Dim's Write Stuff

As part of the recent National Education Summit (Diverse Learners Symposium ) held in Brisbane, Queensland's own award-winning children's author, Aleesah Darlison was invited to discuss diversity in Kids' Lit via the 'Portrayal of ADHD, Mental Health, Anxiety, & The Spectrums in Children’s & Young Adult Literature'. The role of a children's author is vast and varied but for me involves sharing and caring. To create stories that elicit emotional connections with young readers while still fascinating and entertaining them is a challenging mix to perfect. Luckily, these are just the sort of tales I love to tackle; ones often embracing difficult subject matter, that speak to different people from multiple levels and in so doing, echo and normalize real life situations.  Many of my titles reflect this premise, including Oswald Messweather ,   a picture book that focuses on the emotional aspects associated with the debilitating condition of obsessive compuls...

Now, more than ever, we need reasons to be happy, right! When mayhem reigns supreme and suffering escalates, it is sometimes hard to validate ones own happiness when one is not experiencing hardship firsthand but, as I have learned over the years, one should never, EVER dismiss their own moments of glory nor smother their own exclamations of happiness believing this will make them 'feel better'. True compassion is understanding and supporting, not denying and suppressing your own good feels. Everyone is entitled to feel joy and exultation.  And so, on this most notable of days - Dr Seuss' Day - his birthday - I am elated to pop a few virtual corks and announce the Happy Publication Day of, THIS IS MY DAD ! !! This is My Dad is a timely, important and heart-warming look at modern family dynamics. It highlights that families come in all shapes and sizes, and they are all worthy of celebration. With one in four children in the UK living with a single parent, and 90% of those ...

As pedestrian as it may sound, I love picture books. The reasons are sometimes obscure and indefinable but so plentiful that the urge to enjoy them, share them and create them drives my writing goals more feverishly than any other. I know I’m not alone in that regard. The genesis of any story, that almost intangible spark that propels a life and personality and purpose into existence, that compels a fictional character to share their experiences, joys and pain with strangers, is what story telling is really all about for me. It’s like sharing your marriage proposal with strangers: everyone’s is different, unique and oddly alluring even if you don’t know the couple! And I am delighted to have another one to share – a backstory that is, not a wedding proposal (I wish). In just a handful of weeks, my latest picture book, This Is My Dad , will grace bookshop shelves and online stores across the planet. This is the sort of quiet joy that buoys an author’s spirits. Why? Because it is be...

Deep in a wooded land live a family united by love but also by the burden of anxiety. Then one day, a very shaky box deposits Cookie, who transforms them. Even as Mental Health Awareness month winds to a close, books like, Cookie remind us all of the mental anguish young people may experience at any time of their lives. For some, it may never cease, for others, finding solace in a soul like, Cookie is an indescribable source of comfort and hope. It is little secret I adore Border collies, having accrued a few myself. Border collie puppies are sweeter than candy and better than sunshine for brightening ones mood and making things better, so what better character than, Cookie, a charming black and white pup, to tell the story of his relationship with Girl.   Once Cookie settles into Girl’s family, Cookie learns to love Girl without restraint. Together they find the yummiest smells and discover the chewiest chewy things. Play time is fun time but Cookie appreciates cuddle snugg...

It’s always a joy to see your story in print. For the most part, this happens in English. If you are really lucky, your books are distributed around the globe throughout an atlas of countries. If you are blessed with great publishers and savvy International Rights agents, your beautiful works are ultimately translated so that kids in countries like China and Hong Kong gain full benefit of your stories in their own language. I'm feeling very blessed and more than a little moved to have my first published picture book, The Fix-It Man now available throughout China in simplified Chinese. This is the language of my ancestors (on my father's side) and whilst I'm a poor example of retaining ones mother tongue, it fills me with quiet satisfaction that a story I made is now in the language that in part made me.  This simplified Chinese version released in July 2021 in China. It is part of a 5 book pack set containing a curated selection of ‘healing picture books’ originally publ...

Need advice to help achieve your writing goals...your dream of publication? Exisle Academy want to bring your book to the world! Nestled snugly under the umbrella of Exisle Publishing , Exisle Academy is the new service offering burgeoning writers with aspirations of seeing their words in print tangible ways to fulfill their publication goals. The Academy's goal is 'to train the next generation of authors, enabling them to navigate the confusing and challenging world of writing and publishing, and share their message with the world .' To help achieve this, their Author Insights offer advice for aspiring writers from published authors ... like me! The  Author Insights series looks at successful published authors from the Exisle and EK Books family , and asks them to share their advice and experience with the next generation of writers. Visit their site and soak up my Author Interview for tonnes of helpful insights and real life anecdotes.

The world is undoubtedly in a state of upset and turmoil. Worry besets fear, besets panic, besets much more than just a corruption of health and well being. Whilst books cannot provide the whole cure or even offer all the solutions, they can help to ' restore resilience, uplift and reconnect humanity '. It's heartening to see so many people including booksellers, both the bricks and mortar and online kinds and publishers, rally to not only preserve their own business models and staff welfare but more saliently, their customers' best interests by offering incentives to help people decide how best to spend their dwindling pay packets. I normally abhor catch phrases, but it really does feel like we're all in this together, more than ever before in my time on this planet in any case. So I'm more than pleased to see that my publisher, EK Books and their parent company, Exisle Publishing are offering... FREE SHIPPING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON ALL ORD...

I've tootled on about winning the 2019 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award  before so won't bore you with details of emotion gone wild. Sufficed to say, it's truly humbling to the point of mortification - I really don't know how to articulate my gratitude eloquently enough anymore. THANK YOU  is just two little words that must shoulder so much meaning. As part of the spectacularly successful inaugural SCBWI QLD Story Craft State Conference held last weekend, members of my dear SCWBI family presented me with the sparkly trophy that comes with an accolade like this, an actual crystal kite no less! So pretty It is a thing of glittery beauty. Rainbows of light dance from its many faces reminding me of the little girl who dances with rainbows at the end of Holyrood Lane, the namesake and reason this book was chosen above all brilliant others to win this award for the Australia NZ region . Without Flick and her story, a story that sadly mirrors so many other young people a...

Sammy is sad. His eyesight is not the best but worse is his dented sense of self-esteem and identity. Forced to wear big blue glasses to enable better sight, Sammy feels they now segregate him from the rest of the world: his peers and family. All he wants is to feel like his old-self again. He does everything he can to bypass wearing his glasses but they always find their way back to him. Despite assurances from the grown-ups in his life that the glasses make him look more handsome and heroic than he's ever looked (their acclamations only serve to define his difference), Sam is unconvinced, feeling lost, alienated and alone, even more so when one disastrous school day, his best friend, George is away sick. Then, after a few innocent digs from his classmates persuade him to clean his glasses, Sam discovers a whole different world within his classroom and his way of viewing his situation dramatically improves. Gervay's considered story from a small boy's point of v...

Flick, the little girl who lives at the end of Holyrood Lane is doing her happy dance right now. And why not, her story, At The End of Holyrood Lane has won the SCBWI Crystal Kite Members' Choice Award 2019 for the Australia New Zealand Oceania region. A snapshot of the 15 best books chosen from SCBWI regions around the world - courtesy SCBWI June INSIGHT newsletter As the scribe of her story, I'm feeling pretty chuffed, too. And a little overwhelmed and incredulous. I mean considering the incredible level of talent the other two shortlistees possessed, I honestly thought my day in the sun was had and was more than satisfied to bask in the warmth of just being shortlisted. But I confess, nothing brightens the life of an author like a bit of bling. Crystal bling no less! I should not have doubted the allure and strength of this story, though. After all, with a illustrative narrative provided by the exceptionally talented, Nicky Johnston , Flick had every chance ...

May is Domestic Violence Prevention Month here in Queensland. It heralds the annual event designed 'to raise community awareness of the social and personal impacts of domestic and family violence and the support available to those affected .' I hope, picture books, like At The End of Holyrood Lane are able to contribute to this heighten level of awareness and encourage us all to 'do something', take heart, find the courage to speak up and ultimately foster change. I wrote this article last year whilst reflecting on some of the fears I harboured as a child and how they coloured my emotional makeup.   Some forty odd years ago, I was the new kid in a new school in a new state having relocated from Queensland to South Australia. I could barely understand the strange southern dialect and mentality and felt more bewildered than excited.   I was also the sort of child whose closest friends dwelt in books. Stories offered a solace I actively sought. Storybook...

I would not be human if I did not admit to feeling the love and soaking up the joy of being in the limelight, the kind of limelight created by a book award listing. In this instance, that award listing is the SCBWI Crystal Kite Members' Choice Award - Shortlist. Many know my stance on awards. I would never say no to one of course (remember that bit about being human) but at the same time, I really feel that awards by themselves are not the definitive measure of the true worth, value or intrinsic beauty of a story. Many other factors combine deeming the success of a story not least of which is the emotion resonated within a reader's heart by what they are seeing and experiencing. Whether your words or pictures make them laugh or cry or snort or frown, it's the profound personal connection between reader and character that makes them want to continue to laugh and cry more with them. For me this represents success as a writer and is ultimately worth more than any shiny s...

Two BIG days occur in the month of November: White Ribbon Day 23 November and the United Nations UNiTE to End Violence against Women: 25 November . Both aim to create societies where women and children can live in safety free from fear and abuse.  AT THE END OF HOLYROOD LANE is a picture book that dares to address this fear and provide acknowledgement and hope for suffers in abusive situations.  With its soft, supportive illustrations that encapsulate and extend the sensitive, subtle text superbly, and endorsed by a number of agencies concerned about the children caught in the middle of domestic violence such as Act for Kids , RizeUp , Paradise Kids , and Think Equal , this is a conversation starter that may bring a lot of comfort, help and hope to the children in our care.  Barabara Braxton , ReadPlus & The Bottom Shelf   I wrote this picture book because of a plea to create meaningful stories accessible to children suffering or witnessi...

I first met Leslee Udwin overseas last year and caught of glimpse of her provocative film, India’s Daughter. It moved me beyond words. As does Leslee’s immense spirit and drive. She is a phenomenal speaker and ardent believer in making change happen – through Think Equal. She also personally endorsed At The End of Holyrood Lane * for Nicky Johnston and I and is actively pursuing Kids’ Lit creators in an attempt to initiate change in the very young through powerful, persuasive storytelling. I am heartened to see that this is happening. If you get a chance to hear her speak, please consider going and supporting this immense cause. If you can’t maybe take a moment to listen, read and explore more and then please pass this onto to all and sundry. It is so very very important. Leslee Udwin, a BAFTA Award-winning filmmaker made the documentary :India's Daughter which won multiple awards (including the Peabody) and sparked a movement to stop violence against women and gi...