For the past 4 years I’ve had a rush of novel deadlines, first with Little Paradise, then with the four Poppy books. So how blissful it is now to relax in front of my drawing board, pick up a pencil or paintbrush and work on illustrations. Read the rest of this entry »

If you would like to buy this, you have to buy a set of Aussie Bites. But here is the link to Chinese Amazon if you would like to buy the boxed set.

These amazing paper sculptures accompanied by poetry have been appearing around the Scottish city of Edinburgh.

Click on this link to read the article and see how truly beautiful these gifts are. Read the rest of this entry »

At the Ipswich Festival of Children’s Literature, the visiting authors were treated to a seminar about picture books and the ipad.

We saw how cute the Winnie the Pooh app was when apples could be shaken off the tree – little interactive tricks where children could play with the illustrations.

But we of the old school, came away shaking our heads. Read the rest of this entry »

1. How did you get your first book published?

My road to publication was paved with a combination of persistence and luck. I started sending short stories to publishers when I was doing my Bachelor of Arts at uni. Many years later, I finally hit the right publisher with the right story at the right time. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday I visited Our Lady of Help Primary School in Ringwood to do a Chinese painting workshop with the Year 3s to 6s.

First I taught them the four treasures of a Chinese painting studio – brush, paper, inkstone and inkstick. Then how to hold a Chinese brush. Everyone picked it up so quickly. They were naturals! Read the rest of this entry »