As Promised, Year in Review and Christmas Wishes.
It’s going to be a long one today, you may want to grab a cuppa while you catch up.
Promises, promises. As good intentioned as it was, those of you who follow me regularly will have known there weren’t going to be two blog posts in two weeks. Gulp. Nonetheless a promise is a promise, so here are 5 Top Takeaways from August’s Kids and Young Adults Festival, still very relevant of course. The industry moves slowly, so unlikely there have been any major changes since August.
1. Books are mirrors or windows, where we can both see ourselves and ‘see’ others (Learn about others).
2. The hardest things about writing PBs is focussing on one thing/idea and being consistent with your characters.
3. Have your pitches so ready, that if you have the opportunity to be in front of a publisher you can say, ‘I have this, this, this and that,’ You need to be ready for when they say, ‘No, no, no, tell me more.’ (Kristin Darrell, sorry to say, the only attribution I can now still make with certainty.)
4. When pitching, try to make your real world as compelling as your fiction.
5. Voice trumps all.
Why the delay? Partly, just me of course, but even more so, it’s been a full, sometimes difficult, but mostly exciting and happy year for me, creatively, professionally and personally. Here is a summary, well more a list of my 2025.
Work and Family
o Became Empty Nesters
o Attended 3 Weddings
o Attended 1 Baptism + (RCIA which I facilitate, where there were 4 more Baptisms, along with i.e. same people, 5 First Holy Communions [FHCs] and 6 Confirmations)
o 1 trip to and 3 day stay in Emergency for my Dad followed by 1 week in ICU and a stepping up of accompanied Dr’s. visits, the navigating (poorly) the mysteries of My Gov. Home Care website for me and the sharing of the load with my brothers and extremely independent and determined soon to be (Christmas Eve) 96-year-old father.
o Taught and ran 1 Reconciliation, 1 Confirmation, and 2 FHCs
o 1 Come Venture With Me 2 Children’s Anthology, collated, edited and with printers (very late this year. Won’t print until next year now.)
o Family Celebration of 50 years in Australia
o Taking extended leave with a view to retirement from my main job as a teacher (casual, I couldn’t do all the rest if I was full time and I take my hat off to those who navigate teaching, managing a family and maintaining a career in the creative industries.)
o 7 Work, Writing and Social Christmas Lunches/Dinners.
Creatively and Professionally
o Despite all of that, I made creativity a priority at the beginning of the year, even more so than in the past and I was able to spend a lot of time 😊 (and money 😬) on learning the craft and pursuing publication.
Wrote a novel very rough first draft, but written, nonetheless.
o Worked on a second older novel, which began as a PB and is still finding its true form.
o 14 Submissions
o 2 R & Rs
o Wrote 4 new Picture Book (PB) mss I can recall, probably more lying forgotten in scrapbooks
o 5 writing and art courses I can recall
o 5 Competition entries
o 1 Third Place
o 1 Shortlisting
o 4 Festivals (2 online, 1 hybrid, 1 in person)
o 3 Assessments
o 1 Writing Bootcamp which included 2 mss
o Ran 2 WestWords Workshops for Living Stories Competition and Anthology
Attended CBCA’s 80th birthday celebration
o 1 Lunch with the Stars event
o 1 Creativity Consult
o 3 friends’ Book Launches
o Opened KidLit West to any Western Sydney KidLit Writer and/or illustrator and actively sort them out. Worked to create KidLit West Logo and website draft, coming soon! Instagram account active thanks to co-creator Dannielle Viera Author
o 10 KidLit West meetings including 1 to plan our involvement in next year’s Write Out West Festival
o And now, 4 blog posts
Christmas Wishes
As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a contract, an agent, a multi-book, movie and merchandise deal or whatever you are wishing for and all the blessings of Christmas for you and yours and— for those of your family members not yet organised… ‘Hello husband of mine!’
No honestly, none of this would be possible without his love and support. Major shout out to my better half!
Here Amazing Last Minute Christmas Gifts for Writers: here and here are the links from previous years but, at this late stage, my recommendation is memberships and courses which can be bought and received almost instantaneously online. Try your local writers centres, here’s mine SCBWI, CBCA and ASA.
Hope Santa is good to you, farewell fellow Children’s Writers and friends,
Savour the quest,
Journeygirl.
Journeygirl 