The Three Doors Trilogy

I've just spotted the Three Doors series bind-up coming up on Omnibus' new releases list and with an eight-year-old in the house currently devouring Emily Rodda's always-popular series Deltora Quest I think I'd better have one on hand for when she finishes. Isn't it handsome (and just a little bit frightening)? Out in October 2013.

Eric Vale Epic Fail

I think it might be a good idea to pop over to the lovely Readings blog and check out the interview with Michael Gerard Bauer and his son Joe about their new book Eric Vale Epic Vale out this month from Omnibus. Yes, that would be time well spent.

Q&A with Edwina Howard

The Ice-cream War was discovered by our intrepid Conductor on one of her expeditions into the Slush Pile (unfortunate industry slang for 'ever-growing mountain of unsolicited manuscripts'), a term that, in this particular case, is hilariously appropriate because this book is all about frozen goodies (slushies, geddit?).

Awkward punning aside, first-time author Edwina Howard is a rare find and so we thought you might like to find out a little bit more about her. We asked her the Omnibus Eleven Questions to get to the bottom of her genius.

How long did it take you to write The Ice-Cream War?

I guess it took about five years from the time the very first idea trickled into my head. But it only took about six months of solid work.

Do you procrastinate?

Well, I don’t think of it as procrastination exactly, but I have noticed that if you delay things for long enough they frequently either cease to need doing or you simply forget they ever needed doing.

Are you an early-morning or late-at-night writer?

I am the Nite Riter! Remember me when you look at the night sky … (Sorry, that’s a rather sad Mad Max reference.)  I’m not so much of a morning person any more, probably because I do most of my writing late at night, hence creating a vicious-circle-type effect.

Where did you get the idea for The Ice-Cream War?

In my first ever writing notebook I wrote 'something about ice-cream' which seemed terribly cliched. I started asking a few what if questions, tried to turn it around a little, and it went from there. Jake simply came to life in my head, and I wanted an animal character who wasn’t remotely cutesy (as none of my animals ever are). It seemed like a fun thing to pull ice-cream around in an ice-cream cart. Plus I listened to the radio and they were talking about getting boys to read. I kind of thought, well, if it’s funny and fast moving it should be entertaining. Reading should be fun.

Have you ever had your own Shetland pony?

Sadly I have never owned a Shetland pony. I was lucky enough to own a very clever 13.2hh bay pony called Tommy who was incredibly cunning and always played plenty of tricks.  He had a particular way of peeking at you beneath from his forelock which is pure Hoppy.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I have always been terribly lazy. My stories have always taken place in my head. It took until my mid-thirties to start committing anything at all to paper!

What does your family think of your writing?

Sometimes they probably wish they could eat it. Dinner can be late at our house.

What are you reading at the moment?

I usually have a handful of books on the go. At the moment they are Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, Phillip K. Dick’s The Turning Wheel, Eyewitness to History (I never knew they saw a UFO on Apollo 11!), T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats (illustrated by Axel Scheffler – which I appropriated from the children), and Roald Dahl’s The Twits (the whole thing about beards and with the glass eye always cracks me up).

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A dressage rider, a spy, a rock star, an actress and funnily enough I really wanted to do something with books.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Sadly I wish I could just write! But if you insist, I like sleeping too.  And reading. And spending time with my family (and other animals).

When was the last time you went on a bus?

I love buses!  There aren’t too many out here in the country though. I think the last bus I went on was a few months ago, and it was to the beach, which is a rather nice place to take a bus.

Congratulations!

To our stellar 2012 CBCA Short Listees!

New in March

Goodness, it's been a busy start to the year. We editors have had our heads buried in pages and I happen to know our patchworking designer has worn a groove in the footpath between our little office and a certain well-known South Australian chocolatier conveniently located just around the corner. Those big screens run on excellent quality cacao, you realise. It's been novels, novels, some more novels and some picture books too. That must mean a flood of new reading and sumptuous freshly printed illustrations must be on their way. But for now you will be more than satisfied with this humorous gem, out in March. Not Bog Standard is a compilation of catastrophic and mind-bending tales, guaranteed to have young readers chuckling if not laughing out loud.

Q&A with Michael Gerard Bauer

With the re-release of the first two books in Michael Gerard Bauer's wonderful trilogy due out this month and the final book out in July, we're very excited to hear from this award-winning author about the process of writing not one, but three awesome Australian novels.

How long did it take you to write the Ishmael series? 

I didn’t actually realise it was going to be a series when I started writing Don’t Call Me Ishmael! in 2004 but I liked the characters too much to stop writing and I wanted to find out what would happen to them. The third and final book Ishmael and the Hoops of Steel comes out very soon so it has taken a while to complete the trilogy but I’ve also written Dinosaur Knights and Just a Dog in the meantime.

Do you procrastinate? Are you an early-morning or late-at-night writer? 

Me procrastinate? I’m not sure, although two weeks has passed since I wrote the answer to Question 1. Definitely an early morning writer though. I like to go for a walk first because it helps me get my thoughts in order and to come up with new ideas. I write throughout the day but I rarely do much writing at night. I’m probably on Facebook or watching some embarrassing reality TV program.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books? 

I found that inspiration can come from anywhere. Stories seem to find me rather than me going out looking for them. The Running Man started with childhood memories of looking for silkworms; the Ishmael stories all grew from the first line of the novel Moby Dick which is ‘Call me Ishmael ...’; Dinosaur Knights started when I was watching an old movie about knights and dragons and I had the thought that the dragons looked like dinosaurs; and Just a Dog started one day when I was walking (told you I got ideas doing that!) and the name Mister Mosely for a dog came into my head. I still have no idea where that name came from.

When did you write your first book and how old were you? 

A while back and too old! Or more accurately, I started writing it in 2000 and I was 45.

What does your family think of your writing?

Either they like it or they’re too polite to tell me the truth. My wife is always the first person to read my stories. My son Joe particularly likes the Ishmael series. He always reads the manuscripts and gives me lots of helpful suggestions as well as correcting my mistakes. Joes also created the original covers for the first two Ishmael books.

What are you reading at the moment?

That last question. Oh, I see what you mean. Books, right? Well, I’ve just been at the Voices on the Coast writers’ festival so I bought a few books by the authors who were there with me. At the moment I’m reading A Pocket Full of Eyes by Lili Wilkinson. The last book I read was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins which I loved.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

I hear from readers a bit more now that I have a Facebook page and a blog. Thankfully they mostly say very nice things about my books or ask questions about the stories or about being a writer. Sometimes I get emails and letters from classes who have read one of my novels. Occasionally they ask me if I’ll do their homework for them. (Just in case you’re wondering –- the answer’s no!)

As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?

Taller mainly. But apart from that when I was in primary school I wanted to be either a Samurai warrior or a Ninja because back then there was a really popular TV show on called The Samurai and the main character Shintaro was my hero. He still is. Later on I wanted to be a singer-songwriter or part of a rock band. I eventually became a teacher which was pretty close.

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Annoy other people who are writing. Read. Listen to music. Play the guitar and try to sing and write songs. Go for walks. Watch TV. Go to the movies. Play tennis. Meet with my secret Ninja group. No wait, I’m not supposed to mention that … um, what I meant to say was – sleep.

When was the last time you were on a bus?

A hardly ever catch buses when I’m at home in Brisbane – they’re just too fast for me. But when I’m away doing school visits I often get around by train or taxi or bus. So the last time I bus-ed it probably would have been last year in Melbourne.

Q&A with Ian Irvine

The Calamitous Queen by Ian Irvine, out in June 2011!

How long did it take you to write the Grim and Grimmer series?

I began the plan of the series, and the first book, in August 2008, and finished the final edits of the fourth book in March 2011, but most of that time I was writing other things. The total time to write each book was about a month. The Headless Highwayman and The Grasping Goblin took a bit over a month each, The Desperate Dwarf and The Calamitous Queen a bit less. But a lot of that work is planning. For instance I spent six days planning The Calamitous Queen in great detail, then another six and a half days writing the first draft. Curiously, I find that the faster I write, the less editing I have to do. I still do a lot of drafts, though.

Do you procrastinate? Are you an early-morning or late-at-night writer?

I don’t procrastinate because I really enjoy writing and want to do more of it. I usually start about 7.30 am and write until after lunch, have a break or a brief nap, then write through until dinner time. Sometimes, If I’m working to a very tight deadline, as with The Calamitous Queen, I’ll start at 5 am and go right through to dinner time, and even do a bit of writing late at night.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

Everywhere. I’ve travelled a lot, and worked in a dozen countries, so I have plenty of experience to draw on. I also draw inspiration from my scientific background (I’ve been a marine scientist for 30 years) which perhaps is why I write differently to most other writers.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

In 1987, when I was 37. It was A Shadow on the Glass, and forms the first book of my epic fantasy quartet The View from the Mirror. The quartet is over 800,000 words and it took more than 10 years to get the series published, but it’s never been out of print in Australia since, and has been published in many other countries.

What does your family think of your writing?

Well, they all enjoy reading so I imagine they’re fairly pleased, though to be honest I’ve never asked them.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m re-reading my 20-book set of the Brother Cadfael medieval whodunits by Ellis Peters (AKA Edith Pargeter). And I’m about to start Jonathan Stroud’s The Ring of Solomon, the fourth in his Bartimaeus series about a sarcastic and cowardly djinni, which I’m very much looking forward to.

What are you writing next?

Now that I’ve done the Grim and Grimmer quartet, I’m working on a new epic fantasy series for older readers called The Tainted Realm. The first book, which I’ve just finished, is Vengeance. I’m also tossing around ideas for a new children’s series though I won’t start it until The Tainted Realm is finished next year.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

I get email from a few hundred different people a year – readers can email me here. Now that I have a Facebook author page, I’m in touch with my readers daily and we have a great conversation going. The most common questions are: When is the next book coming out? Why did you kill off that character I really loved? Are your books available as eBooks? The answers to many FAQs can be found on my gigantic website.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Deep space explorer. Fighter pilot. Adventurer. Pretty much anything that didn’t involve real work.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Lie on the lounge reading a book. Wander around the garden. Daydream.

When was the last time you went on a bus?

Umm, years ago, since I live in the country and there’s no public transport at all here. I’ve a vague memory of getting a bus in Sydney some years back.

Congratulations, Luke Edwards!

2011 APA Book Design Awards

Best Designed Children’s Cover of the Year The Staring Owl (Luke Edwards, Omnibus) cover designer Luke Edwards

Yay! Written, illustrated and designed by the one and only Luke Edwards. Well done, Luke and Owl.

The Friendship Matchmaker

Today some wonderful reviews of The Friendship Matchmaker appearing here and thereabouts on the interwebs.


Over here at Readings.


Here at The Younger Sun.


Here on the website of the NSW Association for Gifted and Talented Children.


And there's a wonderful discussion on Randa's own website about the book. So many happy readers!


And an interview with Randa here, talking about writing The Friendship Matchmaker.


And don't forget to leave us a comment to enter the Sean Williams competition, the prize being a signed set of The Fixers!

The CBCA Book of the Year 2011 Short List & Notables

We're proud to see several Omnibus books on the CBCA Book of the year shortlist and notables lists this year.

Congratulations to our wonderful, hard-working authors and illustrator for making the cut.

DM Cornish Monster Blood Tattoo Book 3: Factotum (Notables)

Gerard Michael Bauer Just a Dog (Younger readers shortlist)

Dave Luckett Paladin (Notables)

Dorothea Mackellar and Andrew McLean My Country (Notables)

Q&A with Dan McGuiness

Dan McGuiness, the comic genius behind Pilot & Huxley (1, 2 and 3), shares some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of creating a comic book slash graphic novel. 

How long did it take you to write and illustrate Pilot & Huxley?

Each time I wrote and illustrated a Pilot & Huxley book I got more efficient. The first one took around a year to do, while the latest one took around three months from start to finish. I now work on a Wacom Cintiq (an LCD tablet) to do the drawings and colouring. Being able to draw straight onto digital paper cuts out a lot of time-consuming steps.

Do you procrastinate? Are you an early-morning or late-at-night writer?

When I have a deadline I treat it as a nine to five job. I set an amount that I have to do every day. For example, if I am writing a script I say to myself that I have to write fifteen pages a day. This is the best way I have found for me to work. In between books I treat that time as like a holiday or work on other projects. Sometimes it's hard for me to get back into it after a break, but I'm not a procrastinator in general.

Where do you get your inspiration for your books?

I can remember quite vividly the sort of things that I used to love when I was younger. I was a reluctant reader, so now I put stuff into my books that I would have liked to read about when I was a kid. That's probably why children love my books but some adults have a hard time accepting them! I also get a lot of inspiration from the movies I watch, video games I play and comics I read.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

I started writing and drawing my own independent comics when I was about 26. I would just draw them up on A4 paper, take them down to the newsagent, photocopy them and staple them at home. From there I would sell them at comic conventions around Australia. I'm 33 now, so a lot has happened in the last seven years.

What does your family think of your writing?

My parents love my books. I have to get them like 40 copies of a book when it comes out to send to all my relations and their friends. My parents have always supported me in everything I have done, from running a skateboard company to working in the film industry. I could not have asked for better parents.

What are you reading at the moment?

I'm reading a manga (Japanese graphic novel) series called Bakuman, which is about two kids trying to become professional manga artists in Japan. I'm also reading a western comic called Invincible which is about a boy whose dad is basically Superman. It's about him growing up and dealing with the problems that arise when his powers kick in at puberty.

Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

I have a website where kids can leave me comments and I have a Dan McGuiness Facebook fan page as well. I pretty much hear from kids every day asking me questions like, When is the next book coming out? Is there going to be a TV show? Is there going to be a movie? Are there going to be toys? I love reading and answering all of them.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A dinosaur. 

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I like to play video games. I have an Xbox 360 and a PS3. I also help run a retro gaming website called Retrospekt. I love reading comics and manga as well. But my favourite thing is eating. I'm so into going out to dinner with my girlfriend, Clare.

When was the last time you went on a bus?

I live so close to the city that I just ride my bike everywhere. It's way easier than paying for a ticket, so I don't catch the bus at all. Sorry, that was a bit of a boring answer 0_0. Maybe I could make up an answer like, "The last bus I caught was when I got stuck on the back of a giant blue super worm. It was so big that I had to catch a bus to get to its tail. When I got to the tail I shot a flare into the sky and my personal helicopter came to pick me up to take me home."

Pilot & Huxley 3 out now!

Congratulations, Luke Edwards!

Luke's lastest book, The Staring Owl, has been shortlisted in the APA Book Design Awards. I'm sure the owl in question will be very well-behaved and not stare down any judges as they make their final decision.