Dim's Write Stuff

As many busy creatives will tell you, finding time to write is precious enough without having to carve out extra hours to secure those all important school visits or Book Week bookings . Those same creatives, aka children's authors and illustrators, will continue to explain that it is often engagements at writing festivals, conferences and schools that form the bulk of our income. Enter the speakers' agencies, those associations devoted to finding their expansive lists of authors and illustrators the most lucrative, exciting and perfectly matched events as possible. Agencies work on our behalf as well as that of the schools and institutions that enlist them to find exactly the right author or illustrator for their literary event. I rely on those agencies I am listed with to not only find but also secure these bookings for me, without them I'd really need an extra Girl Friday to cope. That's why I'm all a flutter with delight to be signed up with one of t...

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 Ante-publication awards won: Kids' Book Review Unpublished Picture Book Manuscript Award 2013 - shortlisted .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:...

Want to compare meerkats? Then go to Compare the Meerkat.com . It's a pretty good site and Alexsandr has a certain quirky appeal. Want to compare talented emerging children's authors and then vote for your favourite? Then go to Creative Kids' Tales and vote today. It's a pretty awesome site too and kids' author, Dimity Powell , is exceedingly quirky in spite of her dislike for mealy worms aka grubs. For quirky reads and the opportunity to vote for Dimity , visit Creative Kids Tales now . Simples.

Ever had a burning desire to increase your love of humanity believing that it will improve your chances of attaining true Enlightenment? A fool-proof way to achieve this is simply to make new friends. Not sure how? Read on... Next time you're waiting in queue at the supermarket checkout or coffee counter or (here's the clever bit) at the book-launch line for the autograph of a revered author, turn around to the person behind you and say, "Hey, you'll never guess who I know!" They'll start tingling with expectation and desire to find out; after all anything is better than just standing around, right? Tell them you know this person. She's a children's author (No way. Incredible. How fascinating. These are probably the thoughts swirling through their minds right about now) "Yes way." you confirm. "And she's not bad either." (Now here's the amazing bit) Let them know they can even read some of her work at this site calle...