CATEGORIES

Almost every person in prison protests their innocence, but Australian Jock Palfreeman*, who is serving 20 years in a Bulgarian prison for the death of a Bulgarian national, arguably has more reasons to protest than most: it’s unlikely he committed the crime. For a little over five years (and while much of the Aussie-locked-up-OS attention [...]

I was one of those horsey girls as a kid. Loved them. Couldn’t accept parents’ refusal to keep one of them in our backyard. So I transformed my trusty bike – the one with the chopper-style handlebars – and the dog’s leather lead into the best little mare you could imagine. I actually steered the [...]

This month sees the release of my new teen novel, Gamers’ Rebellion. It is the third book in the Gamers series (YAY, I’ve achieved trilogy status) and it’s a book that’s getting three launches. Three launches? Am I being greedy? Well, there is method to my madness. Allow me to explain. Gamers’ Rebellion is aimed [...]

Australia is well-known for its myriad of contrasts and tempestuous weather. Devastating bushfires, consuming floods, and cyclonic furies can weary even the staunchest of spirits. But, seldom ones to lie down in defeat, Aussies love to rise above a challenge; plucking inspiration, hope, and incredible optimism from the deepest of floods waters. This is precisely [...]

Every now and then it’s nice to reflect and remember the golden moments of yesterday. And nothing conjures up warm, snugly memories better than a magic word or two, shared and cherished with those you love. When I asked children’s illustrator author, Stephen Michael King, what his reading list looked like, he trumped the idea [...]

Carole Wilkinson’s latest book, Stargefright, is a bit of a departure for her. She’s known for her historical novels set in ancient china (Dragonkeeper series) and Egypt (Ramose series), but this book is set in a contemporary high school. How different was it to write? Well… Carole has written a guest blog post on just that [...]

I almost didn’t go attend the Emerging Writers Festival (EWF), both because it’s in Melbourne and I’m not and because I’m still a bit puzzled that EWF consider Dave Graney ‘emerging’. My tweet about it probably earnt me a black mark from the festivals’ organisers, but the succinctness of Twitter didn’t allow me to explain [...]

Kim Lock, author of Peace, Love and Khaki Socks Tell us about your latest creation… One sultry October morning in Darwin, hemp-wearing army wife Amy Silva grips a trembling fist around two pink lines on a plastic stick. Struggling to come to terms with her rampant fertility,  disillusioned with a haughty obstetrician, and infuriated by an inordinate amount [...]

When bestselling, award-winning children’s author Belinda Murrell requested a chat, I was delighted to oblige. And with the dual release of The River Charm and the new Lulu Bell series this month, she has much to talk about. So froth up your café au lait, sit back and discover why squishy bananas, suits of chain-mail [...]

Jenny Spence, author of No Safe Place Tell us about your latest creation… ‘No Safe Place’. It’s a thriller set in Melbourne and Sydney. The central character is not a detective – just a woman who is unexpectedly thrown into a crisis and has to use all her wits to solve the problem and stay alive. Where are [...]

Baz Luhrmann’s multi-gazillion-dollar film adaptation of the iconic The Great Gatsby has received mixed reviews, and I swore I’d steer clear of an obligatory Gatsby-themed blog. But, having seen the film on a whim (it’s Saturday night and I felt as though I needed to have something other than work and study to show for [...]

It’s a little unusual for an actor to pitch a film to film producers, but so strong was Emma Watson’s desire to see one of her favourite books adapted to the screen she did just that (she says so in her Rookie Mag interview with fellow luminary, Tavi Gevinson). I have immense, infinite respect for [...]

When you hear Foer, you think, Jeopardy-style: ‘Who is Jonathan Safran?’ You don’t—at least, I didn’t until a few weeks ago—know Jonathan Safran has siblings. Writerly siblings, no less. Franklin Foer is Jonathan Safran’s older brother, is also a writer/journalist, and was the editor of The New Republic (for the record, there’s also a younger, [...]

The reading audience of YA yarns is ticklish to quantify by age and intangible by definition. Yet its common trait is the desire to be shocked, entertained and moved in the briefest possible time. I no longer have the rush of youth but do suffer the impatience of age so I love that YA reads [...]

The Big Issue (Australia) made an exciting announcement this week: From 7 June there’ll be another way to enjoy it. Currently a print-only magazine (and a fantastic one at that), it will also be available digitally. It’s a complementary approach and one that I’m fairly excited about—the International Network of Street Papers (INSP), of which [...]

Jessica Shirvington, author of Between the Lives Tell us about your latest creation… For as long as she can remember, Sabine has lived two lives. Every 24 hours she Shifts to her ‘other’ life – a life where she is exactly the same, but absolutely everything else is different: different family, different friends, different social expectations. In one [...]

In his youth, my shaggy-coated border collie had a fondness for rolling in guano, preferably just after bath time. The maturity and inability age brings to pursue such endearing past-times means I have not had to deal with that glorious dead-fish-wet-dog-poo smell for some years – until now. Thanks to the jolly new picture book [...]

Many years ago there was a book called Stagefright. It was about a group of high school kids putting on a musical version of Shakespear’s Richard the Third. It was the first novel from a then unknown author named Carole Wilkinson. Carole has since gone on to find success with her Dragonkeeper and Ramose novels, [...]

Stand in the kids’ section of any library and you’ll soon discover what under 10 year old readers gravitate towards; pacey, riveting chapter books, starring jump-off-the-page characters with the odd quirky picture thrown in to keep it all real. This is precisely what New Frontier Publishing is delivering with their dynamite Little Rocket Series. Like [...]

One of my greatest gripes about being vegan (or vegetarian—the same rules apply) is also a rather politically incorrect one. That is, that it’s assumed I thrive on the smell of incense, that I have musty-smelling dreadlocks, and that I wear tie-dyed clothes. I’m not that kind of vegan, and the mis-lumping irks me no [...]

How far would you go to obtain a book? it seems, is actually more than a hypothetical. I waited for months in breathless, is-it-here-yet anticipation for a rerelease of The Magnificent Chicken: Portraits of the Fairest Fowl, a book about chickens (hereafter referred to as ‘chookens’). Those who know me know I have a bit [...]

There are few books more suited to the Ones I Wish I’d Written category than Jeffrey Brown’s Darth Vader and Son. A pint-sized picture book, it’s brilliantly as much a book for big kids as small ones. In fact, I suspect many a new parent who grew up with Star Wars will be buying it [...]

Want to know who I like to curl up in bed with after a long day behind the flat screen? Curious to know how I spend the midnight hours? Well I can reveal that at least three of those listed below are amongst the many who keep me occupied into the wee hours of the [...]

Alongside To Kill A Mockingbird, Animal Farm would have to be up there as one of the most-loved books we were required (forced) to read at school. While I struggled with Shakespeare (though the waffle is clever, my small brain still found it waffle), Brave New World (the book’s extremely dated) and anything poetry-related, Animal [...]

There were three books in Scott Westerfeld’s awesome YA steampunk series — Leviathan, Behemoth and Goliath. I loved these books and was very sorry to see the story end. So there was much joy when I discovered The Manual of Aeronautics. Let me start off by saying that what I loved most about the Leviathan [...]

A book. A book by Indira Naidoo. A book by Indira Naidoo about growing vegies on your inner-city balcony. Could there be any trifecta much more exciting than that? The Edible Balcony tackles the problem most of us environmentally conscious city folk struggle with: How to grow edible goodies we shouldn’t—but do—go to the supermarket [...]

Each year, Melbourne plays host to a speculative fiction / pop culture convention called Continuum. This year’s convention, Conintuum 9, will take place on 7–10 June at the Ether conference venue in the Melbourne CBD. You should all come along! Let me tell you why. Continuum is rather unique. There’s nothing else quite like it [...]

It’s not that I’m not fond of paranormal spec-fiction; it’s just a genre that happens to feature much further down on my reading list – picture books dance all over them in fact. But when Queensland author, Paul Weston announced the release of her first YA novel, I was simultaneously intrigued and fascinated and then, [...]

I’ve blogged a bunch about Matthew ‘Oatmeal’ Inman’s genius blogs*. Now I get to blog about his just-released book, The Dog Paradox, which is built on his comic by roughly the same title. If you haven’t had the pleasure and pain of laughing so hard you think your ribcage might combust, then being struck by [...]

I’ve been reading and hearing about an award-winning transmedia app created by former McSweeney’s managing editor Eli Horowitz. Suffice to say, I was both intrigued enough to want to download this app, but wary enough that it might be so hipster I’d want to avoid it. I gave it a whirl after finding out The [...]

Going vegan while hampered by a gammy knee and while trying to conquer a PhD is arguably not one of my smarter moves. The knee injury was unavoidable. (I was mown down by an opposition player.) The veganism is, arguably, unavoidable too. It’s always where I’ve been heading—some 23 years of vegetarianism were really aspiring [...]

Have you ever wandered down your street and wondered who shares it with you? Do you like to let your curiosity conjure up interesting occupants based entirely on the external appearance of a dwelling? I do. I’m not sure if young children do this as consciously as us more questioning grown up types but Katrina [...]

Every writer goes through a patch where they stumble upon books they could have written. Said books send them into an I-should-have-written-that, I’m-never-going-to-make-it tailspin (cue diva-like facepalms and internal wailing). Me? I’ve found two books (three if you count the just-released sequel to one). The first (with its related second) is Weird Things Customers Say [...]

This New York Times article just won a Pulitzer. Frankly, I’m not one bit surprised it did. Snowfall documents, through a six-part, transmedia tale that incorporates text, images, video interviews, video footage, simulations, and interactive maps, an avalanche that occurred at Tunnel Creek in the US. Snowfall is exquisite and haunting in terms of both [...]

The New Yorker’s style has always been double consonant-inclined, although even they aren’t entirely sure why this is the case: The style book gives no reason for this spelling choice. What would be the point? Nothing makes the eyes glaze over so totally as the effort to codify the rules for doubling consonants when adding [...]

Fitting in with your flock is important. Occasionally though, our sense of self is questioned, buried beneath the need to conform. Mixing like with like is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s safe, secure and reassuring. Bea, however, is a bird who favours being true to yourself in preference to self-preservation. She dares to be [...]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban — I read it quite a number of years ago. So it’s been really interesting revisiting it, along with the other books in the series. But this time I also got to see it through the eyes of my ten-year-old daughter. Last year, I started to read the [...]

On the eve of ANZAC Day it seemed fitting to touch on the significance of the day. Young people are often faced with a barrage of ANZAC Day information whether they are involved in commemorative services and lessons at school or simply viewing a dawn parade on the day. Explaining the whys and how of [...]

The first time I met the acquaintance of Mr Darcy, I was much enamoured by his unassuming good looks, impeccable manners and sophisticated demeanour. If his reserved gentility left both Lizzy and me a little wanting and him rather lonely in the beginning, then it was only a question of time and persistence on behalf [...]

It seems that Awards Season is upon us! Everywhere you look there are prizes and honours up for grabs in the writing world — from the individual state awards to Australia-wide honours; from the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards to the Speech Pathology Awards. There are way too many of them for me to list here, so [...]