Have a look at this special event - coming soon!

About the girls

Thursday 27 June at 7pm, Kew Library

A special author talk/book discussion event for girls aged 10+ and their mums.*

Meet guest author Kate Constable.

Kate is author of the acclaimed fantasy series Chanters of Tremaris as well as winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Younger Readers) 2012 for Crow Country. She has also written three teen books for the popular Girlfriend Fiction series.

Snacks provided │Free session │Bookings essential

To book call 9278 4666

*Female carers or dads welcome

Mercy by Rebecca Lim

I love meeting authors. I never get tired of getting that little bit closer to a character, getting to glimpse at the secrets behind the scenes and seeing inside the mind of someone's creative process.
I got to meet and talk and laugh with Rebecca Lim during the 'About the Girls' session at Kew Library. And she signed my book, star struck! Sigh, I know I'm a geek but now I feel I am somehow connected to the book. I was able to read it with a cool glint in my eye. Yes, there is only one degree of separation between Rebecca Lim and me.

It wasn't just meeting Rebecca that convinced me to read Mercy, there is some great writing to back it up. It is a smart take on a paranormal genre, beautifully written and it has great hook. Told from the first person, Mercy wakes up in someone else's body. There is a kidnapping to solve and a personal quest to find out who Mercy really is?

If you want to feel the rush of meeting an author make sure you attend one of the 'About the' sessions at Kew Library.

About the Girls meet Kirsty Murray July 26, 7pm
About Us All meet James Maloney August 23, 7pm

Contact your local library for more info and to book your place.

Shiree @ Ashburton

What now?

• Add your thoughts about Mercy in the comments below.
• Go to the catalogue and reserve it.
• Review a book yourself.

Doug Macleod answers some questions......

Doug Macleod recently visited Hawthorn Library and was kind enough to answer some follow-up questions for our blog......

"If you didn't live in St. Kilda, where on earth would you like to live?"

I haven't spent long enough in other cities to judge. St Kilda suits me because I like our community. It's very uncool to be judgmental in St Kilda, and I especially like that. We have a diverse population. Kids run businesses, fifty-year-olds ride skateboards. There's a community vegie patch next to Luna Park and we even have penguins. Keith is a little old man who lives in our street and he seems to have found out the secret to life. He loves people, and they love him. He's great to talk to, and knows everyone. He isn't a bore. Everything he says is interesting. This is a remarkable achievement in a built-up area. One morning I went to the ATM on Fitzroy Street, collected my receipt but forgot to take the cash. (It was an intense writing morning. I really shouldn't be let out when I'm like that.) When I realised my mistake ten minutes later, I returned to the ATM, and of course the money was gone. But two English backpackers came up to me and asked if I'd just done something stupid. I said I had. They handed me my money and refused to accept a reward. Even the backpackers are good.

"Are there any foods that help your writing process?"

I do most of my work in the morning, so breakfast is a vitally important meal. It's usually fruit and cottage cheese, because I'm trying to get my blood pressure down. (This is a new thing for me. Apparently having a job where I sit in the front room in my pyjamas typing stories is bad for my blood pressure.) Nectarines are amazingly good for creativity. You can write as many as two thousand words after eating a single nectarine. Bananas are good for comedy. Grapes for historical fiction. Roald Dahl always had the same morning meal - Norwegian prawns and half a lettuce - and insisted that it helped him to write for kids. I've never tried a Norwegian prawn. Victoria Wood said they swim around sewage outlets with their mouths open. It's a potent image, and a good example of the power of the written word.

"Could you write a serious book or does the humour always come through?"
My next book is serious. I've never done one before and I didn't think it was any good, but Penguin gave me a contract for it. I hesitated to sign but my editor kept reassuring me that the manuscript was fine and that he would help me turn it into a book. And just today I have learned that my editor has decided to leave Penguin. It's horrible news. Just thinking about it makes my blood pressure go up. At the moment it's 250 over 3 but I've lost faith in that blood pressure gauge that I bought at Aldi on Inkerman Street. Don't you think it's interesting that there's a shop where you can buy a bag of nectarines and also a blood pressure gauge?

Visit Doug Macleod

About the Girls report

Sadly I wasn't able to be at Lili Wilkinson's talk to the girls at Kew Library last week, but here's what Katy had to say:

Lili Wilkinson's advice to aspiring authors is "If someone asks you to write something, say yes!" Lili spoke recently at Kew library, explaining how writing a review in The Age led to being asked to write a book about Joan of Arc. Now the author of five novels, she is an inspiring speaker and a refreshing advocate for trashy literature for teens.

About us all - Book Raps!

Don't know what to read next? Come and hear library staff (including me!) talk about new and favourite books and get the inside information on the best reads around!

A special event for girls and boys aged 10+ and their mums and dads.

When: Wednesday 16 June at 7pm
Where: Hawthorn Library, 584 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn

The session is free but bookings are essential. Call 9278 4666 before it fills up.

PS. In a moment of madness I promised the boys at Tim Pegler's talk that I would give a Freddo to anyone who submitted a review to the blog then showed up at the Book Raps session. Same goes for the girls and anyone else. Submit a review using the link above, then come at see me at Book Raps. Jonathan.

Book Idol is coming soon

Have you got a favourite book which you think should be read by everyone? Well come along to our final combined session in the popular About the Boys/About the Girls series and see whether it has made the shortlist for the Boroondara Book Idol Award.

Youth Services Librarians from the Boroondara Library Service have put together a fantastic line up of titles which they think are worth considering, and you get the chance to vote for which one you think should win. It’s sure to be a fun evening with lots of interesting quizzes and guessing games planned – prizes too!

This is a combined event for boys aged 10 + and their dads and girls aged 10+ and their mums.
The session is free, however places are limited and bookings are essential.

Make bookings at any one of our libraries on 9278 4666

When: Tuesday 18 August at 7pm
Where: Kew Library, Cnr Cotham Road & Civic Drive, Kew

About the boys and About the girls Book Raps

In case you missed the news, the second sessions of About the boys and About the girls are coming up in the next couple of weeks. They are both taking the form of Book Raps where a few staff (including me) will talk about some new & favourite books to introduce you to some titles that you may not have come across yet. As usual, there will also be quizzes and prizes.

The boys session will be at Hawthorn Library, on Wednesday 15 July at 7pm.
Girls will be at Kew Library, on Tuesday 21 July at 7pm.

As of today (July 10) there are still places left for both sessions. Remember of course, the boys session is for boys aged 10+ with their Dads (or other male carers, or mums) and the girls session is for girls aged 10+ with their Mums (or other female carers, or dads).

Phone 9278 466 to book you place.

About the girls event - Jane Godwin

The About the girls series was kicked of in style last night by Jane Godwin at Kew library. Jane works as a publisher and writer and has authorer a range of titles from picture books through to teenage novels.

Jane talked about the process of writing and publishing books and gave us some great tips for writing. Writers use experience, observation and imagination to come up with ideas. We might think we have no experiences worth writing about, but it's surprising what you can come up with if you trawl your memory. Ask yourself questions like: "What is the scarriest thing that ever happened to me?"; "What were the most exciting 30 seconds of my life?".

She said the initial inspiration for When elephants lived in the sea came from seeing a picture of an elephant swimming with it's trunk acting as a snorkel. She then did some research which led to the book. Following this, Jane asked everyone to choose a photograph from a selection she had laid out. We then had exactly 4 minutes to start writing a story inspired by the picture.

Falling from Grace is an example fo a novel inspired by personal experience. The setting in Point Nepean and the struggle of worrying about the safety of a sister are both based on Jane's own experiences.

Jane talked a little about planning. Some authors plan everything, some plan nothing, some are in between. There is no right or wrong way. Find the method that works for you and go with it. She also spent some time showing us some of the different cover options they produced for Falling from Grace before settling on the final version.

We finished by firing a few questions at Jane which she was happy to answer. As far as I could tell, everybody had a great time.

"About the boys" and "About the girls" are back!

The events that inspired this blog are back for 2009.

About the boys – bloke lit for boys and dads

The fist session for boys aged 10 + and their dads is on Wednesday 17 June featuring guest author Michael Hyde. Michael’s most recent success has been with his series Change the game however he has also written a number of young adult novels.

About the girls – good reads for girls and mums

For girls aged 10+ and their mums, author Jane Godwin will be sharing her writing secrets and experiences at Kew Library on Tuesday 23 June. Jane has written a range of children’s books, including picture books, junior fiction (including Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Bites titles) and her latest young adult novel Falling from grace.


The sessions are free, however places are limited and bookings are essential. So get in fast!

Make bookings at any one of our libraries on 9278 4666

BOYS

When: Wednesday 17 June at 7pm
Where: Hawthorn Library, 584 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn

GIRLS

When: Tuesday 23 June at 7pm
Kew Library, Cnr Cotham Road & Civic Drive, Kew

Stay tuned for details about the sessions in July and August.