So this lovely release came in October last year! EEP! Like I said, in my previous post, I have let things slip in the news-updates department here but of course if you follow me on social media you will have seen Monsters In The Garden.

I have been appalling at updating my news here and I am determined to do better. So I thought I would make a start with a small but lovely piece of news. I am delighted to announce that I recently signed a Chain Of Title Agreement with Miss Conception films for a TV series, a story dear to my heart.

It was my great honour to be invited to present at New Zealand’s Children & Young Adult Authors Conference in Dunedin in November last year. The Wild Imaginings Hui saw over a 100 authors in attendance and a wonderful line up of guest speakers. I had the opportunity to present on Social Media, Fantasy World Building and Key Note Address about my Publication Journey.

I am making up for lost time and updating my news page with the bookish events of 2019. It’s such a delight to look back at these experiences and it fills me with tremendous gratitude to be a part of New Zealand’s Children and Young Adult Books community.

It is a dream come true for me to have a novel released in North America, something I have hoped and prayed for, for a long time. Even with a quiet release, backlist book, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. When the hardcover copies arrived I spent a lot of time stroking that sparkling gold spine beneath the dust jacket. We don’t publish in hardback here in New Zealand and Australia, so it feels like a BIG DEAL for a lil’ kiwi girl.

I was thrilled to learn on June 6th that The Rift has been shortlisted for the Young Adult category of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Look at the incredible line up of titles and authors!

Finally, I’m sitting down to revisit this great event and to give a massive shout out to my girl, Sarah Epstein! When I announced I was coming to Melbourne for Supanova, Sarah was one of my first writer friends to reach out and say: HEY! Let’s catch up and how about we join forces for an event. I was stoked as this had been on my agenda, hook up a Melbourne event and connect with author buddies.

I could not be more thrilled to announce that The Rift will be released in Canada and the United States of America this October, 2019, thanks to the good people at Candlewick Press. Definitely a dream come true! Also, there will be an audiobook. Keep your eyes peeled, northern hemisphere friends. Updates coming soon. In the meantime, checkout the hardcover design.

If you’ve been following this lil’ series of blog posts about my adventures on the Supanova trail, you’ll know I’m sliding into home base now with Gold Nova. Thankfully, the dreaded lurgy I caught on the plane to Melbourne, had eased off. I was definitely on the upward swing with much more energy, instead of functioning on Dimetape and Nurofen.

Continuing in this series of posts for readers who like a glimpse behind the scenes and for author’s considering investing in similar ventures, Part 3 focuses on how I made the most of my 4 days down-time between the Melbourne and Gold Coast events.