New books

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Looking forward to the launch of Satin on Tuesday!

I’m heading off to Sydney in a couple of days, and one of the highlights will be the official in person launch of Satin, next Tuesday, March 14, at 4pm at the gorgeous Better Read than Dead bookshop in Newton. Lorena and I will both be there, to read from and talk about the book, sign books, and meet readers! Everyone is very welcome, we’d love to see you there! It’s a free event but the bookshop would appreciate it if people can register if possible(though of course you can also just turn up, if you run out of time) Here’s the registration link.

We’ll also be celebrating Satin through school visits, organised by the wonderful people at The Children’s Bookshop. And calling into city bookshops to say hi. It’s going to be a great week!

And those reviews just keep coming–we had another couple of lovely ones very recently, here and here. Seems readers are really taking Satin to their hearts, which warms our hearts, too…

Leave a comment Posted on announcements, Celebrations, collaborations, New books, Picture books, Publication day

Publication day for Satin

Today is a special day: the official publication of Satin. Yes, the book is now out in the world and Lorena and I are celebrating–and looking forward to the official launch in Sydney on March 14 (all welcome! ) And to mark today, here’s a beautiful review we received only yesterday, from Sydney teacher-librarian Judy Rachwani:

This book is beyond breathtaking. An abundance of concepts that most probably every single person has dealt with or is dealing with can be seen, heard and felt within the deep meanings of the words and the incredible visual images that reflect those meanings. There are concepts of solidarity, loneliness, uniqueness, longing, accumulation of sadness, the importance of contribution and the beauty of the sweet human connection and more.  

 I truly am finding difficulties using words that give this author and illustrator justice to their in-depth, meaningful and intriguing artful work that has been reflected and processed within this work.   

As a reader, this book moved me immensely  and took me into the depths of feeling the ‘blues’ but  in a very different way. As a teacher, I found it a great resource for the students (upper primary/highschool) to unlock and discuss emotions such as loneliness and longing for connection but also not being aware of that need to connect, the beauty of the connection,  being unique and realising the  importance of one’s uniqueness to the community around.  

Highly recommended for wellbeing discussions, visual literacy and for story telling time too! 

Thank you so much, Judy! We are so happy our book is already finding its way into readers’ hearts…

Thank you so much to our wonderful publisher, Anna Solding of MidnightSun Publishing, for loving and believing in this book from the start. And thank you to the wonderful MidnightSun Publishing team, and to everyone who has helped bring our very special Satin into the world.

Leave a comment Posted on Book talk, Celebrations, launches, New books, Picture books, Readings

A little taster of Satin in anticipation of the launch

In anticipation of both the official release of Satin on March 1, and its launch in Sydney on March 14, I’ve done a short video reading of the first few pages of the book. Hope you enjoy!

And if you’re in Sydney on Tuesday March 14, Lorena and I would love to see you at the launch, 4pm at the fabulous Better Read than Dead bookshop in Newtown. We’ll be reading and talking about the book and signing books of course too! Please register at this link(the launch is free, of course, but you can if you like also order the book prior to the launch). Hope to see you there!

Leave a comment Posted on Book talk, New books, Picture books, Reviews

Lovely first (advance) reviews for Satin!

Lorena and I are so delighted to be already seeing the most wonderful first reviews of Satin, even in advance of the book’s official publication day on March 1! (It’s in shops however now). There are two, published this week: one’s in Buzz Words, and the review is written by author and editor Dannielle Viera; the other is on Read Plus and is by children’s literature specialist Fran Knight.

Here’s an extract from the Buzz Words review:

Inspired by the satin bowerbird, Sophie Masson’s mesmerising fable is infused with melancholy. Sibilant alliteration snakes across the pages as Satin silently seeks a life without loneliness. Children aged four and older will empathise with Satin’s longing for love and emerge from the story with a steadfast belief in the power of sharing to strengthen connection.

Exuding sapphire and shadow, Lorena Carrington’s illustrations serve as a moody backdrop to Sophie’s wistful words. Satin is shown in silhouette, which heightens the heartache of his solitude. Only when the protagonist begins to bestow his blue upon others does Lorena lighten the ambience with pinks, yellows, and greens – it is the dawn of a new life for Satin.

You can read the whole review here.

And here’s an extract from the Read Plus review:

With all the atmosphere of a modern fairy tale or fable, Satin will entrance readers with its overwhelming sense of longing as Satin searches for things that are blue…..

The illustrations are wonderful, full of layers of different blues, on some pages in broken crockery, and marvellously pieced together on the endpapers. Kids will love collecting their own pieces of blue to see how they can be fitted together and try mosaics for themselves.

You can read the whole review here.

Many thanks from both of us to the wonderful reviewers–it’s such a wonderful start to Satin’s journey to readers!

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 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.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, Art, Book talk, Illustrators, New books, retellings, Reviews

Lovely first review for Magical Tales from French Camelot

There’s a lovely first review of Magical Tales from French Camelot, by the fantastic book blogger Ashleigh Meikle, on The Book Muse.

Here’s a couple of bits from the review:

Sophie’s retellings are lyrical and emotive, and as she explains in her rationale at the end of each tale, she chose the most powerful moments in each tale to retell, leaving off where she needed to, and at times, explaining the rest of the story and its context within the French canon as well as its relationship to the British stories. Doing this gave an extra layer to the book, and it is the same process Kate Forsyth uses for her Long Lost Fairytales collections as well. In giving readers a history of the tale and letting us know what they have done, Sophie, like Kate, invites us into her world and writing process….

These stories bring part of the Arthurian legends and myth cycle to life for adult and young adult readers, and I loved reading them, loved feeling like I was part of the world that they came from, and loved the beautiful illustrations by Lorena, created with many different aspects digitally to tell the stories just as much as the words did. I find it hard to put her illustrations into words because I think they are the kind of illustrations you have to experience for yourself – they’re just that magical!

You can read the whole review here.

Leave a comment Posted on Book talk, historical fiction, middle grade fiction, New books, Reviews

Lovely first review for Sydney Under Attack

Just seen the first review of Sydney Under Attack, and it’s great! It’s by Ashleigh Meikle on the Book Muse blog. Here’s a short extract:

2022 marks the 80th anniversary of these attacks – which makes novels like this poignant and important. They remind us that everyone was touched by the war in some way – whether on the home front, on the battle fields, or through knowing someone affected by events far from where they lived, such as Mrs Stein being unable to help her family escape persecution in Europe. Sophie Masson not only touches on how Nick and his family are affected, but how Jewish people are affected, how people who have family stuck in other theatres of war were affected, and how assumptions about someone based on appearance can change when you get to know the person and understand them, and find out that they’re just a normal person, not a spy at all.

You can read the whole review here.

Leave a comment Posted on adult fiction, announcements, Audio books, New books

A Hundred Words for Butterfly now available on Audible

For anyone who uses Audible, some good news: A Hundred Words for Butterfly, narrated by the wonderful Sarah Kennedy and published by Spineless Wonders Audio, is now available for purchase there, just in time for the holiday season! You can get it free with an Audible trial if you’re not yet a member, buy it within a subscription, or buy it separately, as a non-member. If you do decide to obtain it via Audible, I’d be delighted if you could put up a review of it there. Many thanks!

And remember, you can of course also get the book on many other platforms, see the full list here. Reviews on any site very welcome!