Dim's Write Stuff

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...

Bruce Whatley is one of Australia's more exemplary Kids' Lit creators. He writes, he draws, he explores techniques across a spectrum of media. And he masters them all exceptionally well. Yet after decades of producing highly marketable, best selling children's books, Whatley had a tale of his own he wanted to tell, in his own unique, unapologetic way. Ruben was that tale and through it, Whatley manifests his true skill as an accomplished storyteller. Here is a reprisal of my review of Ruben originally published on the Boomerang Books Blog . It took Bruce Whatley almost the same amount of time I have been plying my trade as an author to conceive and create this 96-page picture book (around 10 years that is). To call Ruben a masterpiece is a discredit to the complexity and intense beauty that harbours within each page. One might spend hours alone exploring the end pages, searching for clues and analysing the significances secreted within. This is not a p...

I mustn't give too much away. There are enough marvellous revelations about The Fix-It Man today as it is thanks in huge part to our sensational collection of Blog Bursting hosts. However, in the essence of a short sweet bubble burst, here are a few insights that didn't make their final cuts. Inspiration for: A baby, a bowl, a daddy and many, many tubes of Superglue First draft generated: April 2014 Number of drafts and rewrites : 17 Number of title changes: None -truly Number of thank you cards I would have to send to those who helped get this baby off the ground, before it was published: At least eight, not counting the husband who kept working to feed us throughout my creative confinement. Ante-publication awards won: Kids' Book Review Unpublished Picture Book Manuscript Award 2013 - shortlisted . Now that it has a real cover and pictures, it might win some more. Location of author when the contract confirmation call came through...finally:...

Who would have thunk it? Career advise from a sportsman that makes sense (to a non-sportsperson). T20 Player of the Year , Glenn Maxwell sums it up nicely. Apply these inspirational words of wisdom as necessary to your own; day, life, writing project, sporting event...I did. Maxi's Top Tips: Play to your strengths Prepare early Be patient Be brave - don't be intimidated Take the initiative - be confident and look for opportunities Avoid over analysis- don't over think things, it can distract you from getting the little things right. Take things slowly - try to stay relaxed and don't rush Stay positive Be selective  Keep your eye on the ball - don't lose sight of your goals PRACTISE   ‘Sometimes if you concentrate only on trying to do big things, you end up forgetting the small stuff that’s really important.’      Wise words, Maxi. I think I have a new hero... If you want to discover more about   Glenn Maxwell or his cricket...

As the flurries of anxieties created by recent NAPLAN testings settle, I am reminded that even the youngest of minds can be beset with worries, which may manifest themselves so firmly within a child’s physchie that they become dangerously debilitating. I’ve seen it in kids around me, in my own nephew and most alarmingly, my own daughter (although not from NAPLAN – she loved that experience). The need to reach out to and persuade young people to fight their worries and to cultivate strong healthy convictions about who they are and what they are capable of spurred the urge to write a book to show them how. This is still a work in progress for me, however, fortunately, for the welfare of children everywhere, Australian author illustrator, Nicky Johnston has already penned a few useful books addressing these exact issues. Her first attempt to battle ‘worry thoughts’ in children appeared in 2008 with her self-illustrated picture book, Go Away MrWorrythoughts . Bayden sho...

Halloween is over. You've washed off the fake blood and gore, packed away your cob webs and scoffed the last of your treats. It was fun frolicking about with your wildest fears, but now you just can't seem to shake that awful feeling that somewhere, somehow a duck is watching you. Is this you? Chances are if you suffer from Anatidaephobia , it is. A Duck is Watching me 'I'm afraid of the dark, 'specially when I'm in a park and there's no one else around. Oh I get the shivers' So says Des'ree. What do you fear? 90s music perhaps? Does the thought of whipping up something for dinner turn your guts to soup? You could have a touch of Mageirocophobia (fear of cooking) Think that dewlling in the desert is the sea change for you? You'll never have to deal with Ombrophobia out there (fear of being rained on) Find your heart racing at the sight of a man's face half obscured by facial hair? Sounds like your Pogonophobia is acting...

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...

When the very charming children's author, Julie Fison asked me to participate in this blog hop, I graciously declined thinking I'd dodged a bullet, however shiny and enticing. I mean, I had to stand by my panna cottas as they set and grapple with my manuscripts, both of which require a fair bit of my concentration and focus. (Panna cottas are not as simple as making pies you understand.) So when the equally charming children's author, Samantha Wheeler asked me to participate in this blog hop with the beguiling urgency of a koala on the run from a theme park, I unwittingly forgot to parry. Sam loves to write about animals and adventure. Her first book Smooch and Rose is a story set against the continuing destruction of koala habitat. Her next book Spud and Charil is about friendship, horses and bats. See how Sam rolls here . So here I am, ready to leap into my own process - of writing. Could be messy. Hang on here we go... What am I working on at the moment...

There were plenty of KABOOM moments in this little black duck's writing year. Thanks to everyone for following, commenting, supporting and just turning up now and then for a cuppa and friendly chat; all necessary components to keep my writing wheels spinning. Here's the sparest list I could compile of my writerly milestones to date. I promise I will be bothering you a lot less in 2013 because I've ordered a giant vat of bum glue and plan to apply it to my writing chair early next year. Till then, Happiest of the Christmases to you all. May your holiday season be filled with interesting reads, words you'd like to write and keep, and inspiration to simply smile. Writing Round Up: Won placings in writing for kids competitions 5 times. Published on line several times. Won my first publishing contract. Released my first children's junior novel, PS Who Stole Santa's Mail? Hopped aboard Boomerang Books Blog as Children's book reviewer. Join the Socie...