One of most useful things I’ve learnt over the years is that no two books can be written the same way. I used to think that I just had to Continue reading

I’ve been thinking these last couple of weeks about how a book needs a great antagonist. And how sometimes it takes a while to find the right one. For the Continue reading

Last week I talked about how important it is for writers to take notice of what’s going on around us, because that’s where so much of our inspiration comes from. Continue reading

My publicist sent me a list of questions the other day for the Children’s Books Daily website. One of them was, ‘Any words of advice for young writers?’ I answered Continue reading

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been playing with ideas for a new story. At one point I had several ideas on the go, and I couldn’t choose between Continue reading

Many years ago, I sent the first three chapters of Museum of Thieves to Peter Bishop from Varuna Writers House in the Blue Mountains. By then, I’d been working on Continue reading

My #2 tip for up and coming writers is practise patience. This is a hard one to take on board, particularly when you’re young. In your teens and twenties, it Continue reading

A young woman doing a creative writing degree at University recently messaged me with a number of questions about my career. Her last question was, ‘Can you give me three Continue reading

Some time ago, a twelve-year-old girl wrote to me for advice. Her mother, she said, thought she was too young to be a writer, and wanted her to go outside Continue reading