I came across this quote on the site of publishing guru J Konrath — it can apply to far more than just publishing — great quote!
"One hand should always be reaching up for your next goal. The other should be reaching down to help others get where you're at. We're all in the same boat. Start passing out oars."
Love. It.

'The Secret Formula' and 'Doc Gutson's Revenge' will be FREE on Amazon starting from Sept 7 for five days! Exciting!

I recently came across a wonderful feature from the City Room blog at The New York Times, where children under 12 are invited to submit illustrations relating to a recent news story. Some of the work, which is shown on the NYT website, are really great and it is so interesting to see the different perspectives taken by kids around the same issue. Take a look here and why not submit something of your own — can you say you have contributed to the NYT? Why not?!

Just a quick update that I have started working on the third book in the Bella Street trilogy! I had always intended for the mysteries to be a trilogy but I recently heard that there is some fan fiction coming my way from 8 year old Seb. From what I have heard of the fan fiction so far it sounds extremely high energy and exciting! I am going to have to do my best to ensure that my third book lives up to Seb's story. How fun! I will keep you posted.

I recently posted about bookcrossing and how much fun it would be to get involved. Well, I left a copy of 'A Bella Street Mystery: The Secret Formula' at my hotel in Fiji last week! Hopefully, it will turn up in another country sometime soon. I have to admit that it felt very weird trying to leave a book in a public place - I was paranoid I would be accused of littering or causing a security scare! I think next time I will leave a book at a bus stop! 

A couple of years ago I first read something about book crossing — where you leave a book in a public place for someone else to enjoy and then they leave it in another location. The article I read (can't remember where) told of wonderful examples where books had ended up in other cities across the world. This really appeals to me — the idea of books travelling, of loved books being shared and finding new audiences. I am going to 'release' some favourite books (using labels from here) and I will report back on their geographic progress! Just remember, if you do this, don't leave books in places like libraries or book shops as it might cause confusion! Bus stops, cafes, park benches — all good spots! What a great idea!

I was lucky enough to get to hear Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, talking about his story at the Opera House in Sydney recently. What an inspiring man! Inspiring to young people wanting to be creative and express themselves and inspiring to older writers and illustrators! Jeff's huge success did not come automatically but came after years of hard work and trying. To this day, Jeff still works a day job and does his world famous author thing in his spare time! A really fun night! Jeff's 7th Wimpy Kid book 'The Third Wheel' comes out in November.