Posts tagged Authors
January 22, 2013 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Christchurch, New Zealand, Star Author, writers, Writing · Tagged 2013 Star Authors, Australian authors, Authors, New Zealand authors, New Zealand illustrators, Star Authors, writing
There are only a couple of weeks until our 2013 Star Authors join us on the blog. We’ve got a great line up of New Zealand and Australian authors joining us this year and I’m sure you’ll make them feel welcome by asking lots of questions. Here are our Star Authors for 2013:
Which Star Authors are you looking forward to virtually meeting?
Like this:
Like Loading...
October 16, 2012 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Ghosts, Scary · Tagged Authors, ghosts, horror, LibraryZac, seriously spooky authors, Seriously Spooky Month, supernatural
Some of my favourite stories are ones that creep me out and send a chill down my spine. When I was a kid there weren’t many authors who wrote horror stories or ghost stories. R.L. Stine’s books were about the creepiest I could find and he’s still writing them today. If you look up R.L. Stine in the library catalogue, you’ll find we have 97 of his books in the library!
If you like horror stories, ghost stories or stories about the supernatural there are now lots of authors who write these stories. Some of my favourite seriously spooky authors are:
Who are your favourite seriously spooky authors?
Like this:
Like Loading...
July 24, 2012 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Family, Fun, New Zealand · Tagged Authors, Christchurch, Christchurch Free Family Day, free activity in Christchurch, illustrators, Storylines, Storylines Free Family Day
On Sunday 19 August, from 10am-3pm at Catholic Cathedral College, you can come along to the Christchurch Storylines Free Family Day. It’s your chance to meet your literary heroes – authors, illustrators, storytellers and book characters and it’s absolutely FREE!
This year you can meet:
As well as meeting some of our best authors and illustrators you can get your face painted and have a go at some of the fun activities, including pen a poem or design a book cover.
See you there!
Like this:
Like Loading...
September 28, 2011 · Filed under Children, Fun, Star Author, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Sally Murphy, September Star Author, writing, writing tips
Oh dear. My month as Star Author is rapidly drawing to a close. I have really enjoyed spending time, if only virtually, in Christchurch.
As this is one of my last posts, I thought I might stop talking about myself and offer something to you. If you are reading this, chances are you love reading and/or writing. So I thought you might enjoy some quick writing activities that you can do to get yourself writing. Grab a pen and paper, and sit yourself down, then choose one of these exercise and just write.
- Write a sentence where every word starts with the next letter of the alphabet – a, b, c and so on. (for example A brown cat dropped everything…). Don’t worry if it is silly or even ungrammatical. Just see what comes out.
- Write for as long as you can without using the letter ‘e’. Again, don’t worry if it’s a little ungrammatical or silly.
- Same as 2, but this time see how long you can write without using the word ‘and’.
- Find five random words by opening a book or dictionary and picking the first word you see on five different pages. Or get someone else to give you five random words. Then write a sentence, paragraph or even a story which includes all five words.
- Open the book you’re currently reading (you are reading one, aren’t you) at any page, and copy out the first sentence of the second paragraph. Now, close the book and start writing, using that sentence as the first sentence of a completely new piece of writing.
Chances are, none of these exercises will produce an absolute masterpiece. But they will challenge you, might make you laugh, and will help get your creative juices flowing.
Have fun. If you’re brave enough, post one of your efforts here as a comment for the world to see.
Like this:
Like Loading...
September 1, 2011 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers · Tagged Authors, book lists, September, Spring
It’s finally Spring! The weather’s getting warmer, the flowers are blooming, the air smells like fresh cut grass, and we’re all coming out of hibernation. A great way to celebrate a new season is to try a new author. I’m sure there are plenty of authors whose books you love. You might love Rick Riordan, Jeff Kinney, Jacqueline Wilson, J.K. Rowling or Stacy Gregg, but why don’t you try an author you’ve never read before.
Some of our book lists have some really good ideas. Check these out:
If you get stuck you can always ask one of the friendly librarians – we love to help kids discover a new author. Your challenge for the rest of this month is to try a new author or two. We’d love to hear which new authors you discover so leave a comment on this post.
Like this:
Like Loading...
October 8, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, David Hill, writing, Writing Tip of the Week, writing tips
This week’s writing tips comes from New Zealand author David Hill, author of See Ya Simon, Fat, Four-Eyed and Useless, and Running Hot.
“a. Read heaps. The more you read, the more ideas you get.
b. Don’t throw any of your writing away.
c. Start sending work away to places like The School Journal.”
You can read our full interview with David Hill on the Interviews with New Zealand Authors page.
Like this:
Like Loading...
October 5, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Christchurch, New Zealand, writers · Tagged author interviews, Authors, LibraryZac, New Zealand, New Zealand authors, New Zealand illustrators
One of the really interesting pages that we have on the Kids website are our interviews with New Zealand authors and illustrators. You can read interviews with Brian Falkner, Bill Nagelkerke, Fleur Beale, Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley and many more. You’ll find answers to questions like:
- What was your most embarrassing moment?
- Which person from the past would you most like to meet?
- What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a writer?
- If you weren’t a writer what would you be?
We’ve just added to new interviews with Leonie Thorpe and Julie Folkers so come and check them out on the Interviews with NZ Children’s Authors page. You can even read some short stories written by some of these authors too.
Like this:
Like Loading...
September 20, 2010 · Filed under Adventure, Authors, Books, Children, writers · Tagged Adventure, Authors, dinosaurs, fossils, LibraryZac, Secrets of Eromanga, Sheryl Gwyther
Sheryl Gwyther is an Australian author who has been joining us on the Christchurch Kids Blog lately. We have Sheryl’s book, Secrets of Eromanga, in the library and we asked Sheryl if she could tell us a little about it .
While writing my junior fiction book, Secrets of Eromanga, I got to work as a volunteer on a dinosaur fossil dig in north western Queensland. And it wasn’t any old dinosaur fossil, it was the dig site for one of the largest sauropods ever found in Australia, the Elliot Dinosaur. The story itself is an adventure set on a fossil dig. I love researching the stories I write, whatever the topic! Not just because it gives you a better feel when you’re writing it, but because you never know what you might dig up (pun not intended).
It was because I also spent a day working on the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede that I got the idea how to weave the story of a young dinosaur through the modern story of main character, 12 year-old Ellie who holidays on a fossil dig and gets caught up in a fossil smuggling plot. So every alternate chapter is the dinosaur’s story.
Lark Quarry Stampede is the only place in the world where you will see over 3300 dinosaur footprints racing away in a stampede when the smaller dinosaurs were chased by a large theropod. Very exciting to imagine that very day with the evidence laid out in the mud 95 million years ago. That mud is now rock, of course. Secrets of Eromanga is for readers 10-12 years old.
I’m an Australian author and I live in Brisbane, Queensland. I did live in New Zealand for a year when I was younger and loved it – especially Christchurch! And I’m not just ‘pulling your leg’ either!
Thanks for that interesting background information about Secrets of Eromanga Sheryl. If you’d like to know more about Sheryl and her writing, you can visit her blog, SherylGwyther4Kids and if Secrets of Eromanga sounds like your sort of story, grab it from your library.
Like this:
Like Loading...
August 27, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Ghosts, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Derek Landy, LibraryZac, Skulduggery Pleasant, writing, Writing Tip of the Week, writing tips
This week’s writing tip comes from Derek Landy, creator of Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, and many other unpleasant characters. We asked Derek if he could give one piece of advice to budding writers what would it be?
“You have to have fun. When I wrote the first Skulduggery book I didn’t have a clue whether or not it would be published or if anybody would like it, so I concentrated on having fun. I packed it full of things that I adore; fight scenes, jokes, horror, adventure, magic. Fun is contagious and if you have fun writing it, the reader will have fun reading it. “
Visit Derek Landy’s website for more information about the author and his books, and to test your knowledge of the Skulduggery books.
Like this:
Like Loading...
August 20, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, Authors, Eoin Colfer, writers, writing tip, Zac
This week’s writing tip comes from Eoin Colfer, the creator of Artemis Fowl, Holly Short, Foaly and LEPrecon.
“Practise – write every day even if it’s only for ten minutes. Remember, nothing is wasted. Eventually your style will emerge. Persevere!”
Check out Eoin Colfer’s cool website where you can find out more about the characters, watch videos and play games. Get your hands on a copy of Eoin Colfer’s latest book, Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, from your library now.
Like this:
Like Loading...
August 15, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Christchurch, Family, Fun, New Zealand, writers · Tagged Authors, Christchurch Storylines Family Day, Gavin Bishop, illustrators, Joy Cowley, Margaret Mahy, New Zealand, Ross Kinnaird, Sandy McKay, Storylines, Storylines Festival, Storylines Free Family Day, Zac
Margaret Mahy
Joy Cowley
Gavin Bishop
Ross Kinnaird
Sandy McKay
I had lots of fun walking around and talking to the all the authors and illustrators. There were lots of kids who were dressed up in costumes. My favourite costume that I saw was a girl who was Pippi Longstocking. There were also a few Harry Potters and a Willy Wonka. I like getting my books signed because I think it’s really special, especially when an author or illustrating writes something nice.
Did you go to the Storylines Family Day? If you did, what was your favourite part of the day?
Like this:
Like Loading...
August 11, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, Christchurch, Family, Fun, New Zealand, writers · Tagged Authors, Christchurch Storylines Family Day, Gavin Bishop, Joy Cowley, Margaret Mahy, New Zealand authors, New Zealand illustrators, Storylines, Storylines Free Family Day, writers, Zac
If you’re looking for something to do this weekend, why don’t you come along to the Storylines Free Family Day at the Christchurch Town Hall from 10am-3pm. It’s a chance for you to meet some fantastic New Zealand authors and illustrators, including:
You could get your favourite author’s autograph, listen to them talk about their books and read some of them, make a cool mask or bookmark, or learn about the world around you in the Factopia Zone.
Who’s your favourite New Zealand author? What question would you ask them if you got the chance to meet them?
Like this:
Like Loading...
August 6, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Margaret Mahy, writing, writing tips, Zac
Our writing tip this week is once again from Margaret Mahy, who will be at the Storylines Free Family Day next Sunday, 15 August at the Christchurch Town Hall. Come along and listen to Margaret talk about her writing and read some of her books.
“I think writers ought to read a lot, and it is often good to be working on more one story. If your first story does not work out it is comforting to have another story to fall back on. Most writers have to work hard – to write and re-write their stories.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
July 23, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Joseph Delaney, Spook's Apprentice, Spook's Nightmare, Wardstone Chronicles, writing, writing tips
This week’s writing tip comes from Joseph Delaney, author of the spine-tingling Spook’s Apprentice and other books in the Wardstone Chronicles including his latest book, The Spook’s Nightmare. Joseph tells us the inspirations for his books and where ideas come from.
The ideas for my books come from nightmares, dreams and day-dreams which I always jot down lest I forget them. Sometimes I’m inspired by the things that people say or do or a piece of town or countryside I see whilst out walking. I do more ‘writing’ in my head than I ever do on paper or type into my computer.
Check out Joseph Delaney’s creepy Spooks website to find out more about the author and his books.
Like this:
Like Loading...
July 2, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, writers, writing, writing tip, Zac
This week’s writing tip comes from Carole Wilkinson, author of the Dragon Keeper series, and the Ramose series about Ancient Egypt.
“Don’t think you have to write a novel first off. And never try to make a story longer once you have got to the end. There is no set length for a story. A story can be six lines long or it might be 600 pages. A story is as long as it takes to tell.”
Visit Carole Wilkinson’s website for more information about the author and her writing.
Like this:
Like Loading...
June 25, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Books, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Cathy Cassidy, writing, Zac
This week’s writing tip comes from Cathy Cassidy, author of Scarlett, Indigo Blue, Sundae Girl and Ginger Snaps. Here are some of Cathy’s tips on where you can get inspiration for your writing:
Where can you get inspiration?
Daydream…
Use your memories as a resource
Think about the theme and look for unusual starting points
Look at the people around you…
Read, watch tv/films…
Be inspired by old/new photos or paintings…
Talk to friends/family…
Draw a flowchart of ideas
Ask ‘what if’ questions to create a plot
Build a character around a name…
Draw your imaginary character…
Brainstorm and profile their likes/dislikes/appearance…
Go to Cathy Cassidy’s website for more writing tips, information about Cathy and her books.
Like this:
Like Loading...
June 11, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, writers, writing, Zac
This week’s writing tip comes from Louis Sachar, the author of Holes, There’s a Boy in the Girl’s Bathroom, the Wayside School series, and his new book The Cardturner.
I start really knowing the story, rewriting it to make it better, that it turns into something.”not untilto show them to anyone. It’s ”The best advice I can give is what kids don’t like hearing, and that is you need to rewrite. I understand; I used to hate rewriting when I was your age. But my first drafts are absolutely awful. I would be embarrassed
Like this:
Like Loading...
June 4, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Rick Riordan, writers, writing, Writing Tip of the Week, Zac
This week’s writing tip comes from Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series and his brand new series, The Kane Chronicles about Egyptian gods in the modern-day.
“Read a lot! Read everything you can get your hands on. You will learn the craft of writing by immersing yourself in the voices, styles, and structures of writers who have gone before you.
Write every day! Keep a journal. Jot down interesting stories you heard. Write descriptions of people you see. It doesn’t really matter what you write, but you must keep up practice. Writing is like a sport — you only get better if you practice.”
Visit Rick Riordan’s website for more writing tips, information about the author and his books.
Like this:
Like Loading...
May 5, 2010 · Filed under Adventure, Books, Children, Fantasy, Ghosts, Humour, writers · Tagged Adventure, Authors, gross, humour
STORIES, then read any of their books:
Like this:
Like Loading...
May 4, 2010 · Filed under Authors, Children, writers, Writing Tip of the Week · Tagged Authors, Gus Gordon, writing
This week’s writing tip comes from illustrator Gus Gordon, who created a cool picture book called Wendy about a stunt-driving chicken. He’s also illustrated lots of other picture books and some Aussie Bites.
“Spend lots of time looking out the window daydreaming and imagining weird things happening.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
Vince Ford (NZ) - February
