18th Nov
Deadlines – When Breaking them is the Best Decision
I take my publisher’s deadlines very seriously. In thirty plus years of writing, I’ve sometimes pushed them out by a couple of weeks, but last month I did something I never thought…
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31st Aug
New life for an old book: Illustrate Your Own Great Yackandandah Billy Cart Race
After the latest heartfelt plea from a teacher who wanted to use it with her class again, I decided to reissue it myself as a downloadable Draw-Your-Own-Illustrations pdf.
26th Apr
If Your Story’s Stuck, Ask Your Protagonist!
The plot in my work-in-progress took an unexpected turn last week. I realised that what my protagonist had devised was much better than what I had been plotting for her, but there…
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10th Dec
Writing – It’s not all in the mind
Write every day, the writing gurus say. Just like an athlete in training, you must practise, practise, practise, to improve your craft. Discipline is key. Discipline, yes. Practice, yes. Every day? Let’s…
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27th Jun
When Dreams Fly Free
How long does it take to write a book? For my new book, Swallow’s Dance, somewhere between two and 4000 years. In 1625 BCE, a volcano on the island of Santorini erupted.…
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20th Jun
June and July: Swallow’s Dance and Myths and Writing- June 30, July 2 and July 4
Saturday June 30, 3 pm Swallow’s Dance launch, Sun Theatre, Yarraville: free tickets here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/YoungerSunBookshop/events/?ref=page_internal Monday July 2, 10:30 am Swallow’s Dance launch, Farrells Bookshop Mornington, https://www.farrells.com.au/wendy-orr-monday-2-july/ Wednesday July 4,…
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7th Nov
Rhinoceros poems and strange things writers do
I always love hearing from readers, but some requests are more unusual than others. I received this letter from Germany on Friday. They also enclosed copies of verses they’ve received from Doris…
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21st Oct
My Top 5 First Draft Tips
With NaNoWriMo creeping steadily closer, I thought I’d give my top 5 tips on pushing through your first draft. Sometimes I need to remind myself of my own rules, so even if…
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7th Oct
Blending traditions – pumpkin pie for AFL grand final
Part of being a migrant is developing your own rituals, blended from your country of origin and your new home. That holds true even for privileged migrants like me – privileged in…
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8th Sep
Difficult to judge; delightful to read: the Environment Award for Children’s Literature
I was thrilled to have Rescue on Nim’s Island win the Environment Award for Children’s Literature, fiction, and the Puggles award in 2015, so I was honoured to be one of the…
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28th Aug
The gift of bonded pair rescue cats – Harry the Rescue Dog’s Rainbow Street Animal Shelter blog
Harry the Rescue Dog hasn’t posted in his Rainbow Street Animal Shelter blog for a while, so in penance, we’re sharing a cat story today. Australian edition Have you heard of bonded…
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29th Jul
Dragonfly Song Giveaway: Books & Skype Talks
Kersey Creek’s photo from OneSchoolOne Book Have I ever said how much I love Skype talks? I think the biggest percentage I do are with schools in the USA that are studying…
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