Kiah Thomas – Putting her best foot forward Part 3

So far in this interview with children’s author, Kiah Thomas, we’ve heard about the ‘nuts and bolts’ of writing and publishing, and we got to know some of her great picture books. In this instalment, we look at how Kiah is linked in to a writing community and how that helps, as well as discover […]

Read more
Catherine Pelosi – The Perfect Formula Part 1

Today I welcome Catherine Pelosi to the JWFK blog. Catherine’s mid-grade novel about science and inventions, Quark’s Academy, was released earlier this year and she was invited to speak about it recently at an international festival in the United Arab Emirates! Her picture book, Something For Fleur is released next month (check out the invitation […]

Read more
The remarkable Tim Harris

Tim Harris knows how to write funny. His wildly popular Exploding Endings series has been nominated by children and shortlisted for the YABBA awards (book 1). Initially self published, his four Exploding Endings are now published by Harbour Press and his new release mid-grade, Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables is published by Penguin Random House. For all this […]

Read more
The D Word – Diversity at the AAA

Well, the dust has well and truly settled on the The CBCA  Anticipate, Appreciate, Applaud (AAA) shortlist announcement in March this year, and in my mind, the gold has sifted to top to be extracted here in this post. The day started with Freya Blackwood speaking on ‘Escape to the everyday’ and the adventures that […]

Read more
So- how did you go?

At the beginning of last year I posted this matrix of things to do spread throughout the year. I think it’s a good strategy for everyone to review their goals from time to time, and when better than at the beginning of the year? So, how did you go with these goals and what were […]

Read more
Reflecting on 2016 with the JWFK Team

2016 has been a tremendously eventful year on the blog, with establishing the Directory, a cascade of amazing interviewees and guest posters, and invaluable tips and news updates made available. And I couldn’t have done it all without the support and dedication of my wonderful team of bloggers and the Australian kidlit community. So, thank […]

Read more
In the Presence of Giants

The title of this article might seem a misnomer given the physical stature of both Margaret Wild and Julie Vivas, however there is no doubt about their giant status in the picture book world. It was an absolute pleasure to hear them speak in conversation with Belinda Murrell at the CBCA Northern Sydney sub-branch Christmas […]

Read more
Deborah Kelly – Star Ascending Part 2

In Part 1 of this interview with Deb Kelly, we found out how she got started on the road to writing books for children. This week we focus more on how the books came to be picked up for publication and the setbacks and encouragements along the way: Deb, can you tell us the path […]

Read more
Ten Interesting Facts: CBCA book of the year awards 2016

This week my local CBCA Sub-branch listened to an address by Book of the Year judge, Cathie Tasker about the awards and judging process. These are ten items of interest I thought I’d share from this talk: 1. It is important to note that the CBCA Book of the year awards are judged for literary […]

Read more
Writers Action Matrix

I thought the beginning of the year was an apt time to put together a visual writer’s action matrix for those who want to progress on their writing path this year. These are all actions that have progressed my writing, my understanding of the industry and my sense of belonging to a supportive community of […]

Read more
%d bloggers like this: