Dim's Write Stuff

Little Witches ~ Angela and sister Nadia Sunde at Snap Magic's Launch Tweenhood is a terrifically testing time. One I remember of intense scrutiny when everything about you; the way you look, the way you dress and the friends you avoid suddenly becomes big deal. You find yourself navigating that mystical ground twixt ‘little kid’ and ‘fully fledged adolescent’, feeling as though your every move is being examined under some humongous magnifying glass for humiliating broadcast. It’s a time to loosen grip on your childhood beliefs while at the same time search for new vessels of magic in which to float your maturing soul. Complicated concepts at any age, but utterly bewildering at age twelve. Yet Lily Padd, star of Angela Sunde’s inaugural Pond Magic , is about to set sail in another tale of pre-puberty angst to prove to us all that tweenhood really is ‘a snap’. Snap Magic snaps, crackles and fizzes from the moment Lily plunges into the girls’ toilets to escape the pa...

A week or so ago I rambled on about the whys and wherefores of seeking out grants and how to go about securing one for yourself. You can read all about how and when the penny dropped for me here . Now that I have successfully acquitted my first grant, I have time to reflect on exactly what it meant, what I gained from it and whether I'd do it all over again. So here we go, my top reasons for granting yourself permission to shine: What did it mean being awarded a grant? Freedom .To expand on my writing goals and bring more of them closer to fruition. Resources . To perfect my picture book projects. I undertook a structured mentorship with Dee White to facilitate this. Choice . To use funds to make decisions that positively influenced, affected and improved my craft. It meant I could afford a mentor . It meant I could afford to attend conferences and workshops that not only enriched my writerly soul but skill box as well. It meant I had available finance to validate the ...