Month: September 2022

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, children's fiction, fairy tales, new editions, Publication day, republications, YA fiction

Publication week for new edition of The Green Prince and The Firebird

Absolutely delighted to announce that this week marks the publication of the new print editions of two of my earlier fairytale novels, The Green Prince and The Firebird, published by Brio Books in the Untapped Australian Classics list. The Green Prince was originally published in 2000, was shortlisted in the Aurealis Awards, and also turned into a stage play. It was chosen to be republished as an ebook in the wonderful Untapped Australian Literary Heritage Project, and from there was selected for inclusion in the print republication by Brio Books. The Firebird was first published in 2001, and was produced as an audio book in 2005. It also was chosen to be republished as an ebook by the Untapped project, and from there selected for inclusion for a new print edition by Brio Books. Aren’t both covers gorgeous!

It’s so wonderful to see these books back in circulation, both as print and e-editions, and hopefully they will find their way into the hands of a new generation of readers, as well as earlier fans whose previous copies might have worn out :-)Thank you so much to Untapped and to Brio Books for keeping the books alive, available and accessible!

Later, in late October, will come the new print edition of Cold Iron. Watch this space!

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, collaborations, creative activities, new work, Pardalote Press, work in progress

Sample pack of our gorgeous Wayfarer cards!

We were excited to receive our sample pack of Wayfarer cards yesterday, for our Pardalote Press launch. Here’s a little video of how they look. And sound! They have best swish/thwack as you shuffle them, and they feel so lovely with their silk laminate.

We have five days left of crowdfunding, so head over to Indiegogo, if top quality story-telling, poem-forming, magic-image-making cards are your thing!

https://igg.me/at/PardalotePress/x/5644576#/

And we’re off to order another two hundred sets…

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, Book talk, Inside Story, Publishing business, Reviews

Great review of Inside Story in Magpies!

Delighted to see a wonderful review of Inside Story (for which I was one of the principal writers and compilers) in the latest issue of the prestigious children’s literature publication, Magpies Magazine. See below.

There’s also, in the same issue, a three-page interview with me and Kathy Creamer, another of the main writers/compilers, about how the book was created and produced. Not available online, but you can check out Magpies Magazine subscriptions here: for anyone interested in Australian and New Zealand children’s books, Magpies is an absolute must!

Leave a comment Posted on chapter books, children's fiction, New books, Reviews

Great first review for Four Up In Lights!

There’s a great first review for Four Up In Lights in Buzz Words. Here’s a short extract:

Award-winning author of over 70 books, Sophie Masson has clearly had a lot of fun creating these four endearing characters, putting them in all sorts of trouble and helping them find their way out with plenty of chuckles and adventure along the way.

Cheryl Orsini’s fun illustrations bring the characters to life and capture both the tension and celebration of the story as it unfolds.

Perfect for young readers, aged 5–8, Maxie, Flash, Fergie, and Lady once again demonstrate the importance of friendship and the joy of adventure. With a hot-wheeling pace, Four Up in Lights will keep readers engaged and wanting to read the story in one sitting. 

You can read the whole review here.

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, author talks, Book talk, creative activities, creative writing, festivals, Fiction, Literary world, Publishing business

Looking forward to the Dubbo Writers’ Festival!

I am much looking forward to the Dubbo Writers’ Festival, which is on this coming weekend, 9-11 September, in Dubbo of course! The theme is ‘Shorts’–with a feast of practical workshops on short fiction, short poetry, short blog posts, as well as consultations with publishers, an In-Conversation, and a ‘submissions spur’. I’m presenting at several events, see below. You can get tickets and the full program via this link here.

Friday Sept 9:

Saturday:

Sunday will be the Submissions Spur, 2-4pm.

Leave a comment Posted on chapter books, children's fiction, collaborations, New books, Publication day, series

Publication day for Four Up In Lights!

Yay! Today is publication day for Four Up In Lights, the third and final book in a little series I created with illustrator Cheryl Orsini, about the adventures of four friends who happen to be vintage vehicles! Published by Christmas Press, Four Up In Lights follows on from Four All At Sea(2021) and Four On the Run(2020) and were huge fun to write.

Here’s hoping the four friends’ final adventure finds many many readers, as the earlier books have done! And cheers to Maxie, Fergie, Lady and Flash, four fabulous characters who drove their way into my imagination quite a while ago–and who have been brought to such fantastic visual life by the wonderful Cheryl Orsini!

Four Up In Lights is available from any bookshop around Australia, as are the earlier two books. And you can find a fun little trailer for Four Up In Lights here.