Sally Murphy's Blog, page 60

Things that made me smile this morning

Things that made me smile this gorgeous February morning:

The tousleheadedness of assorted Murphlets as they came out of their rooms after I woke them. Some mornings this worries me (how will we ever get it tidy in time for school), but this morning it just reminded me of when they were little.
Seeing a pod of dolphins just off shore when I walked along the beach. I love dolphins.
Working out a

Happy Dancing with My Pearl

I am drinking a glass of virtual bubbles tonight!

I am really excited to announce that Pearl Verses the World has been honoured in the USA, as a Capitol Choices Noteworthy Book for Teens.  You can see the listing here, and also read more about the Capitol Choices lists.


And, while we're on the subject of Pearl, the stage adaptation of the book is going to running in Canberra from May 18. I was

When the Reviewer Gets Reviewed

I've been reviewing books for more than ten years, mainly for my own book review site, aussiereviews. I love sharing the word about books with readers and, along the way, promoting the work of wonderful Australian creators and publishers. But it wasn't until my own books were published and, subsequently, reviewed that I understood the impact of a review.
Reviews are important, in my opinion, for

366 Books January Update

It's a new month, which means one month of my National Year of Reading challenge has passed. If you haven't been reading my posts, or following my updates on Twitter or Facebook, I'll explain.

This year is the National year of Reading here in Australia. Hooray! A whole year of focus on one of life's great treasures. All around the country there are events,promotions and challenges

Things that made me smile this morning

Another glorious Monday morning in Murphy-world.

Things that made me smile this morning:

One. Waking up with the knowledge that my beloved is here with me for another week, instead of 300km away like he usually is on Mondays.

Two. Diving into my pool and swimming a dozen laps of butterfly (it is not a big pool). At the start of the summer I could manage about 5.

Three. Swimming along the

366 Books - First Update

It's 20 days since I woke up on New Years Day and decided (a little impulsively) to set myself a challenge - to read 366 books this year (you can read my initial post on this here). So I thought it might be time for an update.

So far, I'm right on track - I've managed 20 books in 20 days. This is my list so far:



1. Straight Line to My Heart Bill Condon Allen & Unwin Young

Busy Week

I'm having a busy week (who am I kidding? Every week is a busy week) but just wanted to share a couple of exciting happenings.

Firstly, on Sunday the new-look Aussiereviews went live. I've been running the site for over ten years, focusing on reviewing Australian books, and the site was well overdue for an overhaul. My lovely daughter did the new design, and I spent quite a bit of time

Confessions

If you want to know more about me, pop over to Monica Kade's Career Confessions blog where you'll find me answering her questions about my writing career. While you're there, check out the confessions by a whole range of inspirational people.

Enjoy!

Things that made me smile this morning

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366 Books in 366 Days

Happy New Year to you!  I had a pretty awesome 2011 but am really excited about the promise of a brand new year and loving that 2012 is the National Year of Reading. Also really excited about my role as local ambassador for Bunbury, WA.

I had toyed with the idea of a reading meme for the National Year of Reading, but there are so many other really good ones already that I hesitated to add