Author Archives: Meg McKinlay

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About Meg McKinlay

Children's Writer & Poet

That Was The Year That Was

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It’s been another year since I started this site, and this ‘notablog’ thingy, so here is my annual recap with some stats:

1) The Good:

books published: 1
books contracted but not yet published: 3
poems published: 2
school presentations/workshops: 36
poetry readings: 3

2) The Less Good:

books written but not contracted: 2 (these are manuscripts which made the list last year; I’m still planning to revise and resubmit, though. Just as soon as I have time …)
poems written: 3 (nowhere near enough, and I have a folder full of fragments I can’t seem to see my way clear to working through to completion. This must change, soon).
unbidden thoughts about turning these semi-regular updates into an actual blog: too many

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The Big Dig Is Not About …

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* filling in a backyard pool with cement so you can have a bigger yard to play in.

* a boy who wins a backyard pool in the Westpac Maths Competition but has to pay for his own fence so he sells the cement his father has left in the shed which was supposed to be used for the driveway.

* a boy whose fence is too small for his pool so he has to put it down the middle but it all works out well because it means he has half the pool and his annoying sister has the other half.

* a boy who builds a solid cement wall around his pool, like a castle, with turrets.

* a boy who tries to dig his own pool but it’s too expensive and there are too many stupid rules so instead he decides to focus on studying maths.

Though I have to say, I like your style, all of you!

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The Price of Cement, Swimming Pool Fencing Laws, and Year 6 Mathematics

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These are some of the things I’ve had to research while finishing up my latest novel The Big Dig, forthcoming in July this year (if I can get it done in time!). Anyone like to guess what it’s about?

Email me with your ideas and I’ll post them here when I have a few. If anyone gets close, there might even be a prize!

Hint: if you live in the City of Melville, you may have something of a head start. In a curious alignment of planets, I am writing this from Civic Library in that very city. More on that another time.

Post-Festival, Post-Apropos

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Six days of poetry workshops, readings, panel discussions, book signings, and reader-meeting are over. It was both excellent and exhausting. I met some wonderful writers, read some poems, sat in on all kinds of lively discussions, and got to talk about Going for Broke to a lovely al fresco Family Day crowd. If you came past to say hi or have me sign a book, feel free to drop me a line via my ‘Contact‘ page. I always love hearing from readers.

Something else I love is turning up approximately three minutes late to a panel discussion on short fiction and finding standing room only at the (large-ish) venue. It is a real pleasure to be part of such a vibrant community of readers and writers. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen and everyone who gobbled it up with such gusto. Please, sir, can I have some more?

Could This Book Sound Less Appealing?

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Here’s the blurb for Going for Broke from the South Australian Premier’s Reading Challenge:

“Nathan is determined to do well and achieve, but ignores advice to plan and research.”

South Australian Premier, thank you for including my book on your list, but is this really the best you could do? I’m afraid it makes what has been described as a ‘crack-up funny’, ‘laugh-out loud riotous journey of boyhood misadventure’ sound rather like that most odious of beasts – a Book With a Lesson.

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The Big News

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It’s official. I’ve just signed the contract for a second novel in Walker Books’ fun Lightning Strikes series. This one is called The Big Dig and again features Nathan, Weasel and Ronnie, the three hapless characters who barely survived Going for Broke.

The Big Dig will be out in July. Which is a little alarming, because I haven’t finished writing it yet.

Must get onto that.

Writing these books is quite a change of pace for me. Somehow, I never saw myself as the sort of writer who would ever annotate a manuscript draft with the note:

**NEED BIGGER EXPLOSION HERE**

It’s a lot of fun.

Penguin Pics

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Those of you paying close attention may remember I had a picture book called The Truth About Penguins accepted for publication a while back. Well, something marvellous has happened.

I have illustrations.

First, I had ‘pencil roughs’ – black and white sketches of what the illustrations would look like, where things would go and so on. My editor sent me a note saying “We think they are FABULOUS! Hope you do, too.”

I did.

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Last Night …

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I read poems beneath a sign that read “Beer Garden This Way”.

((sigh)) Another childhood dream accomplished!

There is other news, coming soon, but it’s Christmas, with all the madness of the season, so posting time is few and far between. Watch this space. Don’t take your eyes off it for a second, not even to open presents.