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!

Book Launch!

Lintang and the Forbidden Island was officially launched yesterday at Boffins Books! My best friend made an amazing cake, and we sold heaps of books. I was thrilled to see some of my students there, too.

Thanks to everyone who came along!

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?

Find them here.

Box of Books!

After the author copy comes the box!

Not long now until my baby's out in the world. Keep an eye out in Australian bookstores from Jan 29th, 2018.

My Author Copy of Lintang and the Forbidden Island Has Arrived!

Isn't it beautiful? Not long to go until it's in stores!

Lintang and the Forbidden Island book launch!

Lintang returns for her next adventure very soon!

Lintang and the Forbidden Island is officially released on 29th January 2018, but the book launch will be hosted at Boffins on 3rd February. Bring your yo ho hos along to Boffins in the city and come say hi!

Details here.

Cover Reveal!

At last! I can share the beautiful cover for Lintang and the Forbidden Island! It's honestly the most beautiful cover I've seen in my whole life. Marissa Meyer was kind enough to host the reveal on her blog.

FIND IT 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!

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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.