Tag Archives: shiny new book

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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At least that’s what the shops seem to think. Personally, I wish they would hold off just a little longer, or possibly entirely.

But this year I can hardly complain because I seem to have become part of it in some small sense. Because despite having only just recovered from the launch and associated promotional madness of “matt new book” (aka Ten Tiny Things), I am here to announce the publication of my latest shiny new book, which is decidedly and inescapably Christmassy.

It’s called Wreck the Halls, and it’s my latest contribution to Walker Books’ Lightning Strikes series. It seems I have accidentally written a trilogy of sorts, as this is the third book to feature the adventures of the hapless Nathan, Ronnie, and Weasel, who readers came to know and roll their eyes at in Going for Broke and The Big Dig.

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Ten Terrific Things

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… about the Ten Tiny Things launch.

1. It was held in the State Library, at “The Place”, to which all visitors are greeted by a welcoming book-themed cow.

2. It featured many foods of the tiny variety – sushi, tiny teddies, and other teeny delicacies. In keeping with the theme, we understand they were gone in the tiniest blink of an eye.

3. Award-winning illustrator and known rabble rouser Frané Lessac launched the book with a DIY rocket launcher, propelling it unwittingly into the arms of Meg’s daughter, the original inspiration for the book.

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Ten Tiny Things About Ten Tiny Things

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It’s a book!

Usually at this point, I would say ‘shiny new book’, but this book isn’t actually shiny, at least outside my mind. Perhaps I might call it a ‘matt new book’, in a nod to the illustration style and the paper stock, which are very distinctive.8213a-9781921888946_tentinythings_rgb

In any case, it’s a new picture book, publishing August 1st and launching very soon. And in the spirit of things, here are Ten Tiny Things about it:

1. The Blurb
It was a red thing. It was a sparkly thing.
It was a tiny, tiny thing

Tessa and Zachary have a machine that is swift and splendiferous. Every day it carries them from here to there and back again in cool calm comfort. But one morning, the machine breaks down. Tessa and Zachary are forced to venture into the world beyond its metal walls – a place of secret somethings and hidden happenings. Getting from here to there may never be the same …

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Everything Old Is New Again

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Or at least one thing. Specifically, this:

It’s my new book, The Truth About Penguins. And my old book, The Truth About Penguins.

Confused? Don’t be.

If you look closely, you can see differences in the two books – in size, font, and other small elements to do with presentation.*

I’m delighted to announce that The Truth About Penguins will be out in paperback in December, just in time for Christmas. It’s lovely to see my work getting a new lease on life like this, and I can only hope the new format helps it find its way into the hands of even more readers over the coming months.

* For the eagle-eyed reader, there is another crucial difference. If you have access to both copies, the last page of text will reveal all.

A Not-so-tiny Thing

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I’ve been sitting on this news for a while, waiting for an illustrator to be confirmed, but now that all is signed and sealed, I can announce that I have a new picture book forthcoming in 2012!

This one is with Fremantle Press, which is fitting as it’s a ‘very Freo’ book in many ways. It’s called Ten Tiny Things and it’s inspired by something my daughter and I often do when we go out walking, an activity we have cleverly named “Things We Would Never Have Seen If We Had Been Driving”. As you can see, I have a way with words …

I’ve seen early sketches and am very excited about what’s to come for this book. The illustrator is this guy. He’s a little creepy but there’s not much I can (or would) do about that. Click on the “Secrets” link on his site to see why he’s perfect for the book. You’ve probably seen his work in the city, possibly without even realising. You would probably have seen more of it had you been on foot …

Watch this space for more details. Watch the secret spaces all around you for random flashes of loveliness. Go out walking. See if you can spot ten tiny things.

Dash of Random

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I did promise the occasional dash of random and I’m not sure I’ve really been delivering. To rectify that, here are two completely unrelated things:

Random Item #1

Surface Tension came out this week. This is excellent and I’m thrilled to see it on shelves. I’m told it received “a cracker of a review” in Bookseller + Publisher, though I’m yet to see it myself. As you do when you have a shiny new book, I’ve taken to picking up a copy, opening it, reading a few lines, sighing, and putting it back down.

Shall we call it Shiny New Book Syndrome? It is an identifiable disorder – I’m sure of it.

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The Penguins Are Here!

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It’s launch day at last! Following relatively hot on the heels of the publication of Duck for a Day, I’m very excited to announce the launch of my first picture book, The Truth About Penguins, featuring illustrations by the copiously talented Mark Jackson.

Penguinscoverweb

There will be no official launch as I am still in Japan. This is perhaps fortunate as it has made it easy for me to resist the temptation to hold a joint launch party for both books under the banner “Two Birds, One Stone”, a slogan which may have traumatised small children.

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The Duck Is Not Amused

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36a4c-duckbackpack2We were walking, the duck and I, on our way up the hill to work on campus. The duck was riding, as he always does, in the mesh outer pocket of my backpack, the source of occasional stares, giggles, and some interesting conversations. If you want to break the ice in a strange place, I heartily recommend the “duck in pocket” strategy.

We were walking up the hill when we stopped in our (my) tracks. There were beady eyes upon us. Two pairs.

2b0b3-penguins2It looks like the duck is going to have to waddle aside for a time.

It looks like the penguins are coming.7dea2-penguins4

Things That Make Me Go YAY

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Today, I’m taking a leaf out of Julia Lawrinson’s blog, which took its own leaf from Anita Heiss (for such is the way of the madly intertextual interwebs), to talk about things I’ve been grateful for lately.

It has been a tricky couple of years for me on some fronts and there has been less writing and relaxation and metaphorical lying on my back looking at the clouds than I would have hoped. Very often, I have felt as if I am simply scrabbling to keep my ground, rather than actually making any progress. But good things have happened. Many good things. And I am very fortunate. Mostly fortunate, in fact, and it is too easy to lose sight of that.

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