Fiona Wood is an award-winning writer of books for children and teenagers. Her books have been published in Australia and internationally. Today we’re pleased to be talking to Fiona about her latest novel: The Boy and the Dog Tree.
UQP provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this book.
From the publisher:
Instead of the whole family moving to a new city, Mitch and his sister are staying with their gran, while their parents have been delayed working on other side of the world. Mitch is struggling to fit in at school, with the resident Grade Five bully picking on him. The one thing that would make his life better is a dog, if only he could persuade his parents. Then Mitch discovers an old oak tree that seems to growl. And one night, a huge, strange dog-like creature emerges from the trunk. His name is Argos. He has been bound in the tree by ‘history, mystery, magic and chance’ …
How did you come to write a story about a dog magically entwined with a tree?
A very helpful tree suggested the story to me. I live near a park that has some long avenues of oak trees, and one of these trees has a gnarled and twisted trunk that reminds me of a dog. I started asking myself why a dog might be bound within a tree. By whose magic had the dog been put there? And for what purpose? How did it happen? When did it happen? Chewing over questions is a great way to start building a story.
When you add magic into the everyday world, how do you make it feel believable for readers?
If you introduce a magical creature into a realistic setting, the first task is to make the world seem real. If it does, then by association everything that happens in that world feels real too.
It’s also important that the main character in that world has a believable initial reaction to the magic. So, Mitch finds it hard to believe when a tree seems to be murmuring or growling, and then calling to him in his sleep, and even harder to believe when Argos, a huge magical dog-like creature emerges from the tree. As improbable as it first seems, Mitch does come to believe what he can see with his own eyes. And ideally the reader will believe Mitch.
Other characters’ reactions also support the believability of the magic. For example, Regi, Mitch’s sister, realises that Mitch can hear what Argos is saying, though she cannot. She also notices Argos’s magical smell.
Finally, the magical creature itself must feel real. The writer’s job is to allow readers to imagine what Argos looks like, how he sounds, what sort of personality he has, and how we might react if an Argos came into our life.
Is the park where Mitch visits the dog tree based on a real park?
It is imaginary, but it has elements of a few parks in Melbourne/Naarm including Hedgeley Dene Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens and Fawkner Park.
Did you have a dog when you were growing up? If you did, was it your idea of the perfect dog?
I did not have a dog when I was growing up, and it was a thorn in my side. My brother and I pleaded and complained to my parents for years to no avail. I was allergic to the pet guinea pig offered in substitution. I truly longed for a dog as Mitch does in the story.
So, I made sure my children had a dog growing up. He was a much-loved family member, very far from perfect, quite naughty in fact, but adored by all of us.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I’m working on a story that has Mitch’s friend Dido as the main character. In The Boy and the Dog Tree, Argos tells Mitch that Dido is a witch, though she doesn’t know it yet. What would it mean to be a witch in a perfectly ordinary family? How does Dido find out that she is a witch and what might she do with this powerful identity? What are the upsides and downsides of having a particular power? More questions to chew over.
The Boy and the Dog Tree is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Fionna Cosgrove is a Western Australian writer with a taste for the wonderfully macabre. Her writing has been published in The School Magazine and anthologies, and she’s also the author of the Twisted Trails series for young readers and Sadie and the Secret of the Swamp. Today we’re chatting to Fionna about her latest book, a short story collection for older readers of horror stories: All That Slithers, with illustrations by Stiff Ives.
Fionna provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this book.
From the publisher:
All That Slithers is a collection of unsettling and creepy short stories; a kaleidoscope of quiet dread, ghastly ghouls, and neon-tinted terror! In this hauntingly playful collection, monsters lurk in the most wholesome of places, systems hum with quiet resistance, and the safest routines conceal the strangest truths. Each story is calibrated for curious minds: creepy enough to raise goosebumps, curious enough to feel cosy. Suitable for humans (and others) 10 and beyond!
Of all the book genres out there, why do you choose to write horror stories? Did you also read horror when you were growing up?
I don’t necessarily think we choose what we write. I think we naturally gravitate towards certain things, and I think my brain, and by association, the rest of me, has always been interested in the paranormal, the bizarre and the unexplained. I grew up, thanks to my Dad, loving shows like Are You Afraid of the Dark? and the TheTwilight Zone, Unsolved Mysteries and Fact or Fiction. All of these shows had the best twists. They would lure you in thinking you knew where the story was going, only to throw a complete left hand turn right at the end and have you gobsmacked at the big reveal. I think I love that side of horror the most; the weird side. The side that kind of begs you to believe there’s more in this world than you can see, and nudges your flight response just enough to be fun, but not enough to traumatise. There’s also nothing quite like that feeling when you’re right on the edge of your seat, perhaps only surpassed by that feeling when you finish a story and have to take a moment to comprehend what you just read.
Growing up, Goosebumps [the series] was just released and it went bananas! It was on every kid’s table at school and everyone was talking about the latest release, but … I never really read them. They still hold a super nostalgic place in my heart, and I have since read many, and adore them, but my sister was five years older and was already reading Stephen King and Christopher Pike – the heavy hitters of horror in the 90s. As a result of always wanting to impress her, I skipped Goosebumps and went straight to her Point Horror and Christopher Pike books (avoided her King books though, thank goodness). And even back then, with all of those horror books, the ones that resonated for me were always the paranormal ones. I never really loved the stalker books or mystery killers, what I loved were the cosmic travellers, or the ghosts, or the possessed perfumes … nothing much has changed. So, yes, I did read horror as a kid, but even then I had a specific flavour that I liked, and that’s still my favourite to this day.
Have you ever written a story that got too scary/gory and had to tone it down? Have you ever scared yourself while writing a horror story?
Yes. To both. In my collection of short stories, All That Slithers, there’s a story called ‘Irene’s Eye-Scream Parlour’ and originally the final scene was really gory. There was mention of juicy optical nerves, intestines, splintered bones as toothpicks and several other references to body parts. In some ways I wish I had kept more of it in, as I think sometimes I underestimate what kids can handle (and what they enjoy), but when writing kids stories, I prefer to stay on the side of caution and figure I’d pushed that story far enough without needing the extra gore. Still, if anyone wants a copy of the original … just sing out! haha
And yes to scaring myself. I wrote another story in All That Slithers called ‘Sundowner’ at night on my bed. My favourite place to write is on my bed at night with the window open next to me so I can have moonlight filtering in. It’s quite a serene environment – unless you’re writing about haunted ships and ghostly sailors. I creeped myself out so much during that story I had to shut the laptop and continue writing during daylight the next day. I think because that story was inspired by Batavia, a real life shipwreck off the coast of WA, it hit harder, and I felt like I could actually be invoking something real from my words. Whereas usually, when I’m making stories up from my head, I figure I am somehow more in control … whether that’s true or not, I have no idea.
Each of the stories in your book (13 stories, plus a bonus 14th) feature two metres at the start to rate its horror level. How do you decide the rating of each story? Do you have test/sacrificial kid-readers?
I have several sacrificial kids 😈 and adults haha. I sent my stories to a handful of adults that write for kids, and also to several friends that have kids. It’s funny though, because everyone’s reactions to these stories are so different. I have a friend who’s daughter reads all of my stories, and she is never scared by anything. If anything, she gets bored unless there’s a significant amount of gory body parts. While on the flip side, there are some adults – like my Dad – who disliked any of the stories that edged too far into the horror world. In the end, I took on board everyone’s feedback, but then had to really follow my gut. I tended to rate the more light hearted stories higher on the snack scale, and the ones that tackled more serious concepts, closer to the meaty side. And then with the ghost metre, I rated the stories that veered more towards entertaining and funny closer to the ghost, and ones that moved into darker territory and featured darker, perhaps scarier entities, closer to the demon side. But reading is so subjective, what one person finds scary, the next may laugh at. So in the end, it really is just my best guess.
Fionna’s metres (scales) to gauge the scariness & monster presence in her stories.
Do you come up with your twist in the tale before you start writing, or during the writing process? What makes a good twist?
For the most part, it’s the endings that come first, and then, as a lover of the twist, I have to figure out how to lead the reader astray at the beginning, so the twist really lands. The fun part for me is figuring out how the story begins, and what I can weave into the scenes so that the twist lands in a way that makes the whole story suddenly shift. For example, with the bonus story, ‘Hush’, I knew the overall concept of what I wanted to write, but I wasn’t sure how to write it in a way that would really surprise the reader. That story for me, was the darkest, and aimed to have the biggest twist – whether I landed it or not is up to the reader!
I think a good twist makes the reader want to go back and read the story again. It’s one they never see coming that makes them want to look for the breadcrumbs, to analyse their own mind, and wonder why they thought the story was going somewhere else to begin with? A good twist reframes the entire story. And on an audible level, a twist that makes you gasp is always a winner! One of my favourite twists ever was in the story ‘Neato Burrito’ by Josh Allen in his book Out to Get You: 13 Tales of Weirdness and Woe. Besides being the most awesome name for a short story ever, I never saw the twist coming, and when it landed I was equal parts horrified and massively entertained.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
Currently I’m working on short stories for the Micro Terrors podcast, which is a kids horror podcast for ages 8 and up that I am a secondary writer on. It’s based in the US and the stories are a mixture of bizarre, funny, unsettling and creepy. It’s one of the most fun projects I’ve ever worked on. As well as those, I’m writing several novellas for my Twisted Trails Series, hoping to package them up into a Seasonal Screams Omnibus ready for a Halloween launch – each novella will take place during a festive season. I’ve just finished drafting Love Letters which is the Valentine’s novella, and aim to have either two or three more completed by Halloween – with one obviously taking place on Halloween.
In addition, I’ve been looking at starting a cosy fantasy snail mail club (but make it strange, obviously!). The world is called The Land of Grim (working title) – think trolls that harvest magical flowers, mermaids that prefer to swim in swamps, goblins that are grumpy government workers, and sirens that have taken over the open ocean as pirates. I’m currently in the process of commissioning art, writing up stories, and just generally over thinking the whole thing. ETA on that project is ‘who knows’.
Behind the Screens by Niraj Lal, illustrated by AśkaNiraj Lal. Photo by Winifred Cunningham
Behind the Screens: How the Internet Works & How to Make it Work for You by Niraj Lal, Illustrations by Aśka (University of Queensland Press, $19.99) The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this book.
Dr Niraj Lal is a researcher, writer and presenter. He is the host of the ABC’s Imagine This kids’ podcast, and he’s passionate about making science work in society’s interests. He has a PhD in physics, has appeared on Play School and Catalyst, and has won numerous awards. Today we’re chatting to Niraj about his new book: Behind the Screens, illustrated by Aśka.
From the publisher:
This book answers questions like: – If YouTube, Instagram and TikTok are all free, how come their owners are some of the richest people on the planet? – Why is it so hard to stop scrolling? – How do I know who to trust on the internet? – How can I avoid being tracked by tech companies?
There’s a lot to love online! What’s your favourite online activity?
Doomscrolling while on the dunny. Nah joking! (Though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do it … )
The thing that really gives me a kick is organising online to catch up offline – with my futsal team, school mates, and a weekly crew that goes swimming in the bay on Friday mornings.
What’s your favourite offline activity?
Getting into the bush and the ocean with my kids, partner and mates. Growing and harvesting food from the garden or things we’ve foraged, fished, or hunted.
Why does it feel so hard to step away from a screen (or put down your phone or device)?
Because every time you put your phone down, there are thousands of the world’s best paid engineers trying to make you pick it back up again! And our brains are really soft – we’ve evolved to have an almost limitless capacity for affirmation and validation and connection with people we know, and a deeply hardwired attraction to dings, and red notifications, and emojis. App developers have figured ways to hijack these ancient reward pathways to keep us super engaged.
Do you think AI could ever really replace/replicate Niraj Lal?
How do you know this is not an AI version of Niraj Lal writing this right now?
Lol … I’d like to think not, but with sufficient AI training on things I’ve said and written and done in the past, I’m sure some future version of ChatGPT could replicate me pretty convincingly.
This is a little terrifying.
There are breakout boxes in the book, where we hear from kids who share their comments and give opinions on tech issues. How did you gather their responses?
By going into schools, and chatting with young people and their parents, right across Victoria and Queensland. I reckon the kids’ comments and opinions are one of the best bits in the book! Super insightful, savvy and articulate.
A comment from Olive, 12. (Pages 92&93 from Behind the Screens.)
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
New seasons of ABC Imagine This, being a science producer for a really cool film called Phenomena by Josef Gatti and Rob Innes (coming out soon!), a possible sequel to Behind the Screens, and my day job in renewable energy. Mainly trying to keep balance in the great dance of life – I take a bunch of leave without pay to be able to hang out with my kids more and stay human as much as possible.
Behind the Screens: How the Internet Works & How to Make it Work for You is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Jo Dabrowski lives in Melbourne, Australia and started her writing career in advertising. Jo loves reading adult books and kids books in all genres, but the books she gets most excited about are the ones where she can see a tiny bit of herself in one of the characters. Today we’re thrilled to be chatting to Jo about her novel: The Making of Martha Mayfield.
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this book.
From the publisher:
Martha Mayfield has always been the quiet kid. Martha is, after all, her mother’s daughter. The shy child of an even shyer mum. And she likes it this way.That is, until Martha’s mum loses her job. And Martha’s teacher overlooks her at school. And soon, Martha realises something has to give. Can she really go through life being so quiet that nobody takes her seriously? Should she really keep all her good ideas to herself forever?Putting yourself out there is every quiet kid’s worst nightmare, but Martha is determined to make the most of it. And perhaps to make something of herself along the way …
Martha is much quieter than most of her classmates. How did you come to write about Martha – someone who is usually in the background?
Loud, confident characters have had plenty of chances to shine, I thought it was time a shy person was in the limelight! The Making of Martha Mayfield is definitely the most personal book I’ve ever written. I borrowed lots of things from my own life and included them in the book. The biggest one was that I was shy when I was in primary school. Not quite as shy as Martha, but I could be very quiet and anxious. I always had lots of ideas and things that I wanted to say but, quite often, I was too worried about making mistakes or embarrassing myself. Writing about Martha came very naturally to me because I clearly remember all those anxious feelings as well as the frustration of staying quiet when I so badly wanted to speak up.
Group projects! Are you a fan yourself, or do you prefer to fly solo?
When I was at school, I definitely preferred to work on my own. I had very specific ideas about the way I wanted things done and that can be tricky when you’re working in a group. Now that I’m older I appreciate that I can’t do everything and I genuinely like teaming up with people who have different strengths and skills. When I write my books, I love sharing my work with my editor. She always has lots of ideas of how can I push myself and make the story more interesting. That’s the best part about working in a team –discovering different ways of doing things and making the work better.
Martha loves stationery and paper craft. What’s your favourite item of stationery on your desk right now?
Where do I begin?! I love stationery. It’s hard to pick one favourite. I have a Mr Fueki glue pot (just like Martha). I bought it in Japan.
I have a tiny tin with a picture of Miffy on it that has little note cards inside. They’re so cute that I’ve never actually used one because I never want them to run out!
And, I know this isn’t stationery, but I also love googly eyes. I have a giant pair stuck to the wall above my desk:
Do you have any tips for kids who find themselves part of a group project?
Try to be flexible. This can be hard, I know. But no one has the exact same vision as you. Share your ideas and make sure you listen to everyone else’s too, then do your part to the best of your ability. Try not to worry if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you imagined it. You never know, it might even turn out better!
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
Right now, I’m mostly working on more picture books. I have a new one coming out in September about a boy who makes a lot of bad decisions. I’ve also started a rough outline of a new middle grade novel about a boy who really loves rules!
The Making of Martha Mayfield is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Cindy Lane is an award-winning artist and illustrator who loves the ocean. She was born and grew up by the sea in Sydney, lived by the Great Barrier Reef in FNQ, and now has her studio by the Indian Ocean in Perth. Cindy loves to make her own paints with materials she finds in nature, and collects waters from all over the world to use in her paintings. Today we’re thrilled to be talking about the nonfiction picture book Ningaloo, illustrated by Cindy and written by Tim Winton.
In the north of Western Australia, where the desert meets the sea, lies one of the last great wild regions on earth. The First Peoples of the region call it Nyinggulu. The rest of the world knows it as Ningaloo. From enormous whale sharks to minuscule Cape Range Millipedes, and from colourful coral reefs to muddy mangroves, the biodiversity and interconnectedness of each distinctive ecosystem will fill young readers with wonder and awe.
What’s your favourite Ningaloo-related fact?
Orcas aren’t whales at all, but the world’s biggest dolphin!
Did you need to do any research before you started illustrating Ningaloo?
Lots! As the book wasn’t just about Ningaloo, but also covered the vast areas of Exmouth Gulf and Cape Range National Park, I flew up so I was able to take a lot of aerial shots of the landscape, which inspired some of the illustrations in the book. I also dived beneath the waves for photos of humpback whales, mantas and other sea creatures.
Can you tell us about your choice of materials/art mediums for your illustrations in Ningaloo?
Watercolour is my medium of choice, along with pencils, pen and pastels which I then collage altogether digitally. When I paint an area, an animal, or plant, I like to infuse it with the DNA of the place, and I usually do this by incorporating the local natural water. When out researching a place, I take small bottles to collect water samples to paint with. Waters were collected from deep within Ningaloo reef, diving with humpbacks, manta rays, tiger sharks, and turtles; from the shore-hugging mangroves filled with crabs and migratory wading birds; from a Cape Range creek, home to emus and rare rock wallabies; and from Exmouth Gulf’s seagrass meadows, water stained with sediment clouds of feeding dugongs.
What’s something you wish more people knew about Ningaloo or its creatures?
Even though there’s been efforts to protect the areas with sanctuary status, it’ll mean nothing if we can’t get on top of climate change. The coral, sea grass and the marine life that depend on these are fighting a losing battle against continually rising ocean temperatures. We can make a difference with our choices, but we need to act now.
Can you tell us a bit about what you’ve been working on next?
I’ve just finished two weeks of school holidays workshops focused on Ningaloo, with more to come throughout the year with libraries and schools. Ningaloo is part of an Oceans-themed book illustrations exhibition in Newcastle NSW, so I may head over there for more workshops soon.
I’m also working on another nature story book which is 48 pages long, so I’m painting everyday for the foreseeable future!
Thanks for the opportunity to share my world, Alphabet Soup Books!
Ningaloo is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Justin Somper is an author and meditation guide; he is best known for his Vampirates series. Justin is currently based in Perth, Western Australia, where he is writing the Pirate Academy adventures – in between dips in the Indian Ocean, visits to lighthouses and long-overdue sailing lessons. Today we’re chatting about Book 1 in the Pirate Academy series, New Kid on Deck, illustrated by Teo Skaffa.
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of New Kid on Deck.
From the publisher:
The year is 2507. The oceans have risen. A new dawn of piracy has begun. Jacoby Blunt and Jasmine Peacock are students at the elite Pirate Academy. This is no ordinary school. Lessons range from Knots Class and Sailing to Combat Workshop. The students hail from famous pirate families. The teachers are all legendary sea captains. The pressure is always on and friendship is everything. When a new kid – the mysterious Neo Splice – arrives, everything changes FAST.
Welcome to Pirate Academy where every day is a swashbuckling adventure!
The Pirate Academy series is set in a boarding school in the year 2507, and all the students are learning to be pirates. What brought you to set the story in a boarding school?
Very simply, students at all NINE of the Pirate Academies worldwide live as well as study on-site. It’s essential given how much training each and every day at Pirate Academy contains. Plus, living together helps the students to form really close bonds over time, which they will draw on as they become captains and deputy captains and recruit crews for their own ships and missions.
The students take classes in sailing, sword fighting and knots, among others. Did you need to research these subjects yourself to write the Pirate Academy books, or were you already an expert in these areas?
Ha, I am by no means an expert in ANY of these. I had a little instruction in sword-fighting, from a stage combat expert, some time ago and I continue to draw on this. When I was writing the first Pirate Academy book, I had recently arrived in Perth (from London) and I seized the opportunity to take sailing lessons at Royal Perth Yacht Club. These took place in all weathers and I was able to bring my newfound experience to writing sailing sequences in the books. We were schooled in nautical knots too – but, as you will see in the book, at Pirate Academy they also teach attack knots, which are my own addition/invention!
If you were at Pirate Academy, which class would be your favourite? (And which your least favourite?!)
I think I’d enjoy all the lessons – after all, I did put them in there! I’ve been writing about something called Sword Reading for Book 3, which really appeals to me – that’s a lesson I might like to TEACH! I think the class that might most challenge me would be Navigation by Map or Moon as navigation is not usually my strong point!
Do you have a tip for young writers who’d like to write their own adventure-filled tales?
Absolutely! Put your characters in a really tense situation from the get-go and keep them there, making it worse and worse and worse! You might feel mean doing this but keep going. Let’s see what your characters are really made of!
What’s next for the kids at Pirate Academy? Will there be more books in the series?
There absolutely will! The next book, Missing at Sea, is coming in February (not long to wait!) and this sees the students of Barracuda Class heading out on the all-important Oceans Bound weekend – 48 hours of sailing without any accompanying teaching captains. They’re going to have to deal with snakes, spiders, sharks and skulls … which means the League of true Pirates can’t be far away!
New Kid on Deck is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Jeanette Stampone grew up in England in a spooky 300-year-old house surrounded by stories of local legends, ghosts, fairies, and pixies. Jeanette now calls Western Australia home. She is the author of two picture books and the Junior Fiction Ghost Detectives series, illustrated by Jasmine Berry. Today we’re chatting to Jeanette about book one in the series: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost.
From the publisher:
Nine-year-old Terry Fide dreams of being the next great ghost detective like his dad. But there’s one problem: Terry is terrified of anything remotely scary (except his ghost dog, Bones). When his dad is called to work in Sydney, Terry is left to deal with a spook causing havoc at the bakery.
How did you come to write about a ghost haunting a bakery?
I was born in England and lived in a three-hundred-year-old house. It was always very spooky and I spent quite a lot of time hiding under my covers! So, that’s where the ghost part came from. As for the bakery, well my parents owned a bakery, and when I turned 15, I worked there, too. So, I pretty much grew up in a bakery environment, and was always spoiled with yummy treats. When I was trying to think of an idea for the book, I decided it would be fun to combine these two elements and create a bakery ghost.
Terry Fide is a punny name for your main character and his name also tells us about his personality! Have you ever found yourself having to do something that you found terrifying?
I did a solo parachute jump! If that’s not terrifying enough, my walkie-talkie failed so I couldn’t hear the instructors as they tried to guide me down. Thankfully, I managed to get myself down safely. I have to say, it was an amazing experience.
What’s your go-to order when you visit a bakery?
Can I only choose one? I don’t think that’s possible, so I am picking a few! For sweets, I love carrot cake and caramel slice. For savoury, I won’t say no to a pasty or spinach & ricotta roll. Yum!
Do you have a tip for young writers who want to write their own novels?
Take lots of time to get to know your characters. Imagine you are interviewing them and ask about their lives, what they do for fun, their likes and dislikes. Imagine how they would respond to you. Would they roll their eyes? Would they get distracted? Would they speak fast or slow? Doing this will really help you to understand them and build a strong character. And from there, you can start to figure out story ideas. You’ll be surprised how many ideas start flowing after you’ve ‘interviewed’ your character!
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I am always working on picture book ideas. I also love to draw so I am hoping to become an author-illustrator one day. So, lots of doodling and playing on my favourite drawing app, Procreate.
Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
AWESOME EXTRAS:
If you live in Western Australia, you can book a private 10-minute story time experience with Jeanette on the Story Wheel as part of the Totally Lit Festival in Fremantle! (October 10, 2025) Info and bookings via the Totally Lit website.
Zana Fraillon is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. Her work has been published in over 15 countries and is in development for stage and screen. Today we’re chatting to Zana about Song of a Thousand Seas, her latest verse novel, with illustrations by Aviva Reed.
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of this tile.
From the publisher:
Houdini the octopus lives in an aquarium, but she misses her home in the wild Sea. She doesn’t like the visitors who bang on her tank. Or the way she can’t feel the sun on her skin or the wind rippling the water. Then one day she meets someone who is different to the other visitors. The singing of the Sea is growing stronger and harder to resist. Can Houdini make Juno understand what she needs before it’s too late?
Your verse novel is written from the point of view of an octopus. How did you approach finding Houdini’s voice?
This novel was a bit different to the way I usually work. Usually, the character’s voice is the first thing that comes to me, but this time around it was the opposite. I actually had a dream that I was an octopus. I was looking out through octopus eyes at the sun filtering in through the water, and tasting things with my skin – it was all very surreal – but this dream stayed with me when I woke and kept nudging at me during the day. I knew this was a story I wanted to write, but the dream had been utterly silent and peaceful, and I felt by giving voice to the character I was somehow destroying that peace. I looked at a lot of ways to get around this – I tried very hard to sell this as a graphic novel, but that wasn’t something my publishers were keen to explore. So I was a bit stuck!
When I am stuck on something, I know the best thing to do is to come at it from a different angle. So instead of trying to actively find and force the voice, I threw myself into research. This led me to approaching Sea Life aquarium in Sydney, who were wonderfully supportive and invited me to come meet their resident octopus – Houdini. As soon as I met her, the voice of my octopus came to me as clear as day. I find that the more I know about a character, the stronger their voice is in my head. I suspect the initial silence was due to me not knowing anything about octopuses. Research is definitely a writer’s best friend.
How do you decide whether to write a story as a prose novel or as a verse novel?
I don’t really decide – the story decides for me! When I get a sense of the character, their way of talking and expressing their world and their place within their world becomes evident pretty quickly. For some, especially characters who are not people, this comes through as verse. There is also something about the musicality and rhythm of the more-than-human world that I want to try and capture in my words, and this seems to work best through verse.
I also just really love writing verse novels, so if a character lends itself to this style I am all for it! I love how playful you can be with the words in a verse novel, and the way they are set on the page. I love that the words themselves can be saying one thing, while the way they are written on the page can be saying something else. For example, if you have a character saying how brave they are, but those words are tiny and small and set off over in the corner, the reader understands that the narrator isn’t that brave at all. I also really love how verse novels leave space for the reader’s imagination – the breaks between verses is like a breathing space that allows images and ideas and connections to grow.
Could you share a favourite octopus fact?
Octopuses are amazing creatures – so alien and monstrous and also so very, very human. They are curious and funny! Octopuses have been known to target certain people and squirt those people with water any time they come past. To me, this is deliberately humorous behaviour! I think my favourite fact is that octopuses watch other animals to see what those animals are scared of, so that the octopus can then mimic that in order to protect itself. It shows such self-awareness and planning and thought. It is also just an excellent superpower.
Do you have a tip for young writers who would like to write a story from the point of view of an animal?
Pay attention to the animal – as in, watch the animal, notice everything you can about what they do and how they do it and try to figure out why they behave in that way. Put yourself in their position as much as is possible and safe. For example, when I was writing The Way of DogI took my dogs for a walk and when they stopped to sniff a tree, I would stop and sniff that tree. I curled up in their bed, and under the table. It is amazing how different the world looks from just this small change of perspective. For Song of a Thousand SeasI looked out at the world through the glass of a tank. I went swimming and looked up at the lights through the water and listened to how sound changes. Also – use your research! Find out as much as you can about the animal and that will give you hints about how the world seems to them. For example, octopuses taste with their suckers – imagine tasting with your hands and feet!
Could you tell us a little about what you’re working on now?
I have two picture books which are coming out in the next year or so – I really love writing picture books and collaborating with an artist on a project that I could never do on my own. I love how the illustrations can tell a whole other part to the story, and how the story couldn’t live without both parts. My ideal writing life would be one where I spent all my time collaborating with other creatives. I haven’t worked out how to do this on a large scale yet, but I’m sure there is a way!
A friend of mine also suggested I should make a verse novel trilogy – having written one from the point of view of a land animal, and one from the point of view of a sea animal, it makes sense to write one from the point of view of a sky animal … Now I can’t get this idea out of my head. We’ll see … (but if anyone has any sky animal recommendations, please let me know!)
Song of a Thousand Seas is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
Kristy Nita Brown is a Western Australian author writing junior fiction books and delivering creative writing, independent publishing and film making workshops at libraries and schools. Today we’re pleased to be chatting to Kristy about the second book in her Mavey and Beth’s Double Act series: The Hole Truth, illustrated by Alison Mutton.
The author provided Alphabet Soup with a reading copy of The Hole Truth.
Almost everyone in Year Three is rocking earrings. Shiny gold stars, diamond studs, dangly rainbows, buzzy bees. Everyone except Mavey, that is. With her twin sister Beth and her best friend Woody by her side, Mavey’s facing a big decision. Fit in? Stand out? Studs or no studs? Can Mavey figure it out before the whole school finds out the hole truth?
This is Book 2 in your junior fiction series. Have you planned out the series in advance or do you just focus on the book you’re currently working on?
When I first came up with the idea for Mavey and Beth, I only had one book in mind. But once I finished it, I realised it could work as a series, with the girls taking on a new challenge in each school year up to Year 4. I won’t go past Year 4, as this would push the series into middle-grade territory, and these are chapter books for early readers.
A fan recently asked me why the story is always told from Mavey’s point of view and not split with Beth over the books, since they’re twins. Mavey is shy, introverted, and thoughtful. I feel these kinds of characters are underrepresented in junior fiction. Beth is more outgoing and dramatic, the kind of character who’s already well represented. For me, Mavey is the heart of the story. She’s trying to figure out her place in the world and make sense of things other kids seem to grasp more easily, and that’s the perspective I want to explore.
Beth has her ears pierced, but her sister Mavey is nervous about getting her ears pierced. Do you have your ears pierced? How old were you when you made the decision?
The Hole Truth is inspired by my daughter and the pressure she felt from her peers in Year 3 to get her ears pierced. It’s a real issue for primary school kids and isn’t just girls, kids of all genders are getting piercings these days.
I do have my ears pierced, but I don’t remember when or how it happened. I also have my nose pierced. I did it while writing The Hole Truth to learn more about the process. The piercer explained everything to me including the process and the importance of consent. The person getting pierced is always in control, no matter their age, and can say “no” or “stop” at any time. Some of the stories of kids she’d pierced even made their way into the book!
What’s your best tip for someone who feels anxious about the pressure to do something they’re unsure about?
My best tip is to remember that it’s okay to take your time and say “no” if something doesn’t feel right. You don’t have to give in to pressure just to fit in or please others. It’s important to listen to your own feelings and boundaries. Sometimes talking it through with someone you trust, whether that’s a parent, teacher, or friend, can really help you figure out what’s best for you. And remember, you’re always in control of your choices, just like I learned from the piercer. Your choices are important, because they are yours.
Spelling homework gets a mention in the book – is spelling one of your superpowers or superchallenges?
Spelling is definitely not one of my superpowers, and I love telling kids this! So many young writers struggle with spelling, and I want them to know it doesn’t have to hold them back. Being an author doesn’t mean you have to be a perfect speller. We have editors who help fix punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Once kids realise this, they can let go of the fear and just focus on the story they want to tell. I even tell them I use voice-to-text when writing sometimes. You don’t even need a pen – just an idea! I’m living proof that you don’t have to be a perfect speller to be a storyteller. If you’ve got a good idea, there’s always a way to get it down on paper.
What’s next for Mavey and Beth?
Will there be a third Mavey and Beth book? In my mind, yes … I think there will be! It will be set in Year 4, and I’m thinking it might be about skateboarding … but I’m open to suggestions. If anyone has ideas for the next book, I’d love to hear them. Feel free to email me! That said, my writing time is limited because I also run the Book Builders Challenge in schools, which takes up a lot of my year. So, the plan is for a third book, but I’ll see how it all fits together!
The Hole Story is out now! See the list of stockists at the author’s website.
Kylie Howarth is an award-winning, internationally published children’s author-illustrator from Western Australia. Kylie has swum with whale sharks, manta rays and humpback whales in Ningaloo, piranha and pink dolphins in the Amazon, braved scuba diving with lionfish in Egypt, marine iguanas and hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos Islands and encountered great white sharks in South Africa. She can also confirm that ice-cream bean trees are real and not fiction! (And the fruit does taste just like vanilla ice-cream.) Today Kylie is visiting to talk about her latest book, the second in her graphic novel series, Kev and Trev: Snot Scary Jungle Stories!
The publisher provided Alphabet Soup with a reader copy of Snot Scary Jungle Stories.
From the publisher:
Join Kev and Trev’s epic jungle adventure – full of roarsome new friends and frightfully fun times! Outswing a scary jaguar, steer clear of hairy spiders, poison frogs and cheeky monkeys, and dance like your life depends on it, all the while searching for mysterious pugorillas … and Kev’s missing shorts! Jump on board Kev and Trev’s popcorn powered houseboat and sail to the jungle for their most tree-mendous journey yet.
How long does it take you to create a Kev and Trev book?
The first book took three to four years! Developing a new concept and new characters can take a lot of time, but it’s also my favourite part of the process. At the same time, I was studying how graphic novels work as I had not made one before. Now that I’ve finished Book One and know the main characters well, each new book will become faster to make. I’ll be creating one Kev and Trev book every year.
Book 2 (like Book 1) is laugh-out-loud funny and full of puns. Do you brainstorm a bunch of themed jokes before you start writing the plot? Or do you find the jokes pop up as you get into the story?
Ha ha, thanks! I love humour in books and my family thrives on jokes and banter too. So, the funny bits just pop up naturally once I start writing the dialogue. I’ll then read my rough draft to my kids, who’ll suggest more jokes (usually funnier than mine) and I’ll add those in too.
Which of the characters is your favourite to draw? (We promise not to tell the others.)
My Happy is the easiest to draw and I kind of wish I’d made the other characters just as simple. Then perhaps I could make two graphic novels in a year instead of one! Mr Happy is also my favourite as I draw him with school kids at my author visits. I love seeing him drawn in all the different kids’ styles and enjoy reading the funny speech bubbles they write for him.
Graphic novels and comics feature a lot of speech bubbles. Do you draw the speech bubbles first and then fill in the text? Or put the text in first and then draw the speech bubble around it?
It is always easier to write or type the text first and then draw the bubble around it. That way you ensure the text fits nicely inside and won’t get too squishy. I am passionate about creating books that are inclusive of struggling readers, so making sure the text is clear and easy to read is important.
Excerpt from Snot Scary Jungle Stories by Kylie Howarth
Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on next?
I’m excited to be working on Kev and Trev Book 3!!! I’ve plotted a draft outline with another unexpected twist (like Book 2). I am now starting to plan each page by roughing out loose sketches. I still have a long way to go yet, though. The next steps after that will be to write and refine all the dialogue and short stories then research and design the new characters. The research stage will be fun as Kev and Trev are off to the snow in Book 3 and so am I! There will be some very COOL snow animal characters.
One last thing, thank you to all the kids who’ve read Kev and Trev! You are EPIC!!
Kev and Trev: Snot Scary Jungle Stories is out now! Ask for it at your favourite bookshop or local library.
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