Children's author, New Zealand
With the sea beside us, we drove the last leg of our tour on Friday 16 September. The mountain peeked in and out of cloud throughout the day, and the landscape became more volcanic, hillier and rockier, as we drove along Taranaki's Surf Highway. The first stop for Stuart and me was St Joseph's School … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Five
We woke to a bright, blue day on day four of the tour, and at last saw the mountain in all its majesty. It was well worth the wait! My first stop was at the very colourful and friendly Normanby School. The Year 0-3 students there had lots of ideas for playground rescues, from hitching … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Four
We had our first partial glimpse of the maunga as we headed out this morning. It was beautiful, but fleeting, and by the end of our first school visit it had disappeared from view altogether. It amazes me that a feature so dramatic and dominating of the landscape can be hidden so completely! Midhirst School … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Three
We stopped in Inglewood today, where Year 2 and 3 students from St Patrick's School braved the elements to join me in the lovely and very welcoming Inglewood Library. The children did a fantastic job of retelling the story, and of creating their own stuck-in-the-swing rescue scenarios (jaws of life, a fishing rod, butter and … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day Two
What fun! This week I'm on tour with Storylines Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa. We are travelling in a loop around Taranaki Maunga, visiting schools and libraries along the way. You can see updates on the Storylines Trust Facebook page, and on Instagram. Also on tour are authors Ben Brown, Cristina Sanders, and … Continue reading Storylines Trust tour of Taranaki: Day One
My first hard copy of Grandpa versus Swing arrived yesterday, with a lovely note from the very supportive publishing team at Scholastic NZ. I am so excited to be holding a real book in my hands! Lael Chisholm's artwork is absolutely gorgeous on the printed page. Grandpa versus Swing is already available for pre-order, and … Continue reading Our beautiful book is here
Last things first, Grandpa versus Swing is right now at the printing stage! Thanks to the wonderful illustration, my little manuscript has become a riot of colour and energy, and I can't wait to see it on paper. While I wait, autumn continues its slow, shy appearance. There is a nip in the air morning … Continue reading Happenings, March and April
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
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
Tania Scott Sickling 