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Phew. It's the last day of March and I'm exhausted, but elatedly so (is it possible to feel both elated and exhausted concurrently?) I could scramble for my dictionary to check, but, to be honest, I'm just too tired. Instead, I am going to sit here in my comfy chair and tell you all about the month that was, and why I'm just so tired (and elated). To start with, the end of February saw me

Time for another stop on the Snowy's Christmas blog tour. This week I am visiting with the lovely Sandy Fussell, at Stories are Light, talking about Christmas stories, and what makes them special. We'd love to see you there.If you’ve missed any of the other tour stops, you can find them at:Week One: 4 October Deescribe Writing Blog Week Two: 11 October Write and Read With DaleWeek three: 18

Okay, it's not really a medal, but it is shiny and silver and it IS mine! I am still glowing with yesterday's announcement of Pearl Verses the World as Best Children's Book in the Indie Book Awards for 2009. I'm also delighted with the wonderful responses I've had from friends, family, industry colleagues and even people I don't know to the news of this award. I can truly feel the love.Reading

Today I am delighted to welcome Aussie author Sandy Fussell to my blog. Sandy is a wodnerful writer whose star is well and truly on rise. Monkey Fist is her fifth book published in just eighteen months - with more to come. I asked Sandy to use her visit here to talk about promotion. So, without further ado, here's Sandy:A year and half ago, I wasn’t a published author. Monkey Fist is my fifth

Welcome friends all!

I’ll be chatting with Sandy Fussell about the background and setting of her new book Samurai Kids: Monkey Fist on Wednesday, 5 August as part of her blog tour to celebrate the release of Monkey Fist, the fourth in her Samurai Kids series. [You will find detail of the blog tour schedule at the end of this blog.]

Thinking it prudent to find out something of the ‘who’, ‘where’, ‘what’ issues behind this series, I hurried to my local library and borrowed the first three in the Samurai Kids series - White Crane, Owl Ninja and Shaolin Tiger.

A delighful surprise awaited me! I found myself immersed in the world of Samurai in a refreshing and unexpected way. I sat for a while in the ‘School of Cockroaches ‘(Cockroach Ryu) under the wise tutelege of the Sensei Ki-Yaga.

‘Many years ago,’ he tells them, ‘in the early mists of the mountaim Ryujin, the dragon went walking. A dragon has scales of steel but his feet are soft. It trod on a thorn. The great creature roared in pain. Huge claws could not remove something so small.
‘Wind carried Ryujin’s cries deep into the Earth, but the other animals closed their ears. No-one wanted to help the cruel, boastful dragon. Only Gokiburi, the cockroach came to help. The cockroach was kind and wise “I will help you because no creature is so great it stands alone. Even a proud dragon must sometimes bend to a cockroach,” it said.
‘The dragon bowed and the cockroach removed the thorn.
‘So you see, Little Cockroaches, when the time comes, you will find power over the dragon. Bad breath and big feet are not to be feared.'


Sensei Ki-Yaga is preparing his most unlikely students for a great battle to come. There is one-legged Niya who tells the story; Kyoko, the albino girl; Mikko a one-armed boy; the blind boy, Taji. Yoshi who is doesn’t quite know who he is; and, Nezume, the last one. Not one of them alone can meet the challenges they will face, but as a unit, not only do they discover their strength and learn skills from various martial arts disciplines, they enjoy great adventure. These threads link the books of the series - and yet allow each to stand alone in an inspiring read.

Be sure to join the blog tour of Samurai Kids: Monkey Fist that begins on Saturday August 1, 2009 - and I’ll be back with more right here on Wednesday August 5.



Tour Schedule:

Date Host Location
1 Aug Dee White http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com/
2 Aug Dale Harcombe http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
3 Aug Claire Saxby http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/
4 Aug Brenton Cullen http://bjcullen.blogspot.com/
5 Aug Mabel Kaplan http://belka37.blogspot.com/ [That's right here]
6 Aug Sally Murphy http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
7 Aug Robyn Opie http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/
8 Aug Rebecca Newman http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com/
9 Aug Susan Stephenson http://thebookchook.blogspot.com/

British Carnegie Medal winner of young adult literature Mal Peet and USA Michael L Printz winner of young adult literature M T Anderson were funny, warm, engaging as they spoke to the Children’s Book Council dinner at The Hughenden Boutique Hotel.

Carnegie Medal Award winner Mal Peet

Michael Printz Prize winner M T Anderson

Susanne Gervay, Carole Keeble CBC President, Jessica Francis CBC

The GONG fans & authors

Jan Latta and Wendy Blaxland

Good morning.Thanks for dropping in to see what is happening on Day 6 of my blog tour to celebrate the release of Pearl Verses the World. Today I am due to appear at Just Listen Book Reviews where the delightful Allie will be reviewing Pearl. I am also delighted to discover that, separate from the blog tour, Pearl has received two other wonderful reviews online. Susan Whelan has posted a

Today we welcome children’s author, Sandy Fussell, who has come to answer my seven questions (and an extra one of her own). Welcome Sandy! 1. Tell us a little about your publication credits. If you have none, tell us about the genres you prefer to write, and your current projects. In 2007 I had my first book published, Ratbags, an educational title in the Aussie, Aussie series. Peter Viska