This morning, Lesley sent me photographs of the first completed illustrations for our first sequel to A Big Blue Boat. The images are bringing the book to life beautifully. This is such an exciting time.

Author: Paul Jennings Illustrator: Lea Bob Publisher: Puffin; 1st edition Year: 3 May 2004 I was going through my book library the other day and came across the Rascal series by Paul Jennings. It’s about 20 years since the first Rascal book was released, but they were great for children experiencing difficulties with learning, and […]

Hello World: Ocean Life Being a sailor, I love anything to do with the sea and was delighted when I found this lovely 26 – page board book, ‘Hello World: Ocean Life’ by Jill McDonald. Being a sailor, I love anything to do with the sea and was delighted when I found this lovely 26 […]

Back in the day, I was a youngster who preferred doing activities that were considered a ‘boy’s thing’ and was often referred to as a ‘Tom Boy’. Then at the age of 12 or 13, I found myself being informed that I had need to start behaving like a young lady… Being a female sailor, […]

Here I share with you the books I love. Being an author isn’t just about writing books. It’s also about reading books. Thankfully, I am one of those people who devours books – and it’s not just those written for adults. Many of the books I most enjoy are those written for children. Over time, […]

It’s a pretty exciting month in May, as I visit Laurieton, Port Macquarie and Wauchope libraries. I am looking forward to meeting everyone.

I can’t really say there is one clear cut event that led to the idea of writing A Big Blue Boat. There were, however, four key issues. The first being that there are no realistic sailing picture books out there for young children, especially girls. For girls, the stories are imaginative and dreamlike. The second […]

My Favourite Places Narrations Interviews

a big blue boat sequel, sequel, next book being released

Where have I been? What do I like? What have I seen? In A Big Blue Boat, I could be sailing along the Western Australian coastline, or in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands. Both have lots of reefs that I have to look out for and the sea becomes rollicking, frolicking when the wind gets […]