Category: authors

authors, interviews

Dee White on Emma Johnston: Marine biologist and TV presenter

Alphabet Soup
Image shows a head-and-shoulders photo of author Dee White. Dee has pale skin, brown eyes and shoulder length wavy brown hair. She is resting her chin on her right hand and smiling at the camera. She's wearing a bright pink top.
Image shows the cover of a children's book, Emma Johnston Marine biologist and TV Presenter. The cover is predominantly aqua coloured and features a hand-drawn illustration of Emma Johnston in Scuba gear. Emma Johnston is shown with pale skin, and very short white hair. She is surrounded by doodle style drawings of a sea star, a fish, coral, bubbles and a glowing light bulb.

Dee White has published more than 20 books for children and young adults, and many articles, short stories and poems. Her writing and writing workshops have taken her all over the world and she’s prepared to go almost anywhere (even do a tour of Paris sewers) to track down a good story! Today we’re chatting to Dee about her latest book, Emma Johnston: Marine biologist and TV presenter, which is part of the Aussie STEM Stars series.

From the publisher:

Professor Emma Johnston is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Sydney. From her earliest years growing up she has had a lifelong curiosity about the marine world and has a passionate commitment to finding ways to restore the health of damaged marine systems like the Great Barrier Reef.

How did you go about your research for writing about Emma Johnston?

The first thing I did was go online and find out as much as I could about Emma and the work she did. I watched a film she had made about her time in Antarctica, I read some of the things she had written about the environment, and I read her profile on the website of the university she worked for and interviews she had done about her amazing achievements.

From that information, I developed a series of questions that I asked her on Skype. We weren’t able to meet in person because of Covid restrictions and lockdowns.

I did a second Skype interview later to clarify some things she had told me and to get more information where I needed it. I also asked Emma to send me photos from when she was a child to help me imagine what life was like for her growing up.

What is your own favourite plant or marine creature?

I really love whales. I love the way they move and the way they interact with each other and with humans.

Emma Johnston shines a light on Earth’s precious underwater/marine environments. Did researching and writing this book lead you to change your own behaviour in any way? 

Researching this book gave me a much greater understanding of the marine environment and the dangers it faces, but also how nature is fighting against threats caused by humans.

Climate change has caused temperature layers to form in the ocean, trapping cold water and nutrients in the deep. When whales move through the water, they help blend the temperature bands, and also bring species like plankton up to the surface so they can get more light to help them survive.  We need plankton because they produce most of the oxygen we breathe.

This has actually inspired me to write a book about whales and how they help the world we live in.

One of the things that appealed to me about writing Emma’s story is that I’ve been concerned about the environment for a long time. We always compost at our house. We have solar panels to produce our electricity … and about four years ago, I changed to a plant-based diet.

Researching this book alerted me to even more things I could do to help the environment – particularly reducing my use of plastics and planting more indigenous trees and bushes at my house to provide an environment to bring back native birds, animals and insects.

Do you have a tip for children who’d like to try writing a biography?

If you can, interview the person you are writing about. In an interview, you can find out interesting facts that might not be available anywhere else in books or online. In an interview, you get to ask specific questions about the things you want to know about a person. You can email them via their website or the website for their place of work and ask if they would be happy to answer a few questions via email.

A COUPLE OF OTHER TIPS

  • Pick someone you’re really interested in writing about – someone who shares the same interests as you.
  • Find out as much as you can about them – then decide what to include in your biography. Pick out the most interesting parts about their life.
  • Think about what they might want to be remembered for and make this the theme or central idea for your biography. For example, with Emma Johnston Marine Biologist and TV Presenter, the theme or main idea is finding out about the marine environment so that we can help it.

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

I always work on lots of projects at once. At the moment, I’m developing a series of animal stories. I’m also working on a true story about a boy who climbed the Berlin Wall to escape from East to West Germany to go and live with his aunt. And I’m writing an action adventure about a boy who moves to Paris, uncovers a secret and sets out to find out the truth about his family.

Emma Johnston: Marine Biologist and TV Presenter is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS:

Image shows the cover of a children's book, Emma Johnston Marine biologist and TV Presenter. The cover is predominantly aqua coloured and features a hand-drawn illustration of Emma Johnston in Scuba gear. Emma Johnston is shown with pale skin, and very short white hair. She is surrounded by doodle style drawings of a sea star, a fish, coral, bubbles and a glowing light bulb.

Watch a YouTube video with Professor Emma Johnston: ‘Can we Save the Reef?’

Download the Teachers’ Notes for this book.

Visit Dee White’s website for more about her and her books.

authors, interviews

Paula Hayes on The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's novel: The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin by Paula Hayes and Katy Jiang. The cover shows Lily standing at the bottom left of the cover. Lily is a young girl with dark hair in pigtails, wearing a white blouse with red collar and an orange skirt. Behind her are an old woman in an orange dress sitting in a wheelchair, a man with a moustache wearing a blue cardigan and brown trousers, a woman wearing a yellow dress being hugged from behind by a man in a white shirt. At the woman's feet sits a teenage boy in a green shirt resting his forehead on his hand. Above them all floats a teenage poltergeist in a red shirt and brown pants. At the top left of the cover is a spider in a web.
Image shows a head and shoulders photo of Perth children's writer, Paula Hayes. Paula has pale skin, shoulder-length straight brown hair with a fringe and brown eyes. She's wearing a blue, red and white floral shirt and she's standing under a leafy tree.

Paula Hayes is an Australian writer of magical realism for young people. This means she is good at making strange stuff up and setting it in real life. Her first novel, Lily in the Mirror, was a CBCA Notable Book in 2017. Then Lily in the Mirror grew and grew and turned into an omnibus, illustrated by Katy Jiang – a trilogy of Lily books! Today we chat to Paula about the omnibus, The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin, launched in July 2022.

From the publisher:

When Lily Griffin finds a girl trapped inside a magic mirror, she uncovers a long-forgotten family secret and sets in motion a remarkable chain of events. Lily is a singular character, hilariously funny, sweetly poignant and deeply daggy. Plagued by social doubts and her own pecularities, she is the perfect person to investigate the many secrets of her grandfather’s house and, along the way, mend some family relationships, discover enduring friendships and learn to play netball.

Lily in the Mirror started out as one book on its own and now you’ve added two more books about Lily – bound up in one omnibus! Was there anything you found different about writing books two and three, compared to writing book one?

The wonderful thing about writing a series is that the characters are created in book one and then they are fleshed out able to grow and develop over the course of the two books. This makes writing the books easier because you know exactly how your character will react and what situations will show them off to their best advantage. For example, Linden, Lily’s older brother (AKA PigBoy) is quite a flat character, he is a trope of a nasty big brother but during the course of book two and three he is fleshed out, he develops, and changes and we come to understand his point of view much more.

Have you ever been in a haunted house yourself?

I haven’t been in a haunted house for reals, but in my imagination, I have! I have the sort of imagination that can turn noises into ghosts. My toys used to come alive in my bedroom at night as I sweated under the sheets. Again – imagination … or was it?

We follow Lily’s story as she writes updates in her journal. Did you keep a journal or diary when you were growing up?

During my late primary school days and early high school days I kept a journal every night. I had a great English teacher who encouraged me to write anything and everything, especially feelings. I found writing a way to clear my head and clarify my emotions. I would tie the note book up with a shoelace with complicated knots for safe keeping. At the end of high school, I had about seven big books and I threw them in the bin. I had processed all the events and big feelings and released it. I’m sure if Lily stopped at the first journal, her relationship with her brother would not be properly represented. It’s just a moment in time.

How did you go about researching information about the various time periods that pop up in the omnibus?

As well as being a word nerd, I am a history freak. I studied it at uni. My grandmother’s house was a time capsule for the 1910s to the 1990s and so I was lucky enough to see a lot of the things that are contained in the Rosy Room and the Little House. I love to read history books, biographies and collect old books. But when I want to know a specific fact, I google and go down a slippery rabbit hole where I get immersed in the past and I love it.

Do you have a tip for young writers who’d like to try writing a series or trilogy?

My advice to young writers is just to pick up the pen or your laptop and write. Write anything, you can cull and edit later. As for a series, you might like to map out how your plot is going develop over the course of three books unless you’re like me, I’m a pantser (I develop my story as I go … by the seat of my pants).  Once you know your characters well, they will start talking to you and you will know where to take them and how they will react. Writing a series gives you the freedom to explore themes and characters properly and that is an amazing feeling. Hopefully it’s amazing for your readers too!

The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

Image shows the cover of a children's novel: The Vexatious Haunting of Lily Griffin by Paula Hayes and Katy Jiang. The cover shows Lily standing at the bottom left of the cover. Lily is a young girl with dark hair in pigtails, wearing a white blouse with red collar and an orange skirt. Behind her are an old woman in an orange dress sitting in a wheelchair, a man with a moustache wearing a blue cardigan and brown trousers, a woman wearing a yellow dress being hugged from behind by a man in a white shirt. At the woman's feet sits a teenage boy in a green shirt resting his forehead on his hand. Above them all floats a teenage poltergeist in a red shirt and brown pants. At the top left of the cover is a spider in a web.

AWESOME EXTRAS:

Read an excerpt from the book on the publisher’s website

Download the teaching notes

Visit Paula’s website for more about her and her books

authors, interviews

Deb Fitzpatrick and Ajay Rane: Global crusader for women’s health

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's book: Ajay Rane, Global Crusader for Women's health by Deb Fitzpatrick. The cover illustration shows a hand drawn illustration of Prof Ajay Rane standing in blue hospital scrubs with hands on his hips and a stethoscope around his neck. Ajay has brown skin, short dark hair and wears glasses. Around him are doodle style drawings of the symbol for woman, a pelvis from a skeleton, and a glowing light bulb.
Photo shows author, Deb Fitzpatrick, leaning on her elbows on a stack of books. Deb has pale skin and short dark hair. She's wearing a long-sleeved dark blue shirt and is smiling at the viewer.

Deb Fitzpatrick writes for adults, young adults and children. She loves using stories from real life in her novels and regularly teaches creative writing to people of all ages. Deb lived in a shack in Costa Rica for four years where she became accustomed – well, almost – to orange-kneed tarantulas walking through her house, and sloths and spider-monkeys swinging in the trees outside.

Today we’re chatting about her latest book – Ajay Rane.

From the publisher:

Professor Ajay Rane is the Director of Urogynaecology at Townsville University Hospital and Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at James Cook University (JCU). Ajay has devoted his research and practice to treating women with severe childbirth injuries in the some of the world’s poorest countries.

How did you go about your research for the book?

First, I found every single article, interview and photo of Professor Rane online and printed it all out. As I read, I highlighted everything of interest. I had a big A4 notebook with me, which I filled with the most important information, best quotes and snippets from his life, and I tried to arrange the information in sensible ‘batches’, so that I could keep the huge amount of info manageable and sort-of orderly!

Then, once I felt I was across everything that was available about him in the public realm, I phoned Ajay and we had a lovely chat. I was SO nervous. He was SO lovely. And I asked him if I could start sending him questions about his life via email. Each email had about ten questions for him, and in asking these questions I was trying to fill in the gaps and ‘colour in’ the bits I didn’t know much about.

Despite being one of the busiest humans on the planet, Ajay was so patient and answered every single question, every time. He was an absolute champion to work with. 

Was writing a biography/nonfiction book very different compared to writing your fiction novels?

Writing Ajay’s story was certainly different in some ways to writing one of my novels, because there was an existing storyline I had to follow. And frankly, that was a relief!! As a fiction author, I’m used to having to make everything up, and that can be exhausting! So this was wonderful. Having said that, because Ajay Rane is a narrative non-fiction, there are many scenes in the book which I essentially did make up. The books are designed to read like novels, even though they are about a real person’s life, so all the dialogue, for example, is made up, based on what I understood about Ajay and his life. And, of course, Ajay read every single word and  I asked him to tell me if he felt anything wasn’t right. We were very careful to make sure everything felt true to life.

When you’re writing a nonfiction book requiring research, how do you know when it’s time to stop researching and begin writing?

Ha ha, well, deadlines help in that regard! I had four months to write this book and I can tell you it’s the quickest I have ever written any book! But once I had read everything I could lay my hands on, and chatted with Ajay, and seen photos of him as a child with his family, then I felt it was time to begin actually writing. And that was fun. Because, by that point, I realised how incredible this story was, and I was itching to share it with readers.

Ajay Rane is part of the Aussie STEM Stars series. What’s your favourite subject area when it comes to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths?

I would have to say science, particularly conservation biology. This is an area I’ve long been interested in and is very close to my heart. Did you know that feral cats eat about two billion animals a year in Australia? Reptiles, birds, frogs, mammals … it’s heartbreaking. It’s an incomprehensible number. The work that conservation biologists do to protect our native fauna is critical. We have seen animals literally brought back from the brink of extinction due to their incredible work.

Can you tell us a bit about your next writing project?

I always have a few manuscripts on the go! I have a children’s picture book text that I’ve been working on for a while and a junior fiction novel that I’m just editing at the moment before my agent sends it out. Of course, I hope very much that I’ll be able to talk to you about one or both of those books sometime in the near future!

Ajay Rane is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

Image shows the cover of a children's book: Ajay Rane, Global Crusader for Women's health by Deb Fitzpatrick. The cover illustration shows a hand drawn illustration of Prof Ajay Rane standing in blue hospital scrubs with hands on his hips and a stethoscope around his neck. Ajay has brown skin, short dark hair and wears glasses. Around him are doodle style drawings of the symbol for woman, a pelvis from a skeleton, and a glowing light bulb.

Find out more about the Aussie STEM Stars series here.

Take a look inside the book!

Download the Teachers’ Notes for this book.

Find out more about Deb Fitzpatrick and her books: visit her website!

authors, interviews

Sharon Giltrow on Get Ready, Mama!

Alphabet Soup
Image shows a photo of Sharon Giltrow, children's author. Sharon has shoulder length brown hair, fair skin and brown eyes. She's wearing a black shirt with tan dots. She's sitting with her chin in one hand.
Image shows the cover of a picture book: Get Ready, Mama! by Sharon Giltrow and Arielle Li. The cover illustration shows a mother still in bed, cuddling her teddy. There's a child standing next to her bed in a school uniform and with neatly tied plaits. The child is holding a white button up blouse on a coat hanger. Next to the bed is a white dog with brown patches and a pink tongue lolling out. The mother in bed has tousled hair and doesn't look alert. The dog and the child look enthusiastic and full of energy.

Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia and now lives in Western Australia with her husband, two children, a tom cat and a miniature dog. She works in Early Childhood Education and Teacher Education Support, working with Young Children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her debut picture book was Bedtime, Daddy!, illustrated by Katrin Dreiling. Today we’re chatting to her about her new picture book, Get Ready, Mama! illustrated by Arielle Li.

From the publisher:

Getting Mama ready for the day can be a challenge… you’d better watch out that she doesn’t sneak back into bed, try to distract you with cuddles, or … wait, is Mama watching TV?! 

Your first picture book was Bedtime, Daddy! Did you have the idea for a series of books about family members when you wrote the first book or did the idea for a companion book come after the first book was out?

Bedtime, Daddy! is a role reversal book where the child (actually a bear) has to put the daddy to bed. The idea came from my own family. Once I signed the contract for Bedtime, Daddy! I thought writing a series of books using the same structure but different family members would be a great idea. I wanted one about a mum and about the other end of the day, getting up, so I wrote Get Ready, Mama! which was recently published 3 ½ years after the first book. I also wrote a story about taking a grandma shopping and a grandpa to the beach. Those two will be published in 2022 and 2023. So, my picture book family series is now complete. (Wait a minute – what about the aunty and uncle?)

Are you a morning person or a night owl? (Do you spring out of bed in the morning yourself?)

I am a morning person or as a like to call myself an early bird, although at times I am also an exhausted pigeon. I don’t spring out as bed as quickly as I use to, it’s more of a slide, but I do like to get up before everyone else in the house. Then I can have a few minutes of ‘me’ time.

Did you work with the illustrator (Arielle Li) during the book’s creation?

Anouska, the editor at EK Books, encouraged Arielle and I to work together from the beginning of the publishing process. She shared Arielle’s initial character sketches with me and as a team we decided whether the characters would be guinea pigs or humans. We chose humans! I’m glad we did after seeing the child and mama’s amazing facial expressions in Get Ready, Mama! Then Arielle started working on the storyboard and again shared it with me. Throughout the whole process I was able to suggest changes. There weren’t many as Arielle did such a fantastic job interpreting my text. Once the changes were made, I put my text onto the storyboard to check how the story flowed. Finally, as a team we decided on a cover.

Do you have a tip for kids about writing illustrated stories or picture books?

After you have your idea, spend some time brainstorming the idea and in particular the characters. I do this for about 20 minutes every day for a week before I start writing. Here are some questions I use when I am brainstorming.

  • What does your character love or hate?
  • What is their nickname?
  • What kind of being are they?
  • What is their age?
  • What is their physical appearance?
  • Who are their family members?
  • Do they have any pets?
  • Who is their best friend/s?
  • What items do they carry in their backpack?
  • What are their hobbies?
  • What does your character want more than anything?
  • What are their fears?
  • What is their favourite food?

Can you tell us something about your next writing project?

I am currently writing my third book in my early middle grade series The Utility Belt. Books one and two release in 2022 and 2023. But I don’t want to give too much away.

I am also enrolled in a graphic novel course; I want to learn how to write (and possibly illustrate) a graphic novel. I already have a great idea, now to develop my characters – stay tuned!

Get Ready, Mama! is out now. Ask for it at your favourite bookstore or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Image shows the cover of a picture book: Get Ready, Mama! by Sharon Giltrow and Arielle Li. The cover illustration shows a mother still in bed, cuddling her teddy. There's a child standing next to her bed in a school uniform and with neatly tied plaits. The child is holding a white button up blouse on a coat hanger. Next to the bed is a white dog with brown patches and a pink tongue lolling out. The mother in bed has tousled hair and doesn't look alert. The dog and the child look enthusiastic and full of energy.

Take a look at some pages inside the book

Make your own Get Ready, Mama! mini colouring book

Download the Teachers’ Notes for this book

Visit the author’s website for more about Sharon Giltrow and her books

authors, interviews

HM Waugh on Mars Awakens

Alphabet Soup
Image shows the cover of a children's novel: Mars Awakens by HM Waugh. The cover illustration shows the silhouettes of two children, standing face to face. Behind them is a greenish sky over the red ground on Mars.
The image shows a portrait photo of children's writer HM Waugh. She has fair skin, brown eyes, short light-brown curly hair. She's wearing a red dress with a black and white floral pattern and she wears red earrings. She's smiling at the viewer..

HM Waugh is the author of books for children and young adults. She’s also an environmental scientist, and educator with a love of wild places and high mountains. This has led to icy feet and sunburnt cheeks in magical countries like New Zealand, Nepal, Bolivia and Switzerland. She has studied dolphins in New Zealand and rare plants in the Wheatbelt, and worked in mining and construction projects across Western Australia. Her latest book is Mars Awakens, the unputdownable first book in a duology.

From the publisher:

Raised in two colonies on Mars each long ago abandoned by Earth, Dee and Holt have been brought up to hate even the idea of each other. But when a mysterious object crash-lands on a far-flung plain, they are both sent to investigate and their fates intertwine. Together they must battle epic storms and deadly bioclouds while unpicking the web of lies they have been told about their planet.

What brought you to write a book set on Mars? Did you need to do much research before you began writing?

I love space and the idea of going to other planets, and we’re so close to being able to send people to Mars – kids reading my book could absolutely be a part of this – that one day the idea to write a book based on Mars just popped into my head. Mars is a real place, so I did have to do a lot of research. Not only about the Mars we know – like its gravity and size and moons and what it looks like from the surface – but also into the Mars we could create. The plants we would need to make wax and rope and clothing. To feed the population. To stabilise the planet. It was a lot of fun!

What’s your favourite unusual fact about Mars?

There are so many! I think one of my favourites is how rovers have been detecting strange levels of methane (like fart gas) on Mars. And recently they discovered rocks on Mars that contain substances that, on Earth, can be created by methane-producing bacteria. Did Mars once have life? Does it still?

Dee uses kites to travel long distances across Mars on her own. What gave you the idea? Did you test a prototype or put trust in your imagination?

The kites came from an epic brainstorming session. I knew Mars was too big to walk around, so I needed some low-tech way for Dee and her colony to travel long distances. And what did Mars have going for it? Much less gravity than Earth so you can leap higher and run faster, and some serious windstorms. And I thought about sailboats, and umbrellas in storms, and kite-surfers, and combined them all to create the Martian kites. I did not test this out! I’m not even sure they’d work on Earth? But I did use my experiences doing things like sailing, skydiving and ziplining to create the feel of kiting with the wind.

If there was a callout tomorrow for volunteers to move to Mars – would you be tempted to put your hand up?

Absolutely! Try out for all the things. What’s the worst that could happen? Either I don’t get selected and I’ve lost nothing, or I do get selected and get to decide whether to accept the place or not. If it was a one-way ticket I honestly think I’d find it very hard to say goodbye to my family. Maybe they could come with me?

Can you tell us something about your next writing project?

Well, obviously, my next project is Mars Book 2 and I’m not giving away any spoilers! Beyond that, I have ideas simmering away in my head for a new project and I’m just letting them develop. It can take a while for the right collection of ideas to come together, and then I suddenly know I’ve got the ingredients for a book.

Mars Awakens is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Image shows the cover of a children's novel: Mars Awakens by HM Waugh. The cover illustration shows the silhouettes of two children, standing face to face. Behind them is a greenish sky over the red ground on Mars.

Enter the author’s short story challenge! The winner will have a character named after them in the sequel to Mars Awakens. (Entries close 31 May 2022.)

Do you live in Perth? Book a ticket to the 8 May launch of Mars Awakens. Meet the author! Eat crickets, like Dee!

Read our 2019 interview with HM Waugh about her first children’s novel.

Visit HM Waugh’s website for more about her and her books.

authors, interviews

Jeanette Stampone on Shadow and the Girl

Alphabet Soup
Shadow and the Girl by Jeanette Stampone and Demelsa Haughton. The cover illustration shows a girl with plaits, wearing a white dress and a red cap, sitting back to back with a shadowy figure. They both have their feet in water. Behind them are alpine-looking mountains with snow on their peaks.
Jeanette Stampone, children's author. This photo is a head and shoulders shot. Jeanette has long straight blonde hair with a fringe, blue eyes and pale skin. She is smiling at the viewer. She is wearing a black and white patterned top, sleeveless. She's standing in front of a leafy green shrub.

Jeanette Stampone was born and raised in a spooky three-hundred-year-old English house. Jeanette now lives in a small country town in Western Australia with her husband and two boys. Shadow and the Girl is her debut picture book, illustrated by Demelsa Haughton.

From the publisher:

A giant girl towers over Shadow. Driven by fear, Shadow runs. And so does the girl. But can they really run from each other?

How long did it take to write Shadow and the Girl?

Nearly five years!

I first had the idea back in 2017. It was about a monster living under a child’s bed. I decided to change the monster to a shadow, but still had lots of trouble getting the story to flow.

So, I then completely changed the scene and took Shadow outside to a park. That’s when it really began to work. I sent the manuscript to a few publishers, but not many because I was worried the story was a bit too different. I eventually put it away and worked on new ideas.

But then in 2019, I saw Red Paper Kite were open for submissions. They were looking for quirky and unusual stories. I sent it in and … YAY! It got accepted. I feel like my story was just waiting for the right publisher.

Shortly after I signed the contract, coronavirus hit and the book release got delayed, which meant more waiting. But finally, in 2022, it was ready for print! It’s taken a long time but every stage has been exciting.

Did you have contact with the illustrator, Demelsa Haughton, while the book was being illustrated?

We really only made a few comments on each other’s social media posts. But other than that, no direct contact. My publisher worked closely with Demelsa and occasionally I was asked my opinion on her work, but that was very rare. I actually loved having no contact with her because it meant she was free to use her own creativity without me influencing it too much. She ended up making the book even better than I imagined!

How do you go about writing the first picture book draft?

So this is what normally happens:

  1. Random idea pops into my head.
  2. Idea swirls around my head, getting in the way of anything else I am trying to do!
  3. Get out my notepad and write a summary of the idea.
  4. If I am happy with the summary, I hop onto the computer and ‘grow’ the idea. I add more sentences and not worry too much about it being perfect. I just want to get the basic story down at this stage.
  5. Read through my story and chop, change, and polish until I’m reasonably happy.
  6. Finally, take the story to my critique group for feedback!

Do you have a tip for kids who‘d like to write their own picture book?

Imagine the illustrations as you write but try not to describe exactly what would be happening in the drawings. Let the illustrations tell one story and your writing tell another story.

So instead of saying something like, It was sunny and Ella smiled, you could describe her physical and emotional feelings like this: The sun warmed Ella’s face and her heart sang with joy.

Can you tell us a bit about what you!re working on next?

I have a book coming out with Wombat Books, The Dragon Guest Handbook. It’s a fun but meaningful story and I’m really looking forward to seeing it in print. I have been so busy with the release of Shadow and the Girl that I haven’t had a lot of time to work on new stories, but I do have a big list of ideas. Hopefully I can start working on a few of those soon because they’re all in the swirling around my head stage!

Shadow and the Girl is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Shadow and the Girl by Jeanette Stampone and Demelsa Haughton. The cover illustration shows a girl with plaits, wearing a white dress and a red cap, sitting back to back with a shadowy figure. They both have their feet in water. Behind them are alpine-looking mountains with snow on their peaks.

Peek inside the pages of Shadow and the Girl on the publisher’s website.

Watch an animation by Jana Kaminski (this is a video on the publisher’s Facebook page)

Visit Jeanette Stampone’s website for more about her and her writing.

authors, interviews, poetry

Kathryn Apel and What Snail Knows

Alphabet Soup
Author Kathryn Apel stands against a tree trunk. She has long blonde hair, is wearing dangling silver earrings and a bright pink shirt with a ruffled collar.
Image shows the cover of a children's verse novel: What Snail Knows by Kathryn Apel and illustrations by Mandy Foot. The cover illustration shows a small girl in a blue pinafore dress over a yellow tshirt. She's sitting on a swing, holding up a tiny snail in her left hand. She has messy hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. There's a flowerbed underneath the swing.

Kathryn Apel lives among the gum trees, cattle and kangaroos on a Queensland grazing property, where she writes poetry, picture books and verse novels. Her previous books include Bully on the Bus, Too Many Friends, and The Bird in the Herd. Kathryn’s latest book is What Snail Knows, illustrated by Mandy Foot, and we’re thrilled to chat to her about the book today.

From the publisher:

Lucy’s glad she has Snail, the perfect pet for a lonely girl. If only she had her own shell to hide in every time she started at a new school. But this place is different. She likes her teacher, Miss Darling. She likes her classmates, especially Tahnee. She even likes Mei-hui’s van park, where she lives with Dad and Snail. This place feels like home. Can she convince her dad to stay?

You’re well-known for your verse novels, did you know you’d write this as a verse novel when the story idea first came to you?

I did not! I was talking with a friend about the ‘How Can I Help?’ unit I’d team-taught a number of years earlier, and my friend commented that it would make a great book. I was in the middle of prepping two picture books for print at the time (Up and Down on a Rainy Day and The Bird in the Herd) and I couldn’t imagine how to squeeze ‘How Can I Help?’ into a picture book. But 6 weeks later I realised it could be a verse novel. And I was very quickly excited about that idea!

How did you go about writing What Snail Knows? Did you write a plan before you begin working on the story?

My story plan unfolds as I’m writing. When I get some words on the page, I stop and think about the character more. Is the voice distinctive? What does s/he want? What could cause the problem? 

And that’s how this started … ‘It’s just you and me. We don’t need nobody else.’ I was thinking about my character and wondering how s/he could link in with ‘How Can I Help?’ when I realised I already knew her. And I didn’t need to create a whole class of characters for this story. I already had them! They were in my verse novel, Too Many Friends. The voice I had found was Lucy’s – the quiet girl who was always alone. I did wonder how I was going to fill a book when Lucy doesn’t say much … But she thinks. A lot. And she shares her thoughts with Snail.

I can tell you that there is a lot of stress when you’re 3/4 of the way through your first draft and you still don’t know what happened to your main character’s mum … or why they have to move a lot. Usually I know how a story will end … just not how it will get there. But this time I didn’t even know the ending. Would Lucy and her Dad have to move again? Why? How did things change and resolve? I had no idea, and I was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to finish this book! So – I wouldn’t say I recommend not planning …

Did you talk with Mandy Foot about the illustrations? Do you consider illustrations at all when you’re writing?

I didn’t know there were going to be illustrations – so I didn’t consider them when I wrote. And I didn’t talk to Mandy about them. But I loved them. That tangle of hair, the dirty smudges, and that sweet little face. Finding the right place for them in the story was a bit like a jigsaw – but when the puzzle was complete,  those little line drawings surprised me with the emotions they squeezed from the poetry. They captured the aloneness … And the moments of connection between Lucy and Snail, Lucy and Dad and finally Lucy and Tahnee.

Do you have a tip for young writers who would like to write a verse novel or a verse short story?

  • Say less, best. There are lots of small words we need in sentences that we don’t need in poetry. Cut them out.
  • Play with your words and where they sit on the page. 
  • Try line breaks instead of punctuation.
  • Read your writing aloud. Or better still – get someone to read it aloud to you.
  • Focus on individual poems. Write one poem. Then the next. Forget you’re writing a book and just write lots of small poems that fit together to tell a story. 

Could you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

I’m rather excited to have a picture book that has also just gone to print. Miss Understood, illustrated by Beau Wylie, will be released in May 2022 with Scholastic. It’s a romp of a rhyming picture book, as told by the wolf, Miss Understood. She is such a sweetie, and if you have never heard her side of things, you really must read this book, because truly, she has been … misunderstood.

I have a couple of other picture books and verse novels in various stages. And I’m a wee-bit excited about the possibility of another companion title to Too Many Friends and What Snail Knows. I’m still mulling it over in my head – and then I need to do some research. And that may involve me stepping waaaay out of my comfort zone.😬 So it may be a while, yet …

What Snail Knows is out now! Look for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS

Image shows the cover of a children's verse novel: What Snail Knows by Kathryn Apel and illustrations by Mandy Foot. The cover illustration shows a small girl in a blue pinafore dress over a yellow tshirt. She's sitting on a swing, holding up a tiny snail in her left hand. She has messy hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. There's a flowerbed underneath the swing.

See some Snail poetry by Kathryn Apel on her blog

Read an earlier interview with Kathryn Apel about another verse novel

Download the Teachers Notes from the publisher’s website

Visit Kathryn Apel’s website to learn more about her and her books.

authors, interviews

Kim Doherty on Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist: 2016–2020

Alphabet Soup

MEET THE AUTHOR

  • Image shows a headshot photo of author Kim Doherty. Kim has medium-long straight brown hair, fair skin, and pale eyes. She's wearing a white shirt and a black jacket. She's smiling directly into the camera.

Kim Doherty is an editor, storyteller, teacher, and a mum to two young children, who she hopes will be inspired by the amazing world of science and Alan’s story. Today we’re thrilled to chat to her about her new book, a biography in the Aussie STEM Stars series – Alan Finkel.

From the publisher:

As Australia’s Chief Scientest, our country turned to Alan Finkel for advice on everything from climate change to artificial intelligence, to the pandemic. But at a time when scientists have never been so important, Alan nearly didn’t become one at all!

How did you go about your research for writing about Alan Finkel? 

I did a LOT of reading. It’s lucky that I love reading as well as writing, as there is so much to read about Alan – he’s always busy doing something interesting. I read all the speeches he’s ever given (and that is no small feat – there are hundreds) and a lot of his scientific papers. I confess, some of the papers were a bit too complicated for me to understand, but I did my best. I spent a lot of time interviewing Alan of course, but I also chatted to his colleagues, his friends and his family (his sister had lots of funny stories to tell. It’s a good reason to always be nice to your sister – you never know who she’ll talk to about you in the future!)

Did you meet Alan Finkel while you were writing the book?

Alan and I had grand plans to have lunch together in Melbourne, where we both grew up. Then he was so busy that we changed it to Canberra, where his office was as Chief Scientist of Australia. Then he was due to give a speech in Sydney, where I now live … but then something got in the way: Covid-19. There was no way of travelling or meeting face to face during the pandemic, so we did all our chatting on zoom. Which I have to say was fun! It was like being teleported straight into his living room in Melbourne, without ever having to walk out my own front door in Sydney. (And once, I was still secretly wearing my slippers. Ssshh!).

As Chief Scientist, Alan Finkel worked in many different areas of science – technology, biology, science education, the pandemic, climate change – and in the book we learn that perhaps his greatest passion is taking care of our planet. Which area of STEM do you find most interesting?

Oh I love all of it, I wish I’d studied more science at school. Alan is always fascinating to talk to, but perhaps my favourite of the many STEM topics we chatted about was how science can help look after our planet. For example, Alan believes that clean hydrogen can power our vehicles instead of dirty fossil fuels, and it turns out that Australia is a great place to produce hydrogen. You can make hydrogen from water, and instead of emitting nasty greenhouse gases, its only byproduct is water vapour! It’s exciting to think that, thanks to our scientists, Australia could play an important role in looking after our beautiful planet.

In addition to this biography about Alan Finkel you’ve also written a book for children about Mt Everest. Do you have a tip for children who’d like to write nonfiction?

Hmm, I’m sure your clever readers would think of this themselves but my advice is this: find a topic you’re really interested in, because it’s a lot more fun to read and write about a subject you love. It doesn’t mean you have to know a lot about it when you start, but you need to be ready to read a lot first, and then talk to people who know a lot, before you even start to write yourself. If you’ve really worked hard on the research, the writing bit is easy and fun. Go on, give it a try!

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

To be honest, I am still trying to work it out. I love writing about amazing people, and there are so many of them in Australia – scientists of course, but also people from all walks of life who are doing wonderful, brave things. It’s an honour to tell those stories, so thank you for reading them. I hope they inspire you too.

Alan Finkel is out now! Ask for it at your favourite book store or local library.

Take a sneak peek inside the book

Image shows the cover of a biography about Alan Finkel written for children. The title is Alan Finkel, Australia's Chief Scientist: 2016 - 2020. Story told by Kim Doherty. Text at the top of the book's cover says Aussie STEM Stars. The cover is predominantly dark blue and shows an illustration of Alan Finkel. Alan has short grey hair and is wearing a pale blue collared-shirt with a maroon tie and a dark grey suit jacket. He has fair skin and dark blue eyes. Other symbols on the cover include sketches of a human brain, a computer chip, and a lightbulb (the last of which is shining brightly, yellow).
authors, illustrator, interviews

James Foley on Stellarphant

Alphabet Soup

MEET THE AUTHOR-ILLUSTRATOR

James Foley makes picture books, middle grade novels and comics for kids. His work has been published as books, in anthologies, and in magazines and newspapers. Today we are thrilled to chat to James about his latest book, Stellarphant.

From the publisher:

Stella wants to be an astronaut. There is only one problem – Stella is an elephant. Every time she applies to Space Command, they come with a new reason she can’t join. But where there’s a will, there’s a way and Stella is determined to reach for the stars.

What sparked the idea for this story?

I was at our annual SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) Rottnest Retreat, June 2014. Sitting around in the cottage with my friends and we were all sketching and scribing away. I made this random pen and watercolour sketch of an elephant and penguin as astronauts. Elephants had turned up in my sketchbooks regularly over the years, but never as an astronaut. The story that became Stellarphant grew from there. 

I’m also a massive nerd who loves learning things, and I was reading about all the species that have been to space. The back endpapers of the book were another early image I couldn’t get out of my head. 

The endpapers showcase the huge number of animals sent to space since 1947. Was there a particular animal you were surprised to discover had been to space? 

I was most surprised that the first earthlings to circumnavigate the moon were not humans; it was some tortoises, mealworms and wineflies, sent by the Soviets! I also loved that there was an experiment that sent fertilised chicken eggs to space – it was called ‘Chix in Space’ and was sponsored by KFC. 

The endpapers in Stellarphant aren’t even the full number of animals that have been to space, they were just a bunch of the most fascinating ones. 

Stella shows resilience, persistence and creative problem solving skills in the face of repeated ‘no’s. Have you ever been told it’s not possible to do something and persisted anyway?

I was really lucky that when I was younger, and being a writer/illustrator was still just a dream, I didn’t have anyone tell me I couldn’t do it. My parents and siblings and friends were all very supportive of my creativity. Though I can be incredibly stubborn, so maybe they knew that they couldn’t stop me if I really wanted to try.

Sometimes it’s your own head that is telling you no; that often happens to me when I’m in the earliest stages of a new project, or even just starting a new page. The little doubting voice flares up, and I wonder if I’ll be able to finish the task ahead. When that happens, I find that my fear of not meeting my deadline usually trumps the fear of failure, haha! I know that I just have to get the work done. 

The book is definitely about determination, but for me it’s also about discrimination, and diversity, and equity, and feminism. And it’s also about learning to let go of what other people think of you; to stop looking for approval from others, and to realise that you are good enough the way you are. 

Can you tell us a bit about how you went about creating the book? Words or illustrations first?

The whole story grew from that image of the elephant and penguin spacewalking. 

  • This is the original sketch that started it all.
  • Final artwork in Stellarphant.

That’s how it goes with my stories, most of the time; they start with an image (either in a sketchbook or in my head), then the plot grows from there. 

When I first started trying to write the text for Stellarphant I was pretty inexperienced at writing. The manuscript was, uh, not great, haha! It took me a while, and it took writing a bunch of other stories, to figure out how to make Stellarphant click.

Now I’ve learned from experience that it’s best for me to hold off on writing down a new idea until I’ve thought about it for a really long time; I need to let the ideas percolate and simmer in my head until I’ve got all the plot beats. I’m definitely a planner; I need to know the beginning, middle and end of the story. I won’t start writing unless I know where it’s going. 

As I’m brainstorming and writing, I’ll get pictures in my head. So once I have the story completely written out, it doesn’t usually take too long to scribble out a sketchy little storyboard for the whole thing. From there I can edit, improve, rearrange, until the words and pictures are fitting together just so. 

That’s how it worked with Stellarphant. I did one scribbly little version of the storyboard; then maybe two full-size black and white rough versions of the book. Then I figured out the colour scheme and did a colour rough for the book. Then I did the finals. It was a fairly straightforward process compared to my first book, where I made 13 different storyboards! 

Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?

I’ve got two projects on the go – the first is a comic short story which will be published in 2022.

The other is a MASSIVE project that I’d love to talk about, but it’s still super secret! It’ll come out in early 2023. 

Stellarphant is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookstore or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS:

Meet James Foley: Come to a free book signing + drawing workshop! 13 November 2021 [WA event]

Take a peek inside the book!

Download the Teachers’ Notes

Download fantastic Stellarphant activities and templates [click & then scroll down the page]

authors, illustrator, interviews

Peter Carnavas and My Brother Ben

Alphabet Soup

MEET THE AUTHOR

  • Peter Carnavas, children's author and illustrator

Peter Carnavas is an award-winning author-illustrator. You might have read some of his many picture books, such as The Children Who Loved Books, Last Tree in the City and A Quiet Girl. His novel The Elephant won a Queensland Literary Award and was shortlisted in four other national awards. Peter lives on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, with his wife, two daughters, a dog and a cat. Today we’re thrilled to have Peter Carnavas visiting to talk about his latest children’s novel, My Brother Ben.

From the publisher:

Luke and his big brother Ben spend the summer on the banks of Cabbage Tree Creek. Quiet Luke sketches birds, while Ben leaps off the Jumping Tree. The boys couldn’t be more different but they share the same dream: winning a boat so they can explore the creek properly. Then Ben starts high school and the boys drift apart. When Luke catches Ben sneaking out at night, he knows his brother’s up to something, but what?

When you were growing up did you have a big brother or sister?

I have two big brothers and one big sister. One of my brothers is just a few years older than me so we grew up doing everything together: playing backyard cricket and soccer, playing computer games and drawing silly pictures of each other.

In the book, Luke chooses soul birds for himself and considers soul birds for his various family members too. Which bird would you say was your soul bird?

I tend to do things slowly so I think I’d be a slow-moving water bird, like a white-faced heron.  I’m not a very good swimmer so it suits me that these herons only go ankle-deep into the water.

How long did it take you to write My Brother Ben – from the start of the first draft to the final draft?

It probably took me about year from start to finish.  Every time I thought I’d finished it, my editors pointed out ways to make the story even better, so I did many drafts. That’s the great thing about editors – it’s similar to the way teachers show you how to improve your stories. The illustrations didn’t take too long – probably only a few days to draw all the birds – because they are black and white pen drawings, and I didn’t have to paint them.

Do you have a tip for kids who might be interested in watching birds?

The main character, Luke, has an aunt who teaches him all about birdwatching.  She tells him to keep still and let the birds come to him, and this is something I’ve discovered when birdwatching myself.  I’ve found that if you walk through a bush track or a forest, you probably won’t see many birds straight away. But if you slow down and keep quiet for a while, you’ll notice small movements and sounds, and then you’ll notice more birds. Also, when you keep still, birds will be less afraid. Another tip is to start by looking for water birds in lagoons or ponds, as these birds keep quite still themselves, so they’re easier to watch and identify.

Could you nominate a children’s book you’ve recently read that you would recommend?

I have loved reading Sara Pennypacker’s books this year, particularly Pax and Here in the Real World. Pax is a wonderful story about a boy trying to reunite with the fox he once raised – great for upper primary students.

My Brother Ben is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookstore or local library.

AWESOME EXTRAS:

Watch Peter Carnavas talking about the book (YouTube)

Download the Teachers’ Notes for My Brother Ben

Read two more interviews with Peter Carnavas here and here

Visit Peter Carnavas’s website for more about him and his books

My Brother Ben by Peter Carnavas