WB Kids

I have had some great experiences on my writing journey so far. One was the 2008 Book Feast, an annual writing day held in Sydney, where various children's writers have lunch with children from different schools and talk about books and writing.

More recently I had my first television appearance. It was so much fun!

I had to travel to Channel 9's studios in Richmond for a taping of a segment for their digital channel, GO's WB Kids, with Heidi Valkenburg and Shura Taft. What great people to work with! So vibrant and full of energy! And what a fun, enjoyable experience, not to mention nervewracking! But the funny, easygoing and very likeable Heidi and Shura are just as nice off-screen as they are on, and made me feel very welcome and comfortable, as did the support crew who work behind the scenes. I even had a make-up person comb my hair and put some powder on my face!

We did an informal interview first (I tried to forget the camera was there so I wouldn't get tongue-tied or stutter or say something totally embarrassing!), talking a little bit about me and my books, and later Heidi and Shura took part in an 'Interactive Quizzical' segment, where Shura was the victor. The hardest part I found, was ad-libbing with the two of them, because they are so good at it. That night I found it really hard to sleep because I kept thinking of all the things I should have done or said that I didn't, or things I said that I could have put a better way. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! In the end I thought 'What's done is done, I can't change it so there's not much use worrying about it!' It's like with my books. I never read them after they've been published, because I worry I will find something that I'm not happy with, or something I could have written better. It must just be in my nature. I am very hard on myself, but that's not such a bad thing. At least it makes me strive to be the best I can be, and to do the best I can do. That's all we can ever ask of ourselves in life.

I know now that if I hadn't plucked up the courage to self-publish my first book, I would never have known what a wonderful new direction my life would take! I plan to enjoy every moment of it.