Dim's Write Stuff

Hi guys! Remember me? The part-time blogger (what’s a blog?), erstwhile reviewer. This post title sounds like a new novel, doesn’t it? I wish it was. Truth be known, not a lot of new words have been written this year, either as a burgeoning story, or blog post, or even in my diary. It’s just been one of those years. We’ve all had ‘em. But about this (as yet) unwritten novel … Let me explain. An Apology Remember how it was one of those years? Loss, shock, anger, frustration. Realisation, resignation, enlightenment, hope. A veritable rollercoaster of ups and downs and those horrid tummy-turning tight bends. I normally don’t mind an adrenaline filled experience but 2024, seriously! So, the gazillion reviews I’d hoped to clear this year got somewhere left behind in the G force of life. Apologies to the creators, publishers, publicists and me who expected more. But ... ‘Sometimes not getting what you want is the best luck of all’ A Promise It’s not all gloom and doom, though. Far from it. ...

Over a slew of silly seasons aka Christmases, I’ve reviewed some truly stunning Christmas inspired books. You’ll find many of them  here  and as curated booklists at  DIM’S re VIEW S . This year, like my intake of dried fruit treats and sugar, I’ve reduced the selection to this humble handful. Droll wit, Aussie flavoured, and spirit-filled are the themes of the day or rather season so, enjoy! Happy Christmas! How Does Santa Go Down The Chimney? by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen Good question lads. This, my non-Shakespearean friends, is the real question, one exasperatingly left incompletely answered. This book is a magical, maddening meandering through the various ways our St. Nickolas aka Santa, is able to silently and stealthily enter the number of dwellings he does in the time that he has. As we follow SC across the rooftops (and under the front doors) seeking answers, other enigmatic quandaries are raised like whether or not he pauses to do laundry between hou...

Holidays are the best. Christmas is up there as one of my favs and to celebrate my chapter junior novel title: PS WHO STOLE SANTA'S MAIL? is featured on SCBWI's 2022 December Reading List. Pop over to their site to explore the huge range of other celebratory titles of the season. To keep the merry going, PS WHO STOLE SANTA'S MAIL? is flying high with Santa at the crazy price of just $10! Click on the contact link, here to order yours and mention the Code: ReadingList2022 Please note: Postage and packaging rates apply both within Australia and internationally. Postage times may vary. No guarantees for arrival prior to Christmas 2022. 

Stop the Sleigh! I want to get off. Not many can say 2021 has been their most spectacular year - memorable, yes - rated on their top ten of best years ever, nah. At least it felt that way for this little black duck. In fact it's been more than a little 'puzzling'. Yet amidst the terrifying onslaught of one tsunami (or blizzard in Santa speak) of frustration and disappointment after the other, seas settled just long enough (for a split second) to make a quick inventory of that which I thought was irrevocably lost over board during the wildest assaults.  Health and family still there - just - check Roof over my head - check Rain sloughing through the gutters, greening the garden - glorious check More books and stories published - yea ha, check More book babies to look forward to in the new year - chuffed as, check. Food on my plate, and stacking on my hips, oh well - still a big fat tick. And it continues.  Despite continued inconvenience on the work front #thanksCovid, liv...

It’s that time of year to untangle the LEDs, consume enough sugar to drown Willy Wonka, and hark and herald the angels until you are hoarse. I LOVE it! But for less sensory abuse and a better excuse to take a moment off from the crazy this time of year can induce, turn to a picture book. You don’t even need someone small to share it with although if you don’t own a small person, consider reading your favourite stories at your local library, charity or children’s organisation. Sharing the merry is what it is really all about and this handful of new Chrissy titles is but a teeny selection of what is on offer. To really fill your stockings check out some of my traditional festive favourites either at DIM’S re VIEWS or over at Boomerang Books Blog.  Now, let’s start Rocking Around the Christmas Tree! Jingle Smells  – Fun Rhyming Parody Mark Sperring loves a quirky silly sounding rhyme. Turns out he is partial to a bit of stink too, which becomes the theme and Christmas’s even...

The trouble with advent calendars is their finite nature. Once the occasion is reached or the countdown completed , one is left with a lingering sense of,  'Well, what now? ' Well not this Countdown! In case you've missed the last three week 's worth of cracking Christmas bookish gift ideas, cast your eyes downwards. Here you'll find all the links to take you to all of the afore mentioned must reads. There's something for every taste from thrilling YA to heart-melting picture books and middle grade marvels, fabulous non-fiction and even the odd autobiographical true story by yours truly. You'll be fighting the kids for them and don't worry if good old St Aussie Post couldn't quite deliver on time...these beauties are most assuredly anytime-of-the-year-reads.  It's been a mighty year with monumental challenges but one thing has remained resolute for me; the absolute power a book has to transform, uplift, support, entertain and reassure in times ...

The Twelve Days of Christmas with Roald Dahl This redunculusly good collection of festive activities to make and do by one of the world’s favourite story tellers, Roald Dahl is more fun than Dim’s Christmas Countdown. The Twelve Days of Christmas is a nifty little novel-sized compendium broken into twelve chapters that celebrate the most scrumptious and jolly best bits of the silly season. And you know there’ll be a fair amount of silly with Dahl at the helm of this particular sleigh ride. Each chapter is a line out of the beloved Christmas carol and highlights a classic Dahl title; One Matilda in the Library ; Two Smelly Twit s… Five Golden Tickets …and so on. Everybody’s favourite characters get an airing and each chapter relates in some obscure, tricksy way to the novel’s theme. Cleverness aside, this book is a genuine cache of Christmas craft and art, gob-smacking recipes (you must try the Chocolate and Brussels Sprouts pie ) , puzzles, pranks, gift ideas and mind-benders de...

This trio of gift ideas neatly summarises the Silly Season, don’t you think?! The Book of Not Entirely Useful Advice A F Harrold is known for his poetic turns of phrase and deeply emotive narratives. He credits stroking his long wild beard as a way to churn out ideas. Well, he must have one very smooth beard for this book of not entirely useful but unarguably hilarious advice is brimming with more fun and folly than you can fit in a bathtub. In fact it virtually runneth over with rhyme, witty word play and enough nonsensical verse stories to keep the most ardent young poetry-lover glued to its pages. Harrold’s worldly poetic inscriptions of advice are thoughtfully grouped into common sections, presumably to keep things orderly and understandable. And that’s where any pretence at seriousness disappears with section subtitles that read like this: Advice mainly relating to food, ducks and dessert . Or … Section 2: Advice mainly relating to animals, giants and the natural world. Kid...

It’s hot enough in Queensland to melt the antlers off a reindeer right now. And at the risk of creating another distressing metaphor, so too are the days  melting away faster than a soft-serve ice cream on a hot afternoon, sigh…Which is why we have not one but three fabulous Christmas reading gift recommendations today, all guaranteed to warm you within but keep your festive-cool chilled and relaxed. Santa Jaws Mark Sperring and Sophie Corrigan’s Mince Spies was a Christmas treat to be relished. Their 2020 Christmas offering, Santa Jaws , is just as enticing, albeit slightly more sinister sounding. I love how Sperring twists a beloved theme, spices it with some clever word play, and laces it all together into a delightful mix of rhyming verse and subversively silly and sensitive scenarios. Shelly Shark’s altruistic intensions bring unexpected joy, then suspicion, then alarm, then pure exuberance for one very stalwart little squid named, Sid thanks to his unmitigated belief i...