Children's author, New Zealand
When I was very young, we had exercise books that were partly ruled and partly blank. They were my favourite books of all to write in, because they held so much possibility. Pictures and words! That's a storybook. That's a non-fiction book. That's a book. It can be tempting for a writer to paint the … Continue reading Leaving room for pictures
Here is a brief list of annual opportunities for New Zealand picture book writers, in order of closing date. Scholastic NZ Valentine's Day submission: unagented, unsolicited submissions open for one day only on February 14. Walker Wednesdays: Walker Books open submissions for Australian and New Zealand writers. The submission date for 2021 is June 16. … Continue reading Annual submission opportunities
Patience is not one of my strong points. I figured this out only a few years ago, in a moment of deep personal insight. "I think I'm not actually a very patient person," I said to my husband, to inform him of both my enormous capacity for meaningful introspection, and the startling fact that I … Continue reading Something resembling patience
It took just a little daring for me to send an anonymous manuscript to be considered for an award, but to be bold enough to join a workshop or to take a creative writing course? Not likely, not me. Most of what I have learnt about writing so far has come from reading fiction, author … Continue reading Community and encouragement
My poor garden, I simply can't give it the attention it needs right now. It gets on in the way most wildlife does in the absence of human intervention: it grows and grows, and whatever started out tallest and strongest and most favourably positioned grows best. I try to keep it low maintenance, because gardening … Continue reading Growing all the time
I filled out a survey last year, something government-y and educational-ish, to do with school. One question asked how many books were in the household for adult readers, and another how many books for children. It turns out we have very little reading material for adults in our house, and a huge amount for children. … Continue reading Reading habits
Words, words, words: to drown out all the clamour. Words: to distance me from the day just done. Words: to hold what I struggle to grasp. Words: to contain the deluge. When I write, I bring threads of experience together. I weave them as I want to. I weave and unravel and weave them again. … Continue reading Writing is a tonic
Moonlight paints the room in bright, solid rectangles. The hum of crickets comes at me like a stage whisper: quiet but obvious, insistent. These intrusions into an otherwise dark and silent space emphasise my solitude, and the peace I have in this moment. On another day I find another gentle stretch of time. Trees sway … Continue reading Windows of time
I don't sit down with a blank page to try and think up stories. I have tried that before. It doesn't work for me. Instead, a story idea might begin anytime, anywhere, with an observation, or a scrap of overheard conversation, perhaps a serendipitous pairing of words that somehow dance together. Most often, a character … Continue reading Shaping ideas into a story
This is a love letter to libraries. School libraries, academic libraries, public libraries, Little Libraries that pop up in suburban streets - I love them all. I love the look of libraries: the shelves lined with slim, irregular columns of colour; the beautiful faces of books turned out in full view; the hanging artworks; the … Continue reading In love with libraries
Tania Sickling 