What I've Been Reading # 8

Hal Junior - The Secret Signal
By
Simon Haynes
Bowman Press 2011
ISBN978-1-877034-07-7

Hal Junior – The Secret Signal is the first children's book from WA author Simon Haynes. The book is a prequel to the humorous adult Sci-fi, Hal Spacejock series. Older Hal is good natured, confident in his abilities but an utterly clueless trouble magnet. It was interesting to glean a little insight into Hal’s formative years.

Hal Junior is good natured, confident in his own abilities, an utterly clueless trouble magnet, but he is a well meaning and likable dreamer. The story opens with Hal dangling upside down in a garbage chute by his elastic shoelaces trying to retrieve the only homework he has actually bothered to do. The antics continue from when his mother, the head of station research, gives him a secret signal for help, right to the climax where his earlier misadventures give an idea that might just save the day – or destroy the entire station…

This is a brilliant easy to read but exciting and funny story, perfect for reluctant boy readers. The humour is not as sophisticated and obscure as Simon’s adult series but I still caught myself chuckling out loud while reading the book. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

What I've Been Reading # 7

Fireheadby
Venero Armanno

She used to sell her kisses for caramels; her lips went for long licks of licorice and her touch for tangarines and tutti frutti ...Gabriella moves in next door to 14-year-old Sam and his life changes forever. There are dark secrets within Gabriella's family.

The story is set in Brisbane during the mid 1970's and delves into love and corruption. Firehead is poetic, dark and beautiful but makes you uncomfortable to read parts of it.
The story is told in parts, the first dealing with Sam's turmoil at the arrival of the fiery redheaded Gabriella into the house next door. It explores their relationship up to the discovery of her secret and her disappearance. The story skips ahead to when a grown up Sam finally discovers what became of Gabriella.


 Armanno is a brilliant storyteller.

Two Stories Published in Narrator Magazine

Two of my Short Stories were Published in Narrator Magazine Spring Central Tablelands Issue.

Last month I submitted two stories, “Always the Children” and “The Dancing Suit” to the Narrator Magazine hoping that the editors might select one of them for their Spring edition of the magazine. I was very pleased to discover that both stories were picked up for publication in the magazine.

Narrator Magazine is quarterly magazine based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney and publishes essays, short stories, poetry and artwork, mainly from writers and artists from the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands areas.

I usually write children’s fiction, but the magazine was asking for submissions for an adult audience.  The first story, “Always the Children” is based on personal experiences during my time as a police officer. The second story, “The Dancing Suit” is a subtle horror story about a tuxedo, possessed by the essence of a very nasty man.

The first story is difficult to read and was even more difficult to write. Sometimes I still see that broken little girls face at night when I close my eyes. I had much more fun writing the second story.

If you are interested in reading the stories, the magazine can be read on-line at http://www.narratormagazine.com/

If you like the stories, take a few seconds to vote for your favourite in the “Peoples Choice Prize”

I hope you enjoy the stories. Back to writing for kids now…

 

 

Exploring My Heritage Through Art

I found it a little sad when my father was blocked by some of the older great uncles while he was researching our family tree. Grim faced, they warned him off, told him not to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. There was no dark secret, no skeleton in the closet, no mass murdering psychopath to discover. 

The ‘big secret’ was, my great grandmother was aboriginal. I think those great uncles would have preferred the mass murderer. That is the saddest part.

Personally, I’m proud to acknowledge my aboriginal heritage. Frankly, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. You only have to look at great grandma’s photograph. (I’ll have to get a copy from my mother) The other unfortunate thing about the ‘big secret’ is that we missed out learning about a whole part of our culture.

My family are experiencing that learning now in our own separate ways. My brother is attending an aboriginal studies course; my mother and sister are getting involved through my niece’s school, while I am exploring my heritage through art.

The idea came after being asked to design and help the children at the local primary school paint an aboriginal style mural. I like traditional aboriginal style paintings but I also love painting in my own ‘fine art’ style. So, I decided to try incorporating both styles together – the same subject matter in both styles.

The first painting in this ‘Cross-Culture’ series is titled “Turtle Tides.”

And I’m planning on doing a goanna next as the goanna is the totem of the Wiradjuri people, to which I belong.

Other subjects I’d like to paint are the kookaburra, koala, magpie and frog. I’m looking for traditional stories relating to each of the animals I paint to help me better understand my heritage.

What I've Been Reading - # 6

Golden Bat
by
Sandy Fussell

Golden Bat is the 6th instalment of Sandy's Samurai Kids series and I have to admit I have been hanging out to read this one but forgot all about the launch date and only discovered this week that it has been out for ages.

I love Sandy's writing. As a self-confessed very non-visual person, Sandy can still paint vivid images in the readers mind with a few - seemingly - casually placed words.

She makes me so jealous...

What can I say, this is another winner. The characters in the Samurai Kids books are so likable, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. They are like old friends you get to drop in and visit from time to time - with each new installment. It is amazing how Sandy can write about a group of children in ancient asia and still keep the issues they face relevant to children today.

One of the year 6 students where I work was asking me if I knew of any good series to read. He'd finished the Ranger's Apprentice, the Artemis Fowl, Skulduggery Pleasant, Harry - of course and all of Terry Pratchett's books so I loaned him White Crane.

He is hooked. He stops me almost every day to tell me about some part of the series he loved. There is no better praise than that.

Come on India! I can't wait.

Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival

Author Duncan Ball

As always, the trip from Bathurst into Sydney for the Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival was well worth it.

It was a beautiful sunny break from wintery Bathurst weather. Added to this, I got to meet some of my favourite children's authors and had lunch on the lawn with Lisa Berryman from HarperCollins. The festival is always such a relaxed and welcoming place to hang out.

The only slight disappointment of the day was that New Frontier's editor, Sophia Whitfield was unable to attend the festival. I was hoping to meet Sophia, mainly because she has my book Paper Magic under consideration at the moment. It would have been nice if she could have matched up my face with the name on the manuscript.

There were some very interesting and informative panels during the day, and I picked up a couple of leads I will be following up on as soon as possible.

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One of my favourite children's authors, Kate Forsyth

What I've Been Reading # 5

Forever Fifteen
by
Kimberly Steele

I know that there are a kazillion vampire books glutting the bookshops at the moment. And yes, I'm sick of them too  but this one is a little different.

I first came across this story as a free audio book from www.podiobooks.com (this was several years ago before I was sick to undeath of them) It is one of the few really good audio books I have listened to several times.

The book reads just as well as the audio version. Although I have to admit I missed the haunting soundtrack Kimberly's alter ego, Queenie provided for the audio tracks. I like the way Lucy's character is developed through flashbacks to her pre and post vampiric beginnings.

I found the book to have a calm feel to it, even though it takes the reader through the height of the Black Death, to ripping the life from a child murderer and finally to the bloody betrayal of friendship. Strange...

This is a similar subject matter to Stephanie Myer's books, but I believe Forever Fifteen  is a much better story than Twilight

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