Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

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Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

3 weeks ago | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

There have been some lovely reviews of our new book BatKiwi and the Big Wet (which came out in February) - by Maria Gill on Kids Books NZ here, on the KiwiReviews site here, on What Book Next? here, and by Paula Green on Poetry Box here. You never know how new work will be received, so it is both a relief and a delight to find readers and reviewers embracing it.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

2 months ago | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

You would think, as writers who constantly scrutinise words and their meaning, and agonise over their use and placement in our works, that we would be better at using them on our own behalf. Lol. We are sweet gentle souls who have some terrible habits. We hate to risk offence. I want to bring a few of these habits to your attention, point out why they are not in your best interests, and suggest some better habits. Stop apologising. Okay. Not all the time, in every instance.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

2 months ago | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

I am not a fan of new year's resolutions. Which is a little flakey because even though the first of January is just another day, like the 31st of december, the beginning of a year still feels portentious and weighty with promise and possibility. Nothing has changed but everything has. There is no mechanisim but the slate is somehow empty. So what of 2025? What promise does this year hold? I tell myself I want to write more. I am doing my best to make the space for this. Wish me luck.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Dec 17, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

It's writery stocktake time, and I have to say, this year has been a bit of a wild ride. I always find it interesting to look back over the year that's been because I always forget things - often the best things - that have happened. And - surprise, surprise! - it's often the bad or sad things that bob to the surface of my memory first, keeping the nicer, happier stuff stuck just beneath, out of view. So what went on in 2024 - I had a book contracted (yay!) and a book contract cancelled (boo!).
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Dec 1, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

I have not posted for an abolute age - my sincere apologies! I have been having a bit of a time and it hasn't left much room for other things. Towards the end of September I received a most unexpected email - an invitation to participate in a Children's Book Festival. In India. In November. I was a late ring in. Someone had had to pull out. Would I be interested? The only correct answer here was YES!!! so I stepped on to the rollercoaster... ...and I have only just stepped off.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Sep 1, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

I thought the year was going fast but even I wasn't prepared for a UK based pocket pal posting about Christmas items already showing up in the shops over there. I wish marketing would stop trying to rush us through the seasons, festive and otherwise; my head is spinning from the unnatural speed of things. Last time I posted I was talking about the New Zealand Children's and Young Adults Book Awards shortlistings. Well the Awards night has come and gone, as if a fever dream.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Jul 22, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

I've had a few rejections over the last couple of weeks for adult poetry and a couple of picture books. I'm an old hand now - I've experienced rejection many times and know I will get past it but it never fails to sting. So its nice to look at a few positives from the last few weeks to balance things out. I got sent the final pdf of a wee chapter book I wrote last year for the Ministry of Education that will be published this August and it was wonderful to see the final version.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Jun 9, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

AAARGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I'm a finalist!!! Last thursday June 6th the finalists were announced for the 2024 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and I am more than thrilled to say that Lucy and The Dark, illustrated by Vasanti Unka and published by Puffin (Penguin Random House), is shortlisted for the Best Picture Book Award and He Tārū Kāhika, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, translated by Paania Papa and published by Scholastic, is a finalist for the Wright Family...
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

May 3, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

Recently I was asked to do a small paying job after a casual chat at an event with someone I didn't know terribly well. At that same event another chat with someone I'd never met before ended with an invitation to participate in something poetic later in the year. And not long after I was emailed with some lovely news. A poem I had submitted to this fun and welcoming UK online children's poetry site is to appear in an anthology they are putting together.
Melinda Szymanik: I should be writing but...

Apr 10, 2024 | melindaszymanik.blogspot.com | Melinda Szymanik

I finally sent off my last piece of non-fiction writing on Monday - a report - that was on my list of to dos. It's taken me two and a half months to reach this point, and I tell y'all my mind is a bag of cats right now. I decided to take a few days off but I am not yet feeling rested - too many cats up there, I tell ya. Over the weekend I got to read my poem Pet Lessons and a couple of others at the launch of Takahe 110. You can read it here or check out all the goodness here.