I am working on a new children’s series, which will be seven books in total. I have been writing this middle-fiction fantasy series since 2021. You may notice I never mention the title or concept. It might be six or seven years before publishing the first volume, so it’s best to keep things under wraps for now. However, there are aspects of book creation that can be shared without giving too much away. Alongside editing the second volume in the series, I am illustrating the first book. I have a whole history with writing and illustrating which I won’t go into in this post. Suffice it to say I ..read more

I have finished reading my fourth novel for 2024, Starcross, by Philip Reeve. Starcross, or The Coming of the Moobs! or Our Adventures in the Fourth Dimension! is a middle grade novel released by Reeve in October 2007. When I picked it up in a secondhand bookstore, I did not realize it was book number two of the Larklight trilogy. If I had realized it sat squarely between Larklight and Mothstorm, I might not have bought Starcross, but I’m glad I didn’t find out. I might have missed out on a fun read. I was immediately drawn by the size, the sturdy hardback cover, the fonts – the whole steampun ..read more

I have finished reading my seventeenth novel for 2023, The Secret of the Night Train, by Sylvia Bishop. Yes, I bought the book because of the title. Whenever I browse through a secondhand bookshop, I spend most of my time in the children’s section. We children writers know it’s all about the title, and we jive and jamb trying to find the best, hookiest, have-to-read-it titles for our books. Sylvia Bishop won the prize for best title (surely) for 2018. I couldn’t not buy it. Happily, the book lived up to its exciting title. The story starts in December, during the school holiday. Our French pro ..read more

I have finished reading my fifteenth novel for 2023, The Thieves of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence. Historical novels always hold an interest, but only when they are done well. I thought rather enviously that the idea for The Roman Mysteries series by Lawrence was an excellent one. She used the classic setup of children’s literature, a group of kids who must set out to solve a mystery but she set the stories (very convincingly) in Roman times. While the content is aimed squarely at the middle-grade reading level, this book seemed ideally suited to be read aloud between a parent and a child. Lawr ..read more

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG. November 1 question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participat ..read more

I have finished reading my thirteenth novel for 2023, Nevermoor, The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend. This book was a nice surprise. I was aware there was some hype around the series, but I had no idea what it was about. Being my genre – middle fiction fantasy – it was an easy choice when I found it at a local secondhand bookstore recently. I liked the quirky story premise of a cursed child doomed to die on her 11th birthday, instead being rescued to a fantastic place called Nevermoor. However, Morrigan can only stay in safety if she competes against other kids and wins the right ..read more

The Kiwi Author Pen Pal scheme is a collaboration between Kiwi authors and schools in New Zealand. The Kiwi Author Pen Pal was a scheme dreamed up by the team at The Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore. I have my books available through their online store, and their team of volunteers, Kate Gordon, Jo van Dam, and Jenn Rackham, invited all the authors selling books on their site to participate in the project. I signed up and they matched me with a Year 6 class at the Remarkables Primary School in Queenstown. A spectacular scenic place I have never been to. As their author pen pal, I kicked off the proceeding ..read more

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. October 4 question: The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. Acco ..read more

They say it’s not what you know it’s who you know. A good friend of mine, who is the CEO of her own company and on the board of many others, introduced me to publicist, Karen McMillan back in 2019. We met at a cafe near her home, and we spent an hour or more getting to know one another. Karen has proved a helpful touchstone since then, answering all my questions and giving me precious insight. As well as being a successful author, she runs her agency as a literary publicist, Lighthouse PR. I hired Karen when I released my trilogy, The Chronicles of Aden Weaver, in 2020. She organized media rel ..read more

I have finished reading my thirteenth novel for 2023, Tales of the Great Beasts by Brandon Mull. Another installment from the Spirit Animals world, this is #0.5, a “prequel”. The prequel is by nature always going to be anticlimactic, nevertheless, I enjoyed the read. The stories follow the traditional beaten path, young heroes overcoming themselves to confront the foe – and with the assistance of the Great Beasts – the good guys face the inevitable war. One point of difference, however, is that the books are written by various authors. Another point of difference for this series is that the bo ..read more