Ta Dah!

News | Posted by Carole on Thursday 26 October 2006

So here is my new-look website. What do you think?

I like it a lot and I’d like to thank Chris M for his design.

The red dragon logo, in case anyone is wondering, is the imprint from a Chinese seal or chop. We had it made to use on the cover of Dragonkeeper (though in the early editions you hardly notice it). It is meant to be the print made by Ping’s Dragonkeeper seal. It is supposed to read ‘Dragonkeeper’ but the guy who carved it put the character for keeper or carer in the middle with an image of a dragon wrapped around it. I’ve always loved the seal and it seemed like a good image for the website.

Comments (3)

And a KOALA too

News | Posted by Carole on Tuesday 24 October 2006

It’s been my year for kids’ choice awards. Dragonkeeper has won the NSW KOALA award for older readers. It’s the first children’s choice award Dragonkeeper has won, so that’s very exciting and thanks to all those readers who voted for it.

I went to Sydney to attend the ceremony which was held at the Taronga Zoo. I got to meet lots of school kids and have a lovely lunch with the KOALA committee and the other authors and illustrators who attended. Click here to see the other winning and shortlisted books.

Comments (4)

Japanese Edition of Dragonkeeper

News | Posted by Carole on Tuesday 17 October 2006

Yesterday I received copies of the Japanese edition of Dragonkeeper. It’s always exciting seeing the covers of overseas versions of books. Sometimes I’m pleased with them, sometimes not so much. In this case I’m delighted with the cover. It’s lovely. Very different to the original Australian cover.

The illustrator has obviously read the book (which isn’t always the case) as, if you look closely, you can see the red stitches on Danzi’s wing. And Hua makes an appearance on a cover for the first time! I wanted him on the Australian cover, but people aren’t always comfortable with rats.

There are also lovely little black and white drawings at the beginning of each chapter. I don’t know who the illustrator is, but they’ve done a great job.

Comments (7)

Rita at 7 months

News, Pets | Posted by Carole on Thursday 12 October 2006

The first draft of Dragon Moon is finished, so I am having a bit of a breather before I start on the second draft. Not that I’m sitting around doing nothing.

There are final touches to be done to what will be my next book The Jerilderie Letter which is an illustrated version of Ned Kelly’s famous letter (for any non-Australian readers, Ned Kelly was a famous bushranger [outlaw, bandit]). The book is packed with fabulous illustrations by Dean Jones.

So If Ned wrote it and Dean illustrated it, what’s it got to do with me, I hear you say. Well Ned’s letter isn’t easy to read, so I have edited it so that it is clearer, but hopefully without losing his sense of humour and unique way with words.

I thought it was time I posted another photo of our dog, Rita, who is now seven months old and pretty much fully grown. She is as cute as ever but is going through her difficult teenage stage. She likes to play ball, but doesn’t actually like letting go of it so you can throw it!

Comments (7)