Zena Shapter's Blog, page 21

Book Sale to @IFWGAustralia! #TowardsWhite

Woo hoo! I’ve just sold my novel Towards White to the International Fantasy Writers’ Guild, or IFWG.

More on this to come over the following months, but the guys at IFWG are so excited to be bringing my novel to life and getting it into the hands of readers. What more could a writer want?

Squee!

 

“Towards White”

They know what’s going to happen to you… after you die.

When Becky’s brother goes missing in Iceland, she doesn’t care that their scientists have discovered what happens to the electrical energy in our brains after we die – she just wants her brother back.

 

Oooo, so what’s it all about?

Well, the conservation of energy theory states that one form of energy must always become another form. So, while our bodies can join the nitrogen cycle when buried to decompose, what happens to the electrical energy in our brains and nervous system? It must become another form of energy!

In my novel, Icelandic scientists have discovered what and how, and Becky’s brother goes to study their findings.

He goes missing.

Becky must travel to Iceland to find him, but when she gets there she doesn’t care much about the science, or the positive-thinking practiced by the Icelanders, she just wants the death threats she’s started receiving to stop. Having stumbled on something she thinks the Icelandic government wants covered up, Becky must piece together the answers fast… before she becomes a victim herself!

Watch this space!

I’ve Been Snapshot! #scifi #fantasy #books @AustSFSnapshot

The Australian speculative fiction snapshot series celebrates the breadth and depth of Australia’s speculative fiction scene by interviewing prominent writers, editors and booksellers in the industry. I was first interviewed for the series in 2012 (by David McDonald), then in 2014 (by Stephanie Gunn) and it’s an honour to be included again. This time, the lovely Greg Chapman has asked me five cunning questions:

What are you working on right now? Anything exciting?
You’ve got a whole bunch of novels listed as “available soon” on your website. What can you tell me about them? When will they be made flesh? Did you write them all back-to-back?
You seem to dabble within the many sub-genres of speculative fiction, but which area inspires you the most and why?
What Australian work have you loved recently?
Which author (living or dead) would you most like to sit next to on a long plane trip? Why?

To see what I had to say, just pop over to the official snapshot blog here. Then browse around the site to discover more about speculative fiction in Australia today! Follow @AustSFsnapshot on Twitter or ‘Australian Spec Fic Snapshot’ on Facebook for updates

What is a Writing Retreat? Culture Shock!

A lot of writers struggle to find the time to actually write. Among other things, we have family commitments, paid work, sleep and shiny things on the internet to juggle before any writing gets done. So I couldn’t wait for this weekend – an entire weekend of writing on a retreat with my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group! Woo hoo! And I had so much fun I thought I’d share it with you…

Firstly, the cost: For AU$260 I got a shared room in a gorgeous cottage at Raffety’s Resort on Lake Macquarie, a two-hour drive north of Sydney, and tonnes of food (see below!). My extended family were kind enough to give me cash for my birthday both this year and last so I could afford to go. Thank you for my present, family!

Transport: Most writers car-pooled to get to the resort, and arrived on Friday afternoon excited and keen to spend time together.

Schedule: Below is a schedule of our weekend’s planned activities, as well as photos from the trip. The structure was fantastic, giving us all plenty of quiet time to write, relaxed settings for socialising, alone-time, networking, brainstorming and chit-chat:

Friday 5 August

2pm – Retreat check-in. Use the facilities or just relax.

The first thing I did was go for a swim!

Our cottage.

The view from our cottage.

4-6pm – Current Projects meeting in Cottage 88, lead by Zena Shapter. BYO drinks & snacks.

6pm+ – BYO dinner and wine in Cottage 88.

Time for casual conversation about publishing, writing and life!

Also, guitar playing. Thanks for the entertainment, Chris and Rodney!

Later… Flamenco Dancing!

Saturday 6 August

BYO breakfast or visit the Jetty Junction Centre.

9am – PROMPT START. DR CAMS Room in the Conference Centre. Welcome and housekeeping. ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 1.

The Conference Centre.

I scored a great writing desk by a window.

The view outside my window.

10.30am – Morning tea of hot drinks, juice, a basket of fresh fruit and a stash of toasted banana bread with mascarpone.

Morning Tea!

10.50-11.00am – Q&A / Discussion lead by Sue Steggall (President of the Society of Women Writers NSW): The Way Forward For Emerging Writers – Feedback from the Emerging Writers Forum in Melbourne.

The lovely Sue Steggall.

11am-12.30pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 2.

Everyone writing away in beautiful silence…

…apart from Rick!

12.30-1pm – Lunch of sandwich/roll platters, fresh fruit kebabs, cheesecake, carrot cake and apple crumble.

1-1.30pm – Q&A / Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter: When Do You Give Up On A Manuscript?

1.30-3.30pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 3.

3.30-4pm – Afternoon tea of hot drinks, lemonade, a basket of fresh fruit, samosas, spring rolls, and chicken skewers.

4-5.30pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 4.

I had half an hour after the last writing session until my next commitment. So, time for another swim!

While I did laps, Alex and Kylie cheered me on from the spa.

6-7pm – Current Projects meeting in Cottage 92, lead by Zena Shapter. BYO drinks & snacks.

Another productive meeting!

7pm – Dinner at Al Lago restaurant, two-course a la carte menu. Choose on the evening from an Entrée and a Main Course, or Main Course & Dessert.

Dinner with the NBWG crew!

I chose the Pulled Lamb Shoulder Entree.

Then, Steak & Chips!

Talking into the night…

Sunday 7 August

BYO breakfast or visit the Jetty Junction Centre.

9am – PROMPT START. DR CAMS Room in the Conference Centre. ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 5.

10.30am – Morning tea of hot drinks, pineapple juice, a basket of fresh fruit and chocolate chip cookies.

10.50-11.00am – Q&A / Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter: What Makes The Best Author Talks For School Visits?

11am-12.30pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 6.

12.30-1pm – Lunch of fish & chips, make-your-own salad, sandwich/roll platters, fresh fruit, chocolate cake & banana bread.

Yummy lunch!

1-1.30pm – Q&A / Discussion facilitated by Zena Shapter and Kristin Prescott: Marketing & Promotion Advice For the Modern Author.

Zena Shapter & Kristin Prescott. (Photo: Chris Lake)

1.30-3.30pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 7.

3.30-4pm – Afternoon tea of hot drinks, lemonade, a basket of fresh fruit, cut fruit and savoury muffins.

4-5pm – ‘Ready, Steady, WRITE!’ Writing Session 8.

5pm – End of the Retreat

How to Get Kids Writing

Click to read Brandan & Ophelia’s stories from last year.

Earlier this week my 10-yr-old son Brandan and 9-yr-old daughter Ophelia were featured in our local newspaper, The Manly Daily, in an article encouraging more kids to get writing. This is Brandan and Ophelia’s third year entering our local council’s writing competition and their stories have received praise in the past. Between them they’ve received runner up prizes, highly commended certificates and encouragement awards. So the reporter wanted to know more about story-writing in our household, and asked Brandan and Ophelia for their top writing tips. They were thrilled!

We thought perhaps other families might want to know their tips too and, thinking about it, I have a few tips of my own to share…

Brandan’s Advice

“Let your imagination run free. When you’re writing there are no limits!”

Ophelia’s Advice

“Don’t think you’re going to lose, don’t think you’re going to win – otherwise you’ll be disappointed if you lose – don’t worry if your friends will laugh at you, kick that thought out of your head like a soccer ball. Just brainstorm what you know, then write, check and double-check!”

My Advice

PRACTICE. Think of writing like any other after-school activity, your kids will need to practice if they want to improve. All I ask from my children every birthday, Christmas and mothers’ day is for them to write me a story – it doesn’t matter what or who it’s about. They’ve written stories about their teddies, frogs, African safaris, rhinos, getting exploded, goo-goo worlds and other such crazy stuff! None of these stories will ever see the light of day, but it’s like kicking a ball in the back garden – they need to test themselves, see what works for them as individuals and what doesn’t. Why not ask your kids for a story for your next birthday?

ENTHUSIASM. When Ophelia was five, she wrote this story:

Once upon time there was a girl called Olivia. She was an adult. She was in love with Tom. She married Tom. She had kids. They had three kids.

Did I tell her it was too simple a plot with no threat of failure, climax or character arc? Of course not. The development of any new skill comes in stages. All anyone has to do is start, it doesn’t matter where. Praise every story your kids write. Offer a small piece of feedback perhaps, just one thing to note for next time, but it’s important to keep your young writers enthusiastic. The telling of stories is a valuable skill. The ability to communicate ideas will be useful in any career. So inspire your kids, not just with writing and books, but the stories they watch in movies and on television. Press pause and ask them where they think the story’s going – it will teach them about foreshadowing and plot structure. Ask them afterwards who was their favourite character and why – it will teach them about character development. Talk about the setting and atmosphere, what could have been cut, what could have been added – it will set their imaginations on fire!

Writing needs space to breathe!

SPACE IT OUT. Don’t make writing a chore. Writing can take time concentrating in solitude. The sunshine outside beckons. The digital beeps of their devices call to them. They want to laugh with friends and do craft. When there’s a long lead-in time, like with our local council’s writing competition, encourage your kids to space out their writing sessions. In week one, they can brainstorm for half an hour, talking through the topic and developing ideas. The next week they can write a first draft, not caring about word limits – they can just get their stories down, figure out the plot, worry about the rest later. The week after that they can edit their stories, deleting anything non-essential to the story they really want to tell, until their words fit the limit. The following week they can go back in and layer their stories with metaphor and adjectives. Finally, take a week’s break and do nothing. Then, right before anumber deadline, they can read their stories through one last time, polishing until they’re happy.

Fingers crossed my kids go well in this year’s competition! It’s so good that our local council runs writing competitions, supported of course by our local libraries. Sports and fitness is pretty big in our local area. No one expects their children to become sports stars, but encouraging kids to get active helps establish healthy habits that can last a lifetime. In the same way, your young writer might not become an internationally bestselling author or win a Pulitzer prize, but encouraging children to write can give them an outlet for their thoughts and ideas, freeing up their hearts, minds and souls.

So, what are you waiting for – get your kids writing!

Two Worlds Collide for The Kids’ Cancer Project

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to participate in the 2016 write-a-book-in-a-day challenge. I emphasize ‘lucky’ because if I were the parent of a child with cancer, I wouldn’t be able to spend a day writing… I probably wouldn’t be able to write at all. There’s nothing more heartbreaking for a carer than the idea of a child suffering, which is why this is my fourth year raising money for The Kids’ Cancer Project. It’s also why I’m writing this post! The write-a-book-in-a-day challenge continues until 31st August (why not get a team together and enter?!), so although I’ve now completed the challenge (woo hoo!) I can continue to raise money for a few more weeks.

Wanna sponsor me?

To complete the challenge, a group of writers have to write-a-book-in-a-day based on a set of parameters provided by The Kids’ Cancer Project. This year my Northern Beaches Writers’ Group team had to include in our story: a beautician, an escape convict, a spider, rubbish tip and kidnapping. Here’s the blurb of the story we created, The Time of the Jade Spider:

Fourteen-year-old Fingal O’Grady is convicted of theft and transported to Australia in the 1820s. Almost two centuries later, fourteen-year-old would-be beautician Abigail Harrington finds a mysterious spider amulet and their two worlds collide. When both children are kidnapped, they realise they’re in possession of an object with enormous power. The Peacock Spider of Tien Shan leads them on an exciting and dangerous journey where nothing is what it seems. Will Fin ever find his place in time?

Sound good? I hope so! Our story will now join our others in the kids’ library at Westmead Children’s Hospital for patients to read while awaiting treatment, and any money we raise through sponsorship will go directly towards research into childhood cancer (plus you get a tax receipt!). It’s a great charity!

It’s also a really tough challenge! Not only is it hard to create a story from scratch and write it in a day, it’s also hard to edit, illustrate, print and bind it! With collaborative writing, you have to leave your ego at the door as the majority rules no exceptions; you have to plan furiously; be meticulous about the beginnings and endings of each chapter so your story flows; work together to identify and fix plot holes, inconsistencies and character arcs; re-write to a strict deadline (or you’ll never get the story done!!); and trust the person who’s editing to smooth over the ‘voice’ of the story with yet further re-writes. That editor’s usually me, so I was absolutely shattered by the end of the day, though thoroughly chuffed with the result! Here’s my team’s somewhat tired smiles of celebration after we finished The Time of the Jade Spider:

Enormous thanks go to (left to right top row:) Kirsten Taylor, Mijmark, Kylie Pfeiffer, Sue Steggall, Chris Lake, (left to right bottom row:) Madi Duncan, Kristin Prescott and Leah Boonthanom for writing with me once again, for trusting me to polish your words, for all the yummy bakies and food that sustained us on Saturday, for laying out the book so beautifully (Leah!), the fabulous illustrations (Mijmark and Sue!) and being so supportive of each other.

For anyone interested in writing collaboratively, these writer pals of mine have blogged in more depth about this year’s and past write-a-book-in-a-day challenges:

Kristin Prescott’s Blog – great step-by-step tips

Tony McFadden’s Blog – how to ensure your book doesn’t have multiple writing voices

Chris Lake’s Blog – humorous insight into the write-a-book-in-a-day experience from beginning to end

If you’re interesting in supporting The Kids’ Cancer Project, then please do one of the following:

sponsor the Northern Beaches Writers’ Group’s NBWG team via this link
buy books we wrote in previous years, then published to continue raising money for this amazing charity via this link

Finally, here are some photos from Saturday’s challenge…

Up at dawn! It takes a while to get to our collaborative writing space, set up and be ready to brainstorm by 8am!

After plotting our story, it’s time to write!

Kris, Leah and Chris printing.

Kris and Sue binding the finished book!

Frazzled!!

Thank you to everyone who’s donated so far, and hopefully more names will appear on our sponsorship list over the next few weeks!

Would You Live Off-Grid?

It wouldn’t be just the kids playing down here!

As a writer of speculative fiction, I often think about the future. I love disaster and apocalyptic stories, and sometimes wonder if I should do more to prepare for possible calamity. On a basic level, I should probably keep some bottled water and tins of beans in the garage. We once had a power cut for a couple of days and that was disaster enough!

An underground shelter is a great idea, though my kids would probably just use it as a play thing.

Of course if we really wanted to get prepared, we could live off-grid and be self-sufficient. Apparently, all we’d need are some solar panels, a veggie garden (field?!), fish pond, chickens, cows and a filtration system. Sounds easy right?

It certainly looks good! I’m not a keen gardener, though, and would really miss wi-fi and the cinema, so perhaps ‘homesteading’ is a bit of a fantasy for me. One of my works-in-progress is a novel set in a self-sufficient community in the Australian bush, so if we’re talking about fantasy I can at least live there whenever I want!

There’s certainly something empowering about the idea of living independently, and there are some really magnificent pre-made self-sufficient homes on the market to make the idea tempting. This ‘Tinywood Home’ comes with a hot tub!

You can get creative too, building homes from all kinds of things, like hay, old beer bottles, tyres or even a shipping container:

Or many shipping containers:

The sky’s the limit! How about a ‘simple’ caravan?

Imagination is one thing, however, practical demand for such radical lifestyle change is another. So I put a poll on Twitter to ask how many people might actually be interested in going off-grid. I figured a high interest among my part-cyber social media pals would indicate a high interest in the general population. Here are the results:

A few discussions also circulated following on from the poll, which can be summarised as follows:

“I like going off-grid for short periods – walks in the bush, camping, isolated retreats to recharge the mind and soul – but I wouldn’t want to live off-grid permanently.”

“No way, I need my wi-fi!”

“It’s appealing, but I love my buses, shops, hospitals, and home delivery!”

“I love gardens but they don’t love me.”

“Give me enough books and I’d be fine.”

“We’re pulling the plug in five years.”

“It’s a metric of privilege to be able to choose.”

How true. It would be brave and exciting for 67% of us to set up a self-sufficient home, practical too given the impending apocalypse(!). But realistically most of us need society as much as society needs us. We’re too integrated into the system to leave. School and parents no longer teach us the farming skills we’d need to make such a home thrive. The hub and inter-connectivity of modern life has us comfortable.

So it’s settled then, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll have to stick to exploring the concept through my stories, using my imagination to dream ‘what-if’, and cope with the future when it brings whatever it’s going to bring.

What about you? If you had the privilege to choose, would you live off-grid?

Why Isn’t Your Family Watching Doctor Who?! Five Reasons They Should…

I’ve been watching Doctor Who since I was eight years old. I used to be terrified by its monsters. Each adventure swept me away so convincingly I often felt something was coming to get me. Still, I looked forward to every – single – episode.

Now that I’m a mum, and my two children are old enough, we’ve started watching Doctor Who as a family and I couldn’t be happier. Not only do I get to enjoy re-runs already knowing and appreciating each season’s overall story arc, but I can see it making my kids better human beings.

Better, you ask, how so?

Well, here are five things the modern seasons of Doctor Who teaches…

WARNING: SPOILERS!!

1. You Make Better Decisions In A Group

Whenever Doctor Who travels alone, he makes mistakes. In each episode he finds himself in a difficult situation facing impossible choices. Important decisions like that should never be made by a single person acting alone, as there are so many options in life, and multiple brains thinking together can better identify the most appropriate course of action. When Doctor Who has no one to talk things through with it leads to bad decisions. As parents, we want our kids to communicate with us, talk problems through with us and their closest friends. Doctor Who teaches them that this is the correct procedure!

2. Different People Perceive The Same Thing In Different Ways

To most characters in Doctor Who, he is a hero. But to others he is the predator, the storm, the beast, the valeyard… In helping one world or community, he might disadvantage or even destroy another. He tries to be as fair as possible and ensure no one suffers. But you can’t please everyone. The same is true in real life. No matter what you do, it’s never going to be good enough for everyone. So just do your best and leave it at that. I don’t want my kids worrying about how they’re perceived by every – single – kid – at – school.

3. Sometimes Love Means Sacrifice

To make love work, you need to compromise. Of course in Doctor Who this is taken to extremes – so Rory waits for Amy for two thousand years and the impossible girl throws herself into the doctor’s timeline to stop all his good work unravelling. I’m constantly telling my kids to treat others how they wish to be treated themselves. Now I just ask them, ‘did Amy want a weeping angel to consume her time-potential energy? No, but she did it so Rory wouldn’t be alone’, and they get it.

4. Attacking Isn’t Always Attacking

Some episodes of Doctor Who feature a monster attacking the doctor, his companion(s), the tardis or a group of people they encounter. At first it can be quite concerning! The writers are good at ramping up the tension! But more often than not the monsters turn out to have feelings too. They’re not attacking – they’re defending someone or something, trying to escape, seeking a new home, trying to rescue a loved one, in pain, or in need of help. The doctor finds out why they’re acting the way they do, and then helps to fix things. We should all be more like the doctor! Yes, there will always be monsters, plain and simple. But some monsters are only doing what we might do in the same situation.

5. Science is Fun, Clever is Fun

My inspired 9yr old daughter sketching characters from Doctor Who! She loves meeting new monsters so she can sketch them!

The scientific concepts and theories in Doctor Who are well-researched and well-explained. It’s great for teaching my kids about physics, biology and chemistry. More importantly, however, it’s presented in a fun way. Knowing things is fun. And if there’s one thing that all the characters in the show agree on, friends or enemies, it’s that the doctor is clever, and that makes him very powerful. Knowledge is power! And in watching Doctor Who my kids see this for themselves episode after episode. I want them to appreciate knowledge and learning. I want them to see it as fun too. So hurray for Doctor Who!

Of course there are plenty of other reasons why watching Doctor Who as a family is good – it’s thrilling and adventurous, it’s creative, it offers hope, as a writer of speculative fiction I find it personally inspiring, and snugging up on the sofa together to watch is my personal favourite!

Why don’t you give it a go? And if you already watch, what reasons can you add to my list?!!

Raising Money to Cure Kids’ Cancer with @KidsCancerProj @BelindaMurrell

On Saturday afternoon a bunch of lovely young readers, friends, family and writers, including the bestselling children’s author Belinda Murrell, came to Manly Library to support my continued fundraising for The Kids’ Cancer Project, this time through the launch of my co-authored children’s book Rider & the Hummingbird.

Rider & the Hummingbird is a ‘middle grade’ fiction novel, for 8-14 yr olds:

Fourteen-year-old Lan is a computer genius… and a prisoner. After poking around in exactly the wrong websites, Lan’s interest in drones has landed him in the High Country Youth Correctional Facility.

Not a good start.

Lan is resigned to his fate until he discovers that the mysterious hacktivist who framed him is part of a plot to kill thousands of people, including his mum and dad. With the help of Monk and his ferret, Lan breaks out of jail, and races to prevent a disaster that could change the face of Australia forever…

Rider & the Hummingbird has been in production for almost a year now, so it was wonderful to finally get my hands on copies a few days before the launch.

I was so glad they arrived in time! Phew!

Ah, lovely books! Both my children were at the boxes straight away, clawing for a copy. I made them wait until launch day! I know there ought to be perks when Mummy’s an author, but this book wasn’t written by me alone. It was co-written by my wonderful NBWG author buddies Leah Boonthanom, Madi Duncan, Chris Lake, Tony McFadden, Kylie Pfeiffer, Kristin Prescott and of course myself; edited by myself and Zoya Nojin; and illustrated by Liz Michell and Mijmark. What a team effort! Thank you, guys, for creating with me once again! Happy bookday!

Everyone getting ready for the launch of ‘Rider & the Hummingbird’…

Thanks for managing the book sales, Madi & Leah!

First things first, our lovely master of ceremonies Kris invited bestselling author Belinda Murrell to officially launch our book – thank you so much Belinda!!! You certainly got the crowd excited!

Belinda Murrell launches ‘Rider & the Hummingbird’!

Then I asked everyone: what is family? It was a rhetorical question, but of course someone put up their hand to answer – my daughter Ophelia! You can just about see her hand on the far left of this photo:

Family, I said (after explaining what I meant by ‘rhetorical question’), comes about through our blood and genes, our history and childhoods. But that kind of ‘blood’ family is not the only kind of family we have. Life brings us all many challenges, and our blood family might not always understand the difficulties we face. They have their own challenges to deal with of course, and sometimes, however much we might try to explain to them, reach out to them or try to include them in our lives, they simply cannot understand what we mean or need. In times such as those, we turn instead to a different kind of family – the family of circumstance. 

Classmates or workmates who click.
Friends who share our passions and interests.
People who can understand.

Today, I told everyone, I stand in a room full of family! Whether young or old, fan or writer, everyone was there because they knew that their presence would mean the world to us as writers and fundraisers, they understood both our passion and need for support while balancing work, health, art, family and children, and in our spare time… words.

Today, I said, our words bring you 14yr old Lan, who struggles to be understood by his own blood family. So he takes comfort in the family he finds through circumstance. As must we all, he learns to appreciate what support he can find when life doesn’t go his way. And boy oh boy, does life not go his way!

To give them a taste, I then read a passage from Rider & the Hummingbird. This is from Chapter 4:

Lan ran – fast. There was a fifty metre clearing around the fences, separating the compound from the dark forest. He had to get into the trees before any searchlights swept past. His heart pounded as his legs pumped hard. It felt like a marathon. Any moment a light might pinpoint him, catch him like a startled rabbit.

But he made it to the tree line and ploughed into thick undergrowth. Between breaths he listened for any shouts or unusual sounds from behind. Only the low hum of a generator rumbled through the night. He glanced back. Monk was nowhere to be seen. He was on his own, and all he could see in the dark were towering eucalypts, their scraggly tops silhouetted against the stars.

What happens next? What is the ‘family of circumstance’ he finds? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

I think I hid it well, but I was of course nervous giving my speech – the crowd by this time was snaking out the door!

Next Robert from The Kids’ Cancer Project spoke about the incredible work they’re doing, researching childhood cancers. The idea that our fundraising might actually help save the life of a child with cancer warmed all our hearts…

Lastly, we gave away two ‘lucky door’ prizes – artworks of illustrations from the book.

One of our artists, Mijmark, drawing out a raffle ticket – who’s the winner?!

And that was it. All over! Thank you everyone!

Me with Robert and Linda from The Kids’ Cancer Project

My amazing co-authors and illustrators posing with Belinda Murrell. L-R: Kylie Pfeiffer, Leah Boonthanom, me, Mijmark, Chris Lake, Madi Duncan, Kristin Prescott, Zoya Nojin, and Belinda Murrell.

Slowly the crowds drifted away and all we had to do was clean up…

…then relax!

Rider & the Hummingbird can be bought in all your favourite online retailers:

Amazon

Kobo

Fishpond

Please support us and thereby the very worthwhile Kids’ Cancer Project by buying a copy to read, or as a gift!

Alternatively, you can sponsor our group, the Northern Beaches Writers’ Group, in this year’s WABIAD challenge here.

You Are Invited To A Book Launch!

Happy Bookday, Rider & the Hummingbird! This exciting middle grade fiction novel was conceived just over nine months ago by a fabulous selection of writers and is now ready to meet the world. As one of those writers, it’s my pleasure to invite you to celebrate its launch on Saturday 11th June (that’s this coming Saturday!), 3pm-4pm at Manly Library, Sydney. Details are on the invite below. Please bring any 8-14 year olds you know! Our book won WABIAD’s National Best Book Award in 2015 and the internationally bestselling author Belinda Murrell (best known for her Lulu Bell series) will be doing the launching! Woo hoo!

The Blurb

Fourteen-year-old Lan is a computer genius… and a prisoner. After poking around in exactly the wrong websites, Lan’s interest in drones has landed him in the High Country Youth Correctional Facility.

Not a good start.

Lan is resigned to his fate until he discovers that the mysterious hacktivist who framed him is part of a plot to kill thousands of people, including his mum and dad. With the help of Monk and his ferret, Lan breaks out of jail, and races to prevent a disaster that could change the face of Australia forever.

The Extract

Lan tossed his dog-eared copy of CNET magazine over the side of his bunk. It hit the floor with a thunk and a crash. A crash? He glanced over the edge. His roommate had left half a glass of blackcurrant cordial on the floor and now it was rolling over the tiles while a small purple puddle seeped across the magazine’s headline: Cool Tech. He grunted and laid back down. Technology was only cool when it was new, and this magazine was already months old. Of all the downsides to being in juvie, the worse was not knowing the latest news. On the outside, Lan could have simply surfed the magazine’s website for the latest tech buzz. But no one in the High Country Youth Correctional Facility was allowed internet access. For a computer nerd like Lan, that was like telling him not to breathe…

Winner
Best Book

Most Sponsored Book

(WABIAD 2015)

Rider & the Hummingbird by The Northern Beaches Writers’ Group

Judge’s Comments: “There are surprising plot twists, moments of high elation, and deep despair, personal challenges, red herrings and betrayals… This book tells a strong, original, well-written, suspenseful and dramatic tale!”

Who is Belinda Murrell?

Belinda Murrell is the author of the Lulu Bell series, The Lost Sapphire, The Sequin Star, The River Charm, The Forgotten Pearl, The Locket of Dreams, The Ruby Talisman, The Ivory Rose, and The Sun Sword Trilogy. Her achievements include: CBCA Notable Book 2012, Highly Commended Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Honour Book 2013 KOALAs, Shortlisted for the 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011 KOALA and YABBA awards, WAYBRA awards, and Girl Book of the Year 2013. She’s also an Author Ambassador for Room to Read.

Wanna meet her? Then come along this Saturday and say ‘hi’!

The Write Tribe

Today I’m over at The Write Tribe, ‘the home of dynamic writers’ groups’, talking about the Northern Beaches Writers’ Group – why I started the group, how it’s supported my own writing (and sometimes hasn’t!), challenges, changes and advice for anyone wanting to start their own group. It’s a brief behind-the-scenes tour of an important side of my writing life, and I hope you’ll enjoy the read