Welcome to the new website!

Picture me flat on the floor in a star shape: that’s where I am. I’ve been working for many months with my website designers (massive applause for Enee Solutions) to update the site and make it as friendly and fascinating as possible. I hope you’ll love it. It will be updated every four weeks.

I hope you’re having hide-and-seek fun with my latest book: YOO HOO, LADYBIRD! It’s one of the books you can listen to this month. The other two are POSSUM MAGIC and HUNWICK’S EGG. The books you can listen to will change from month to month so you don’t get bored.

A new book, BABY BEDTIME, is due out in Australia on October 23rd.  Next time you log in there’ll be a reading of that book, needless to say, and much more information about its creation.

On Saturday October 19th I’ll be at the annual USBBY convention, in St Louis, Missouri. I’ve been honoured by an invitation to deliver the Dorothy Briley oration. I’m thrilled to have been asked to speak as some of my favourite authors and illustrators will also be at the conference and it will be a special treat to hear what they have to say. One of them is Katherine Paterson.  Imagine that!

On Monday evening, October 21st,the St Louis Public Library is hosting a Mem Fox evening, at which I’ll be giving a different speech. I hope to meet many more of the general public at that event since it’s open to everyone.

In early November I’ll be on tour across Australia for BABY BEDTIME. More details will follow next month, but the skeleton itinerary is below.

Nothing much happens in my life, you’ll be surprised to know. I’m travelling much less, although still writing as regularly as ever. My happy, extensive duties as a grandmother mean that I can work only in the corners of my days. I could write screeds about my three-year-old grandson but in my experience the only people who care for such information are the grandparents themselves. I will restrain myself to rare comments. And no photos, I promise!

In future, this What’s Up? column will be full of surprises such as the odd poem, a paean to my neighbours, a few recipes and photos of what I’m cooking, a rave about the latest great books I’ve read, a rant about politics, a rant about school funding, a rant about climate change, a rant about the closure of real bookstores, a rant about treating refugees as the humans they are… Yes! Mostly rants, in place of any non-existent news.

Let’s enjoy the ride!