I am almost at the end of my first Young Adult novel, Little Paradise. And what a relief it is.

When I say, ‘almost at the end’ I really mean the end of the first draft. What’s left to do now is a heap of refining where I go over every paragraph, every line and every word to make it the best I possibly can. This next stage of the writing process is one I really enjoy.

The cover of my new Aussie Bite, The Lion Drummer has just come through via email. It looks great and is illustrated by Andrew McLean. The book will be out in July.

The story was inspired by my niece, Louisa, who is training to be a lion dancer. It was also inspired by the big dragon, Dai Long. Tomorrow he will parade through the streets of Chinatown in Melbourne. Every year I join in the parade. It’s tiring but lots of fun. I love the sound the drums make. The drumming gets right inside you. So if you can, come down and meet Dai Long and touch him for good luck. If you are over 10 years old, you can even be in the Chinese New Year parade yourselves. Come to the Chinese Museum in Melbourne at 10.30 tomorrow.

Dai Long is the biggest dragon in the world.

Welcome to the Year of the Rat!

It’s meant to be a good year because the Rat is the very first animal of the twelve animal signs in the Chinese Horoscope, and it is also the beginning of a new 60 year cycle. So a completely new cycle is about to start tomorrow. Cycles are very important to Chinese people because this is the way of the world.

For example, in nature you have the cycles of night and day, months of the year and the seasons. In history you have the rise and fall of countries. And in a person’s life you have birth, life and death.