Category: Articles

Leanne Hall Whenever I’m in a second-hand bookshop, the first thing I always do is go to the children’s shelves and look for a copy of Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler. But I’m not looking for just any copy; it has to have the original...

Ian Irvine Today’s Guest Blogger is Ian Irvine, one of our foremost fantasy writers and the author of the best-selling ‘Three Worlds’ sequence. We didn’t have TV until after I finished the HSC, in 1968, and my primary form of entertainment from the age of 4 was reading. I...

As is customary, here’s my round-up of professional whatnots in 2011: two books published – Hour of Need in May (the last book of ‘The Laws of Magic’) and The Extinction Gambit in December (the first book of ‘The Extraordinaires’) wrote two books (‘The Extinction Gambit’ and a top...

Penni Russon Today’s Guest Blogger is Penni Russon, one of this country’s most admired writers for young people, with works as varied as the lyrical ‘Undine’ trilogy and Girlfriend Fiction. I have just excised a 300-word introduction listing all the books I won’t be talking about – for to...

Holly Harper The first time I saw a Goosebumps book, I fell in love. I was eight, and the fact that the title was written in blood-like lettering and contained the words ‘Dead House’ meant that it was instantly the coolest thing I had ever laid eyes on. And...

Tristan Bancks I wolfed these Paul Jennings’ stories down when I was about nine years-old. Unreal was so different to anything that I had read before....

Scot Gardner Today’s Guest Blogger is Scot Gardner. Scot is a much loved and much lauded writer for young people. His many books since include ‘Burning Eddy’, which was short-listed for both the CBCA and NSW Premier’s Literary awards. As a kid, I read about the world. I memorised...

I visit many schools and libraries, and speak to a lot of young people about books and reading and writing. One of the (many) things I tell them is that history is a fantasy writer’s best friend. As a fantasy writer, I love what history can offer. As well...

Hazel Edwards Today’s Guest Post has Hazel Edwards remembering a particular, and mysterious, form of narrative transport. Hazel is one of Australia’s best-loved writers. She thrives on writing for all ages and has published over 200 books across a range of subjects and genres. Aged 14, I lived in...

I made my first Book Trailer back in 2007, when the whole Book Trailer thing was really starting to take off. Since then, I’ve seen million dollar Book Trailers and I’ve seen Book Trailers done on a shoestring budget. Sometimes, it’s been hard to tell the difference – in...