Hey cHEwY gum gums

Once again, sorree for the lack of blogs last month, but rest assured that I was busy working on STUFF HAPPENS, a new series for Penguin. The first four books are coming out soon, with awesome authors such as Will Kostakis, Phillip Gwynne, Andrew Daddo and many more…so I’m in good company hehe.

Kevin’s bookish story is taking shape, it’s morphing into a touching tale of friendships. Less is more. Simple but true. I’ve stripped away many of the other themes to give Kevin the best chance to thrive. I’ll have to tweak it here and there, to fit into the STUFF world. I’m super excited to read the first few books, so I can get a feel for the characters and I can’t wait to have them visit Kevin’s story. The name could change, but Kevin sounds alright hehe.

After a few weeks of writing, I had a series of days at schools around Minto and Macquarie Fields, doing writing workshops. This is the shot in the arm that I needed because when you’re cooped up in your own world for too long, you kinda forget how it feels like to be in a classroom. I’m blessed to be a teacher/author who can walk into schools to get a taste of classroom life. I’ve met some kids who are potential classic characters for STUFF and Nobody’s Prefect (notice that change, it’s no longer Nothing’s Prefect now). I’ve been jotting down observations of classrooms, students, school dynamics…some weird and funny, that I will use to build up my own school for Nobody’s Prefect.  It’s something that I preached when I’m in workshops. Write what you love. Write about your life. I need a mix of school visits to keep me fresh and also to re-affirm that I’m on the write track 🙂

A few weeks ago, I attended the book launch of one of my beloved friends, Toni Brisland for her latest books, DemiChat and the Lost Mummy…as well as being a guest speaker for the first CBCA Northern Sydney Sub-branch meeting. It was a madcap talk that summed up my journey so far. And I’m itching to start the next part of my journey!

Next week I’ll be in China for the Aussie Writers Week and while some people would get excited seeing the Forbidden Temple and Great Wall, I’m going to scream when I see McDonalds and KFC. It’s true, I love my junk food hehe. I remember screaming when I saw Wendy Hamburgers in Auckland last year. The program’s being finalised but it’s a mix of uni, school and festival visits, with a stand up gig thrown in too! More on that soon, I’ll see if I can update my blog while I’m over there, I know I can’t use Facebook so this may be the place to get some news!

Stay tuned and I’ll do my best to keep you posted regularly 🙂

O.W