Last Friday, at Penrith City Library, we officially launched Camp Max! 

It was a great event (if I might say so myself) and we had a stack of fun. 

The launch began with Larinda from the Library team introducing me and my new book. Apparently Penrith Library is celebrating 70 years, so it was awesome to hold my launch there. The team were SUPER helpful and I was really grateful of their support and enthusiasm. (If you weren't able to come to the launch but would love to read Camp Max, there are several copies in circulation in the library now, so read away!) 

I think my favourite thing about this launch, which is also my favourite thing about my writing in general, was being able to share the book with children. It was wonderful to be able to chat with the kids about how it felt to be desperately looking forward to something (as Tania does in Camp Max) and then not be sure if it would actually happen. I was also able to share some of my photos from living overseas with the kids and help them imagine what it might be like to live in a one room house, or not have running water. 
We then opened a huge box of books and had a drum roll before pulling out Camp Max for everyone to see. I read the first chapter - though I think the kids would have let me keep reading - and then moved onto some Camp Max activities: a photo booth, colouring in, a hat toss, lolly competition, caricature drawing and visitor's book. The kids were kept busy for the whole time and I even had the opportunity to sign some books. 

Book launches like this can't happen without a team of helpers! Author friend, Debra Tidball generously gave her time to man the bookstall. My mum helped supervise the very popular lolly competition. My three kids helped out too, as did some of their friends (thanks SO much Tori and Brittany!). 

From here the Camp Max Book Launch Tour begins in earnest! We're headed to Thomas Hassall Anglican School next, and then Cedars Christian College and Illawarra Christian School. There are still a few dates available for the Tour, so if your school or group would like to join in the fun, please get in touch! 

Camp Max can be purchased here (if you'd like a signed copy), or here (Wombat Books do great postage deals) or here (you can get Camp Max for Kindle at Amazon). 

This past weekend I was excited to run my very first Children's Writing Workshop! It wasn't the first writing workshop I've ever run, as I'm often invited to do workshops with students as part of school visits. But it was my first writing workshop that I'd organised outside of a school setting. 
It was held at the Koorong Penrith store, in their training room, and the team at Koorong were wonderfully supportive and helpful! As was my big son, who was my trusty white board scribe and general helper throughout the whole day. 

The workshop went wonderfully! (So wonderful we entirely forgot to take photos! That's me living the moment for you...)

We had 11 budding writers aged 7 through to 12 and discussed all manner of things writing, from where to find ideas to how to build a strong story.  I loved hearing the kids' original ideas and encouraging them to push their writing just that little bit further. We had some laughs too - especially when trying to describe the smells in the 'smelly boxes' or when I scared myself with the timer on my phone! 

It was also super encouraging to get some feedback from several of the parents after the event. I received a couple of messages just to let me know how much their kids enjoyed the workshop. One mum even sent me this photo - it's Annie's very first story. Apparently she was so inspired by the workshop that she went home and just started writing.

​What do you think? Isn't it brilliant?! 

(My next workshop - this time for adults who are keen to write books for children - will be on Saturday 19th May. I'll post more details soon. )

​Get in touch if you'd like to book your school or group in to participate. Spaces on the tour are limited, but I'd hate anyone to miss out!

My time since returning from holidays has been fairly frantic. Getting the kids back to school, figuring out extra-curricular routines, taking the big girl driving etc. And there's been a lot of writing work occuring behind the scenes too, as my publisher has been finalising the details for Camp Max!

Camp Max is a brand new, stand alone Tania Abbey story.  And doesn't the cover look fantastic? 
The illustrator for this book is Leigh Hedstrom. She's an Australian illustrator whose work I've admired for a while now. She's illustrated some great books, including 'When I see Grandma' and 'Marty's nut free party', as well as Deborah Kelly's Ruby Wishfingers series. I was thrilled to hear she'd be illustrating one of my books too!

The count down for Camp Max's release is well and truly underway now. Only a month to go. For more information pop over to my Children's Fiction page or visit the publisher's website (where you can pre-order).  
I'll post details of the official launch as soon as I can.  
Looking forward to sharing this story with a new group of Tania Abbey fans!

Over the last school holidays my family embarked on an epic holiday! The five of us traveled back to Nepal for the first time in eleven years. This meant it was the first time for our youngest and a wonderful opportunity to share that part of our lives with him. 

Returning to Nepal was extremely special. I suppose part of me never really believed we'd be back and so to meet with our friends again, eat in their homes and share a laugh once more was priceless. 

There was also a beautiful symmetry in our visit as one of my publishers sent me the edited manuscript for my novel, Out of the Cages (to be released in July under my other author name, Penny Jaye) to work on while we were there. This was the novel I had originally drafted during our final months in Nepal in 2006. It was a reminder to me that God's timing is perfect, even when I don't understand it.  

I was also blessed with the opportunity to do two author visits while we were in Pokhara. One at the study centre my two big kids had attended when they were first starting school, and the other at a local home-school group. It was beautiful to be able to share my stories with kids in a different context and to watch them interact with my characters and books. 

And of course we also did some lovely touristy things too, like spotting rhinos in Chitwan National Park and watching the sun rise and set (and the full moon rise too) over the glorious Himalayas!