creative writing | creative life
Thoughts Inspired by The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho I’ve been reading The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, an elegant parable about finding one’s destiny while also uncovering the treasure within.Here's a picture of it on the train with me... 😉  When we tap into the ‘language of the universe’ (as suggested in The Alchemist) and learn to read signs and …
Creative Writing Tips Galore! Okay, I’ve got four tips for you again today. I’m obsessed with four, aren’t? I think it’s my brain’s favourite number. Anything more than four and my brain drifts away. La la la… BUT. Having said that. There is one extra tip in this week’s ep, and here it is... EXTRA TIP: If you’re new around here (hello!) …
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Winter is Coming... Knitting!Painting!Drawing!Writing stories!Winter is my favourite time of the year to snuggle in and get creative.This Creative Winter (It's coming. Nearly there! Brrr!)Better to show you pictures, right?I know you love pictures because, hello, you LOVE children's literature and that's why you're here.With me.Readin' this... Not only Writing Books for Children HERE'S WHAT I'M …
Jammies!Ugg boots!Corduroy snuggy thingyame that has fake-fur lining and hood... It's 3 degrees this morning and I'm sitting in the sun, sipping tea and writing to YOU! It's been a while, yeah?I had a session with a life coach last week and she asked me to journal about my definition of success. Now, I've thought about …
Introducing debut middle-grade author, Fiona Lloyd I'm so excited to share this beautiful interview with debut middle-grade author, and girl&duck alumnus, Fiona Lloyd! Fiona has been a Duckie and a Scribbler and I've loved watching her go from strength to strength, developing her talent, keeping the faith, doing the verk. 😉 This is a funny, …
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Stand aside! There's writin' to be rescued! Okay. This was supposed to be the Day Three post of my self-imposed, pre-Christmas blogging challenge. I wrote most of it—then lost my mojo and my faith, got distracted by Christmas preparations, and, erm, abandoned the writing. But it's never too late to rescue our darlings, is it? …
We have a new bakery in our little town, dear reader. It's actually the old bakery rejigged. They have revamped and stoked-up the ancient wood-fired oven and they're making posh bread and fancy biscuits. And they have a hole in the wall where they serve totally ACE coffee. And it's all VERY exciting. Yesterday when …
Continue reading "Australian House and Garden. Keeping it Real."
Rambling writer alert! Read at your own peril... I have very little to offer you on this Thursday afternoon, dear reader, and yet I still feel compelled to pick up a pen and scratch a few lines. Perhaps I should write in my journal and keep my muddled thoughts private. But. I am sitting here …
Pull up a chair! Grab a latte. A Lady Grey. A shandy. Let's chat! I was going to call this blog post, 'What's Wrong With This Bloody Story?' But on second thoughts that title might be misleading. Who's story? Which story? Your story or my story? See what I'm sayin'? Let's narrow it down. Don …
From time to time I send out this download to the creatives on my mailing list. Â I wrote this download as a blog post ages ago, in response to a wildly common question:How do I know what I'm writing?Say what?The thing is, when it comes to writing books for children, people (especially newbies) get bamboozled. …
Continue reading "A Freebie for You. Plus, Let’s Celebrate Picture Book Month!"