Autumn interlude

A new series, a dreamy writing residency at Billilla Mansion, a project interviewing kidlit legends, and the dreaded job hunt...

Hello, it’s me! I have so much to tell you and also nothing at all, because doesn’t shouting about our books all the time on social media get a bit de ja vu-ish? Just me?

But as always, even in the midst of a time change and an existential crisis, there is lots of joyful stuff too. Some things I am loving lately:

Book 2 is in the world! Ella and the Sleepover Safari came out last month and seeing these two cuties side by side makes it feel a bit more like a proper series. I might love this story even more than the first?! I wrote it more quickly (over a couple of months instead of a couple of years) and with more panic and angst (deadlines hit differently to secret side projects!) but I love this story about a friendship triangle, a zoo sleepover and a hunt for an escaped animal. Big thanks to my writing buddies Kiah Thomas, Ree Evans and Deb Frenkel for their help wrangling this one. It’s all the better for their feedback. And how gorgeous is this cover by Hykie Breeze? Wait til you see the insides…

Kids’ Book Clubs! Why should grown ups have all the fun? There are some brilliant kids’ bookstores around Australia that offer book club sessions for kids, like Glee Books in Sydney and Where The Wild Things Are in Brisbane, but only a handful that offer book clubs for younger readers. It has been pure joy to be involved with some of these and to hear directly from kids about what they enjoy. In February I got to join in a Book Club session at Escape Hatch Books in Kew, Melbourne, to talk Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra, eat popcorn and recreate our own frog orchestra. Beaufort Books in Perth talked Ella at their April Book Club and sent me this email, which is going straight to the pool room:

“We just finished a wonderful bookclub! You'll be pleased to know that the kids gave it a 10/10 (not that I believe in scoring books but it gives me an indicator of what they thought). They loved the story and the illustrations, and most of them had stories about having frogs in their garden or where they have seen them around.”

I’m working on a video to answer their questions from the session.

Still to come: I’m running a book chat and writing workshop for younger readers using Ella at The Kids Bookshop in Croydon, Melbourne, this Thursday April 10 from 11am (register here). And for Brisbanites, Quick Brown Fox will be discussing Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra at their Curious Cubs Book Club on Monday May 26 (register here).

Interviewing authors I love! Interviewing interesting people is one of the things I loved most about my magazine job, and it’s something I always meant to do more of with this newsletter, so I recently relaunched my #MeetTheCreators series. You can read an interview with award-winning kids’ author turned crime writer Fiona Hardy here, and an earlier one I did with CBCA Book of the Year winners Max Hamilton and Vicki Conley here. There are lots more to come (including chats with Katherine Collette, Deborah Frenkel, Kiah Thomas and Shara Curlett) so share, subscribe and keep an eye on your inbox for more.

My own space to write! I was lucky enough to land a Billilla Artists Studio residency this year which means getting the keys to my own former servants’ shack on the grounds of gorgeous Billilla mansion in Brighton for 11 glorious months. I share the space with four amazing artists (visual and cabaret!) who have made their creative homes in the former stables and butler’s cottage. Having worked mostly from bed or the kitchen table for the past few years, having my own dedicated space is a dream come true, and there is something so delicious about an extravagant mansion being taken over by a ragtag gang of artists. I like to think of it as Downton Abbey meets A Room of One’s Own. Big thanks to Bayside City Council for making it happen.

CURRENTLY…

WORKING ON: Slicing up a middle grade novel and putting it back together. Even harder and more painful than it sounds! I am currently leaping on any distraction that presents itself. Need to slow down, knuckle down and take it step by step. Also, looking for a real job. Freelance has been wobbly for a while. The rise of AI? Mergers driving everything in house? Who knows. But it’s a jungle out there! Wish me luck and send chocolate…

READING: All Fours by Miranda July (wild and compelling, especially for women in midlife – I devoured it in a day). The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch Up (a very different, but equally engrossing novel about women in a certain stage of life, with a tantalising touch of craft, charity fraud and cosy crime thrown in). Welcome to Miracle (a magical middle grade novel about an island where your biggest dreams and worst nightmares come true by NZ debut Shara Curlett who is destined for big things – mark my words).

WATCHING: White Lotus season 3. It’s a sloooow burn, isn’t it? I’m not sure I’m liking being drip-fed a series on a service (ironically) called Binge. It’s not grabbing me as much as season 2, but it has a certain something and still has me guessing (who and how?!)

LISTENING TO: I’ve been mainlining episodes of the excellent 90s alternative music podcast Just Ace ever since I discovered it. It’s brilliantly researched and passionately presented by professional band nerd Danny Yau. There is something so intoxicating about the music we listen to as teenagers. It literally rewires our brains, and this podcast is a portal straight into that time for me. I have a half-written YA novel in the cloud that deals with some of these themes and I think about it often (but it is going to have to wait its turn).

Also in podcast-land, I had fun chatting to Ken Williams for Reading With A Chance of Tacos about Ella and the Frogs (listen here), and delving into the magic of science in my books with Jenny Lynch and Matilda Sercombe for the wonderful Creative Science for Kids podcast (listen here).

How about you, friends? What’s preoccupying you lately? Hit the heart or leave a comment so I know that you’re out there and what you’ve been up to. I’m looking forward to sharing some more #MeetTheCreators interviews with some inspiring authors soon. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss any. If you prefer a tidy inbox you can always download the Substack app and opt to receive your newsletters there. That’s all for now.

Yours from the fog of wound-back clocks and school holidays,

Cassy.