It's been a year of beginnings and endings for me. I've started and completed one full middle-grade novel, picked up one I started last year and completed it, and started and put down another that I hope to pick up again soon and complete early next year. For me, the...
With National Science Week starting on the 10th of August, it seemed a pertinent moment to consider the art of science and nature writing – and it is an art. Taking the study of, and research for, any aspect of science and drilling down into its essence to present it...
'Tis the season of school visits and I'm lucky enough to have been invited by the NSW Branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) to visit four local schools who are participating in the CBCA Sun Project: Book Of The Year Shadow Judging program. The...
I've been busy. Noticing a trend in the Your Kid's Next Read Facebook (YKNR) community of members looking for 'short middle-grade novels', I set out to write an article for the YKNR newsletter's paid subscribers about what might be driving the interest, some...
What's it really like to be a debut children's author? When I think back to my own experience (ten years ago now!) I remember excitement, trepidation, confusion, consternation, celebration and more. But everyone's experience is different – or is it? Over the last...
As usual, I'm late to my own party because the Your Kid's Next Read podcast celebrated 150 episodes on March 27th and here I am sharing the news right before episode 152 drops tomorrow. You can listen to episode 150 here. I'm sure you'll be unsurprised by this...
I'm excited to announce that I've signed a contract with Scholastic Australia for a new A. L. Tait novel, to be published in 2025. I can't wait to work once again with publisher Laura Sieveking and the rest of the Scholastic team – the same team who fell in love with...
Following recent comments, widely covered in the media, from an Australian independent bookseller, we asked the Your Kid’s Next Read community to recommend their favourite Australian bookshops for children's literature. The places they go for a wide range of diverse...
As of today, I've been blogging for 14 years. That's right, my blog is not only a teenager but well and truly entering the 'difficult' years. Which fits. It's a lot surlier and harder to get started now than it was when I wrote my first post on 22 January 2010. It's...
It's that time of year when our thoughts turn to words like GOALS, CHANGE and DREAMS. If your dream is to write – 'write more', 'write that novel', 'write something', 'get serious about writing' or words to that effect – I've got the kickstart you need. Join my Write...
It’s that time of year, when we ask the Your Kid’s Next Read community to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months. This year, to make it easier to find what you’re looking for, we’ve broken our list up into categories share multiple lists...
It’s that time of year, when we ask the Your Kid’s Next Read community to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months. This year, to make it easier to find what you’re looking for, we’ve broken our list up into categories share multiple lists...
It's that time of year, when we ask the Your Kid’s Next Read community to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months. This year, to make it easier to find what you're looking for, we've broken our list up into categories share multiple lists...
Each year, we ask the Your Kid's Next Read community to share their young readers’ favourite reads of the previous 12 months. Last year, we came up with one epic 'Best Books of 2022' list (see it here), but this year the group has grown in size by thousands again, so...
The Your Kid's Next Read community is the size of a regional town these days – 31,000+ members. Each year, we ask the group to share their young readers' favourite reads of the previous 12 months. Some of these books were published in 2023, some were not. One of the...
How do readers grow into writers? It's a big question, with many parts, and it gnawed away at me for a while until I decided to do something about it. Over on the Your Kid's Next Read Substack today, you'll find an epic post I wrote for our paid subscribers that...
"I'm writing my family history." Whenever I teach a writing workshop for adults, as I did this week ('Writing Through The Messy Middle'), I ask what people are writing and there is invariably at least one person who is creating a book based on family history. Our...
My dear friend Allison Rushby, the third Musketeer on Team Your Kid's Next Read, has a new book out this week – her eighth (or is it ninth?) in the past 12 months. The third book in her Miss Penny Dreadful trilogy for lower middle-grade readers, it's called The...
I love a bookish gift – something book-related, but not necessarily a book. (Don't get me wrong, I love the books too. Give me all the books.) But I don't think you can go wrong with a bookish gift for kids and teens. Something to add to that teetering pile of gaily...
Writing craft books are a mainstay of every author's bookshelf – we're always trying to learn more and there's always more to be learned. But there are SO many writing craft books out there, it can be difficult to know which ones are worth it. In October, my Write...
