Boomerang Blog

Interview with DEBORAH ABELA

williamkostakis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 09:56:39 +0000

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be a speaker at the NSW Writers’ Centre’s 4th Annual Kids and YA Festival, able to rub shoulders and exchange quips with authors infinitely more famous than I. With all the events leading up to the main Saturday, I was bumping into authors at a frequency I’m not quite used to. One of those authors was Deborah Abela. I took the seventh time I ran into her in as many days as sign enough to pull her aside for a quick interview.

For those that don’t know, Deborah is the author of, among other things, the wildly successful Max Remy series, which only recently came to a close. Not long ago, she was being asked, “What’s next?” Well, now, she’s released it - a fun, quirky novel whose jacket illustration I’m secretly insanely jealous of, The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen. I sat down with Deborah to discuss books past, present and future.

The Max Remy series spawned ten books… How hard was it to say goodbye to the franchise?
I knew the series was going to end at Max Remy Part 10: The Final Curtain. I had great fun writing it, but found that over the next few weeks, I felt despondent and irritable and wanted to crawl into corners to sleep or cry. Not being like this usually, I eventually worked out that I was grieving for my characters, especially Max and Linden, my two young superspies I’d sent all over the world to save it from multiple bad guys. I’m okay now, though.

Which of the characters in the Max Remy universe was your favourite?
Max will always have a special place in my heart, because the idea for the series came from this young feisty but clumsy girl spy who is the hero of each book, but her cute spy partner Linden, who is calm, smart and funny, is my fav. I’ve had letters from readers wanting to be his girlfriend, so I guess other people feel like I do.

In a sentence, pitch your new book, The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen.
Aurelie Bonhoffen adores living on a seaside pier amusement park with her family, but on her twelfth birthday, she discovers that some of them are ghosts.

What’s the hardest thing about writing for children?
I love writing for kids! Apart from trying to find enough time to write, one of the hardest parts is getting the tone of the book right and finding the voices of the characters. This can be very fast as with my soccer legend, Jasper Zammit, but sometimes, as with Aurelie in The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen, it can take its good sweet time.

What’s next for Deb Abela? Another Aurelie Book?
At the moment I am working on a book where a major city has flooded. Most people managed to escape but a group of kids were left behind and have to find new ways to survive in this world of floating building tops. There are sea monsters, flying machines and evil harbour lords. Its been soggy but lots of fun.

Sounds great. Of your books - which one has the best opening line?
I like the opening line from The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen:

The girl lay in her coffin with a faint smile on her powder-white face.

Its a quirky, comic novel by the way.

Who would you say were (and are) your biggest influences?
Children’s authors, books and the kids themselves. More and more I love hearing authors speak. There is so much to learn about writing. I also love getting kids excited about books by speaking to them during author visits and at festivals. Of course, I love reading and always get excited by a well-written, well-told kids story.

If you could claim any other writer’s work as your own, whose would it be?
I think, perhaps in a previous life, I was Norman Hunter who wrote the Professor Branestawm book about a wacky, inventive professor whose inventions often went terribly wrong. Either that or we’re related. I loved those books as a kid.

The last Australian book you read?
The Reformed Vampire Support Group by Catherine Jinks. Very funny, twisted and seriously subversive as far as all those other vampire books go.

What is the most valuable piece of advice you were never told?
The more you write sometimes the harder it gets, but oh how sweet it is when it all clicks into place. I was also never told how wonderful and generous and supportive kids’ book writers are… This has been an especially sweet discovery.

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What’s Hot in the Media 14th July 2009

Boomer — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:22:19 +0000

Shirley Walker, writer, lecturer and author of four books and numerous critical articles has now written a book about three generations, two world wars and one family called The Ghost at the Wedding. Beginning in the Australian canefields in 1914, the novel presents young men yearning for the exotic war abroad. They either don’t return or return deeply scarred. When their children are just old enough to enlist in the Second World War, the cycle starts again.

Most mentioned in the Media this week

1 Ghost at the Wedding, The by Shirley Walker
2 Ice Age, The by Kirsten Reed
3 10 Songs That Changed the World, by June Skinner Sawyers
4 Blind Eye, by Stuart MacBride
5 Lavinia, by Ursula Le Guin

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/07/12509/

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‘My Place’ to become TV series

Boomer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:07:05 +0000

A television series of children’s classic My Place (Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins, Walker Books) is currently being filmed in Sydney’s suburbs for ABC TV. The series is being produced by Penny Chapman. ‘The 13-part series will tell the captivating story of one spot in South Sydney through the eyes of the children who have lived there for over 130 years,’ said Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts Virginia Judge. ‘Australia needs more good quality children’s television and I’m looking forward to seeing the final production.’ Walker Books produced a 20th anniversary edition of My Place last year.

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/07/12475/

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Bestsellers this week

Boomer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:43:39 +0000

Stephenie, Stephanie, whichever way you spell it, the name is at the top of the charts this week–Stephenie Meyer’s Eclipse is at number one in the Bestsellers (no surprises there) and Stephanie Plum returns in Janet Evanovich’s Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, which is number one in the Highest New Entries. Speaking of finger lickin’, the arrival of Slow Cookers atop the Fastest Movers chart may have something to do with winter announcing its blustery self, down south at any rate.

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/07/12469/

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MWF Indigenous Literacy Project benefit concert

Boomer — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:20:33 +0000

The Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP) has announced a funding concert to take place on 25 August 2009, during Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), to raise funds for literary resources in remote Indigenous communities.

The concert, featuring members of The Cat Empire, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Paul Kelly, Katie Noonan and Chenile Chandler, will take place in Melbourne Town Hall from 7:30pm. The event, hosted by ILP ambassador Andy Griffiths, will also feature readings by Tara June Winch and Aunty Joy Murphy.

Bookings will open on 17 July. Tickets will be $65 and will be available from the MWF website (www.mwf.com.au). Sponsors include MWF, the Indigenous Literacy Project, the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Australian Booksellers Association, the Australian Publishers Association, City of Melbourne and the Victorian Writers’ Centre.

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/07/12473/

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TRISTAN BANCKS - Behind the scenes of the new NIT BOY trailer

williamkostakis — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:17:55 +0000

As an author, I’m extremely interested in seeing how publishers use the Internet to promote books for children (and obviously, I’m making notes on what works and what doesn’t). Lots of publishers have tried to tackle Youtube trailers, and honestly, a lot of them involve a swirling book cover and a really horrible voiceover. After watching them, I feel less inclined to hunt down the book. That said, someone recently pointed me in the direction of the new Nit Boy trailer, and it is, hands down, the best original trailer for a book I’ve ever seen. It’s fun, it’s 3D. So, I tapped Tristan Bancks on the shoulder and invited him around to talk about how the trailer was put together.

TRISTAN BANCKS
Click here to visit his official site

I write quite visually. I see a movie unravelling in my head as I type, so I think book trailers are an amazing way to bring that motion picture alive for the audience.

The two books in the series, Lift Off and Bug Out tell the story of blood brothers – Lewis, a kid with the worst case of nits in world history, and Ned, a nit that lives on Lewis’s head. They’re a great way to have a laugh about our favourite blood-sucking mini-beasts. And there’s a nit quiz in the back of each book.

With the trailer I wanted to build on the work I’d done creating trailers for my Mac Slater, Coolhunter series.

I showed the animator, Peter Leary, the books’ amazing illustrations by Heath McKenzie.

I then wrote a script. The animator cut the script down, did a rough animatic (still pictures with a voiceover) and he began building the 3D characters (‘wire’ frames in a computer).

I gave Peter feedback on the characters and he created a rough version of the trailer and then a final. I was amazed by how much of the animation comes together in the final render. And, when it was done, it was even better than what I’d seen in my mind’s eye as I wrote the books.

A producer has now optioned the Nit Boy books for television and my next visual-literary adventure will be a live-action trailer for the US release of the first Mac Slater book in April next year. Wish me luck!

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What’s Hot in the Media 7th July 2009

Boomer — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:02:34 +0000

Since her first books were published, Manchester-based Australian author M J Hyland has been winning literary awards. But it was when Carry Me Down was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize that Hyland’s literary fame both in Australia and internationally really gained momentum. We’ve been eagerly awaiting her next book This is How, which has arrived, and shares the top of the Most Mentioned chart this week with Aravind Adiga’s Between the Assassinations.

Most mentioned in the Media this week

1 Between the Assassinations, by Aravind Adiga
2 This Is How, by M J Hyland
3 True Story of Butterfish, The by Nick Earls
4 Scarecrow, The by Michael Connelly
5 Book of Rapture, The by Nikki Gemmell

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/07/12444/

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Bestsellers this week

Boomer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:40:42 +0000

It’s great to see a book from a relatively small publisher get top spot in the charts. IAD Press’ Living Alongside the Animals Anangu Way is this week’s ‘highest new entry’. It’s a children’s book that contains stories from Aboriginal elders about fauna. On a completely different tack, WWE Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to World Wrestling Entertainment comes second. The ‘fastest mover’ this week is the Miles Franklin Award-winning Breath by Tim Winton and Stephenie Meyer retains her stronghold in the Bestsellers.

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/06/12434/

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Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature 2009 announced

Boomer — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:37:55 +0000

True Green Kids: 100 Things You Can Do to Save the Planet (Kim McKay and Jenny Bonnin, ABC Books) and Tuart Dwellers (Jan Ramage, illus. Ellen Hickman, WA Dept of Environment and Conservation) have been announced as joint winners of the 2009 Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children’s Literature.

The Wilderness Society commended True Green Kids for ‘the fun and easy ways the book shows kids how to make a difference to our environment such as planting an organic garden and calculating a family’s/ school’s carbon footprint’. And of Tuart Dwellers the society noted: ‘This thoughtful pictorial celebrates the diversity, colour and ingenuity of the natural world.’
The awards were established by the Wilderness Society in 1993. To be eligible for the award a book must encourage caring for the natural environment.

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/06/12415/

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July Book Giveaway

williamkostakis — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:35:23 +0000

Another month, another giveaway. July’s is Ashes-tinged and filled to the brim for cricket fans and avid readers alike, so be sure to register HERE for your chance to win copies of:

Cricket Kings by William McInnes SIGNED
Step into the lives of a team of regular middle-aged men who meet each week to play cricket in their local park. With these characters William will make us laugh and cry. And never again will we think that someone is just a regular bloke - everyone can be a king or a queen in their own suburb.

Glenn McGrath: Line and Strength by Glen McGrath SIGNED
From working the land in Narromine to winning cricket’s World Cup three times, Glenn McGrath has always faced life with fierce determination and an unerring will to succeed despite the odds. Now, following his retirement from international cricket, McGrath shares the story of his life - in cricket and off the field.

The Cricket War by Gideon Haigh SIGNED
It was the end of cricket as we knew it - and the beginning of cricket as we know it. In May 1977, the cricket world woke to discover that a businessman called Kerry Packer had signed 35 elite international players for his own televised World Series Cricket. The Cricket War is the definitive account of the split that changed the game on the field and on the screen. In helmets, under lights, with white balls, and in coloured clothes, the outlaw armies of Ian Chappell, Toney Greig and Clive Lloyd fought a daily battle of survival. In boardrooms and courtrooms Packer and cricket’s rulers fought a bitter war of nerves. A compelling account of the top-class sporting life, The Cricket War also gives a unique insight into the motives and methods of Australia’s richest man.

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas SIGNED
A novel about the relationships between children and adults, and the new Australian multicultural middle-class from the controversial cult author of Loaded and Dead Europe.

Starting An Online Business For Dummies by Melissa Norfolk
Turn your dreams into profitable reality with this straightforward guide to setting up and running an online business. Including strategies to help you identify your market, set up a website and promote your business online.

Just Macbeth by Andy Griffiths
Take one Shakespearean tragedy: Macbeth, add Andy, Danny and Lisa the Just trio, whose madcap exploits have already delighted hundreds of thousands of readers for the last ten years. Mix them all together to create one of the most hilarious, most dramatic, moving stories of love, Whizz Fizz, witches, murder and madness. Ages 9+.

Brief Encounters: Literary travellers in Australia 1836-1939 by Susannah Fullerton
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, countless distinguished writers made the long and arduous voyage across the seas to Australia. They came on lecture tours and to make money, to sort out difficult children sent here to be out of the way for health, for science, to escape demanding spouses back home, or simply to satisfy a sense of adventure. In 1890, for example, Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife, Fanny, arrived at Circular Quay after a dramatic sea voyage only to be refused entry at the Victoria, one of Sydney’s most elegant hotels. Stevenson threw a tantrum, but was forced to go to a cheaper, less fussy establishment. Next day, the Victoria’s manager, recognising the famous author from a picture in the paper, rushed to find Stevenson and beg him to return. He did not. In Brief Encounters, Susannah Fullerton examines a diverse array of writers, including Charles Darwin, Rudyard Kipling, Stevenson, Anthony Trollope, Mark Twain, Arthur Conan Doyle, DH Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, HG Wells, Agatha Christie and Jack London, to discover what they did when they got here, what their opinion was of Australia and Australians, how the public and media reacted to them, and how their future works were shaped or influenced by this country.

Good Night & God Bless: Volume One by Trish Clark
This is the modern traveller’s bible. Travellers and pilgrims seeking a unique experience can now uncover the ancient secrets of convents and monasteries around Europe. We reveal these atmospheric and affordable places that accommodate tourists or those pursuing a pilgrimage or spiritual retreat. Convents, monasteries and abbeys have always been places which generously welcome weary travellers. That tradition continues today and Goodnight & God Bless takes you on a tour of religious hideaways offering tourist and pilgrimage accommodation throughout Europe. Suitable for the traveller, the pious and the curious alike, this user-friendly travel guide provides invaluable information, travel tit-bits and anecdotes against a fascinating backdrop of history and religion.

Nemesis and the Fairy of Pure Heart by Ashley Du Toit SIGNED
Enchanted by Bella, the Fairy of Pure Heart, Prince Arthur follows her into the immortal world. Angered by this, the powerful dragon Nemesis captures Arthur. To rescue her prince, Bella must complete the Great Dragon’s Hunt, and collect five magical tokens. As Bella and her butterfly friend Teague carry out her quest, they meet many mystical creatures, including a witch and a werewolf, elfins and leprechauns, and two very forgetful goblins.

A big thanks to our friends at Allen and Unwin, Pan Macmillan, Hachette, Random House, Melbourne University Press, John Wiley & Sons, Dragon Publishing and Paratus Press for supporting our monthly giveaway.

To go into the draw to win this month’s prize, complete the entry form HERE. Entries close 31 July, 2009. Don’t forget, it’s a monthly giveaway, so be sure to favourite that link and keep visiting every month. Please note, entrants will be automatically subscribed to our fortnightly Boomerang Books Bulletin e-newsletter.

… A bonus for our Facebook Friends

Need an incentive to join one of Australia’s largest book group on Facebook? Well, we have a great pack of books to give away to one of our Facebook Group members this month, which includes copies of Nemesis and the Fairy of Pure Heart by Ashley Du Toit (SIGNED), Mascot Madness! by Andy Griffiths and Good Night & God Bless: Volume One by Trish Clark.

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