By Sharon Giltrow

When my son was little, he loved reading nonfiction books based on the theme ‘who would win?’ Crocodile versus shark ‘who would win?’ Lion versus tiger ‘who would win?’ Then he would read all the facts on these animals to find out who and why. In Sarah Speedie and Rebel Challenger’s book MOZZIES vs FLIES it is the smaller beasts who are battling. But it is not for domination of the ocean, the land or even the sky, but for a barbeque. Who will win? Sorry I can’t give away the ending, you will have to read the book to find out 😊.

Now, let’s see two of Sarah’s favourite spreads from MOZZIES Vs FLIES and what she loves about them.

S- I love the spread where Cozzie and Fuzz are arguing over which side gets the barbeque. I think the way the characters are holding up the moon, stars and sun is so clever! And the gossiping flies and the mozzie with the torch under his chin are adorable.
 
Sh- This spread is a great example of how illustrations can add to the story. The context of flies and mozzies battling is hilarious. Adding the details in the illustration of the sun and the moon makes it even funnier. This image is also a great example of visual juxtaposition; night and day – dark and light.

S- The spread where The Mozzies and The Flies are training for battle is my favourite spread in the book. They have such wonderful expressions on their faces, and Fuzz with his huge megaphone is hilarious!
 
Sh- In this spread, Sarah is pushing the joke as far as she can by showing The Flies and The Mozzies preparing for battle. It is also showing us both sides of the story, the characters are both doing the same thing but in a different way. A parallel scene, another powerful visual storytelling technique.

Which beasts (large or small) would you like to see battle? You could come up with your own battle of the beasts and write a story about it.
 
See you in April with another great Aussie book.
 
Share a laugh and connect with someone today.

GIVEAWAY
For a chance to win a copy of our book MOZZIE’S Vs FLIES

1. Comment on this blog post
2. Share this blog post on social media
3. Follow Sharon on twitter
4. The winner will be announced on twitter on Monday 4th April
   

BIO:
Sharon Giltrow grew up in South Australia, the youngest of eight children, surrounded by pet sheep and fields of barley. She now lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband, two children and a tiny dog. Sharon has taught for all of her career. Previously a teacher of children who are hearing impaired and Deaf-Blind, she now teaches young children with Developmental Language Disorder. Her humorous debut PB, BEDTIME DADDY! released May 2020 through EK books. Sharon’s humorous follow up PB, GET READY, MAMA! Is due to be released through EK books in April, 2022. Her third PB, LET’S GO SHOPPING, GRANDMA! is due to be released through Dixi Books in 2022. SAMARA RUBIN AND THE UTILITY BELT, book one in Sharon’s early MG series – THE UTILITY BELT, will be released in 2022 through Clear Fork Publishing.  With book two TOBY KING AND THE UTILITY BELT to follow.
 
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by Bryan Patrick Avery

I’ve loved baseball my whole life. I couldn’t be happier that the Major League Baseball lockout is over and Spring Training has begun. Spring is also the perfect time to do a little writing training as well. Here are a few exercises you can use to help get those creative juices flowing, generate new ideas, or get the pesky project finished.

Training #1 – They Will Be Missed (Or Will They?)
Creating characters is easy. Creating characters that resonate with readers is much more difficult. I’ve found that, the more I know about my character, the easier it is to bring them to life on the page. One of the ways to do this is to write a eulogies of the character delivered by the other characters in the story. Because the different characters have different viewpoints, each eulogy will be different. These eulogies will reveal your character in ways you may never have considered. You can then use this information to help bring your character to life on the page.

Training #2 – Change Perspective
One the great things about storytelling is that the storyteller gets to choose what perspective to tell the story from. If you’re stuck with a story or struggling with details in a particular scene or section, consider the story from a different character’s perspective. The original Sherlock Holmes mysteries are told from the perspective of Dr. Watson. Imagine if the tales were told from the Holmes’ point of view. What about Dr. Moriarty’s? Looking at your story through a different character’s eyes might reveal a detail or idea that you hadn’t considered.

Training #3 – Finish Strong
Getting to the end of story or book is a great feeling, worthy of celebrating. What if you’re struggling to get to “THE END”? Here’s a tip that might help you finish your story or book. Write the last chapter or final scene. Then, work backwards from there. Write from the end until you get to the beginning. This will help keep you focused on the key elements of the story, as every scene you write will need to push the reader into the scene you’ve already written. That focus can help you get your story finished. This is also a great way to revise your story. It will help you see when something you’ve written doesn’t move the story forward. Give it a try.

That’s all for this month. Happy reading and have a magical month.

​Here's what I'm reading:

At the age of 7, Bryan Patrick Avery discovered a love of reading and mysteries after receiving his first Bobbsey Twins Mystery book. Today, he is an award-winning poet and author of more than a dozen books for children. His middle-grade story, “The Magic Day Mystery”, appears in SUPER PUZZLETASTIC MYSTERIES, an anthology from HarperCollins and the Mystery Writers of America. His Jake Maddox JV Mysteries, OFF BASE and SOCCER SUSPICIONS were released earlier this year by Stone Arch Books. Bryan is the 2021 recipient of the SCBWI Work in Progress Award for his chapter book mystery THE ROBOT IN THE LIBRARY. He is also the author of THE FREEMAN FIELD PHOTOGRAPH, BLACK MEN IN SCIENCE, and the chapter book series, MR. GRIZLEY’S CLASS.
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Bryan serves on the board of directors of the Northern California Chapter of Mystery Writers of America. He lives in Northern California with his family.

By Bonni Goldberg
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​Do you ever feel overwhelmed as a kidlit writer? Perhaps the better question is, do you ever not feel overwhelmed? It’s not you. It’s the many moving parts to this creative pursuit:
Let’s look at the list:

Percolation Phase (everything you do before and during the writing of your first draft)

• Reading and studying other author books
• Getting ideas
• Researching your idea (even fiction requires research)
• Writing the first draft
• Learning: courses (like the Children’s Book Academy), books, workshops, conferences, groups, blog posts

Revision Phase (everything you do from finishing the first draft until you publish)

• Revising and revising and revising and revising…
• Participating in critique groups (‘fess up; how many do you belong to?)
• More learning: courses (did I mention CBA?), books, workshops, conferences, groups, blog posts

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Going Public Phase (everything you do to share your book with others)

• Developing relationships with colleagues on social media and in person
• Keeping up with industry news
• Submitting your manuscripts or self-publishing
• Marketing and promoting your books
• Keeping it all organized

Did I forget anything? If so, please add it in the comments.
The point is that for every manuscript you write, you cycle through most or all of these activities. I wish I could offer you a one-size-fits-all method for creating balance between them. I also wish I had a single solution for enjoying (or not dreading) everything on the list. 
Even though that’s impossible, what I can tell you is that it is possible to do both. To start off, forget two things and remember two others:

• Forget perfect. You will never find the perfect solution because all of life is a series of adjustments, and the writing life is no exception.
• Forget equal time. Balance isn’t assigning each activity equal amounts of time. It’s making sure that each activity gets the time necessary during the day, week or month. There will be periods when you will have to give promoting a book more time and energy than writing a new book and vice versa. This is normal in the writing life cycle.

• Remember what you learn from your journey. The point of experimenting with new writing tools and different writing schedules is to bring what you learn into the next writing project or the next phase of your current writing project.
• Remember all creativity is a process, not an event. This is hard because we’re trained to focus on achievements as a measure of success and fulfillment: the thrill of a new idea, finishing a manuscript, getting an agent/publisher, publishing the book, winning an award, etc. And yet, every time we achieve any of the above, we find ourselves right back in the process.