students, authors spoke about the craft of writing and with younger students they told a story - scary, funny or whimsical.

Power Point slide shows, book trailers, videos, sound bites and other visual and aural aids were popular amongst presenters and added to what might be otherwise a presentation similar to everyone else's.

I attended twelve author talks and two panel sessions. The very best presenters interacted with the audience directly. They asked questions like:

'Do you read the names of chapter headings?'

'What are you reading?'

'Have you ever made a spaceship out of a cardboard box?'

'What do you do to annoy your parents/brother/sister?'

'What if you won a trip to Antarctica...?'

I suspected some of the kids' answers would go toward the next book they're writing. I certainly wrote a few down.

The most interesting authors stood up and moved around the stage and into the audience. This is something I've always done as a teacher. Close proximity is more engaging and helps with behaviour.

The authors who brought along props and costumes had their audience transfixed. Volunteers were called to the stage and a sea of hands went up. Every kid wanted to be picked to be blind folded (Sue Whiting), operated on (Andy Griffiths) or scared out of their wits (Ghostboy).

A couple of authors used a ball to interact with the kids, illiciting a response from whomever the ball was thrown to. I've done this when teaching German. It keeps kids on their toes and listening. They're never sure who the next person to be thrown the ball will be, and they need to concentrate on their response to the question asked.

But be sure not to do this as the first activity. Once the kids are excited, you'll have a hard job settling them back down to listen to what you have to say. And keep them in their seats.

My pick of the festival was Ghostboy - Brisbane performance poet, David Stavanger. He had his young audience in the cup of his hand even before he began to speak. His presentation was a feast for the senses. It was visual, aural, sensory and interactive. He had boys rhyming and the whole room begging to be picked for word association. Ghostboy transported the children to another place and mood through the use of music, costume, tone, gait, speed, imagery and sound. When discussing Performance Poetry he said,

"You have to become the performance. Own the words. If the word is 'wrath', then be 'wrath' in tone and sense. Inhabit your performance."

I think that's a good piece of advice for any time you have to stand up and speak to an audience. Own it.

Festival Highlights

Favourite quote - "You can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter." Kate Hunter.
Favourite book trailer - The Billionaire's Curse by Richard Newsome.
Favourite prop - Sue Whiting's enormous spider for her novel 'Freaky' (Walker Books)
Favourite Reading - What Body Part is That? Andy Griffiths eg. "Shoulders are for avoiding questions."
Favourite Advice - "Don't study Creative Writing at Uni. Creativity cannot be given a mark." Matthew Reilly.

Matthew Reilly also had a few other pearls of wisdom:

"There is no such thing as an aspiring writer. You are a writer, period."

"If you believe a good review, you have to believe a bad review too."

"Failure is fine as long as you learn from it."

"You need to practise your craft 10,000 hours to get it right."

"Be ready for a lucky break."

"Dare to succeed."

"Do debating. Everything in life comes down to public speaking."

And I will leave you with that last thought. Public speaking... are you ready for your lucky break? I think I'll go and join Toastmasters.

One Thing Leads to Another

2011-03-13T15:02:00.001+10:00

I'm finally getting into the swing of this year. My calendar is filling up and new opportunities arrive from the most surprising connections.

When submissions were opened for an art exhibition called 'The Art of Reading' at the Robina Art Gallery, I thought my work would be a perfect fit. The exhibition's objectives were to showcase books and the ephemera of reading.

I submitted four artworks - watercolour illustrations of picture book pages, including the illustration I did for my webpage.

Half way through the two week exhibition I was pleased to see that only three of my business cards were left. I replenished the pile and came back a week later to only one. My author/illustrator brand was connecting with the audience. But even better I received three invitations directly as a result of the Art of Reading Exhibition.

One of these I can tell you about now.

My book, Pond Magic, has been picked up by ABC Coast FM 91.7 radio, which transmits to the entire Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Tweed areas. Pond Magic will be discussed on Nicole Dyer's morning Book Program which is on the last Friday of each month. Nicole does a terrific job bringing books and authors into the lives of the ABC listeners and promoting Australian books by local authors.

Nicole Dyer of ABC Gold Coast 91.7 and Louise Pieper of Gold Coast City Libraries.

Photo courtesy of ABC Gold Coast 91.7 FM

Two ABC 91.7 listeners with children have been sent a copy each and on Friday the 25th March these listeners will be live (with me) in the studio to review Pond Magic and ask me questions. Can you imagine how thrilled I am? Well, even more than that.

So here's the details: Listen Australia 4GCR - ABC Gold Coast 91.7 FM Live Radio Online

ABC Gold Coast 91.7 FM
Friday the 25th March

10am till 10.30 am Queensland time
(11am till 11.30am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time)

I hope some of you are able to have a listen. I'll let you know how it goes.

Collections

2011-03-07T13:57:00.000+10:00

This post is dedicated to the memory of blogging friend and fellow Australian children's writer Mabel Kaplan.

This year is the beginning of Year 5 in my Five Year Plan. Some of you will remember my very first post where I explained my plan to achieve the goal of becoming a published children's writer and illustrator. So far so good. I am well on the way with one book under my belt and two more half way there.

But today I'm going to talk about Collections. The stuff that fills our houses with memories and dust. I love to collect blue and white china and Australian Carltonware in green and yellow. You might collect things for their sentimental value or as a hobby to wile away a Sunday afternoon. Recently I rummaged through my Dad's old stamp collection hoping to find the one stamp that might pay off my mortgage. No such luck.

Travel spurs the collector's habit for many of us. That's why souvenir shops survive. We all want to bring back a little piece of that wonderful holiday when the kids were small and all we had to think about was whether to have fish and chips or hamburgers for dinner.

When we visited friends of ours in Germany back in 2006, I noticed they had a shelf of at least twenty jars in a neat row in their living room. Each jar was filled to the brim with sand.

Coarse sand,
soft sand,
talcum powder smooth sand.
Black sand,
white sand,
glistening with ore sand.

And carefully labelled on the back of each jar was the name of the beach. They had collected sand from every beach holiday they had ever been on. And there it was ... Burleigh Beach 1991 - from when they had last visited us.

Now I was glad at that point my own collections had never been quite so unusual. Until...

I noticed my husband picking up bits of broken crockery from every town, street, city, lakeside, beach and mountain on our family trip around Europe. While I was photographing castles on the Rhine, he was scouring the river pebbles for washed up detritus. Then he would proudly open his hand to display his treasure. A broken bit of pot, or teacup or plate, quite often blue and white.

"What do you want with all that rubbish?" I'd ask.
"I'm collecting them," he'd say, as if a collection somehow validated their worth.

The pile gathers in the dashboard shelf carefully labelled.

As the weeks and months passed the collection multiplied and at one stage we even had to mail some home. Heaven knows what Australia Post thought as it passed through the x-ray.
After a while even the kids were helping out.

A piece of Cornish Ware from a beach in Cornwall, a fragment of Delft from a Dutch village, a slice of Bohemian porcelain from the Czech Republic, a chip of clay-fired earth from the Andalucian hills of Spain.

Every day brought more treasures.

As the collection of bits and pieces grew I also came to enjoy the fossicking; the hunt for the perfect piece which would remind us of the city or country we were visiting. I thought about the people who had used each piece when it was part of a whole. What was their story, their history? I even found a piece in my aunt's garden in Croatia. And it is my favourite.

Now if you're out and about and something catches your eye and you add to it later until it becomes a collection - Do not ask 'Why?' But simply 'Why not?'

I'd love to hear about your whimsical collections....

Last Day of the Blog Tour

2010-10-31T12:50:00.000+10:00

Today is the last day of the Pond Magic Blog Tour and I'd like to thank my hosts and everyone who has been reading along with the blogposts. It's been a pleasure sharing the journey with you.

On this last day I am sitting on Sheryl's back veranda sipping tea and chatting about fairytales. We chatted for so long that we had to split the post in two.

So here is part two where I divulge the secret elements that make a true fairytale and Sheryl challenges me to a Fairytale Playoff!

There are 10 quotes from various fairytales. See if you can guess them all:

http://sherylgwyther4kids.wordpress.com/2010/10/31/once-upon-a-time-in-a-far-away-place-part-2/

Day 9 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-30T11:07:00.001+10:00

Once upon a time in a far away place...

Find out the truth behind fairytales. There is a lot you don't know or your parents didn't tell you.

Join Sheryl Gwyther and I 'in conversation'... on her blog: SherylGwyther4Kids

Day 8 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-29T10:22:00.000+10:00

The tour hits a high note today as I share my secrets on 'Promoting your First book' on the blog of Mabel kaplan - 'Tales I Tell'

Shhh...Don't tell anyone!

Day 7 of the Pond magic Blog Tour

2010-10-28T12:17:00.000+10:00

Ever wondered how to go about writing an Aussie Chomp? Today on 'Kids Book Review' I talk about just that.

Grab a coffee and join me.

Day 6 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-27T23:15:00.000+10:00

Kids Book Capers has published a great review of Pond Magic on their blog at Boomerang Books http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/review-of-pond-magic/2010/10

Followed by an interview with me about 'Where Story Ideas Come From'.
http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/the-magic-of-pond-magic/2010/10

Hop on in!!

Day 5 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-26T17:54:00.000+10:00

Today I'm visiting YA author Dee White at the Tuesday Writing Tips blog to talk about 'Writing a Book that's Less than 12,000 Words Long'.

I share my process on plotting and cutting back thousands of words.

Join me there!

Review of Pond Magic on 'Kids' Book Review'

2010-10-24T22:59:00.001+10:00

Pond Magic is reviewed today on Kids' Book Review

Read what Tania McCartney has to say about my 'froggy' tale.

Day 4 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-24T10:28:00.000+10:00

As part of my Pond Magic Blog Tour I'm magically appearing on children's author Catriona Hoy's blog today where I discuss 'What Girls Read'.

Join Catriona and I to find out the differences between writing for girls and boys.

Day 3 of the Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-23T23:59:00.001+10:00

Today I'm visiting Sally Murphy's 'Writing for Children' blog where I discuss 'Getting Published for the First Time'.

Sally is an award winning author of children's books such as Pearl verses the World and Toppling.
I am honoured to be invited to her blog.

Toppling won the 2010: Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and the Children’s Book Mary Ryan’s Award.
Pearl verses the World was the winner of the Children’s Book category in the Indie Awards, 2009, and is shortlisted for the Indie Book of the Year Award.
Pearl verses the World was also shortlisted in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, 2009.
Pearl verses the World was named as a Notable Book and shortlisted for the CBCA’s Children’s Book of the Year Awards, 2010 (Younger Readers Category)

You see why I'm excited?

Pond Magic Book Launch

2010-10-22T13:35:00.008+10:00

There are days in life which stand out as being perfect. Days when you are surrounded by family, friends, children and laughter. Days when the sun is shining, the birds are singing and your heart is full.

The launch of my book Pond Magic was just such a day.

After months of planning, weeks of praying for the rains to lift and many many lists to check and tick off, the magic launch day of Pond Magic in the grounds of the beautiful Marks and Gardner Gallery arrived. And, just like the little pink and black book we were celebrating, it was perfect.

Two of my best friends from high school had flown over from New Zealand to help. We spent the day before in the kitchen making fifty 'Frog in a Pond' jellies to hand out to each child when they had their book signed.

The rainbow of colours sparkle as Frogs swim in their individual Ponds.

Guests were asked to wear something 'French' , Froggie' or 'Fairytale' with awards for adults and children alike.

To get everyone in the mood as they arrived, my daughter Daniela greeted visitors to the gallery with a glass of French 'Sparkling', coincidentally called 'Lily Pad Pink' (like the main character, Lily Padd) and generously donated by the Arrogant Frog winery. She was even accompanied by the Arrogant Frog himself, who was just as amazed at the serendipity of the coincidence.

Here, please take one yourself....

But the star of the day was Lily Padd in her party dress.

who enjoyed her prime position in the gallery as the main character of Pond Magic.

And because it was a French themed day and to suit the gorgeous pink and black cover of the book, I dressed up for the occasion.

Even Pond Magic wore roses; French of course.

But I wasn't the only one dressed 'French'.

Visitors went through the gallery and collected on the cafe veranda as French music played.

My aim for the day was to celebrate with my family and friends, allow others to get to know me better and 'shout out' to the world about Pond Magic.

So as you read this, or if you were there on the day, you will discover I am a mixture of fun, flamboyance, creative spirit and international flair. I wanted my guests to experience games, activities, music, fun, a taste of France, competitions, prizes, a chance to be involved, a family outing, theatre, speeches and of course a reading of Pond Magic.

This was going to be a day to remember...

As more people arrived the crowd spilled out into the garden. The weather was brilliant; the best we had had in two months. It was almost hot.

The craft table was a popular first choice with the kids as they painted, glued and cut out their

'Fly Catching Frog',

ably helped by my friend Brigitta.

A party whistle was the frog's tongue

Here are some frogs sticking their tongues out.

Then it was off to the Frog on a Lily Pad Pond game.
My son was in charge of this one.
Strangely there were lots of girls lining up.

Throwing the frog.

If it lands on a lily pad the prize is... you guessed it - a chocolate frog.

Many of you will know how blessed I am to have a talented sister, Nadia Sunde.

She entertained the kids with songs from her international award winning album, Homespun.

And I couldn't help but join in dancing.

Then we decided the Best Costume award

The adults loved it too, especially the burping competition.

A friend of mine wrote me an email a few days after the launch and this is what she had to say:

"Just wanted to let you know what a delightful afternoon your book launch was! There was the most wonderful magical feeling in the air! I almost expected to see little bunny rabbits hopping over the grass, and little fairies poking their heads around the trees."

Maybe this is what she meant...

And just so the adults didn't feel left out

I gave away a bottle of 'Ribbit Red', by the Arrogant Frog

to the winner of the best adult costume.

There were representatives from all of the themes of Pond Magic: frog, magic, fairytale and French.

And the winner had to be Jean-Marc, who is not only half French, but also a Doctor of Herpetology at our local university. And guess what his research specialisation is? That's right - frogs!!! True.

No, I'd never met him before, but like the story of the Arrogant Frog winery, serendipity follows me around. And of course the garlic around the neck was a nice touch.

And so the crowd gathered.

Some 270 plus according to the raffle tickets we had given out.

Perhaps they were waiting to see whether they'd won,

but now the official part of the day would begin:

The launch of Pond Magic by the lovely Narelle Oliver,

award winning author/illustrator and all round beautiful person.

She joined in the magic of the day with a magnificent witch's hat.

Narelle's passion for Pond Magic and her belief in me gave me the confidence to submit to Penguin Australia.

I am so very grateful for her support and friendship.

"I'd like to thank my husband, Rob, my children, family and friends

for all your support, Nadia for your songs and entertainment and for being my Pond Magic reader, Mary and Janene at Marks and Gardner Gallery for creating such a magical place, my publishers at Penguin Australia who made editing such a joy and my sponsors: The Arrogant Frog , The Pampered Princess, The Arts Centre GC and Homespun Music."

And after I read a few pages from Pond Magic

I thought I heard a school bus

and then there was a LOUD BU...UUURP !!!....

It's the Pond Magic Skit!!!

It's green-faced Lily Padd and Maureen, followed by the French exchange student, Rainier.

'Do you think anyone heard?' asks Lily.

'What do you think? It was like a jumbo landing on the bus roof,' says Maureen. 'You really have to cut back on the garlic. You're starting to look as green as a frog!'

'But I hate garlic!'

'Why are you wearing my clothes?' Lily asks Rainier.

'Er, your mother said it is all right to lend your pullover.'

'It's 'borrow', says Lily. 'And...we call it a jumper in Australia.'

Rainier tries to kiss Maureen's hand hello, 'Bonjour, I am Rainier.'

But Lily butts in,

'You're in Australia now, Romeo. We don't kiss. Get it?'

'Speak for yourself,' says Maureen, disappointed.

'So Rainier, tell me about France,' says Maureen. 'Is your town romantic?'

'Yeah, if you like garlic bread,' says Lily.

'I live in the south with my grandmother,' says Rainier. 'She has a vineyard called the Arrogant Frog.'

'Really?' says Maureen. 'I already know another arrogant ...green frog.' She looks at Lily in disgust.

A big thank you to my actors:

Daniela as Lily Padd

Dale as Maureen O'Leary

Riley as Rainier le Dauphin

And the crowd went wild!

The Arrogant Frog calls out the winner of the raffle.

The raffle first prize is drawn.

Family pass to 'Beauty and the Beast' at the Arts Centre.

2nd Prizes - Bottle of 'Lily Pad Pink' French 'Sparkling',

Gift Certificates to Pampered Princess and Homespun CD by Nadia Sunde

Meanwhile, some people are not listening...

others are reading

laughing.

Or lining up to get their book signed.

And this was the first time I would meet readers eager to hop into Pond Magic.

They were a bit nervous, and so was I.
The Frog in a Pond jellies helped break the ice.

And this little girl at 7 years of age is an avid reader of Aussie Chomps.

And these soon will be.

My writing friend, Marion.

With my friend, Sheryl

With my besties, Rosalia, Elesia (my personal assistant on the day) and Brigitta

That jelly was yum!

Thanks for coming.
Au revoir!

Day 2 of Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-22T11:00:00.000+10:00

I am talking about 'Developing Character' on the blog 'Write and Read with Dale'.

It really made me think in depth about how I approach character and I ended up getting out my Pond Magic notes, which were in storage, and going over them. I've ended up learning about myself. So glad I decided to go ahead with this blog tour.

Join us there and leave a comment.

Day 1. Stories are Light

2010-10-21T16:45:00.000+10:00

Pond Magic's very first review is up on 'Stories are Light', the blog of Sandy Fussell.

Sandy is the author of the extremely popular Samurai Kids series, the award winning Polar Boy and the recently published Jaguar Warrior.

Hear what Sandy has to say about Pond Magic here: http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

Pond Magic Blog Tour

2010-10-20T23:02:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the Pond Magic Blog Tour

After a fabulous launch last Sunday Pond Magic is now ready to take on the online world. And Lily is thrilled!

Tomorrow is the first day of the Pond Magic Blog Tour. I'll be visiting nine different blogs to talk about my writing journey and how I wrote Pond Magic.

Four of the blogs will also be reviewing Pond Magic for the first time.

Join me on this trip around cyber space!

The schedule is below.

NB. Stay posted. Tomorrow I blog here about the Pond Magic Launch.

October 2010

21st October - Stories Are Light - Sandy Fussell
Review
http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com

22nd October – Write and Read with Dale – Dale Harcombe
Review and Developing a Character
http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

23rd October – Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children Blog
Getting Published for the First Time
http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

24th October – Cat Up Over - Catriona Hoy
What Girls Read
http://catrionahoy.blogspot.com

24th October – Kids Book Review
Review of Pond Magic
www.kids-book-review.blogspot.com

26th October – Tuesday Writing Tips – Dee White
Writing to this Length
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com

27th October – Kids’ Book Capers – Boomerang Books
Review and Where Story Ideas Come From
http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog

28th October – Kids Book Review
The Aussie Chomp Format
www.kids-book-review.blogspot.com

29th October – Tales I Tell - Mabel Kaplan
Promoting your First Book & Planning a Book Launch
http://belka37.blogspot.com

30th October – SherylGwyther4Kids
Once upon a time in a far away place…
http://sherylgwyther4kids.wordpress.com/

Pond Magic (Aussie Chomps)

2010-10-09T10:28:00.000+10:00

Pond Magic (Aussie Chomps) available for sale online here

2010-10-01T17:01:00.000+10:00

Bonjour mes amis!

Please join me as I celebrate the launch of

my debut children's book, Pond Magic.

Penguin Australia.
Pond Magic tells the hilarious story of an intolerant, self-obsessed 'tween', whose relationships with her family, her best friend and a French exchange student are made all the more difficult by a little magic and a lot of burping. ‘Lily Padd’s name is the least of her problems. Can she really be turning into a frog?’

My experience as an exchange student, a teacher and a lover of fairytales have each added their own to this light-hearted urban fantasy.

Launching Pond Magic will be award-winning children's author and illustrator (and all round lovely person) Narelle Oliver. www.narelleoliver.com

There will be activities, games and songs for all ages. Pond Magic’s main character, Lily Padd, herself may even make an appearance. So be sure to wear your favourite fairytale costume or (just to annoy Lily) come dressed in something French – and not just the kids!

Bring the whole family for a fun-packed afternoon at the Marks and Gardner Gallery set in 5 park-like acres with café, art gallery and children’s bookshop on the beautiful Tambourine Mountain (behind the Gold Coast).

Ooh, la la!

MC for the afternoon will be international award-winning children’s songwriter and entertainer (and my sister), Nadia Sunde, who will also perform on the day. www.nadiasunde.com

We have prizes for best costume (adults too), a free raffle and don’t forget to practice your best burp for the burping competition! Pardonnez-moi!

Prizes have been kindly donated by The Arts Centre Gold Coast, The Pampered Princess (salon for little girls), Homespun Music and me.

À bientôt!

Children are welcome to bring their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends.

See you there!
Angela

RSVP: to angelasunde@live.com.au

Marks and Gardner Gallery (with café, art gallery and children’s bookshop) is located on Tamborine Mountain, just 35 minutes from the Gold Coast beaches and one hour from Brisbane. The gallery is surrounded by 5 park-like acres, with Witches Falls Winery located immediately beside the gallery and other attractions close by. The area is famous for its natural beauty, cool rainforests, waterfalls, expansive views and national parks.

Marks and Gardner Gallery
69 Main Western Road
North Tambourine
Queensland 4272
Phone: 07 5545 4992
Email: mailto:art@marksandgardner.com
Website: http://www.marksandgardner.com/

My sister the star

2010-09-23T22:56:00.001+10:00

Some of you will know I rave on about my sister a lot. She is Nadia Sunde and although half a generation younger than me I am accustomed to being asked, 'Are you Nadia's sister?' Recently, with my new-found success as a children's author someone actually asked her, 'Are you Angela's sister?'
Ha ha!!

I'm just thankful for the fact we are...sisters.

http://www.nadiasunde.com/

Nadia is a songwriter, singer, musician, performer, playwright, actor, entertainer, ABC radio presenter, early childhood music teacher and more. She has been involved in music from the time she could stand and jive about, from the time she found our brother's old guitar in the cupboard (he's 17 years older than her - I'm not telling you how much older I am) and taught herself how to play it.

In high school I was there to see her win the talent quest when she was in Year 12 and I was the relief teacher. I was there for the Band Recitals, The Lead in the Musical, her first CD launch

and every gig (almost) ever since. She has always been a winner, including Best Female Vocal at the Qld Sunny Awards and more recently this year winning 3rd Place at The International Songwriting Competition (children's category) for her song, The Goat and the Goose, from her new children's CD, Homespun - a collection of songs that are ‘fun, blue-grassy, folk-inspired, toe-tapping and joyful!’
http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/

So this is a tribute to my sister - a talented, highly experienced and varied performer. I want to share her many talents with you.

A photo of her band Nadia Sunde and The Best Band in the World.

Here she is elegantly 'Home Cookin' with guitar virtuoso Michael Fix and the voluptuous bass of Paul Robert Burton.

Burton, Sunde, Fix. 'Home Cookin' (Youtube link)

Here she is performing in the musical theatre show, Nadia's Wish, which she co-wrote and produced for the State Library of Queensland's summer holiday children's programme in 2010.

Nadia's Wish (Youtube link)

Here she is being interviewed at The Wintermoon Festival about her recent award.
Wintermoon Festival (Youtube link)

Here she is entertaining the families at the Neurum Creek Festival, Sunshine Coast, with her Kindie Indie music and inimitable style..

Nadia Sunde's Family Music Jamboree (Youtube link)

To find out where Nadia is performing next take a look at her Myspace page and listen to a few of her kids' songs while you're there.
http://www.myspace.com/nadiasunde

Nadia is also a mother of two (three and six years). How does she do it? I don't know, but if you are reading this you probably realise she has a lot of guts and determination, a strong passion for music, for entertaining and the craft of storytelling through song and movement.

Her CD is an independent release and Nadia is seeking distribution. She relies on word of mouth and the support of her fans.

Jump on board and tell your friends, publishers, music companies etc about the breath of fresh air Nadia brings to children's music - real music for kids and grown-ups who want to enjoy something a little more rootsy and organic. She calls it Kindie Indie.

Nadia's CD Homespun is available from her website http://www.nadiasunde.com/ and the Borders Robina store.

Now who do you think I should ask to MC and perform at the launch of my debut children's book, Pond Magic, on Sunday, 17th October at the Marks and Gardner Gallery, Mt Tambourine?

And she has already said 'YES'. Now, that's another reason for you to come along... The invite will go up in the next few days.

If you've stopped by, don't be shy to leave a comment and say hello. I love hearing from you.

Once upon a time...

2010-09-08T23:08:00.002+10:00

Once upon a time...

in a sparkly green pond

there lived a small frog

who dreamed of becoming a children's author

and...

being magically transported to the CYA Conference

where many children's authors and illustrators

gathered together each year.

One day the frog ventured forth,

hopping from one lily pad to another

until she met a kind Queen.

The Queen of children's literature,

called Sheryl Gwyther,

spoke about the frog's endeavours to be published

and her first book

'Pond Magic'.

and about the frog's abilities to wave placards

and speak out for the rights of all frogs

to write Australian children's books.

The frog smiled and held up her book for all to see.

She was speechless.

But then she remembered her notes...

and thanked Sheryl, her editors at Penguin Australia, her husband, children and parents, her friends and all the writers and illustrators present, especially those from the KWD Secret Society (who know who they are).

Overcome with wonder

the crowd listened

as the frog read from her book.

And then she told the magical story

of the vineyard called 'The Arrogant Frog'

and the French 'Sparkling' Lily Pad Pink

from the Languedoc region of France.

Not only was the sparkling French (Ooh, la la!)

explained the frog, drawing the raffle,

but the main character of her book Pond Magic

is called Lily Padd

AND

the French exchange student who comes to stay with Lily

is from the Languedoc region of France.

Co-inky-dink!

The frog presented the winner of the French 'Sparkling'.

Merci beaucoup!

and the winner of the

mini manicure

at the Pampered Princess

salon for little girls (Pond Magic's sponsor).

and then the Queen and the frog celebrated together

the frog's transformation

from aspiring tadpole writer

to the Princess Children's Author.

And the frog lived happily ever after.

(The photos above with white borders are courtesy of Lynn Priestley)

POND MAGIC IS HERE!!

2010-09-03T14:02:00.001+10:00

OK...POND MAGIC IS HERE, in my hot hand - looking adorable in pink. I have been waiting anxiously for this book baby - the cradle has been ready for ages and tomorrow I get to take her to Brisbane to the CYA Conference AND show her to all her writing Aunts and Uncles. There will be a lot of oohing and aahing... and possibly some champagne. CYA there at the launch!!!!!!

Don't you love all the stars my editors at Penguin put in the envelope as a surprise!!!

It's amazing seeing my name on the spine.

See the little frog?

Ooh, la la!

Please indulge me...It's my first book.

A Month of Firsts!

2010-08-18T11:55:00.000+10:00

What a month of firsts August is proving to be!

My first published article, 'Pursue your Goal', appeared in WQ, the Queensland Writers Centre magazine, August issue - the Children's Issue. So many lovely people have been congratulating me and I appreciate QWC giving me this opportunity to write about my journey to publication.

My debut children's book, Pond Magic, an Aussie Chomp, Penguin Australia, will be released on the 30th August to much fanfare on this blog and the Pond Magic facebook page. If you are on facebook please pop over to Pond Magic and 'like' the page. We now have 242 fans and my main character, Lily, answers all posts left on the page. Why don't you leave a comment and get to know her better? And don't forget to suggest the page to your friends! Lily needs 1,000 fans before I let her off the page... Mean, I know.

AND... Today's news is that my first website has gone 'live'. http://www.angelasunde.com/

Below is the illustration I completed for my website. Two little kids in an apple tree. You know my aunt's nickname for me when I was small was 'Blossom'...

I would love it if you would visit the site, test it out, let me know of any problems or hiccups and even send me a message on the 'contact' link. I can't wait to hear from you all!

See you there....

Pointing the IP

2010-08-13T16:55:00.002+10:00

Do you get frustrated with IT language? I never learnt it at school. We grew excited if we were shown slides with the black curtains closed.

Today I am trying to publish my website and my domain server has told me something entirely different to my website host builder. It's a good thing I'm a natural at foreign languages, because the German subjunctive mood is nothing compared to this. And just what is an A record anyway? The Monkees?

"The host name the A record links to. You can enter @ to map the record directly to your domain.
Points to IP Address
The IP address from which you want to link your domain.
TTL
The time increment for which the server should cache the information."

Does this time increment mean how long the server will take to point the IP? And I think I know what IP stands for... It's the Idiot Person who decided to design and publish her own website without any help from others.

So I chose one hour for the TLL to point the A record to the IP. (Oh, listen to me. I'm talking IT.) I'm thinking if it works I should go live in about 45 minutes time. Fingers crossed...

Step by Step Illustration

2010-08-11T17:01:00.001+10:00

Following on from the Process of Illustrating I thought I might share with you an illustration I've been working on for my website. Ah, yes... I've been designing a website for my transition from writer to author. I thought it would be a nice gift to myself and a whole lot of fun doing. First up, thank you so much to my darling daughter who discovered the host website builder wix and who started me off on this adventure. She's not afraid to have a go and press as many buttons, change options and generally fiddle around with things. When I was little my mum always told me off for fiddling with things and Dad often thought I might break something, so understandably I am somewhat reticent to do so. But, no more! I am very proud of my new creation. It's almost as much fun as writing and illustrating.

If you're looking for a free website builder, check out http://www.wix.com/

Back to the illustration. I did some sketches for it quite a while ago and I'm too embarrassed to show them, but here is the last pencil sketch which I scanned onto the computer and then copied onto watercolour paper just to play around with the colour scheme.

As you know, I've got a thing for apple trees and here two little children are sitting in an apple tree (this one isn't high off the ground) reading a picture book. The girl is munching on an apple and looking over her brother's shoulder. I always love the crunch of a fresh apple when reading. Don't you?

Once I was happy with the colours I traced the sketch onto A3 size Archers 300gm watercolour paper using the lightbox my husband made for me. (He is such an angel). Then, undecided whether to actually do a wash for the background, I started with the tree and the children. Here is the first wash on the good copy.

I then did a blue wash for the sky and another in green for the leaves, darkened certain areas and dulled some of the tones. The finishing touches were done with colour pencil - Derwent Artists and Prismacolor. My set of Prismacolor was a Christmas present last year and I find them so different - creamier, richer. It will take me a while to get used to them. I mainly used them for the apples in the foreground and the boy's shirt.
Now, you're probably waiting to see the finished result. Sorry, but it will only be revealed with the launch of my website, which is in the next few days.

The website doesn't have a name, but I guess you could call it 'In the Apple Tree'.

The Process of Illustrating

2010-07-21T20:23:00.000+10:00

The wonderful Sarah Davis is an Australian children's book illustrator I greatly admire. In 2009 Sarah won the Children's Book Council of Australia Crichton Award for her illustrations in 'Mending Lucille', written by Jennifer Poulter. Mending Lucille tells the story of a little girl whose mother has passed away.

On her website Sarah has very generously shared her illustration process from initial idea for first rough to final artwork. To visit Sarah's website and her explanation of the step by step process for Mending Lucille click here: Mending Lucille

Illustration Workshop Review and Feedback

2010-07-21T11:56:00.000+10:00

With two small suitcases loaded with picture books and reference books, notes and handouts, hand drawn posters and blue tack I arrived at the Gold Coast Art School fully prepared to indulge in the passion that is children's picture books and their illustration. When I looked at the amount I had prepared, I wondered whether we would get through half of it. But with two decades of teaching experience I know how to pace a lesson and not allow myself to be side-tracked.

Luckily for me I had a group of intelligent and passionate artists and writers. Together we looked at the genre and its mediums, themes, qualities and messages. The day was broken into topics like: Narrative and Visual Structure, Visual Narrative, Page Layouts, Characterisation, Storyboarding, Dummy books and Submission to a publisher.

We studied carefully the elements above in relation to the following books: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham, The Important Things by Peter Carnavas, Amy and Louis by Libby Gleeson, illustrated by Freya Blackwood, and Mutt Dog by Stephen Michael King.

The participants were given an exercise in analysis of one of the books where they looked at colour, space, movement, composition, perspective and pacing. Later in the day they storyboarded the text to one of my picture book manuscripts. Interestingly their page breaks were almost identical to mine.

I forgot my camera. I can't believe it. I had so wanted to post some photos of my workshop at the Gold Coast Art School. Instead I thought I'd include some of the feedback I received at the end of a very busy day.

"I have attended many workshops and classes on creative writing, but yours was 'spot on' in addressing children's picture books. Your storyboard workshop was particularly helpful."

"The workshop was informative and professional. Angela was happy to share her personal journey in illustrating so we could avoid the pitfalls. Having self-published, I would have loved to have this info prior to my experiences."

"What an amazing amount of info, but easily understood. Well presented and explained to a complete novice - maybe this is a new direction for me!"

It was such a fun day for me also and I would happily re-pack those suitcases and present this workshop again tomorrow. Any takers?

Workshop on Illustrating Children's Books

2010-07-05T11:13:00.003+10:00

Ever wondered how to go about illustrating a children’s picture book?

During this one day workshop at the Gold Coast Art School I will take you through the process step by step as you learn to develop a visual narrative to a supplied text (or you may bring your own).

From sketching preliminary roughs, developing characters, storyboarding, page layouts, creating a dummy book to preparing artwork for submission, all areas will be covered, including how to approach a publisher. This workshop may also be suitable for the children’s writer who would like to improve their writing with a greater understanding of the picture book genre and the approach illustrators take when deciding on page breaks, sub-plots etc. It is not necessary to be able to draw for this workshop.

Workshop presenter:
Angela Sunde
Children’s Author and Illustrator
• Pond Magic, an Aussie Chomp, Penguin Australia, 2010.
• 3rd Place Award Picture Book Illustration, Children’s and Young Adult Conference 2009 http://www.cyaconference.com/

Workshop Date:
Sunday 18th July
9.30am – 4pm

Workshop Venue:
The Gold Coast Art School
http://www.artschool.com.au/
57 Nerang Street
Southport

See more here: Chee Chee and Mia

Lights Out

2010-06-29T12:36:00.002+10:00

Today I am guest blogger on The Soup Blog's 'Lights Out' series of posts by children's writers and illustrators, telling what they used to read as children after they were sent to bed. Find out what my brother used to do to scare me after lights out...

The Soup Blog lets you know what’s going on behind the scenes of Alphabet Soup magazine, an Australian magazine for children aged 6 to 12 who love books and creative writing. The Lights Out series of posts is to celebrate their new Undercover Readers Club for kids. Check it out.

Pond Magic is on facebook

2010-06-04T20:57:00.000+10:00

Pond Magic now has its own facebook page and my main character, Lily, is in charge of posting comments on the wall.

If you pop in, you can say hello to her and get to know her better. She's not too pleased to be there. Like any 'tween' Lily would rather be chatting to her friends on msn.

However, she has to stay put until the Pond Magic page reaches 1,000 fans. Today we reached 50, and Lily is starting to panic. Can you help her to escape?

'Pond Magic' Book Cover - World Exclusive

2010-06-02T13:09:00.000+10:00

My book, Pond Magic, an Aussie Chomp, will be published by Penguin Australia on the 30th August 2010 and will be available in bookshops from that date on. If you would like a copy, it is just a matter of asking your bookseller to order one (or heaps) in.

I'm very excited. The last edit has been sent back to the publisher, and this very minute Pond Magic is being marketed to booksellers around Australia. After months of editing and re-writing, a perfectly formed book is winding its way to a bookshelf near you. Aren't you just a bit excited too?

For a sneak peek at what it's all about, here is the back cover blurb:

Twelve-year-old Lily Padd's name is the least of her problems: she can't stop burping, her skin seems to be going green and now she has webbing growing between her toes! Can she really be turning into a frog? As if that isn't bad enough, an exchange student from France has come to stay and Lily's best friend, Maureen, thinks he's gorgeous. Why has Lily's life become so confusing, and will things ever be normal again?

When I first sent Pond Magic off into the world in its manuscript form, I was more than hopeful. This was a good story, and when finally accepted by my publisher, she described it as "delightfully funny".

But to ensure Pond Magic's success while it sat on publishers' slush piles, waiting to be read, I regularly visited my local bookstore and library and sought out the shelf with authors beginning with 'S'. Then, when I found my alphabetical spot between the 'St' and the 'Sv', I put my hand in between the books either side of where mine might one day sit and made room for Pond Magic, pushing the other books aside to create a gap.

Then I wished and imagined positive outcomes.

My writing buddy laughed one day when she saw me do this. But, hey, positive thinking works!

Now, I have been dying to show everyone the cover, illustrated by the talented artist Lisa Coutts. I am thrilled with Lisa’s interpretation of the main character, Lily, and her horror at turning green. It just makes me giggle.

And now, for the first time anywhere, I would like to proudly unveil Pond Magic to the world...

Taaa...Daaa...!

The cover artwork is copyright Lisa Coutts. The cover design is copyright Penguin Group Australia.

You will notice there is a distinctively 'French' feel to the front cover. The scrolly title reminds me of French wire garden furniture and the pink and black colour scheme has my imagination running riot when it comes to planning my launch. Ooh, la la!

And of course there are the French roses, the picture of the Eiffel Tower, bottles of 'Paris' and 'Chanel' style perfumes. Hmmm, a definite theme happening here, a certain, 'Je ne sais quoi.' Lisa has done such a great job, don't you think?

I love it!

Pond Magic's Release into the World

2010-05-12T23:01:00.000+10:00

I am very proud to announce the release date of my first publication, Pond Magic (an Aussie Chomp).

It has just been posted on the Penguin Website as the 30th August 2010.

Now I can start organising some launches.

Champagne anyone?

The Important Things

2010-05-09T15:12:00.000+10:00

It's Mother's Day today and time to consider the important things in your life. Family comes to mind first. My children and my husband are my most cherished blessings. I also cherish the other women in my family - my mother-in-law, my sister, my sister-in-laws, my close girl friends and I wish them a very Happy Mother's Day. Some of my friends have no children ,but they have 'mothered' and mentored so many young lives over the years that in my mind Mother's Day is for them also. The children of this world are a shared responsibility and everyone in society has a role to play.

But have you ever stopped to think about the other 'important things' in your life? Not people - things. You probably have an object in your home which you cherish because of the memory it brings or the person who owned it previously. I know I have many: my children's baby clothes, the toy my mother knitted for me when I was little, my wedding dress... A particularly important object of mine is my mother's first driver's licence from 1955. She was only 19 years old and no one in her family even owned a car, so it was quite an achievement.

You may never have stopped to wonder whether children also have 'things' they consider to be very important. I know my husband did. Tucked in the back of his bedside cupboard is a childhood tin of 'important things' from his childhood. Things like his scout badge and ribbons from athletics and swimming. There's even a small box with nothing in it but some old cotton wool, and I'm wondering whether this might have been the tooth fairy box.

There's a picture book in this, you're thinking.

Sorry, it's already been done by the author/illustrator who is a master of finding a story with heart and then telling it on more than one level. That person is Peter Carnavas and his latest picture book is called 'The Important Things', New Frontier Publishing.

The story tells the emotional journey of a boy and his mother as they come to terms with an absent father/husband and their individual ways of coping with this loss. Adults reading the story will enjoy the heartfelt emotions displayed so gently by Peter's words and pictures, and children reading the story will have fun discovering the 'important things' as they re-appear one by one. It just goes to prove, what is important to one person may not be to another. I highly recommend this lovely book with its reassuring warm colours and vibrant images.

So of course, when Peter Carnavas came to the Marks and Gardner Gallery yesterday for the book launch of 'The Important Things', I was there.

Here are some pics taken on my phone. I hope you enjoy them.

Peter's publisher at New Frontier, Sophia Whitfield, talking about the book's journey to publication.

Peter Carnavas reading from 'The Important Things'

and showing us his sketch book where he played around with the characters

and his portfolio of roughs and finished artwork which is on display in the Marks and Gardner Gallery

Finally Peter does three sketches which he gives to children in the audience. This one is of the mother in the story, a wonderful mother who "did everything".

If you'd like to meet Peter Carnavas and see his work, Peter will be launching The Important Things at The Avid Reader bookshop in Westend, Brisbane at 10.30am on Sunday the 16th May (next weekend).

And the day before (Sat 15th May) he and Dr Virginia Lowe of Create a Kids' Book will be conducting a workshop in Brisbane for children's picture book writers and illustrators.

Guess where I'll be?

Giggle Worthy

2010-05-08T22:51:00.001+10:00

I'm a picture book lover. I read them. I buy them. I borrow them. I love them. So whenever there's a chance to attend a picture book launch, I'm there. Living on the Gold Coast I'm lucky in that I am no more than an hour's drive away from Brisbane, Byron Bay and Mt Tambourine. Even Ipswich is do-able.

And, on Mt Tambourine there is a secret garden hidden behind an art gallery cafe where magical book launches are held. The Marks and Gardner Gallery on Main Western Rd, North Tambourine is a popular weekend destination for me. Not only do they have delicious lunches and coffee, but also a permanent selection of children's book illustrations for sale.

The gallery also holds exhibitions of artworks by some of Australia's award winning illustrators of children's books. And for this reason alone it is worth the drive up the mountain past breathtaking scenery and local wineries. Whenever I need inspiration I go to Marks and Gardner and pour over their collection.

But that is not all.

They also have a well-stocked children's bookshop with many personally signed copies. Last month I went up for the launch of A Giraffe in the Bath by Mem Fox and Olivia Rawson and illustrated by Kerry Argent. Like gold to a picture book devotee, all three talented creators were present for the launch.

A Giraffe in the Bath is a giggle worthy collection of animals in nonsensical situations. As Mem Fox and Olivia Rawson read the story aloud to the crowd of more than three hundred on the lawn one little girl and her brother were squealing with laughter at each and every page. Well, "A giraffe in the bath - now does that make you laugh?"

Kerry Argent talking to the crowd

Mem and Olivia worked on the text together for more than a year and can now no longer remember who wrote what. The words are pared back to the simplest of sentences, which Kerry Argent has taken and interpreted with hilarious watercolour illustrations such as a walrus on the red carpet, "A walrus with a wiggle" and a croc on a skateboard, "A crocodile with style." I am in awe of Kerry's talent and her mastery of the watercolour medium.

Kerry Argent's illustrations from The Giraffe in the Bath are also on exhibition in the gallery for all of May. I could stand and study each one for hours. And the many children at the launch were also entranced by the original artworks and the beautiful use of colour.

So, if you're wondering what to do next weekend, take a drive to the Marks and Gardner Gallery on Mt Tambourine and be entranced by The Giraffe in the Bath exhibition of Kerry Argent's original artworks for sale. You can take them all home if you buy the book. And maybe they still have some signed copies left.