1. The Pony Game is about a girl who wishes she has a horse. Do you/have you ever owned a horse? Or did you wish for one when you were a child?

No, I’ve never owned a horse. And I’ve actually never wanted one. That may be because the first two houses I lived in – until I was seventeen – had horses living right behind them, over the back fences, so I was never really without a horse or six. I could see them whenever I wanted to, which was a lot. I looked after a horse for a while and, yes, it was hard work. Hope I didn’t neglect my dog “Boots” like Lucy neglects “Black Beauty” in “The Pony Game”. I’ve wanted other animals though because I haven’t had much contact with them. I’ve always wanted a dolphin, like Flipper. I whale would have been great too. I’ve wanted a kangaroo and a possum and . . ..

2 A fellow writer once told me that only horsey people can write horse books. Do you think this is true for horse books and/or for other subjects (ie do you need to love dogs/aeroplanes/dragons whatever to write about those things)?

I think you have to love what you’re writing about – the story – and want to write it. I think you have to feel excitement about the story and immerse yourself in it. Writing is hard work and takes time. If you don’t love what you’re doing it’s too easy to lose interest and give up, or write a story that doesn’t excite readers because you’re not sufficiently excited about it. For example, my book “Caught in a Cyclone” is about a family living in Darwin in 1974 and being caught in Cyclone Tracy. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback on the story and some people have assumed that I was living there at the time and writing from personal experience. It’s a great compliment. When I started writing the story, I had little knowledge of cyclones and only a vague memory of Cyclone Tracy from TV footage seen from my home in Port Pirie. I did a lot of research on Cyclone Tracy and imagined what it would be like if I’d been caught in it. I don’t love cyclones but I was interested in the subject and wanted to experience it as a writer from the safety of my lounge chair. I was the little girl – the protagonist – and, yes, she has a dog that gets lost during the cyclone, so there was a lot of me in it again. What really inspired me was the character’s reactions and experiences – and I was her. In my opinion, you don’t have to “love” the subject but you have to be interested in it and “love” some aspect of the story. I always look for something to get excited about. It’s my passion for writing and stories that makes me a writer – I love the writing and stories first.

3. Going on a virtual book tour is a novel way of promoting a new book. What else do you do to promote your books?

Book launches, though I’ve only had two out of 75 published books
Author visits to schools
Book fesitvals and similar events
Association with the SA Writers’ Centre
Newspapers – I’ve been featured in three local newspapers this year
Writers’ groups and networking
A personal website http://www.robynopie.com/

4. As well as writing children’s books, you’ve written ebooks and tutored writing courses. What do you think is the most important piece of advice you can give prospective authors?

I think the most important advice is to learn about writing for children and to learn from people who are in the industry. That means reading books on the subject, doing courses and getting feedback from experienced children’s authors. All of this hones a person’s writing skills and helps them write stories that fit the market, even if they aren’t quite ready for publication. I always recommend manuscript assessments before sending anything to a publisher or publishers. I think feedback from other writers, with experience, is invaluable. It worked for me, pointed out my strengths and weaknesses. I needed to know my weaknesses so I could improve. Networking is another factor which I think is very important. All of my opportunities have come from networking with people in the industry.

And, as follow up, is there are any advice you give in the courses which you don’t always follow?

I don’t think so. Not now. But I’ve learned from my mistakes. When I first started writing children’s books, back in my twenties, I wrote a “picture book” and sent it to publishers. To my horror and embarrassment, I later realised it wasn’t a picture book at all and had to be rejected. The publishers had no choice. This first story was around 2,000 words, much too long for the picture book market. Yikes! This is part of the reason why I tell new writers to learn about writing children’s books. A lot of new writers, me included, write a story and send it to publishers, expecting it to be published. Now, I know it’s not that easy. We have to learn about writing children’s books first and make sure our submissions fit the various categories of children’s books and the market, or it’s an automatic rejection, like my first one. I also tell new writers to do other things to gain experience and publishing credits, like enter competitions, write articles and stories for magazines etc. I didn’t do it myself. I was lucky to get published and continue getting published, so I didn’t need to. But I do think it’s a good idea to look for other ways of gaining experience and publishing credits while waiting to break into the book market.

6. What next for Robyn Opie? What are you working on now and what will be your next published title?

My next title will be “Black Baron” published by Walker Books in May 2008. I also have five books coming out with Era Publications. I won’t list them all here but they are mentioned on my website www.robynopie.com/2007.html. I’ve just finished writing a screenplay with my partner, Rob Parnell, and we’ll soon be starting another one for the same film company. I signed with an agent in August, Jacinta di Mase, and we’ve been working on a number of books together – two junior novels, a picture book and two short chapter books. Fingers crossed! I’m about to start work on another chapter book. I write full time, so I’m always working on something – or some things.

Many thanks for being involved in my blog tour, Sally. It’s been fun and an honour to visit your blog. Best of luck with your writing, family, and other activities.

Thanks for dropping in, Robyn.

You can follow the rest of Robyn’s tour at the following blogs:
Day 1 – Monday 10 December – Tina Marie Clark’s “What is Happening in my Office?”
Day 2 – Tuesday 11 December – Claire Saxby’s “Let’s Have Words”
Day 3 – Wednesday 12 December – Sally Odgers’ “Spinning Pearls”
Day 4 – Thursday 13 December – Jacqui Grantford at “JacquiGrantford.com”
Day 5 – Friday 14 December – Sally Murphy’s “Scribblings”
Day 6 – Saturday 15 December – Bren MacDibble’s “Beast of Moogill”