News
WILLOWS FOR WEEPING launch at the SCBWI Conference
I'm delighted to announce that all the beautiful new-look Janna Mysteries are now on sale in bookshops around Australia. You can buy Books 1 & 2 (Rosemary for Remembrance and Rue for Repentance) as an omnibus edition, plus Lilies for Love (Book 3) and the brand new Willows for Weeping (Book 4) are now also on sale.
Willows for Weeping was launched at the excellent SCBWI conference held at the Hughenden hotel over the weekend 23rd / 24th February. Zoe Walton, Commissioning Editor from Random House, spoke briefly about the novel before it was launched by Laurine Croasdale. Laurine is a good mate (and a wonderful author - check out her new novel Surf School if you're into surfing!) She said some lovely things about Willows and also about the series and then it was drinks and nibbles and celebrations all round! It's always very special to have a new book out, so I hope you'll buy it, read it, and let me know what you think!
Collect the matching set, and enjoy reading about Janna's quest to find her unknown father and avenge the death of her mother. And see if you can guess the real story behind the message found on the dead man!
Danger and death stalk Janna as she continues her search for her father in the company of pilgrims and jongleurs. She learns the meaning of betrayal, treachery and heartbreak, while her quest brings her ever closer to the royal court and the dangers of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda.
The Janna Mysteries series continues to win praise and accolades. Book 3, Lilies for Love, has won the 2007 Society of Women Writers biennial book award for junior/teenage fiction. This follows on from the success of Book 1, Rosemary for Remembrance, which was a CBC Notable Book in 2006, and which has now sold into Germany.
Book launch of Willows for Weeping
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Laurine Croasdale shares a joke with Flick while launching Willows for Weeping |
Zoe Walton from Random House introduces the new-look Janna Mysteries |
Thank you
To all the fans of The Janna Mysteries (and my other novels) who have written to me with your comments, a big THANK YOU! I'm always interested to hear from you.
NEWS FLASH! GHOST BOY AND THE QUARANTINE STATION, SYDNEY.
I'm delighted to announce that students studying 'Ghost Boy' will be able to book a special tour based on my novel at the Quarantine Station at North Head in Manly (Sydney), where part of the novel is set. It was a great thrill to watch my novel 'come alive' during a dress rehearsal of this unique 'immersion' tour. The tour takes students on a journey back to 1881 at the time of a smallpox outbreak, a time of such chaos and sadness that a Royal Commission was held a year later, the report of which formed the basis of my research into that time. Students will be immersed in Tad's story, while at the same time learning something of immigration, class definition and the role of the Quarantine Station, as well as some of the grisly details of its past history (not to mention perhaps encountering one or other of the ghosts said to haunt the site!) For more information, visit the website of the Quarantine Station: www.q-station.com.au or phone 1300 886 875. Bookings essential.
Diary Dates
Wed. March 12th: Member talk at the Society of Women Writers meeting at the State Library. I'll be talking about some of my experiences writing a series (Shalott and the Janna Mysteries) and in particular, the inspiration behind Willows for Weeping. Website: www.womenwritersnsw.org.
Sat. March 29th: I shall be on a panel discussing Writing for Children and Young Adults as part of the 'Contemporary Australian Fiction' festival at the Writers Centre in Sydney. Website: www.nswwriterscentre.org.au.
Sat. April 12th: I shall be conducting a workshop on the craft of writing short stories for the Manly branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Email: beayell@hotmail.com.
Fri. April 18th: I'm conducting a Writing Fantasy school holiday workshop at the Children's Bookshop in Beecroft. Website: www.thechildrensbookshop.com.au.
Fri: May 2nd & 9th: I'll be talking about the craft of writing and my writing career as part of a writing for children course at Sydney University.
Sat. July 5th: I'll be doing a one-day fantasy-writing workshop 'Creating an Other-World' at the Writers Centre in Sydney. (Contact details above).
Book Week, August 18th-22nd: I'll be in Melbourne for Book Week. For you Melbournites, now's your chance to invite me to your schools for author talks or workshops! Please contact my agency Show & Tell in Melbourne: www.showtell.com.au.
Sat. September 20th: I'll be talking to the Plantagenet Society about the society and time in which my novels are set: the civil war between King Stephen and his cousin, the Empress Matilda.
Sat. November 8th: 'Making Crime Pay': I'll be conducting a one-day workshop on various aspects of writing crime at the Writers Centre, Sydney (contact details above)
Somewhere in between all of the above, I'm hoping to go back to England to do more research on future Janna Mysteries!