sallymurphy.com.au

Sally Murphy, Australian author

What a Month!

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Phew. It’s the last day of March and I’m exhausted, but elatedly so (is it possible to feel both elated and exhausted concurrently?) I could scramble for my dictionary to check, but, to be honest, I’m just too tired. Instead, I am going to sit here in my comfy chair and tell you all about the month that was, and why I’m just so tired (and elated).

To start with, the end of February saw me dashing back and fro to Perth (a three hour drive) for some exciting events.

On the evening of Thursday the 25th I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of Natural Selection, an exhibition organised by Writing WA. Iwas doubly blessed because not only was I able to attend the launch, but I was aslo one of the fifty authors chosen to be featured in the exhibition. Each chosen author was profiled on a large panel (approximately 1 metre square) with a photo, short bio and a bit about a recent book (in my case, Pearl Verses the World).

The launch was held at the Perth City Council  function room, which boasts spectacular views over the Swan River, and was attended by the authors, publishers, international festival directors and other invited guests.

A quick trip home on Friday morning, then it was back to Perth for the weekend to attend the Perth Writers Festival. As well as getting to sit in some wonderful sessions, I was also a presenter, presenting a poetry writing workshop and a meet the author session as part of Family Day. This was the first time I’d got to see Toppling in  a bookstore – and, of course, I got to sign copies, as well as copies of Pearl Verses the World. It was exciting to see Pearl sell out on the Sunday – a sign that people had perhaps enjoyed my sessions.

Monday March 1 marked the release of  Toppling, and I celebrated right here on this blog with cyber champagne, cyber munchies and some virtual speeches. My friend and fellow author Sandy Fussell was good enough to drop by and launch Toppling. A cyber launch is a great way to launch a book, especially if you want to include friends and rellies who are scattered around the globe.

On March 4 I headed back to Perth for another event – the CBCA’s annual Night With Our Stars, held at Westbooks in South Perth. This event, organised by the delightful Jenni Woodroffe gives children’s and YA authors and illustrators a chance to speak about their latest book to a group of teachers, librarians and book lovers. It is, to me, a bit like speed dating – each speaker gets three mintues to inspire, enthuse or entertain the audience. Afterwards there are booksignings, and time to just mingle.

Back at home and I had a little time to enjoy the feeling of a new book, and to celebrate some more. All through the month I had visitors dropping in here, to guest blog about what they like about children’s poetry. The responses were many and varied – but all made for excellent reading. A huge thanks to those people who gave up their time to drop in here and share their thoughts. If you haven’t read them, be sure to scroll through and see what was said.

I also enjoyed seeing the first reviews come in. If you’re interested you can see Sharon’s review on the OurPatch website, Dee White’s review on her blog DeeScribeWriting,  Jo Burnell’s review on the Reading Stack website and  Malcolm’s review on the Storytime Books for Kids blog. It is always a relief to read a review and realise that the reviewer liked my book.

To finish the month off with an extra buzz, the news yesterday that my first verse novel, Pearl Verses the World has been shorlisted for the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year Awards was pretty awesome. I have long dreamed of being on the shortlist one day – and the feeling of finally getting there is pretty amazing.

So, the launch month for Toppling concludes, but there will be much more happening on my blog and in my writing life in the montsh to come, so stay tuned.

Woweeeeeeeeee!

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The writing life is filled with highs and lows – and sometimes the lows are long and hard. There are rejections, the difficulties of getting a story right in the first place, and, when a book IS published, the challenges of struggling for sales.

But the highs are wonderful. Acceptances, holding a book baby in your hands for the first time, seeing your name on a book in a real life bookstore… And I must say, I can’t imagine wanting to be anything other than a children’s book author.

Still, none of those highs really prepared me for the wonderful rush I am feeling today. See, today, the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) announced the shortlist for the annual Children’s Book of the Year Awards, and much to my surprise and delight, I’m on it – or rather my book, Pearl Verses the World is on it, shortlisted for the Younger Reader’s category.

So, as you can maybe imagine, I am smiling and singing and laughing and even shedding the odd tear today. I am especially enjoying the way that those around me have joined in my celebrations. I’ve been truly touched by the phonecalls and emails and text messages and messages on twitter and facebook. The Australian publishing and book industries are fileld with such lovely people!

Congratulations to everyone else whose books are on the shortlist, and also on the CBCA’s Notables list.

And, as I said already today – wahoooooooo!

What Jackie Hosking Likes About Children’s Poetry

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If you’ve been dropping in regularly then you’ll know that all month I’ve been hosting visting bloggers who have been dropping in to help me celebrate the release of Toppling by telling me (and you) what it is that they like about chidlren’s poetry. Please welcome today Jackie Hosking, poet, chidlren’s writer and editor of the Pass It On newsletter. Welcome Jackie.

Why I like poetry.

I’ve always liked white space.

I’ve found, over time, that I am more likely to read a thing if there is less of it. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy reading novels, because I do, but I definitely enjoy reading pages that are broken up into lots of paragraphs more than pages that look like slabs of ants fighting for a parking space. With this in mind, as a reader, the verse novel suits me very well. As a writer, on the other hand, I find the verse novel to be somewhat tricky because I like to write in rhyme. It seems, for me that I am better at novel verse, than I am at verse novels, so thank goodness for authors like Sally Murphy who are able to write them for me.

Pearl Verses the World is the fifth verse novel that I’ve read and I loved it. I loved that Pearl preferred not to write in rhyme because life is not all hats and cats. (By the way I’ve written a couple of rhyming poems about cats but none about hats so thanks for that pearl, Pearl – I’ll get right onto it.) Did you notice my use of humour just then? It was very subtle but I think you’ll agree that it was definitely there. Sally uses Pearl’s aversion to rhyme as a way to add some comic relief to what is a very serious story and I think that this is probably key. While rhyming poetry can be a tool to express ideas of a serious nature, many of my poems aren’t funny at all, free verse tends to lend itself to such matters in a smoother fashion.

Toppling, Sally’s second verse novel published by Walker Books, tells another serious story. It’s an important book because illness does not just occur in an adult world. Writing such a story as a verse novel, with plenty of white space, allows the reader to take lots of breaths allowing the story to be delivered gently, like a lullaby.

I admire writers of verse novels because of their ability to pare down story to its essential elements. Rhymers do this too but in a more ordered fashion and such is the beauty of verse, free or otherwise – the VERSEatility of it all.

Thanks Sally for allowing me to share why I like poetry with your readers and for saving me the trouble of trying to write a verse novel of my own, thus giving me the freedom to write another rhyming poem about cats…

This one’s called – Bedraggled

A paw in a puddle

A cat in a muddle

She tiptoes in vain

to get out of the rain

And howls at the door

to loudly complain

Wet to the skin

Looking comically thin

We fluff her and puff her

and wrap her in towels

ignoring her howls as

she wriggles and squirms

we each take our turn

to ensure that her fur

is as soft as her purr

~~~~

And if you have a children’s rhyming poem or story that just won’t behave itself, you can contact Jackie’s rhyming manuscript editing service via her blog http://www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com/

Thanks Sally!

Jackie Hosking

Editor/Compiler “PASS IT ON”

http://www.jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com/

www.versatilityrhymeandrhythm.blogspot.com/

http://www.cbishowcase.blogspot.com/

Thanks for that jackie. I love your poem – and laughed at your jokes, too!

What Jo Burnell Likes About Children’s Poetry

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Today’s guest blogger is Jo Burnell, here to tell us what it is that she likes about children’s poetry and to join in the celebrations for the release of Toppling. Welcome Jo – and over to you.


What makes poetry?
Can an entire novel be written in verse?
Do there have to be rules?

Sally Murphy’s delightful verse novel Toppling crosses a few boundaries by its very existence. Her choice of simple language allows easy reading but does not remove the ease of poetic flow.

When I went to school, writing poetry meant following rules. One day we had to start each new line with the next letter in a chosen word.
Acrostic poems just made me cross.

Cinquain poems have me baffled. Who on earth thought them up? Wrapped at each end by the title, describing words, actions and feelings fill the three lines in between. There’s nothing plain about the formation of Cinquain. At least you don’t have to rhyme.

Colour poems ignite the senses. Pick a colour. Any colour will do, and fill each line with the way that colour tastes, feels, smells and sounds to you.

Diamente rules just drive me mental. The result might be pretty, but where’s the freedom in following a rule for almost every word?

Haiku goes further than the rest. It controls every syllable. I’m in a World War 3 concentration camp struggling to breathe when I try to write Haiku.

At least with a limerick, I get a run-on and then worry about the details later. However, knowing that the last word in lines one 1 and 3, and 2 and 4 must rhyme and certain syllables must be stressed or unstressed just causes the blood Pressure to rise.

Give me a monster poem any day where all I have to do is write about a monster.

Better still, give me a copy of Toppling, where the words flow freely. Gentle wisdom snuggles between the lines, waiting to be discovered. That is my idea of verse. Where the joy of the read is not disturbed by rules.

Thanks Jo. You say such lovely things about my book-baby. And I’m with you – too many rules can make writing poetry tough.

Jo Burnell is a Paediatric Speech Pathologist and writer.
One of her passions is to get struggling and reluctant readers excited about books.

She is the UQP reviewer for Buzz Words
and regularly posts guest reviews on ‘The Reading Stack‘
Her poem ‘Junior Tragics’ made it to the top 20 in the 2009 Cricket Poetry Prize

Writing Quote of the Week

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Time for another writing quote to start the week, and because we’ve been talking poetry all month, I thought I’d share this beauty:

A poem begins with a lump in the throat.

I don’t think I need say anymore – the quote is poetry in itself!
sallymurphy.com.au