Before lockdown, I was thrilled to receive the Hoffman Award for Lintang and the Pirate Queen. I saw the WA Young Readers’ Book Award stamp on so many books while I was growing up - it’s amazing that I have one for myself!
US Publication Day!
LINTANG AND THE PIRATE QUEEN is now officially available in the US! Happy birthday, little book!
Book tour in the US!
I’m so excited to announce that I’ll be joining Marissa Meyer on her Renegades tour for the last few stops in the US and Canada. Lintang and the Pirate Queen will be released in the US at that time, and we’ll talk about how we met, as well as what it’s like to be crit partners.
US Cover for Lintang and the Pirate Queen!
So excited to reveal the US cover for Lintang and the Pirate Queen! Buy a copy Nov 5th, 2019.
Lintang has been chosen AGAIN
That's right! Lintang is a Children's Book Council of Australia Notable! This is INCREDIBLE!
Lintang has been shortlisted!
I'm thrilled to announce that Lintang and the Pirate Queen has been shortlisted for the 2018 Readings Children's Book Prize! Lintang is among five other wonderful Australian books on the list. I feel so honoured!
Where You Can Find Me At PWF
Perth Writers Week Family Day is next Sunday, and I'll be at the University of Western Australia all day. Here's where you'll find me:
10am-10.45am - Lintang and the Forbidden Island storytelling session with Glenn Swift (Uni Club - Seminar Room 3)
10.46am - Signing books (Signing Marquee)
11.30am-12pm - Lintang and the Pirate Queen Storyland session (Uni Club - Upper Colonnade)
2pm-2.45pm - Curated by Kids (Courtyard)
Hope to see you there!
Extra Editions!
My book launch for Lintang and the Forbidden Island is today (hooray!), and to celebrate, I'd like to bring your attention to the amazing fact that Lintang and the Pirate Queen is available in a large print edition AND a dyslexic edition. Isn't that incredible?
Lintang on TV!
Lintang and the Pirate Queen was featured on Cover to Cover ep 32! Starts at 16.32 minutes. Jennifer Jackson from Paper Bird said some wonderful things about it. (Unfortunately, at this time, Lintang is only a three-book series.)
Lintang was in great company - there are so many amazing West Australian authors. I'm lucky to be in this region.
Hooray!
I was incredibly excited and honoured to discover that Lintang and the Pirate Queen has made the Readings Books top 10 middle grade fiction of 2017 list!
Top ten.
Of the YEAR.
Super stoked author right here.
Update!
I have been so sick these past two weeks. It's been a long time since I've been bedridden with a cold and a sore throat. I didn't miss it!
Lintang and the Pirate Queen is well and truly out in the world. I've been doing phone interviews with various newspapers, blogs, and magazines, and I've done my first school visit. I've also been invited to some writers festivals! I'm planning on doing a lot more promotion next year, too.
I've gone through first pass pages for Lintang and the Forbidden Island, which means A4 pages have been printed up and typeset to look like how the real book pages are going to appear. The cover is absolutely gorgeous - I hope to be able to reveal it soon!
Book 3 still doesn't have a title. I received structural edits back but have decided it needs a major overhaul, plot-wise. I'm working hard to rewrite many scenes. Perks of being a writer, right? But I'm looking forward to making it the best it can be. Luckily school holidays are coming up!
As for the super secret project, I've been working on that, too. I've sent the first twenty pages to my editor for some feedback, and once she gets back to me I'll pitch it to my agent. Fingers crossed!
I'm Officially a Published Author!
I did it! I'm exhausted, but I did it!
It was the perfect weather for pirates - stormy and freezing. That didn't deter many from coming, thank goodness. We were all crammed in the school library and I signed book after book.
And now Lintang and the Pirate Queen is out!
You can find it in Australian bookstores. Here is a list of places you can buy it from online.
Hooray!
Two More Days!
Kind of.
It's almost 9pm on Friday. I said goodbye to my students for the weekend, reminding them for the millionth time to wear their pirate outfits on Monday (and to remember to come to the book launch AFTER SCHOOL). The forecast for Monday is hail, thunderstorms, wind, and rain. Cold, stormy weather, a proper pirate-y hello to welcome Lintang into the world. I just hope everyone still shows up to the launch.
Meanwhile, I've written the first draft of Book 3, seen a beautiful cover for Book 2 (now officially called Lintang and the Forbidden Island), received a bouquet from extended family and a fruit hamper from my crit partner, and had a story written up for the local paper!
I'm starting to get nervous. I walked into the staff room after the final bell had gone and had a sudden, jittery feeling of oh my god my book is coming out on Monday. I'm surprised it took so long to hit, actually. Guess I've been too busy with school. But no more lesson plans to do before the big day! They're finished. I'm organised.
Still, I have something else to think about before the launch. As I have family flying in for the launch, my sister decided it would be the perfect time to have her hen's night. And, considering I'm the maid of honour, I've been in charge of sorting that out. I'm picking her up at midnight tonight and we'll start on all the fun things early tomorrow morning. At least that will keep my mind occupied! I won't have time to really start panicking until Sunday.
Gulp.
Oh, and did I mention Lintang was featured in Total Girl's cool stuff? AND my publisher bought an ad for the entire back cover? THE AD LOOKS AMAZING, DOESN'T IT?
My Week (and the Big Announcement)
It has been a CRAZY week this week. Everything happened at once!
Monday: I received a REAL copy of my book in the mail! Not an ARC. An actual, bumpy copy (the word LINTANG is raised, so yes, it's actually bumpy). I filmed The Opening of the Parcel and posted it on my twitter.
Also! I donated a book to the Authors for Grenfell project, which is raising money for the residents of Grenfell Tower. If you want a pre-publication copy, head on over to my page and bid before 27th June.
Tuesday: A very large box of books arrived for me.
Wednesday: I went on a school tour with Tristan Bancks, who is the author of many books, including Two Wolves, which was an Honour Book for the 2015 Children's Book Council of Australia awards (that's a big deal). We visited a few high schools and I watched him present so I would have an idea what to do when I have to present. Gulp.
Thursday: I received an email from my publisher talking about my cover for Lintang and the Forbidden Island, which is the second book in the Lintang series. I love emails about book covers.
Friday: I can finally make my big announcement!
I'M GETTING PUBLISHED IN THE US!
Anne Hoppe at Clarion bought the North American rights to Lintang and the Pirate Queen, and it'll be coming out in the US around Fall of 2018. The announcement can be found here.
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bid on an Early Copy of Lintang and the Pirate Queen!
Not only will this copy be SIGNED and available WORLDWIDE (BEFORE IT'S EVEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED) but you'll be raising money for the victims of Grenfell Tower.
My agent was so horrified by what had happened, she's hosting an enormous auction with over 100 authors/editors/agents/publishers offering everything from book swag to critiques.
The best thing is, because no one knows who I am (compared to people like Marissa Meyer and Marie Lu), you won't have to spend much to win this one!
My Latest Publisher Meeting
This was my second visit to Penguin Random House in Sydney. I'm trying to make it a point to see them each time I travel to the eastern states to visit family.
It's overwhelming meeting the people in charge of publishing your book. Trust me. They kept telling me all these wonderful things to do with the impending launch of Lintang and the Pirate Queen - marketing plans, festivals, school tours - and I just sat there in stunned silence. I'm sure I managed to get out an "ugnn" at some stage. Lucky they're paying me for writing and not talking!
I also got a sneak peek at the draft cover of my second book in the series. It's not coming out until February, but all these things need to happen early on. My publisher should be sending me second-round revision notes sometime this week.
Meanwhile, I've just finished a fresh draft of the third book in the series. I'll do a revision over the school holidays before sending it to the publisher.
Sound like a lot? Because we're planning on having the books coming out every six months, we have to work extra hard. This is all as well as teaching four days a week! I have a busy life, but I'm enjoying every moment.
Book Updates aka Where Are They Now
Lintang and the Pirate Queen
This one's more or less done. There may be a few more editing notes coming my way, where I need to make minor changes (doubling of words in the same paragraph etc), but the ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) are out in the world. The booksellers have them. It's out, at least in the world-before-consumers way.
Lintang Book 2 (title still coming)
I've sent this one to my publisher, and it will be sent back next month with a structural edit. That means big plot changes, rather than little easy ones. I already have a list of things I want to change thanks to my beta reader... who is Marissa Meyer, by the way, so you know those notes are worth taking seriously.
Lintang Book 3
I just finished a VERY rough draft. Some authors refer to this as draft zero. It's basically my brainstorming, plotting stage. I had no idea what was going to happen until I wrote it out. It's 40,000 words and a complete mess. I'll be rearranging scenes, adding and deleting characters, and putting some actual effort into it when the real Draft One comes along.
Super Secret Mystery Book
This one is bringing me MUCH joy. I started it last week. It's a YA spec fic, and that's all the information you're getting. I'm not really writing a draft zero for this one. I'm being careful, taking my time, trying to nut out the story as I go along, then go back and make changes to suit. Different book, different process.
And that's all of them!
The mythies are here!
But not "here" here. Just with me. Sorry!
I've now seen all six illustrations to go with the guidebook entries of my mythical creatures, and I'm thrilled to say they're incredible. James Brouwer has such a wonderful style that matches the tone of my story (he designed the cover of the book, by the way). One of his mythie pictures literally took my breath away. When I first saw it I was staring at the screen, unable to exhale.
This whole illustration process has been a dream. My editor, Zoe, chose James because she thought his previous work gave a good indication that it would go well with LINTANG. She and I decided which six mythies out of the twelve would benefit most from in-text illustrations. There were multiple reasons for choosing the ones we did - some mythies diverged so much from real world mythology that I wanted people to have a good idea of what they looked like; some were important to the story; some were just for fun.
Then Zoe sent James the guidebook entries of the six mythies he'd be illustrating. He drafted some design ideas, and Zoe and I sent him back comments. There wasn't much we wanted to change, to be honest. And the little additions he made were fantastic. It's bizarre to see how someone can take what you've created and make it their own. In some cases, the mythies he drew were different to how I imagined, but we left them how they were because he did it better.
I can't wait to share the guidebook entries and illustrations with you! Just under four months to go!
Book Cover Revealed!
I'm incredibly excited to announce my book cover has been revealed! LOOK AT THE PRETTY!
James Brouwer is the artist. He does sketches of my mythical creatures inside the book as well, and I am SO in love with them. You can visit his website here.
Some awesome things my family and friends have made
I am so lucky to have enthusiastic family and friends. There was much celebration when everyone found out I was getting published. My best friend had temporary tattoos made up, as well as a jacket!
Meanwhile, my mum gave me a litograph infinity scarf with the entire manuscript written across it. Aren't I lucky?
The lightning bird
The propheseeds!
The Winda
My amazing jacket!
My litograph scarf! Can you see the tiny text across the fabric?