Getting into the groove

On autumn leaves, morning routines, quiet stories and eating scabs

Autumn is my favourite season. I never quite feel at home in my body in summer, the biting cold of Melbourne winters is too much for me, and with hayfever sufferers in the house, spring is no picnic. Basically I’m middle aged and would like temperate climes and gigs that finish by 9.30pm from now on, please and thank you.

It’s autumn, at last. Crunchy leaves and crisp mornings and time to think. I have a school kid now [insert brain exploding emoji] and suddenly mornings are filled with lunchboxes and uniforms and readers, and instead of writing in the cracks and squeezing paid work into post-bedtime hours, there are chunks of daylight that are mine to do with what I wish. It’s proving tricky for my brain to adapt to. I thought I would jump straight into a drop off, coffee, writing routine but it hasn’t happened – yet. Getting up to speed with school has felt like starting a new part-time job, and I’m only starting to get into the groove now – just as holidays are looming.

Deadlines are motivating though, and for the first time ever I have a real-life book deadline! Someone* (*the lovely people at UWAP) is waiting for my work! So I have been oh so slowly tapping away at Book 2 of the Ella and Frogs series which is due mid-year (around the same time Book 1 comes out!) and saying yes to things: Author Penpals, library story times, Harvest Festivals, and my first school visit. I figure this is the year to try all the things. I can always go back to freelancing in a burrow next year if it doesn’t work out.

My school visit went well (I think!) I talked about becoming an author, where ideas come from, how books are made and the Global Seed Vault. My personal highlights were overhearing the kids as they waited to come in (“Is she famous?” “I’m eating my scab”), the things they shared during our session (insightful questions about the book creation process + “I thought you’d be an old lady!”), and the girl who stayed back afterwards and asked if it would be okay if she told me about the book she was writing.

If you’d like to book an author talk at your school in Term 2 or 3, feel free to get in touch.

Look, ma, I'm authoring!

JUNIOR FICTION UPDATE
Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra (Book 1 of my junior fiction series) is progressing in leaps and bounds (sorry). Structural and line edits are done, and the fabulous Hykie Breeze has completed roughs of the internal illustrations and is hard at work on final art. We also have a cover which I am besotted with and can’t wait to share (thanks to Hykie and Jo Hunt Design). The whole process has been such a dreamy collaborative experience with our wonderful publisher Kate. Once illos are complete, it will be typeset, proofread and off to the printers. Then all that remains is for me to nervously deliver it into the hands of the lovely and talented people who have agreed to read (and hopefully endorse) it ahead of publication.

I love this story. I am constantly reading messages in Facebook groups like Your Kids’ Next Read asking for junior fiction for the quiet kids, the sensitive souls, kids who want stories about animals and friendship and real life – and thinking, I have just the thing for you! There are so many great, high octane stories for this age group (5-8 year olds) filled with superheroes, high fantasy, talking animals and magical adventures – and we love to see it! – but as a sensitive kid myself I’ve long been convinced there is a place for quieter stories. Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra is about friendship and conservation and frogs, a perfect read-aloud for home and classroom as well as being a good stepping stone for newly independent readers. I hope she finds her people!

A BIT OF EXCITEMENT
Feels like a dream now, but The Garden at the End of the World was awarded a shiny Notable sticker (the longlist for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards) recently, which was a bit of a thrill. It didn’t go any further, but she looks good in blue! Those shiny stickers on library books feel like core memories, and I hope it will help Garden find a whole new gang of readers.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday 8th April, 11am-12noon – Story time, songs and craft at Bunjil Place Library. FREE but book here to guarantee your place.

Tuesday 9th April, 9am-10.45am – Angus and Rose at The Briars are running a school holiday workshop based on The Garden at the End of the World. I’ll read the book, answer questions and you can create your own seed bank to take home.
Book your spot via their website or Instagram.

Now taking bookings for Author Talks and Writing Workshops in Term 2 and 3, inquire here.

CURRENTLY …

WORKING ON
I should be working on Book 2 (and I am – slowly!) but mainly I’ve mainly been working on admin and promo plans, and polishing school and library presentations, and doing a couple of events.

READING
Still devotedly working my way through the #DebutCrew2023 canon – I loved Fed to Red Birds by Rijn Collins, a strange and beautiful ode to Iceland, taxidermy, folklore, mental health and healing. Lyrical, haunting and so vivid it’s like you’re walking down the streets of Reykjavik. One Song by AJ Betts was a novel after my own heart – a YA set in Perth over 48 hours, it documents the story of four teens who hunker down for the weekend in an attempt to write a song for Triple J’s Unearthed High competition. The music-obsessed teen in me salivated over the 90s music references and friendship, lust and big dreams of that age, and the writer in me wanted to go back through it with a highlighter and figure out how Betts created such a page-turner, believably elevating stakes, adding layers and making us fall in love with the characters.

WATCHING
One Day. If you’re a hater, I don’t want to hear it. To me, this was perfect television: witty, sprawling, swoony, nostalgic and devastating. I sobbed for the entirety of episode 14. But viewer, it was worth it. The whole cast is brilliant. Ambika Mod as Emma is a revelation. The story tweaks for the screen and the modern age are perfection. And that soundtrack – if you came of age in the 90s/00s dyaf and give it a listen, even if you don’t watch the series. It will transport you*.

Also thoroughly enjoying revisiting Press Gang thanks to Danielle Binks’ PSA that the entire series is available on YouTube. For a fair chunk of late primary school I wanted to be a journo because of Lynda Day. Actually, I just wanted to be Lynda Day. It’s surreal how many scenes and snippets of dialogue were lurking in my subconscious this whole time, waiting for a rewatch to be resurrected. Formative TV.

LISTENING
*See previous comment about the One Day soundtrack.

What are you reading/watching/working/daydreaming about at the moment? I’d love to hear.

Til next time chums,

Cassy