Coming Soon - You'd Be Crazy to Miss It

The DC Green Grat Siege Blog Blitz Tour!

Saturday May 12
Topic: Blog Tour Mania!
DC Green 
http://dcgreenyarns.blogspot.com.au/

Sunday May 13
Topic: Inspiration and Ideas
Ian Irvine
http://bloggingwithianirvine.blogspot.com.au/

Monday 14 - Sunday 20
Topic: Reactions and Reviews
Kids Book Review, Tania McCartney
http://www.kids-bookreview.com/

Monday May 14
Topic: Giant Rats Want Your Universe!
Pass It On
http://jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com/

Tuesday May 15
Topic: DC’s Amazing Life
Buzz Words
http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com.au/

Wednesday May 16
Topic: Writing Great Characters
Robyn Opie Parnell
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Thursday May 17
Topic: Plotting and Planning!
Jill Smith
http://authorjillsmith.wordpress.com/

Friday May 18
Topic: Surf journalism
Chad Kolcze
http://activekidsbooks.com/blog/

Saturday May 19
Topic: Random Questions
Helen Nolan
http://beetherelikeawasp.blogspot.com.au/

Sunday May 20
Topic: DC Green’s Books
Jackie Hosking
http://jackiehoskingpio.wordpress.com

See you soon for DC Green's amazing blog tour.

Love and Light,
Robyn Opie Parnell
http://www.robynopie.com

Catriona Hoy's Blog Tour for Her New Picture Book "George and Ghost"

Today is the official release day for Catriona Hoy's new picture book George and Ghost.

To celebrate the release of George and Ghost, this week Catriona Hoy is on a blog tour. On this auspicious occasion, the official release day, I have the privilege of interviewing Catriona about the idea for George and Ghost and how this idea became her latest picture book.

Congratulations, Catriona, on another wonderful picture book and welcome to my blog. Thanks for visiting during your blog tour for George and Ghost.

Hi Robyn, thanks for having me here today to celebrate my latest picture book George and Ghost and....its release day. I'm definitely going to have a champagne today! It's like watching my little girl go to school for the first time...I'm sending this little book off into the big world and hoping it does okay.


I'm sure your little one will be a great success.

I'm also sure my readers would like to know about the birth of George and Ghost. Did the idea for George and Ghost pop into your head? Can you explain the inspiration to us?

George and Ghost was an idea brought about by a combination of living in England and having my children learning science over there. We were surrounded by lots of ghosts and traditions. I loved the fact that the pub just down the road was supposedly haunted and things like Guy Fawkes' Night. There were articles occasionally in newspapers about ghost hunters and how they would go about measuring paranormal activity. I wondered what a child would make of all that.

Once you realized you wanted to write this book, what did you do next?

Once I had in my mind that I'd like the book to be about a little ghost trying to prove his own existence, I had to think about the kinds of things that could be measured and the kinds of questions that little children would ask. I brainstormed a lot of ideas and kept the ones that I thought would work well visually. I tried to work these around a pattern of threes; I like threes. Three reasons Ghost couldn't exist, and three reasons he might. I had to have my sad page in the middle and my happy page at the end.

Did you have to write many drafts? And how long did the drafts take from idea to submission?

I'm not sure how many drafts I wrote...probably lots of scrappy ideas on paper at first, which I gradually shuffled till they made sense visually and literally. Once I wrote it, it was probably one draft which I continually refined.

I must say, it was edited quite severely! When I sent it off to the publisher, it came back half the size, with a lot of my science teacher extraneous stuff taken out. I wanted it to have a section called "big ideas for little people" at the end but that ended up on the cutting room floor too. The editor and I decided that it could form the basis for curriculum notes, which it now has.

Here is a link to the curriculum notes: http://www.catrionahoy.com.au/George_and_Ghost_curriculum_notes_1_.pdf

How did writing George and Ghost compare with your first published book?

My first published book was My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day. I guess I did a lot more research for that one and checked out the text with the RSL to make sure they were happy with it. In the end that was a good move as they have been really supportive of the book and were one of the reasons for its successful promotion to schools. Like most of my picture books, I carried Grandad around in my head for a while, but sat down to write it eventually in one long slab. Then it went through many drafts.

George and Ghost was more of a progression because I had to fit together some fairly complex ideas, while making them seem simple. I was also more confident about what I was doing. I know the kind of structure that I like to use. In fact, most of my books have the same pattern....look for those threes!

What was the hardest part about writing George and Ghost? And what was the easiest part?

Definitely getting those complex ideas to hang together and flow. The easiest part...the characters came really easily and I could see them in my head. I was so pleased to see Cassia's roughs, as Ghost looked so lovable.

Is there any advice you'd like to pass on to aspiring writers?

Learn as much as you can, network, join SCBWI and read, read, read. Be critical of your own work and don't fall into the trap of thinking that just because your friends like it, a publisher will.

You need to find out what else is on the market like your book and tell a publisher why yours is different and better and why it will sell. And be positive about rejections. We all have them and it's nice to have a group of like-minded friends to share with.

Thanks again for visiting my blog today, Catriona, and sharing with us your journey in writing George and Ghost. We wish you every success with your latest picture book and all your future books. Congratulations!


Title: George and Ghost
Publisher: Hodder (UK)
Publication Date: Nov 2010 (UK) March 2011 (Aust.)
Author: Catriona Hoy, http://www.catrionahoy.com.au
Illustrator: Cassia Thomas, http://www.cassiathomas.com
ISBN: 9780340988855 (hardback)

George and Ghost are friends, but George isn’t sure he believes in Ghost anymore. How can Ghost prove to George that he is real?

A delightful tale of friendship, with a little bit of science and philosophy thrown in. Guaranteed to be the starting point for many interesting discussions.

George and Ghost Blog Tour Dates:

Mon 7 March 2011
Claire Saxby's Blog - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
Topic: Art vs science

Tue 8 March 2011
Alphabet Soup Magazine Blog - http://soupblog.wordpress.com
Topic: Does a picture book need editing? How do you work with your editor?

Wed 9 March 2011
Trevor Cairney's Blog - http://trevorcairney.blogspot.com
Topic: Writing journey

Thur 10 March 2011
Robyn Opie's Blog - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
Topic: Writing George and Ghost

Fri 11 March 2011
Book Capers Blog - http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/
Topic: Ghosts? Do you believe?

Sat 12 March 2011
Chris Bell's Blog - http://christinemareebell.wordpress.com
Topic: Writing picture books

Mon 14 March 2011
Lorraine Marwood's Blog - http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com/
Topic: In conclusion…

Research for a Children's Book Part Two

Welcome to 'Part Two' on researching a children's book.

To recap from my previous blog entry, my partner and I sat down to watch a documentary. After the documentary, my interest in the Maya of the Classic Period (250 to 900 AD) was reignited. I was inspired and knew I wanted to write a children's book about...

That was it. All I had. An inkling. A smoldering. Something lurking in my mind. But what?

I went to the library and borrowed the book the documentary was based on. I sat down and read. I didn't know if reading the book would help me write a children's book. But what did I have to lose? Hopefully I had plenty to gain.

The book I read was non-fiction and definitely for adults. My idea needed to be suitable for children.

I knew I wanted to write a children's book. So my intention was set in my mind as I read the adult non-fiction.

From the start, I enjoyed the non-fiction book. Still, I had no ideas for a children's book. I kept reading.

As the weeks went by, slowly, bit by bit, a brief plot outline came to me. The character came first, like she appeared in my mind. Initially, I didn't know her story. She stayed with me as I kept reading the non-fiction book. Perhaps, as time went on, she realized I was serious and began to allow me snippets of her story.

At one stage, I doubted a plot would eventuate. The bits I had weren't enough. But by the time I finished reading the non-fiction book I was ready to start a detailed plot outline. I could scarcely believe it. How had I managed to conjure a plot idea from reading a non-fiction book? I'd had nothing, then I had a morsel, a crumb, then another piece, until finally I had a main character and a plot idea in my head.

The only way I can explain it is that the non-fiction book inspired the bits and pieces, until they came together into some form of story - my children's book. If I hadn't been reading the non-fiction book, then I wouldn't have been thinking about the subject and I wouldn't have come up with the little morsels. They were all mine, conjured from my imagination, based on my interests. Still, inspiration must come from somewhere.

Please note, I didn't begin writing until I'd finished the non-fiction book. I felt as if I needed to complete my reading, at least of this one book, before I started writing my own.

I sat down at my computer and worked on a detailed plot outline. I needed to do more research on the internet because the story required a secondary location in Mexico.

Okay, after about two days, I had my story outlined on approximately four sheets of computer paper - single-spaced. Naturally, the Maya of the Classic Period featured in my story. After all, my original inkling was inspired by a documentary that involved the Maya.

The next step was to read more about the Maya, so I could include a little of this research in my story. I didn't want to bog readers down with research material but I needed some information to give the story credibility, add to realism and, in a way, make me an authority - that is, the best person to write my book.

I've learned a lot more about the Maya than has appeared in my manuscript. I only slipped in snippets that were necessary to the story - or added to the story. The rest of my research was for me. First, because I'm interested in the subject. Second, because I find writing a story easier if I can immerse myself in the subject, theme or location.

However, as I mentioned in previous blog posts, my story doesn't just include the Maya. The story drew on several of my interests. That's what makes it a unique story - unique to me.

More on that later. For now, I hope you enjoyed reading about my experiences in researching a children's book. If you'd like to read further information about my latest manuscript, please visit again.

All the best,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

Time flies when you're having fun!

A few weeks ago I blogged about my latest manuscript, a 42,000 word novel for 10 to 14 year-olds. I discussed the common advice to writers that tells us to write about what we know. I added another thought to this advice, which is to write about our passions. That's what I did with my latest manuscript.

If you'd like to read my earlier post, please click on the following link: http://robynopie.blogspot.com/2010/06/common-advice-write-about-what-you-know.html

Where do you get your ideas?

Writers are often asked: "Where do you get your ideas?" The question isn't always easy to answer because sometimes ideas seem to pop into our heads out of the blue, as if from nowhere. In my opinion "nowhere" is actually the subconscious mind.

Our conscious and subconscious minds absorb everything around us. Our experiences and memories become part of the subconscious mind. When an idea seems to pop into our heads, it's the subconscious mind that gives us the idea from our stored experiences and memories. The experiences and memories may be new or they could be old.

Apparently we don't forget anything. Everything is stored in our subconscious mind. The problem is our ability to recall information.

Can you remember a time when you simply couldn't think of an answer to a question? Perhaps you had trouble recalling the name of a movie. It was on the tip of your tongue. Later, the answer popped into your head. The problem wasn't the loss of memory but rather a problem with accessing the information.

My latest manuscript was a different experience for me. No popping into my head, though I'm sure my subconscious mind was still involved. The plot came slowly and, when it finally did, I realized my life's experiences and interests came together in this one story.

Okay, perhaps not every one of my experiences. But my main interests, my passions, were evident in the story. My subconscious delved back into my childhood to remind me of an earlier interest.

When I was a child, I loved reading the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Famous Five series, as well as other mysteries. I remember reading a Hardy Boy's novel called "The Mystery of the Aztec Warrior". This novel got me interested in the Aztecs and, through further reading, I became interested in the Inca and the Maya. At the time, I was particularly intrigued by the ancient Maya of what is known as the Classic Period. For some reason, I felt a connection to the Maya.

Time went on and my life changed. I grew up, left school, got a job and married. I forgot about the Maya.

Or did I?

Fast forward approximately 25 years.

The ancient Maya are a passion of mine. Once again, I feel a connection to this amazing early civilization. I read everything I can about them. They fascinate me and I believe we can learn a lot from them.

However, the ancient Maya didn't inspire my latest manuscript. My initial idea had nothing to do with this classic civilization. In fact, when I first started thinking about what I wanted to write, I'd still forgotten my interest in the Maya. I had no idea my passion would resurface after approximately 25 years.

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, my passions came together to create my latest manuscript. The ancient Maya are one facet - one passion. Who knew I'd include them in a plot?

Not me!

My other passions, which are also part of my latest manuscript, are newer interests. Mainly because times are changing. We've become more accepting, open-minded perhaps, and science continues to advance.

My final plot involved at least three of my passions, and they are my main interests. I've immersed myself in these subjects, learning everything I can about them. Hence, my advice to write about your passions. I know about the Maya, for example, because of my passion for these people and their history. Without the passion, I'd have no knowledge. Therefore I write about what I know - my passions.

I'm not going to explain the entire idea of my story or reveal the rest of my passions here and now. This blog entry would be too long. You'll need to come back and keep reading as I add more about developing my idea for my latest manuscript.

Thanks for reading. See you soon.

All the best,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Common Advice - Write About What You Know

If you're a writer, I'm sure you've heard the advice to write about what you know. Makes sense, doesn't it? I mean, how do you write about things you don't know?

I've been fascinated by various subjects for many years. In the last six months, my favorite interests and a new discovery came together to form my latest manuscript - a 42,000 word novel for young people aged 10 to 14. I don't claim to know everything about these subjects but I'm reading, experiencing and learning.

Therefore I'd like to add my own modification to the above advice.

Write about your passions!

When I wrote my latest manuscript, I didn't draw on great personal experience or first hand knowledge. I had to spend a month reading and researching the gaps in my knowledge - and there were plenty - before I started writing. I wanted to learn as much as possible, so I could write about what I know. The more I learned, the more passionate I became about these subjects. I'm still devouring these subjects through books, television and the internet.

Passion inspired me. I found things I didn't know and turned them into things I know, and I became passionate about them. What I lack in personal experience and first hand knowledge, I make up for with passion to learn and explore.

You can write about what you know but if you're not passionate about it, who cares?

To me, passion is the extra ingredient. Passion can help you turn what you don't know into what you know and then into a manuscript.

I'll share more about my passions and my latest manuscript over the coming months. Here is the first taste, a prophecy from the great Mayan ruler Lord Pacal Votan:

O Children of the people of the dawn,
O children of the people of the book,
I come to you as the special witness of time
to remind you, especially on the day of truth,
that in your origin you are one,
and on the day of truth
you are to make yourselves one again.

Pacal Votan 603 - 683 AD

Claire Saxby's Blog Tour - There Was an Old Sailor

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, Claire Saxby has come back to visit us as part of her new blog tour. Yes, Claire has another picture book, which was released this month. Congratulations, Claire!

Today, Claire is talking to us about There Was an Old Sailor and how she went from idea to book. Sound easy? Let's hear what Claire has to say about that.

Welcome Claire - and over to you.


From Idea to Book – ‘There Was an Old Sailor’
Claire Saxby
http://www.clairesaxby.com

I was sitting watching my son and his circus classmates do their warm-ups when my friend and her daughter arrived. Her daughter stripped off her shoes and socks and joined the others on the mat. My storyteller friend dropped into the chair near me and said ‘I wish someone would write a fishy rhyme…you know…like “There Was an Old Lady”.’ She was just back from a storytelling session and bemoaned the fact that there was no nautical cumulative rhyme in this Year of the Ocean. ‘And everyone wants fishy tales,’ she said.

‘I’m game,’ I said. ‘I’ll give it a go.’

And so the idea for ‘There Was an Old Sailor’ was born.

Easy, I thought. Hah! I should know better. Less words generally means more difficult, when it comes to picture books. Certainly has for me anyway. My first picture book, Ebi’s Boat’ has 198 words.

And when you consider that when you are modeling on an existing rhyme, you can’t fudge any of the lines or play with the structure, it’s a bit like dancing with an octopus in a shower…dangly bits everywhere!

Where to start? Well that at least seemed obvious. The animals. So I built a list of eight sea animals. Krill and whale were my bookends. Made sense, although I worried a little about children not knowing what krill were. The other six animals changed a few times as I played with the rhymes. Most had to be single syllable, so jellyfish became jelly, stingray became ray (more accurate terms any way I discovered).

I shared progress with my storyteller friend and her enthusiasm kept me buoyant when the rhymes wouldn’t come and it all seemed futile. Eventually the story was done and I sent it off to publishers.

No response. Well, yes, there were responses, but nothing to tell me why they didn’t want it. That’s just the way it is, often. So after a few submissions, I was again despondent. Then my storyteller friend arrived with a present for me…a bollard sailor with a wide open mouth. She’d been taking my story into classrooms and kindergartens and they loved it. So her husband had made two sailors, one for her, one for me. We searched shops for the fishy creatures to perform the rhyme. Some were easy…fish are everywhere. But krill? Hmm not so easy. Eventually we found a fishing supply store who gave us shrimp/krill looking lures, complete with hook and sinker. Children love the Old Sailor and love helping to feed him.

Around that time I was asked to do a writing workshop for upper primary children and developed one around the Old Sailor. It was and continues to be a fun and successful workshop. I began to think that perhaps that was the Old Sailor’s destiny, rather than to be a book.

But then I sent out the manuscript once more. Walker Books accepted it and Cassandra Allen agreed to illustrate it. On Feb 1 2010, There Was an Old Sailor hit the bookshops. Magic. Just magic. It only took eight years.

Thanks for hosting me, Robyn.

Thanks for visiting, Claire, and sharing your experiences.

To find out more about There Was an Old Sailor by Claire Saxby, please visit Walker Books Australian web site: http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/There-Was-an-Old-Sailor-9781921150715

Dates for Claire Saxby's Blog Tour

Monday 8 February: Sally Murphy's Writing for Children
http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Tues 9 February: Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com/

Wed 10 February: Dale Harcombe's Read and Write with Dale
http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Thurs 11 February: Robyn Opie's Writing Children's books
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com/

Fri 12 February: Lorraine Marwood's Words into Writing
http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com/

Sat 13 February: Mabel Kaplan's Tales I Tell
http://belka37.blogspot.com/

Sun 14 February: Sandy Fussell's Stories are Light
http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/

Sally Murphy's Blog Tour - The Big Blowie

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie

Today, we have a special guest, Sally Murphy. Sally is on a blog tour to promote her latest book, The Big Blowie. Thank you, Sally, for including us in your blog tour. We're glad to have you here.

Thanks Robyn. I’m delighted to be here.

1. First things first, Sally. Can you please tell us about Sally Murphy? Who is she? And how did she become an author of children's books?

Moi? I’m a mother, teacher, reviewer of books and, of course, children’s book author. My two passions in life are children and books, so it was a natural progression for me to become a children’s book author. But, more than that, writing for children is what I always wanted to do with my life from when I was a child myself.

When I left school, I did other things before I achieved my dream of being a published author – most notably having my six children, getting married and becoming a teacher, but I never lost sight of the dream and always knew that I would one day be able to devote myself to writing full time. Now that dream is close to a reality, though I still teach part time and, of course, am still a fairly busy mother.

2. The Big Blowie is a wonderful, catchy title. Can you please tell us more about the book? I'm intrigued and I'm sure others are too.

Every afternoon, tourists visit beautiful Lake Blowie. They have afternoon tea at Syd’s place and buy postcards and souvenirs. But the drought has made the lake dry up. A new attraction is needed – and Syd knows just the thing!

The above is the blurb from the back of the book, but as I'm here promoting the book I’ll tell you a bit more.

Syd’s family farm is reliant on income from tourists, who arrive each day with tour guide Dougie. But when Dougie has to stop coming because of the drought draining the lake, Syd decided they need a ‘big thing’ to bring the tourists back – and so The Big Blowie is born. It is made out of farm junk – an old windmill stand holds it up, a car body is the fly’s body, with corrugated iron for wings, old wheels for eyes and so on. But Syd still needs to convince the tourists to come back so needs to convince Dougie to come and see the Big Blowie.

The book is part of the Aussie Aussie Aussie series, published by Aussie School books (owned by Underwoods) and is being distributed by Blake. It can be purchased online directly from Blake at: http://www.blake.com.au/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=9781921255366&Show=TechSpecs

3. I know people are always interested in where writers get their ideas. Can you please give us some background on how you came up with the idea for The Big Blowie and what you did to develop this idea into a story?

The idea came from my brainstorming as many Australian things as I could that I thought would fit into this series. The series guide requested Australian subject matter and Australian issues, so I came up with a ‘Big Thing’ being built in the Outback to draw tourists in during the drought. Australians love ‘Big Things’, and what could be more Australian than a big blowfly – they are everywhere!

4. I'm curious about how other writers work. Can you please give us a little information on how you work as a writer?

Mostly, my work style is a bit chaotic. I always have several stories at different stages of incubation. Some are just ideas in my head, rolling around waiting for me to tease them out a little further. Others I have roughly planned and am working on writing a first draft (I do try to only do this to one story at a time, but it doesn’t always work that way). Still other stories have been written down as a first or subsequent draft but are waiting for me to come back and edit further before I send them out. Then of course, there is usually one that I’m working on editing right now. And others still have been put into the too hard basket for now, waiting for me to work out just what needs doing next. Lastly, there are the stories which are complete but unplaced, and the cherished few which are finished, accepted and in various stages of the editing process.

For example, at the moment I am working on the first draft of a verse novel, am at the planning stage with a nonfiction book, have several picture books which have been drafted and are waiting for rewrite, a pile of poems in the same stage, and a new story idea ticking around in my head for which I have done a little research. I also have four accepted trade titles in production which are at various stages of editing. So, from time to time I need to drop everything else to work on these.

When I have a new idea, I usually let it roll around my head for a little while, so that by the time I start writing I have a sound idea of where the story is going, though I rarely write a plan. For picture books I write the first draft in a single sitting, but for longer stories it of course takes longer but i try to work on it every day until that draft is done. Then, when it’s finished I put the draft aside for a while (days, weeks, sometimes months) before I start editing, so that I come back to it with a fresh eye. Editing is the hard part because when you bond with what you’ve written it’s hard to see its deficiencies. That’s why I belong to a critique group, and get my crit partners to critique anything I’m not sure about. . When I’m happy with a story (usually after many drafts), I send it off to a publisher. If it is rejected more than a couple of times, I usually take another look and see if the distance of time hallows me to see anything new.

5. I know you have another book coming out soon. Can you tell us about any upcoming releases? Or what's next for Sally Murphy?

Oh yes. I am very excited about my next book. It is called Pearl Verses the World, and will be released by Walker Books Australia in May. This is my first verse novel, aimed at younger readers and beautifully illustrated by Heather Potter.

In November I also have a picture book, Snowy, being released by Random House Australia and illustrated by David Murphy (yes, he is related, being my brother in law).

I also have a picture book being released by Koala Books, called Constantine and Aristotle, and being illustrated by Ben Wood. Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a release date for this one. And in 2010 I have another picture book with New Frontier.

So there’s lots of new things coming and lots of excitement at my end. What’s next is to enjoy each new release (and promote them, of course) and to write more stories.

6. What advice would you give to writers who want to write a children's book and get it published?

Read as many children’s books as you can – new release books, mostly – and write as often as you can. Don’t write one story then try to get it published. You must keep writing and revising and learning. Chances are, the first story you write won’t get published, but if it does, then you’ll want to be already working on the next one.

As well as writing and reading you need to study the market. You need to know who is publishing the kind of book you are writing, and you need to get a feel for what sorts of books appeal to kids. Visit bookstores, publishers’ websites, review sites, writers’ blogs, message forums. Spend lots of time immersing yourself in the world of publishing.

Importantly, if you are easily discouraged, writing is the wrong career for you. You need to be persistent, resilient, determined. The hard knocks can be very hard – but they make it all the more wonderful when you finally hold a published book in your hands.

Thanks for sharing with us, Sally. We wish you great success with The Big Blowie and your blog tour. Thanks for having me, Robyn.

If you’d like to follow Sally’s tour you can visit her at these blogs on these days:
February 8 Dee Scribe Writing Blog - htttp://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com
February 9 Let’s have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
February 10 Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
February 11 Spinning Pearls - http://www.spinningpearls.blogspot.com
February 12 The Book Chook - http://thebookchook.blogspot.com

Best wishes to all,
Robyn Opie
www.robynopie..com

Announcing An Upcoming Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie.

It is my pleasure to announce an upcoming blog tour with Sally Murphy, author of The Big Blowie. For more information about Sally and her books please visit her website http://www.sallymurphy.net/

Here are the dates and venues for Sally Murphy's blog tour:

February 8 Dee Scribe Writing Blog - htttp://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

February 9 Let’s have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com

February 10 Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

February 11 Spinning Pearls - http://www.spinningpearls.blogspot.com

February 12 The Book Chook - http://thebookchook.blogspot.com

Sally Murphy will be answering questions about her latest book, The Big Blowie, as well as questions about how she became a writer, where she gets her ideas, how she works as a writer and her advice for anyone who wants to write a children's book and get it published.

The blog tour is only days away. We hope to see you soon.

Best wishes,
Robyn Opie
www.robynopie.com