sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

Off on Tour

by

The virtual launch may be done and dusted, but the celebrations to mark the release of Snowy’s Christmas are still in full swing. Today marks the beginning of our eleven week blog tour. Each Sunday for the next eleven weeks we’ll be visiting a different blog to talk about Snowy, about the writing and illustrating life, about Christmas – in fact about whatever the blog owners ask us to talk about (and perhaps some things they don’t, lol).

To get started, today David and I are both visiting Dee at Deescribe Writing Blog. So hop on over and see us there. And, while you’re there, scroll down to read Dees’ lovely review of the book.
Want more? Well, here’s the schedule for the rest of the tour. And, while we’re not there yet, all of these blogs are wonderful places to visit at any time.

Week One: October 4Deescribe Writing Blog www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com
Week Two: October 11Write and Read With Dale http://livejournal.com/users/orangedale/
Week three: October 18Alphabet Soup Blog www.soupblog.wordpress.com
Week Four: October 25Let’s Have Words www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
Week Five: November 1Sally Murphy’s Writing for children Blog http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
Week 6 November 8 Aussiereviews Blog http://aussiereviews.blogspot.com/
Week 7 November 15 Samantha Hughes’ Blog http://samantha-hughes.blogspot.com/
Week 8Robyn Opie’s Writing Children’s Books Blog http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
Week 9Stories are Light http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/
Week 10The Aussie Christmas Blog http://aussiechristmas.wordpress.com/
Week 11Tales I Tell http://belka37.blogspot.com
I’ll keep you updated with each new stop – love to see you there 🙂

Christmas is Coming – and my Christmas PB is here!

by

What a wonderful day! Take a look at the cover of my new picture book which was released today:

Snowy’s Christmas tells a very Australian Christmas story about a little kangaroo (Snowy) who gets to help Santa out as only a kangaroo can. And, if you look closely at the cover you’ll see that the illustrator’s surname is also Murphy – because it was illustrated by my wonderful brother in law David, making it a real family effort.
If you have a moment or two to spare, pop over to the Aussie Christmas blog where we are holding a virtual launch right now. There’s lamingtons and Vegemite sandwiches and cordial and even a nice white wine, a few speeches, some links and lots of great company. Drop by and join in the fun.

Happy bookday Snowy!

Look at my Nice Shiny Medal

by

Okay, it’s not really a medal, but it is shiny and silver and it IS mine! I am still glowing with yesterday’s announcement of Pearl Verses the World as Best Children’s Book in the Indie Book Awards for 2009. I’m also delighted with the wonderful responses I’ve had from friends, family, industry colleagues and even people I don’t know to the news of this award. I can truly feel the love.
Reading the judges’ comments (you can see them here) brought a tear to my eye, as did the fact that my writer friend, Sandy Fussell, threw an impromptu blog party for me last night over at Stories Are Light. She is just the sweetest! And so lovely, too, all the messages on Facebook, on Sandy’s blog, via email and the hugs and congrats in person.
Being a writer can be hard, frustrating, lonely – the list goes on – but it can also be wonderfully rewarding. And on days like yesterday you remember that you are not alone and that the rewards are many.
Life is good.

Verse Off Week 4

by

There were some wonderful responses to yesterday’s verse-off stimulus. Without further ado, here are the free verse responses. To view the rhymed responses, head over to Kathryn’s blog.

Felix Apel said…

Whaling about,
I’m feeling blue –
Don’t ruffle my feathers,
Life’s a beach!

J.R.Poulter/J.R.McRae said…

I don’t know what to make of this
A whale away beached in the outback.
Are they thinking of ship’s of the sands,
‘Cause,
Well, I always thought
that meant camels?
And emus
Well, they’re on our coat of arms
Aren’t they?
Do we have to export
EVERYTHING Aussie!?!

Kathryn Apel said…

grey swirls
as whale
fluke crests
the rolling waves
of green
leafy shrubs

all at sea
upon dry
sand

Janeen Brian said…

Were you the sole survivor?
Seeking refuge from ocean plunderers
did you scale the red-bloodied cliffs of the Bight
and reach

the Nullarbor Plain . . .?

Belka said…

Cutting costs mean
cheaper exports
lower fuel bills
and fewer wages
to pay.
A country
that shall be nameless
requested emus
to lessen the carbon imprint
so we sent them
from Eucla
via a whale.

http://belka37.blogspot.com

Sally Murphy said…

One cold wet day
in Eucla
I wrote a postcard home
“Having a wail of a time”

At home
they thought I’d made
a spelling error.
But I, after two days driving in the rain,
was disconsolate
And the whale?
Though unexpected,
it did – almost – bring
a smile to my face.

Thanks to all who contributed this week, and throughout the month. The verse off has been lots of fun. Check back later this week where there’ll be a special post revisiting all the efforts of the past month.

Verse Off Week 4

by

Week Four of the Verse Off – and a special welcome to any who may be joining us for the first time! (Feel free to scroll below to past posts and see what we’ve been up to.) This is the final edition of the Verse Off, for now, so if you’ve been waiting to contribute, now’s your chance.If you’ve played before, you know the routine.. If this is your first time, here’s the drill…May is a dual celebration with the release of Kathryn Apel’s This is the Mud!,
a humorous rhyming picture book, and Sally Murphy’s Pearl Verses the World,

a free verse novel.To celebrate, each Sunday, we are inviting blog readers to have some fun by responding – in verse – to a prompt. You can choose your style – either free verse (unrhyming) or rhyming verse. This is your chance to prove that your preferred form is the best.If you want to respond in free verse, please post your response on Sally’s blog, and if writing in rhyme, you can post at Kathryn’s blog.The next day – Monday – we’ll post the verses in a new post for all to see.

Here are the rules:

1. There is no ‘right’ answer to the prompt. Be creative.

2. Limit your response to twelve lines (so there is room for everyone’s response)

3. You can respond in either free verse or rhymed verse. If you’d like to do both, post each at the appropriate blog.

4. This is your work, so add your name, and a link to your website or blog, if you’d like.

5. Everyone is a winner! But there is no winner.

Got it? Great. Then here goes with the new prompt…

My Interview With Katie Hines

by

In anticipation of the release of Pearl Verses the World on May 1, yesterday I was interviewed on Katie Hines’ blog. You can read the interview here.
sallymurphy.com.au