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.
Delighted to be celebrating the launch of Magical Tales from French Camelot, online (livestreamed via FB) this Sunday, the 21st August, at 5.30 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, 3.30 pm West Australian time. Lorena and I will be talking about the book with our publisher Karen McDermott of Serenity Press. Do consider joining us, we’d love to see you there! You can find all the details on the Serenity Press Facebook page, here.
Christmas Press have just put up a great little trailer for Four Up In Lights, my chapterbook with Cheryl Orsini, which comes out in September. Have a look!
I’m delighted to reveal the gorgeous cover of Four Up In Lights, the third and final in the fun little chapter-book series I’ve created with the wonderful illustrator Cheryl Orsini. The series, which has been very popular with young readers, is about the funny, fast-paced adventures of four friends who just happen to be vintage vehicles–two cars, a motorbike and a tractor–and I’ve really loved writing it, and loved, too, collaborating with Cheryl, who has made our four friends come to such lively, characterful and endearing life! Four Up In Lights will be released in September by Christmas Press, and is a sequel to Four On The Run(2020) and Four All At Sea (2021).
Isn’t the cover just beautiful! And below the cover you can also see the books as a set–they look pretty good together, don’t they!
I’m very pleased to announce that Cold Iron, The Green Prince and The Firebird, my three YA fantasy novels that were originally selected for the fabulous Untapped project and republished as ebooks available to buy and borrow, will now also be republished in print, by Brio Books/Booktopia. The books were originally published in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, and were popular with readers, so it’s wonderful to see them acquire a new lease of life in both print and e-editions. And just look at their striking new print covers, below! (You can also see a link to the page for each book, under its cover.) The novels are being published over July, August and September this year within the Untapped series, which includes lots of other wonderful, previously out of print books by a large range of fantastic Australian authors, both for adults and young adults. You can check out the whole series here. All books are available to be pre-ordered now.
And it’s a cracker! By Dianne Bates, it was published in Buzz Words magazine today, May 23 2022.
Here’s the full review:
Inside Story: The Wonderful World of Writing, Illustrating and Publishing Children’s Books compiled by Sophie Masson, Kathy Creamer, Beattie Alvarez, and Peter Creamer, edited by Jen Scanlan and Sharnee Rawson (United Publishers of Armidale) PB RRP $29.99 ISBN9780648815457
Reviewed by Dianne Bates
Here is an invaluable resource and reference book for aspiring writers, illustrators, editors and designers or anyone interested in Australian children’s books. It is the first publication by the newly formed UPA, a collaboration between two independent publishing houses: Christmas Press and Little Pink Dogs, in association with the New England Writers’ Centre. And what a comprehensive and beautifully designed and presented book it is! Designed by Rae Ainsworth, the book covers all aspects of writing, illustrating, and publishing children’s books. It includes a section on what happens in the publishing process, how to pitch to publishers, alternative publishing models, useful organisations, and resources.
On each page there are coloured photographs and graphics, break-out boxes, and information (and advice) from a wide range of industry workers. Colourful double-page spreads introduce each topic, and there are also numerous lists of children’s books under headings such as picture books, illustrated storybooks, fiction anthologies, graphic novels, and more. Any inspiring author would benefit from the advice and tips offered by authors, agents, editors, publishers, and illustrators such as Stephen Axelsen, Pippa Masson, Ian Irvine, Jenny Blackford, and dozens more.
There is, as one would suspect, a clear bias towards books published by Christmas Press and Little Pink Dog Books, but other publishers shine in the book, too. It’s gratifying to see that the compilers have included poetry collections and anthologies, with advice from editors and compilers. Ursula Dubosarsky, Richard Tulloch and Duncan Ball share information and tips for writing plays, with Ball sharing his discoveries as former editor of The School Magazine.
In the tail end of this very engaging book is a list of useful organisations and resources for everyone, including editors, designers, and publishers. Numerous publishers have granted permission to use images from their titles, and there is a page of acknowledgements to the many people who have contributed material (and crowdfunding income). Interestingly, there’s a double page spread at the end of the book with photographs and biographies of the compilers, editors, and book designers.
There are many hours of interesting reading in this comprehensive book. Highly recommended!
I’m very pleased to announce that A Hundred Words for Butterfly, my adult audio-first novella published by Spineless Wonders Audio in September 2021, will now also be published in print! It will be released in the ES-Press imprint of Spineless Wonders in April, and distributed nationwide by NewSouth Books. Available in all good bookshops across the country, it has the same gorgeous cover as the audiobook, and the back cover also has lovely endorsements from the wonderful writers Wendy James, Nick Earls, and Carmel Bird. An ebook edition of the novella will also be available. So happy with Butterfly having new ways to reach readers!
An article in which I was a joint contributor, wearing my hat as Chair of the New England Writers’ Centre, has just been published in the international academic journal Reflections, which focuses on issues of community writing engagement. The article, written with Ariella van Luyn from the University of New England(who is also on the NEWC Board) and Lyn Aspey, current NEWC program manager, is about how NEWC had to move our program online during 2020 and the first covid lockdown, and is centred in particular around the online course in historical novel writing which Ariella ran that year. Each of us wrote our sections from a particular perspective; myself as Chair, Ariella as course facilitator/presenter, and Lyn as both a course participant and later program manager. Ariella also wrote the introduction and conclusion.
Thought it might be of interest to readers: check it out here.
Just before New Year, what a lovely surprise in the mail: a proof copy of Magical Tales from French Camelot, my forthcoming book with the fantastic Lorena Carrington! To be published by Serenity Press in March 2022, it features my original translations and retellings of some great French Arthurian classic tales from the Middle Ages, principally stories by the great twelfth-century French writers Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France, illustrated by absolutely superb pictures by Lorena. It’s so good to be able to leaf through this first copy–looking wonderful!
By the way, the book is for adults and teenagers–certainly not for ‘7 plus’ as some websites have it.
I am delighted to reveal the fabulous cover of Cock-A-Doodle-Doo, my forthcoming picture book with Kathy Creamer, to be published by Little Pink Dog Books in June 2022. Isn’t it fantastic!
Here’s the blurb of the book:
Richie the rooster loved waking up the farm each morning. He loved it so much that he began to crow earlier and earlier. Again and again! Stop, everyone cried. But Richie wouldn’t stop. Until one day…
A hilarious story about how sometimes you can have too much of a good thing, by the acclaimed author and illustrator team who also created See Monkey and Join the Armidale Parade.
This was a story that was such fun to write, and pure joy to see the wonderfully riotous, colourful and characterful visual world Kathy has created for the noisy but endearing rooster Richie, his long-suffering friends on the farm–and the sneaky intruder with the red coat 🙂 I think readers are going to have a lot of fun with it, too. Can’t wait till it comes out!
Find out more and pre-order the book at the Little Pink Dog Books website, here.
Feathers of the Firebird 