Life is what happens when you're making other plans - personally I blame John Lennon. So my uber-fit SO has gone and damaged himself playing soccer (ruptured ACL most likely) leaving me as sole taxi-driver for the foreseeable future. I do not like driving (just a touch phobic really) and avoid it wherever possible. And his excuse is better than any excuse I can come up with to get out of all the chores that need doing. Yesterday we went to hire some crutches, today we are off to the sports medicine specialists over in the hinterlands, and I'm not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow. Poor thing - it is a cruel twist of fate that sporty people, who by their very nature find it difficult to put their feet up and do nothing, are often forced through injury to put their feet up and do nothing. Couch potatoes on the other hand, who are not really using their limbs, don't get injured at all. I guess the couch manufacturers are happy either way.
I was surprised (and gratified) to hear that my picture book The Were-Nana had recently topped the library list at Owairaka Primary, a school I visited at with Kyle Mewburn last year. And I have been invited to Greenhithe School for an author visit next month as my book is popular there also. I hadn't expected this second wave of interest and activity so long after publication but I am delighted it is happening and very excited and happy to go and meet the children who have been reading it.
The Bologna Childrens Book Fair is on soon and as a member of the NZ chapter of SCBWI my books will get a bit of an airing over there. Thanks to Frances Plumpton, regional SCBWI organiser and one of the few children's author agents in NZ who is taking over a heavy suitcase so she can tout local members books. I made up a little brochure about myself to accompany my books and I'm hoping that at least one gets taken away. Someone once said that taking an author to a book fair is like taking a cow to an abattoir but I have heard rave reports from attending authors and if I could ever get myself there I would love to go, just to see the books, the hopeful artists gallery, feel the atmosphere and try and understand the process. I guess if you are a hot property it is easy to feel the love. If no one knows who you are I guess it might be depressing and disappointing, so the best strategy might be anonymity. I'd be happy to be an anonymous author in a small but perfectly formed italian town on a book jag.
Showing posts with label The Were-Nana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Were-Nana. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2010
Monday, April 20, 2009
How crafty...
We don't know how lucky we are to have Fifi Colston in our midst. She is incredibly multi-talented and an all round fabulous person. Today she made clever crafts based around The Were-Nana on the Good Morning show on TV1. You can go check out her work here. Thank you Fifi. Me and Stella Rosa love you oodles.
I had a text from my eldest today, currently in Tampa, Florida. Both girls competed on the weekend in their respective teams in a warm up competition for the Cheerleading Worlds next weekend. Both teams scored extremely well and consequently did well and both were recognized with additional awards, the senior team got the Spirit Award and the junior team got Most Entertaining. Its moments like this that I curse not getting on that plane with them. What was I thinking! They sound like they are having a wonderful time and looking forward to their week ahead. And I bet they are wearing t-shirts and shorts. Okay, okay, my son, still here with us in Auckland, is wearing t-shirts and shorts too but his thermostat is hinky and I am getting round in long trousers, sweatjackets and shoes and socks (and still feeling a little cold).
In writing news I am making slow but very useful progress on the WIP. I've had a few good minor plot ideas that are adding tension and driving everything along in the right direction. Just when I think I have it sussed, my brain shows me something I didn't expect. Go brain. I love how creativity works, except I am at a loss as to how to explain it to anyone else. I still grab at the word magic when I try. Maybe its best unexplained. If we understood it, it wouldn't be magic anymore.
I also checked out a lovely post yesterday by Toni McGee Causey here about when to quit (this insane business) and loved her conclusion which was:-
You quit when you want something else, more. You quit when you have another dream that means more to you.
I think about quitting regularly but haven't managed to follow through yet and now thanks to Ms McGee Causey I know why. I have never read it summed up better and I will be pinning this up somewhere I can see it everyday. Maybe you should too...
I had a text from my eldest today, currently in Tampa, Florida. Both girls competed on the weekend in their respective teams in a warm up competition for the Cheerleading Worlds next weekend. Both teams scored extremely well and consequently did well and both were recognized with additional awards, the senior team got the Spirit Award and the junior team got Most Entertaining. Its moments like this that I curse not getting on that plane with them. What was I thinking! They sound like they are having a wonderful time and looking forward to their week ahead. And I bet they are wearing t-shirts and shorts. Okay, okay, my son, still here with us in Auckland, is wearing t-shirts and shorts too but his thermostat is hinky and I am getting round in long trousers, sweatjackets and shoes and socks (and still feeling a little cold).
In writing news I am making slow but very useful progress on the WIP. I've had a few good minor plot ideas that are adding tension and driving everything along in the right direction. Just when I think I have it sussed, my brain shows me something I didn't expect. Go brain. I love how creativity works, except I am at a loss as to how to explain it to anyone else. I still grab at the word magic when I try. Maybe its best unexplained. If we understood it, it wouldn't be magic anymore.
I also checked out a lovely post yesterday by Toni McGee Causey here about when to quit (this insane business) and loved her conclusion which was:-
You quit when you want something else, more. You quit when you have another dream that means more to you.
I think about quitting regularly but haven't managed to follow through yet and now thanks to Ms McGee Causey I know why. I have never read it summed up better and I will be pinning this up somewhere I can see it everyday. Maybe you should too...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Shiny new things...
A big package arrived in the post for me today. Sadly not a suitcase full of money which i regularly wish for on fallen eyelashes. Nope, today i got my first posting from the University of Canterbury for the Image and Narrative paper I am taking towards a Diploma in Children's literature. I felt smarter straightaway and then I opened the package. Memories of my extramural Bachelor of arts degree (in English) came flooding back. Assignment cover sheets, barcoded stickers and instruction sheets along with the shiny fat study guides all crisp and inviting. On the second page was my very first assignment. I am excited and nervous - what have i done? I will keep you posted on whether it was a good idea or not.
In an even more exciting development, my picture book, The Were-Nana, is to be read on Radio NZ's storytime this Sunday (Feb 15) morning. This has never happened to any of my stories before (although my article on cheerleading was put on CD by Learning Media and the anthology Dare and Double Dare including my story Rush has been recorded for the blind). In a surprising twist I only learnt about it third hand, via a friend who heard it from another friend who heard it mentioned on the radio whilst in her car. I would have thought there might be some official notification. Thank you Jill and Stina. Even google hasn't alerted me on this one even though there it is mentioned on the National radio website. I am fascinated by the prospect of someone other than me reading my story aloud (although I know schoolteachers and librarians are already doing it but this seems to take it one step further). I am full of happy and excited thoughts at the prospect and feel a bit honoured that it is happening to a story of mine.
In an even more exciting development, my picture book, The Were-Nana, is to be read on Radio NZ's storytime this Sunday (Feb 15) morning. This has never happened to any of my stories before (although my article on cheerleading was put on CD by Learning Media and the anthology Dare and Double Dare including my story Rush has been recorded for the blind). In a surprising twist I only learnt about it third hand, via a friend who heard it from another friend who heard it mentioned on the radio whilst in her car. I would have thought there might be some official notification. Thank you Jill and Stina. Even google hasn't alerted me on this one even though there it is mentioned on the National radio website. I am fascinated by the prospect of someone other than me reading my story aloud (although I know schoolteachers and librarians are already doing it but this seems to take it one step further). I am full of happy and excited thoughts at the prospect and feel a bit honoured that it is happening to a story of mine.
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