So, this is where I work. At the moment the air conditioning is keeping me alive (just call me Girl in the Bubble – haven’t yet learned to love February in Brisbane), but usually I have the French doors open so that I can enjoy the stirring of a breeze and the rustle of leaves. My desk is fairly organised at the moment – what you can’t see is the heaving mass of filing, sitting on the daybed at the end of the room. For my birthday I would like a Filing Slave please …

Sally's desk

‘The World According to Kids’ is honest and adorable …
- reviewed in femail.com.au
http://www.femail.com.au/the-world-according-to-kids.htm

Positive attitude

Research suggests that two out of three cancer survivors and their families consider that something good came from this experience. Sounds improbable? Not really according to a new book which highlights the positives of the cancer journey.

Authored by Sally Collings who lost her mother to cancer in 2003, this immensely readable offering is full of first person accounts of diagnosis, treatment, and what they learnt along the way. Cricketer, Simon O’Donnell, describes it as being “in the club” – only others in the club understand, and you don’t want others to “join” as it means they will have to go through the cancer journey as well. Sally’s book is titled Positive as it should be – because nearly every contributor is able to articulate the way their experience of cancer has enable them to transform grief and sorrow into life-affirming qualities such as compassion, empathy and a determination to make every moment count. This small gem of a book is not just for cancer sufferers and their loved ones – it is for everyone who is interested in different life journeys and how ordinary human beings continue to rise magnificently to seemingly impossible challenges.

A really hopeful view of the cancer journey
Harper Collins
RRP: $27.99

http://www.aboutseniors.com.au/index.php/articles/category/book_reviews

Book giveaway and great media

Ten of the fabulous contributors to The World According to Kids have won a free copy of the book! Signed copies will be winging their way to the winners next week.

The World According to Kids is getting great coverage in the media. Here are some of comments:

“hilarious, often poignant …”

“The book is full of gems such as the following advice from 15-year-old Naomi: ‘If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse’.”

ABC News US (“Don’t Baptize a Cat and Other Advice From Children”,  18 November 2009)

“a great emergency present (a must-have at this time of year) …”

Womans Day book review, 30 November 2009

Check out the Christmas Markets on Sat 5 Dec at the Lavalla Centre, Fernberg Road, Paddington. I’ve just been up to the centre to pick my stall location. It’s shaping up as a great event: stalls will feature lots of local ‘green’ businesses, galleries, jewellery – and books of course. I’ll be there to sign and sell all three of my books (The World According to Kids, Sophie’s Journey and Positive); I might bring along copies of Red Hill Publishing’s first title too: From Burnout to Balance by Paul Lanthois – just what you need if pre-Christmas stress is taking its toll!

MARKETDAYA5Flyer

Today I’m joining in a blog tour run by the Queensland Writers Centre (the finest writers centre in the universe). Below is a quick Q&A.

Where do your words come from?
I wish I knew so I could go looking for more when I run out! When my writing is going well and I’m writing something I’m passionate about, the words flow like music. I’ve never played the piano, but I feel as though I’m hitting notes rather than letters and making song rather than prose.

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
I grew up in Sydney, in a suburb north of the bridge called St Ives. When I was a kid it was the kind of place you could catch tadpoles in the gutter and practice smoking in the bush using finger-length strips of rolled-up bark. Now I live in Bardon, in Brisbane’s inner west. I love hills and trees, and Bardon’s got lots of both.

What’s the first sentence/line of your latest work?

It all began when I started asking people, “What’s the funniest thing your child has ever said?” Most people had an answer (or a hundred); some even had journals and scrapbooks to show me, lovingly recording their children’s endearing, crazy and sometimes downright indecent sayings.

[From The World According to Kids, published 1 November 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers Australia]

What piece of writing do you wish you had written?
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. Knowing that she had moved from journalism and non-fiction to write this glowing gem of a book was enormously encouraging to me as I was starting to explore different forms of writing. I’m still enormously envious though!

What are you currently working towards?
I’m researching my next book, which is called Parenting with Soul. It’s for parents – mostly mothers but dads too – who have no time to be spiritual but still have a yearning for more peace, stillness, joy, delight in their lives. I think of it as a divine nappy bag, packed with everything you need to sustain you through those days of dirty nappies, endless washing and the school lunch production line. I’m pitching for a tone of spirituality with attitude, something that is zesty, fun and provocative.

Complete this sentence: the future of the book is …
Unthinkable, big, exciting. We’re getting some glimmers of the possibilities of digital publishing, and the way different media can be shaken and stirred together to convey a message in new ways. I’m excited by the notion that micro-publishing will be big (though always small!). My other ‘day job’ is as publisher at Red Hill Publishing, and we’re actively seeking speciality and niche titles that might not get a look-in with the major book publishers but that have a real place in the market.

This post is part of the Queensland Writers Centre blog tour, happening October to December 2009. To follow the tour, visit Queensland Writers Centre’s blog The Empty Page http://www.qwc.asn.au/Resources/TheEmptyPageBlog.aspx

Anyone got some more questions? Bring it on, I’m on a roll now!

‘Mums have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.’

The World According to Kids will be on sale from Sunday! I really hope this book will make its way into lots of Christmas stockings.

We’ll be celebrating the launch this Sunday at the Baci Lounge, a groovy bookshop/cafe in Brisbane’s Paddington – not Sydney’s Paddington, much to the confusion of some of my Sydney friends. I’ve become such a Brisbanite, I forgot that ours wasn’t the only Paddington in the world … Hopefully the combination of kids + bookshop + cupcakes won’t be too disastrous.

This morning I was picking a dozen favourite quotes from the book to print out and scatter around at the launch. Even though I’ve been living and breathing these words for much of this year, there are still plenty that make me smile and even laugh out loud.

Some of the most gorgeous quotes in my new book, The World According to Kids, are about love – what it means, what it feels like, how you can tell when it’s around. Here’s one of my favourites:

Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen – Bobby, 7

[Find out more by searching on The World According to Kids at www.harpercollins.com.au]

Positive, by Sally Collings
Reviewed by Sally Murphy

When someone starts walking the cancer path, the changes start in their body even before their mind is aware of it. But from the instant the word ‘cancer’ is uttered in the doctor’s surgery, people’s thoughts are racing, trying to catch all of the implications, outcomes, impacts, possibilities.

When Sally Collings’ mother died from cancer, soon after the birth of her granddaughter , she saw nothing positive in the experience. So she was amazed to learn that two out of three cancer survivors and their families considered that something good had come out of their experiences. What could be good about living through or with cancer? Collings decided to explore further the positive side of cancer, and so embarked on a journey, talking to, listening to and getting to know people who had encountered cancer, either as a sufferer or as a supporter.

Positive tells the stories of these people – people who have seen (and felt) cancer bring them closer to loved ones, people who have experienced the outpouring of support, love and prayers, and people who have learnt to look deeper into themselves and into life itself.

Positive is, as the title suggests, an uplifting book – though it is not all about stories of survival. Rather it explores stories of a range of experiences and outcomes, focussing on the range of positives which different contributors have found. It may be of help to people who are on the cancer journey, but is also inspiring for any reader.
- http://www.aussiereviews.com/article2948.html

Is there anything more thrilling for an author than holding an advance copy of their new book? The World According to Kids has just arrived! It’s sooo cute … I especially love that it has sparkles on the cover! We love sparkles in our house.
The World According to Kids will be in stores from 1 November.