little by little

Hi,
Well little by little I am sort of figuring out blogs... I have managed to put an image up.. yes it's my cover for the children's book which will be published by Penguin in August.
The launch for BONES will be at The Children's Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington. The Launcher will be Kate de Goldi. I am looking forward to it as it will be a chance to stand in one of the best bookshops in the country next to a whole lot of children's authors I admire and hold MY book.

Writing about authors I admire brings me to this weeks subject. I have been asked to write an article for the Dompost on Jack Lasenby and his latest book. 800 words was the length... so far I'm up to 1200 and I'm only half way....horrors but what do you leave out?

Jack is the most amazing children's book writer as well as being the esteemed Patron of the Wellington Children's Book Association. In 2002, we, the association (I was chair at the time), set up The Jack Lasenby Award, a bi ennial competition for children and children's writers.
His early exploits in the bush read like a tale from one of his tall stories.
Jack was a deer culler in the Urewera's about twenty years earlier than when I was growing up there. I knew some of his old mates and I know the country he writes about.
Jack and I had a good chuckle about the fact that, twenty years after he and his mates were there, children were still being warned that the deer cullers were in town (Murupara)and to avoid going in because they were a drunken lot....
His latest book, Old Drumble, tells tales of the cunningest drovers dog that ever lived. A lot of the country side in that book I know because I went to high school on the Hauraki Plains. I also knew a few dogs that could have been the model for Old Drumble. It's funny the connections I have from Jacks books.... It's like he is writing my childhood.

Now that I've figured out putting images on the blog, I plan to put my favourite pictures from space up....and Mars!
maureen