Hello Fellow Children’s Writers and Friends,

Well here we are halfway through December and with less than 10 days to Christmas. A bit late for my usual wish list of writerly gifts although you can find them here and here, if you won’t be seeing the recipients of your gifts for a while. Also …. HAS completely a 2020 list which I’ve reposted for you. Meanwhile, if you still need a gift for the author in your life; wife, husband, parent, child. . . um self here’s my three top quick gifts you can buy or order before Christmas 2020.

A New Membership – two of the wonderful KidLit organisations, I strongly recommend have had major revamps and memberships have been introduced or significantly added to. The first cannot be purchased now, but I’ve included it anyway as something to flag and diarise for March next year, and that is a membership to Jen Storer’s The Duck Pond. The second and equally exciting is available now until December 31st from Creative Kids Tales. With their 10th year beginning this month, the celebrations are going to be huge. The membership is going to include access to workshops from huge industry names like Jackie French, a revamp of the already highly productive, totally encouraging, motivating and successful Creative Kids Takes Critique Group and access to the Creative Kids Tales Network page and of course the always informative Creative Kids Tales website. As well as this owner administrator Georgie Donaghey has been hinting at other major enhancements to this already respected industry organisation.

Get in Early

The amazing, much loved and well regarded CYA Conference will be held online again next year in July, but you can get in now and book an early bird Editor or Agent Assessment or Bootcamp (a small group all day session with an editor exploring and developing the mss of group members). Having attended the Conference online last year and in person previously I recommend attending and if the budget will stretch- or as that must have Christmas gift, I highly recommend dropping some huge hints for a $92 assessment or a $258 Bootcamp.

When You Just Need to Chill

Finally, every writer needs times to just chill out, relax and rejuvenate their creative souls. A Creative Date is a great idea, in fact I’m off to see the Arthur Streeton Exhibition in January and can’t wait! (That’s my Christmas pressie, thanks hubby 😁) However, I’ve discovered something else which would also help wash away the writers block, rejection letters, silence after submission, writer’s guilt, you name it and see it float away as you do. City Cave Float and Wellness Centres have Christmas Gift Cards available online, so you don’t even have to go in to one of the many locations where as they say, ‘the perfect gift does exist’.

Well, that’s it from me, early to bed 🤣shopping to do in the morning 😉

Farewell fellow travellers,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl