My new Young Adult novel Little Paradise hits the shelves today!

It’s always a wonderful feeling to know your book is all grown up and out on its own. It’s also tempting, when out shopping, to pop into a book shop to see if your new book is there.

Little Paradise has had some great reviews and my publicist, Kate has done a wonderful job securing press and radio interviews so you should be able to find it in your local bookstore if you want to buy it.

Just for starters, here’s an excerpt from Chapter One called Bones of the Soothsayer.

The soothsayer held the oracle bone with both hands and went strangely still. The fire hissed, the light from the coals glowed then faded. He turned the bone, studying the fine lines. Then more stillness. Another angle.

Mirabel rose and sat beside Mama on the couch, not daring to speak. At times a shadow of a frown crossed the soothsayer’s face. At other times the corners of his lips twitched or he raised his eyebrows, wrinkling his brow.

The fire burned low as shades of dusk crept into the room. The soothsayer picked up a metal probe and began carving onto the surface of the oracle bone with tiny scratching sounds.

At last he held the oracle bone out to Mirabel. ‘Hao le, it is done.’

Mama, unable to control herself, took the bone from him. She stepped to the window to read the inscription aloud.

‘Dressing the dead

Treasure not wed

Lost on the sea

To fortune you’ll flee’

Mama looked up, puzzled.

The soothsayer took the bone and pressed it into Mirabel’s hands. ‘Wherever you go, no matter how far from home, be sure to take it with you,’ he said with soft urgency.

‘Yes, sir. Will…everything be all right?’

The soothsayer made no reply but ushered them to the door.

Out in the gloom of the alleyway where the hooded streetlamps flickered, Mirabel walked in silence across the cobblestones. But her mother’s words echoed inside her head: Changing your name will change your whole destiny.

My sister-in-law, Allison is a wonderful cook and cake maker. This time, she made a tiger cake for the launch of The Race for the Chinese Zodiac. It had a lovely tiger face surrounded by marzipan grass and stripey insides of chocolate, but you’ll have to wait until we cut the cake to see that photo.

It was a lovely launch held at Book Bonding in Niddrie. The owners, Natasha and Mark made a beautiful display of the books and their new bookshop is even better than before.

Sally Rippin and I have been friends for a long time and I’ve been wanting her to illustrate a book of mine for ages. Up til now I hadn’t written a picture book so I was thrilled when she said she would do it. Her illustrations are gorgeous, the colours amazing. Together with Regine Arbos, the designer, Sally has given the book a very special and vibrant look. They remind me of ancient cave paintings -  the illustrations, not Sally and Reg I mean. They are fantastic!

My good friend and picture book creator, Corinne Fenton launched the book for us. She was a little late getting to the launch and swears that she will never use a GPS navigating system again. It’s back to a Melways for her. After calming herself down with a glass of water, she stood up and gave her speech.

Next it was my turn to read the story.

Reading my work out aloud I find is always a bit nerve wracking especially when I’m reading a picture book to a bunch of adults, so it was lovely to have the littlies in the audience.

Then I introduced Sally and she talked about the illustrating process.

Then Dom, Sally’s son, cut the ribbon to officially launch The Race for the Chinese Zodiac

And now, at last, it’s cake time!

And it was gone in seconds!

And then there was beautiful face painting.

And here are some of the lovely guests who make a book launch possible!

1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010

Tiger people are sensitive and brave. They like to joke around and can be lucky with money but they also have short tempers and often stand up against authority. Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs.

You can read the story about the zodiac in my new picture book  THE RACE FOR THE CHINESE ZODIAC

It’s good to be able to spread myself out. This is the beauty of being on a writing retreat and I am treasuring every moment. At home, my writing room is cramped and dark. When I began writing 10 years ago, I used the corner of our bedroom, so it’s not necessary to have a dedicated writing space, but it sure helps if the environment you create in is one that allows the ideas to flow.

My dream writing room would have plenty of light, plenty of bench, floor and table space, lots of windows and easy access to the outside.

While I’ve been in Lorne I designed some fun Chinese Horoscope animals to use on school visits.

Brought to you today by Saffy.