Introducing Are You There, Buddha?

With the stressful busyness of moving countries, homes and ongoing pandemic lockdowns, I haven’t had a chance to formally introduce my newest book baby - Are You There, Buddha?

It’s a contemporary verse novel for pre-teens and young adults - the sweet spot being girls around 9-14. Set in Crescent Bay, a fictionalised town on the NSW Central Coast, it’s about a 12-year-old girl called Bee, who’s just started high school and is wondering where she fits in. Her mum has left the family to live in India, and Bee hasn’t quite accepted her well-meaning stepmum Kath, or the fact that she’s growing up so fast. She says: “why can’t my body slow down for a second, so I can catch my breath?”

This is another verse novel, although I think it’s a hybrid model; verse stanzas mixed with narrative dialogue. I wrote quite a lot of this book during my May Gibbs fellowship in Brisbane in September 2019, before the world changed so much I hardly recognise it sometimes. It had my complete attention for nearly a month, and without that time, I’m not sure it would’ve ended up the same story.

In some ways I wrote this book as a tribute to the Judy Blume classic, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret? but it’s very Australian and modern, with reflections on climate change and social media. I wrote my thoughts on writing an updated puberty and period book for The Guardian.

This is a book about what it’s like to get your period for the first time, but it’s also about courage, standing up for yourself, choosing the right tribe, and going after your dreams. It’s about love and blended families and how messy life can be sometimes. I’ve been blown away by the response so far from readers, teachers, parents and reviewers. I’ve even heard it’s already been added to some study guides for year 7.

My publishers at Hachette have been wonderful to work with on Buddha, and it looks like we’re embarking on another children’s book together. More on that soon, but I can say it’s middle grade, and about two very special kids and the power of friendship. I probably should go and work on it right now…x

CBCA Book of the Year

In October it was Book Week and time for the Children’s Book Council of Australia to announce the long-awaited winners of the Book of the Year awards. In an actual dream come true, my middle grade verse novel, The Little Wave, won the BOOK OF THE YEAR: YOUNGER READERS. Book of the Year! OMG!!!

In a beautiful and moving online ceremony, all the winning authors and illustrators showed us where they live and work and talked about the journey of creating their books. Check out the full winners list here. Although I would’ve dearly loved to have been in Australia for Book Week, my Singapore family rallied and I had a lovely day with flowers, champagne, a morning tea party and lots and lots of congratulatory messages. So many that it took me days to respond to everyone. I can’t thank the judges or the CBCA enough for their work in spotlighting diverse and wonderful books for children. As I said in my speech, they are a national treasure!

A little bit of my acceptance speech!

Thanks to all the teacher librarians, teachers, book reviewers, booksellers and kid lit community for making this little wave a big wave!

Dreams do come true…

Pinch me, my book just won the CBCA Book of the Year.

Voices on the Coast and Lockdown News

Well, things have taken an unexpected turn since my last post.

I took a trip to Queensland in February for the amazing Voices on the Coast writing festival, days before a virus shaped wrecking ball called COVID-19 smashed its way around the world. I’m not sure when I’ll see my Australian friends and family again, and the 724.2 square kilometre island of Singapore has become my bubble. It’s been…challenging…but I’ve been Zooming into lots of Aussie book launches, workshops and author chats, making me feel not so far away.

I’m so glad I managed to get to Voices and spend a few joyous days catching up with authors and illustrators, and presenting to hundreds of incredible students. My roomie during the festival was children’s literature dynamo Dimity Powell, and we quickly became kindred spirits. She is wonderful, and so are her lovely, thoughtful picture books. Check out Dim’s work here

I also got to catch up with writing friends I hadn’t seen in ages, like Malla Nunn, whose award-winning, suspenseful and beautifully written novel When the Ground is Hard is one of my favourite YA reads of the year; and Wai Chim, whose breathtakingly lovely The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling is rightly scooping up every award and accolade in town, and being published in the US.

Some things that have happened during lock down (known as the Circuit Breaker here) that have kept my spirits up:

• The Little Wave was shortlisted for the CBCA BOOK OF THE YEAR: YOUNGER READERS I watched the announcement live from Singapore with my daughter Sophie and we both screamed with glee when Libby Gleeson held up my book. It was a gorgeous digital event - huge kudos to the CBCA for making it so special.

• The Little Wave was also shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year awards for 8-10 year olds. This was not on my radar, and I was completely surprised and delighted.

• Meerkat Productions, a theatre company, chose the Little Wave to adapt into a live show for Australian schools. In celebration of Book Week and Literacy Week, Meerkat adapt two books shortlisted for the CBCA Book of The Year Awards. Three by Stephen Michael King is the other book . So much yay! I can’t wait to see how they translate Lottie, Jack and Noah to the stage.

• I signed a publishing contract for TWO new middle grade novels - the first one is due to be released in mid 2021 and I can’t wait to start work on the copy edit soon. I want to do a bigger announcement of this exciting news, when I have the cover to show you. Stay tuned…

Awards News!

Some happy news this week - The Little Wave has been nominated for some lovely children’s literature awards in Australia.

2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards

The Little Wave is shortlisted for the 2020 Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature.

The judges said: “This is a moving and life-affirming work that teaches us recovery is possible even in the wake of significant knocks, and that small kindnesses can have a huge impact.” YAY!

The shortlist is AMAZING:

HOW IT FEELS TO FLOAT by Helena Fox (Pan Macmillan)
LENNY'S BOOK OF EVERYTHING by Karen Foxlee (Allen & Unwin)
IT SOUNDED BETTER IN MY HEAD by Nina Kenwood (Text)
THE LITTLE WAVE by Pip Harry (UQP)
IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC by Sean Williams (Allen & Unwin)
THIS IS HOW WE CHANGE THE ENDING by Vikki Wakefield (Text)

Check out the full list here

2020 CBCA Notables

Along with 19 other beautiful books for children, The Little Wave was longlisted in the Book of the Year, Younger Readers category. Full list here

The shortlist will be announced on 31 March, fingers crossed!

May Gibbs Fellowship

This update is long overdue, but late in 2019 I was very lucky to spend three and a half very productive weeks in Brisbane on a May Gibbs Creative Time Fellowship.

The aim of the Creative Time Residential Fellowships (CTR fellowships) is to enable published children's authors and illustrators to take up one-month residencies (in Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra) to concentrate intensively on their work and to advance their creative skills.

I was honoured to wear the May Gibbs badge during my stay as I visited local schools, appeared at the Brisbane Writers’ Festival and attended talks and informal catch-ups with publishers, teachers and fellow children’s authors.

Every Fellow writes in this journal

It wasn’t always easy to have all that free time to write, and sometimes I crawled the walls, crawled out of my skin, and felt very alone in a room of my own.

My goal was to finish a half written scrap of an idea for 9-13 year old girls. 15 thousand words became 40,000 in a small flat overlooking the Brisbane CBD. I took long walks, swam in the local baths, rode the ferries along the Brisbane River, sat over coffees, beers and burgers at Howard Smith Wharf, and pondered what sort of book I wanted to write.

It turns out I wanted to write about the awkwardness of growing up, about family, best friends, messy love, the ailing planet and anxiety. I hope you’ll get to read it sooner or later.

Here are some other photos of my time in Brissy…thanks to everyone who went out of their way to make me feel welcome in this beautiful city x

PS: Do you want to be a fellow? Apply here:

My May Gibbs badge of Honour!

101 hair-raising horrors & how to write-for-hire

This time last year, a post popped up on a closed Facebook group I belong to for YA writers, asking if anyone would be interested in writing a middle grade book of spooky stories. I’d just finished up a magazine copy editing job, and my Jan-Feb quiet period was looming. Why not? I put my hand up. It seemed meant to be from the start. Even though the job was posted from a primarily US group, the commissioning editor, Sarah Billington, was Australian and super cool, and the publisher, Hinkler Books, is based in Melbourne. The job was fast, furious and tons of fun. The brief: write 101 hair-raising horror tales for kids aged 6-12, in three months. The deadlines were relentless, 10 stories every week for 10 weeks (plus scary facts) I wrote like a demon, and researched everything from disappearing colonies to real-life zombies and dancing plagues. My Google search history was terrifying. I typed with goosebumps on my arms, checking under my bed at night, freaking myself out completely with fast paced tales of ghosts, ghouls, aliens, unexplained disappearances and monsters. By the end of the 10 weeks I’d exhausted every clever twist and possible word for fear and knew more about Slender Man, sewer crocs, exploding spiders, haunted campsites and urban myths than any 11-year-old kid. So, here is the end result, ingeniously illustrated by Glen Singleton… my first write-for-hire book project and also my first overseas sale - the book is also creeping out kids in the UK and India.

101 short, scary stories, perfect for sleepovers and telling around the campfire in the dark.

Featuring a combination of brand-new tales and classic urban legends, covering topics from ghosts and ghouls to creepy clowns and terrifying toys, plus a multitude of mean monsters, these stories are sure to chill you to the bone and keep you up at night. 

Don’t forget to check under the bed before you turn off the lights.

Buy here

News! CBCAs! Book Week!

Lots of wonderful bookish news to talk about in this bumper blog post. 

In August I made a last minute decision to fly from my home in Singapore to Brisbane for the CBCA award's ceremony; a celebration of Australia's best children's books of the year - and the dedicated and passionate authors, illustrators, editors and publishers who create them. It was a long way to travel (7.5 hours in the air) but I didn't want to miss out on the party. 

As well as celebrating the excitement of Because of You being a shortlisted Older Reader title, I wanted to cheer on the other wonderful listed children's books and their clever creators, and catch up with my publisher and support crew from UQP over breakfast (and later, cider...) My wheels touched down at Brisbane airport at 2am, and I was at the ceremony in a frock by 10am, my head whizzing with lack of sleep and giddy joy.

It was a morning (and afternoon, and evening) I'll never forget. There's nothing quite like a shared passion to bring a group of people together, and in just 48 hours I met and shared connections with so many lovely children's book people - from the authors and illustrators whose books I adore, to the teachers, CBCA volunteers, and librarians who put them in the hands of Aussie kids.

I was bursting with pride - not just at being included in this incredible community - but of the group's tenacity and commitment to keep children reading and excited about stories in this digital age. There was also a Greek feast (hello, saganaki) and some genuinely moving and funny speeches. 

I then flew to Sydney for Book Week - speaking to over 650 kids, at 5 schools, across the city. Each school was different, and each group of kids unique and interesting. In workshops and presentations I shared some of my reasons for writing Because of You and setting it in the homeless community, but we also laughed, shared spooky stories (PS: I have a Halloween booooooook out this month!), talked about the world we live in, and found common ground. It might not always be easy, but I love what I do. 

Just as I was packing to fly back home, I got a very delightful farewell gift: Because of You has been shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards. Check out the incredible full shortlist here