I have a new project and I am both excited by it and thrilled by the response to it. I probably sound over-earnest, over-enthusiastic and all too serious but this is something that is important to me. ReadWriteZone is a project aimed at fostering an interest in reading and writing though blog-based classroom interaction between…
I been a little blog absent of late. I’ve just been so busy – writing to an approaching deadline and doing a number of day trips into educational literacy. One of those excursions involved holding a Masterclass for primary school students at the State Library as part of the Sydney Writer’s Festival. For a number…
Today I have my fancy dress on – the one with the shiny things on the front, my coloured glass jewellery (more shiny things) and gold sandals – OK I’m not much of a fashion follower – but I do have an important job today. I’m launching a book. Not just any book. A book…
I’m very excited to be part of Wollongong City Gallery’s Just Imagine 2010 project. I’m a sort-of author in residence – opening the exhibition and running writing workshops for students and teachers. The program “encourages children’s creative writing skills by the exploration of real and imagined worlds experienced through close engagement with art” to plagiarise…
My friends and colleagues are often involved in writing challenges like NaNoWriMo where they write a novel in a month. The mind boggles in admiration – I have neither the time nor the ability to produce this mega output. But recently I found that I have accidentally set myself a challenge after all. I have…
I have been expecting to receive a ‘Worst Blogger in the Universe’ award any day now. But *phew* it seems I have avoided the dishonour and managed to take up the blog pen again just in time. So now for my excuse… I have been busy both writing and being a writer. The latter has…
I usually begin my author talks with a quick discussion about where authors get their ideas from. I’ve found if I wave a few books from the Captain Underpants series right from the start – I have immediate credibility. Especially as I know the names of all the titles. Then I talk about my own…
Finally getting around to blogging my first workshop experience. I was petrified. But in true Sandy-style I was determined to make it as hard as I possibly could. I signed up for video conferencing. Hey, if you’re going to make a fool of yourself first time round, why restrict it to one school? Let two…
Being a children’s author can be quite confronting. Embarrassing even. The questions some primary students ask range from jaw-dropping to ego shattering. And on other occasions they can make you feel like Master of the (Writing) Universe. I thought I’d blog about one of my MOTWU moments. I don’t want to mention the others!!! Back…
While I was preparing my Book Week Resources for Polar Boy I found many great site chock full of useful information and activity ideas. These sites also contain multiple links to other sites offering various resources to support individual titles or the Safari theme. Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) – activity sheets, display ideas,…
SANDY FUSSELL 