Lights! Camera! Book Week! I LOVE dressing my characters. I have to know what they’re wearing, in order to get a true sense of them. Over the years, loads of readers (and their parents) have sent me their Book Week, Truly Tan pics. But there’s plenty more inspiration in my books. Here’s my own little…
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A while back I wrote about the Three Ps of Creative Writing: Patience, Perseverance and Passion. You can read that post here. I still believe in the three Ps. But I get bored quickly. And I like finding new ways to motivate myself (and others). Because creative writing is hard. Always and forever. Lately, I’ve…
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I don’t normally, okay, I NEVER, write blog posts when I’m angry. So. I’m not angry now. Okay? But. This morning, while doing the breakfast dishes, I started watching a Youtube video by a woman I truly admire. Love her videos. And her message. Like, seriously LOVE. But then she started on about how shallow…
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This ducky is stuffed. She won’t create nothin’ this winter. But this doesn’t have to be you! If you’ve been thinking of joining Scribbles, now’s the time, pop tart! Starting today, Sunday June 10, we’re having a super duper, once only, Scribbles Winter Warm-up Sale. Save big bucks, make new friends AND put some sparkle…
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Excuses not to write or create. We’ve all got truckloads. Snoresville. Don’t waste mental and emotional energy trying to push through or fight with your excuses. Don’t try to rationalise them, either. Don’t take them out, hold them to light, polish and stroke them. And don’t try tossing out your everyday life in the name…
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Melbourne, Australia. May 2018 Weather? Yeah, right. Big weekend for the children’s book industry. Kid Lit Vic. Scribbles Masterclass. Book launches (Jess Racklyeft, Lucinda Gifford). I cooked roast lamb. Himself cooked parsnip soup. As I said, BIG. Following the ruckus, there have been heaps of posts and comments and ruminations flying around the Duck…
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Blog time. Go, Jen, go. K. The hunt is over! We bought a cottage in the country! OMG! This Easter we got ten substandard Easter Eggs and a 1930s cottage with two big trees, a wasp nest and a headless statue. Exhibit A: We move in winter. Lots of time to declutter — the house,…
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Phew and phew! I’ve just finished the copy edit for Truly Tan: Baffled! (book seven) and it has left the building. Left the building! I’m feeling elated. I like writin’ books. But I LOVE sending them on their way. Love being free of the buggers. So, what else? The search for a house in the country continues.…
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Here at HQ (aka The Palace) I’ve been thinking about narrative arcs. Story arcs. Those things what you hang a story on… Pesky, aren’t they? Exposition Rising action Climax Falling action Resolution My friend refers to stories with saggy arcs as ‘souffle stories’. They sink in the middle. Nice! Here’s my simile: Writing fiction is like skiing. The…
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I rarely if ever have guest bloggers. Why? Because I can’t be stuffed. It all sounds like way too much verk. And you know how I like to keep verk to minimum. But last week Geek Duck came to me and said, ‘I want to write a blog post, do you mind?’ ‘Go right ahead,’…
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