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Blue Dingo News #3
Welcome to Blue Dingo News #3
Well here we are! Blue Dingo has been launched and we have our first 64 members! I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I am to have you all! Without you we are just a naked network. With increased membership I will increase the eNews blogs and promos to keep up with demand so keep it coming! I realise there is a lot to get used to and it is even trickier for those who don’t dabble with tech that much. Please don’t fret if you are having difficulties. Ask questions, you can contact me or even better put it on the forum so others can benefit from the knowledge too. So let’s get into it!
First year membership is half price ($22.50) til June 2nd so invite your book industry buddies! Still unsure. You have up to a month to decide. When you subscribe to www.bluedingo.ning.com your account is accepted and an invoice sent. You then have til months end to pay the account. If you chose not to stay at the end of the month there is no cost to you.
DID YOU KNOW you can completely customise your page? I see some of you have already changed your theme and added your own content and they look great! Add your own pics (book covers or illustrations etc), RSS feeds and WordPress blog etc. The more you include the more I can share. That’s the way our world works. You can also move the content around so the things you want to see or share are the easiest to find.
Don’t forget to pop over to the forum and see what I happening or start a topic. I know how many questions fly around this industry so don’t be shy now! 
Oh and the chat option can be used as a means to communicate with those who are online so listen for the beep, someone may be trying to communicate with you. See the tab at the top or the bar at the bottom. Just go ahead and type in a comment for a general discussion or click on a name for a private conversation.
Stay turned for a blog that I had intended to do tonight regarding our fees and why we have them. Family commitments prevented me from getting this done. If you have any questions about this you can find the answers around the site but I shall sum it all up soon.
Happy reading, writing and illustrating.
Featured Member:
Sheryl Gwyther is this editions featured member.
- Occupation/s
- Children’s author
- Website
- http://www.sherylgwyther.net
- Business Details
- Sheryl Gwyther is a Brisbane children’s author who writes novels, school plays, chapter books and magazine articles.Her adventure novel for older children, Secrets of Eromanga is set on an outback dinosaur fossil dig. Princess Clown and Charlie and the Red Hot Chilli Pepper are popular transition books for young readers. Sheryl’s short story, Scaredy Crow appears in the New Zealand Schools Junior Journal. Corn Dolly Dead, a short story is part of black dog books’ Short and Scary anthology.Sheryl’s writing awards include two Australian Society of Author Mentorships and a May Gibbs Children’s Literature Trust Fellowship.
She is a keen blogger, focusing on the writing-life, publishing and her love of books for young people.Sheryl also visits schools and libraries for workshops and author talks.
- Other links (blog, twitter, Facebook etc.)
- http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com
http://sherylgwyther4kids.wordpress.com
Sheryl’s Contributions:
Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Queensland branch
Time: May 15, 2011 from 11am to 1pm
Location: Room NQ 1.9 Brisbane Square Library,
Street: 266 George Street
City/Town: Brisbane
Event Type: for, members:, autumn, meeting, with, two, guest, speakers
Organized By: The SCBWI Qld Management team – Pam Rushby, Prue Mason, Tina Clark and Sheryl Gwyther
Lunch after the meeting with members to network and catch up. Cafe just outside the library doors – opposite the Treasure Casino.
THE UP-SIDE OF BEING A CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
Everybody knows about the downside of being a writer – getting nowhere fast, pushing jelly uphill or was that molassas?
Enough rejection letters to fill a couple of folders, multi-rewrites of many stories filling up the spare spaces in your computer, an ever-increasing pile of washing tottering in the laundry, days when you leave the phone on messages and your family and ‘normal’ friends think you’re out of town – when you’re actually huddled over a hot computer.
Like Yin and Yang, there’s an upside to being a writer. I’m not referring to the successes of awards, mentorships, grants and newly published books (although they are brilliant, of course). Click the heading to read more…
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Featured Resource:
Elaine Ouston, children’s Author reveals her Self-Publishing and Marketing Secrets.What would you like to ask her? …
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Featured Articles:
NaPiBoWriWee 2011
May 1st to May 7th is National Picture Book Writing Week. The idea is to write 7 picture books in 7 days. I had a lot of fun doing it last year and came up with some great ideas. Like NaNoWriMo, it’s a great way to get yourself writing. READ MORE click on the link above.
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Publishing Members:
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Nerrilee Weir - Random House
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Author of the month: See next edition.
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Illustrator of the Month:
Coming soon, contact buginabook@bigpond.com to book in. Australia and New Zealand only.
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What’s On:
EVENTS:
To get your events here contact us buginabook@bigpond.com.
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Thursday, May 5 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
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| Location |
Avid Reader
193 Boundary Street
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| Created By | |
| More Info |
To be launched by David Costello, Foreign Editor of the Courier MailBurma, a strategically critical land mass in South East Asia, stands at a crossroads. Abandoned by Great Britain in its rushed decolonisation programme during the aftermath of World War II, the country’s many ethnic groups were left to fight it out amongst themselves for a share of the power.In a series of interviews, Pedersen allows the people behind the world’s longest running conflict to say what their motivations are, and why they will not stop fighting until they see justice done. “Secret Genocide” gives a voice to a people the world has forgotten. Gripping and honest, it shows that the Karen don’t want charity from the Western world; they are fighting for the right to live their lives – in peace and without fear.Tickets $5, RSVP essential
To book call 3846 3422, email events@avidreader.com.au or online at www.avidreader.com.au |
| Time |
Friday, May 6 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm
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| Location |
Brisbane
193 Boundary Street
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| More Info |
Avid’s Own Christopher Currie is celebrating the release of his debut novel through one of the finest publishing houses in Australia.We are very proud!Come celebrate with us as we welcome The Ottoman Motel into the world.The Ottoman Motel is not just an intriguing character-based mystery, but a moving study of fear and loss. With this assured and nuanced debut, Christopher Currie proves himself to be one of the brightest young novelists in Australia.To be launched by the wonderful Matthew Condon.
You can book by calling Avid Reader: (07) 3846 3422 |
| Time |
Sunday, May 8 · 3:30pm – 6:30pm
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| Location |
Gleebooks, Glebe
49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe
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Vagabond Press is blissed-out to release two new Rare Objects to be launched by Fiona Wright:Career by Liam Ferney
Seastrands by Felicity PlunkettLimited run of 100 signed and numbered copies with cover art by Kay Orchison.Come along for a great afternoon of poetry from Brisbane and Sydney in the Glebe. |
| Time |
Thursday, May 19 · 6:00pm – 9:00pm
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| Location |
Black Cat Bookstore & Cafe – Paddington, 179 Latrobe Terrace, Paddington 4064
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| More Info |
Michael Gerard Bauer will do the official launch. Please come along and help me celebrate.
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| Time |
Saturday, May 21 at 2:00pm – May 22 at 5:00pm
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| Location |
Station Street Cafe
26 Station Street
Nunawading, Victoria, Australia
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Stopping all Stations is on its way around again. I’m getting in early to encourage you to keep Saturday May 21 free so you can come along to hear Marian Spires and Andy Jackson. And three weeks is plenty of time to write a poem/short story or brush one up for the open section.Marian Spires is a poet, writer and teacher who explores the internal landscapes of personal and cultural myths with concrete language. She has performed… her poetry on radio, television, at festivals and featured at poetry events. Her first collection, red angels rising, was published by Woorilla (2004).In 2009, she won the Melbourne Writers Festival Poetry Idol Award and used her prize money to travel to Europe to view the original canvases and walk the landscapes where Vincent van Gogh painted. Her verse novel about van Gogh called Knowing Vincent (Picaro Press) was launched at the 2010 Melbourne Writers Festival.Andy Jackson’s poetry explores the emotional, cultural and political dimensions of embodiment and identity, and has been published in many print and on-line journals, including Heat, Going Down Swinging, Island, Blue Dog, Mascara and Stylus. He has performed at the Australian Poetry Festival in Sydney, Queensland Poetry Festival, and the Newcastle Young Writers Festival. His poem Secessionist won the 2008 Arts ACT Rosemary Dobson Award for an Unpublished Poem. He was an Emerging Writer in Residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre in Perth in 2010, and he is currently the Librarian for Australian Poetry and the co-convenor of the La Mama Poetica series of readings. His first full-length collection of poems – Among the Regulars – was published by papertiger media in 2010. This year, he will be an Asialink resident at the University of Madras in Chennai, India.Hope to see you there!
$5 entry Great lucky door prizes The Station Street Cafe is fully licensed and serves yummy lunches and snacks. See the menu at: www.stationstreetcafe.com.au. Convener: Carole Poustie (If you’re travelling by train, take the Belgrave/Lilydale line. When you get off at Nunawading, walk east along the platform, under Springvale Road and take the second set of steps or lifts up to the street level. Turn right and you will be facing Station Street. The cafe is just across the road.) Next reading June 18 |
FORUM:
Press releases and marketing - Victoria Jones
Anna Bartlett
There are a few things that I quickly noted and appreciated about this book. Firstly I love the Australian history theme. I will personally seek out books about Australian History, it is so interesting and I never stop learning. I think this is an important subject and often not fully explored or appreciated at schools. Secondly I like the characters. The two main characters Yared an adopted Ethiopian boy and his Nanna are enjoyably out of the norm. Nanna is quite a firm lady, not your cuddly affectionate type. A tough nut to crack. Yared who is staying with his Nanna while his parents take a break together to try to work out their marital problems, is having his own problems. He feels misplaced being at his Nanna’s who as mentioned isn’t exactly comforting, his school life is unsettling him also as a teacher has questioned how “Australian” he is and his cultural origins. For Yared who knows nothing of Ethiopia this is confusing and he does not wish to be made to feel like he doesn’t belong. The other great thing about this book is the way Anna Bartlett has made it into a series of short stories within a story. This makes for easy reading and a lovely variety while absorbing the changes through out our history. Great for shared reading in the classroom!
A penny in Time is a journey of a 1911 Australian Penny. Yared and his Nanna discover the sharing of stories creates a bond while also bridging the generation gap. Nanna tells Yared a story before bed each night with the Penny as a feature. Starting in 1911 and continuing til the devastation of Cyclone Tracy. Each from a different place in time with a different character, a different family and a different set of circumstances. Well written, entertaining and full of facts. A Penny in Time is a great book for pure enjoyment and the classroom.
A Bug in a Book Recommended Review
Angela Hall
