Sue Murray | Author
Sue Murray
Reviews
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25.01.2022 Writing the next draft of my new project. A book won't write itself. This one is a joy to be working on but it still involves hour upon hour of writing and wrangling words.
25.01.2022 My latest book has just been published in Europe. The illustrations by Paul Fisher Johnson are stunning. As ever, I'm grateful for the expert editing by James Bean and grateful to ILTS for the opportunity to write SKELETON ISLAND.
25.01.2022 Lucky me to be creating this world with Gabriel Evans for The School Magazine
25.01.2022 I'm relishing this week of being on retreat. The words and ideas are flowing. I spent some time writing with pen and paper... it does allow different thoughts to surface. As did the coffee, though the birds were rather distracting
25.01.2022 I'm writing a short play based on the origin stories of brolgas. Did you know that in many Aboriginal stories, Brolga was a girl who defied convention to follow her passion to dance?
25.01.2022 It's true I'm a little homesick. Being part of this team was like being part of a family. But we all need to leave home for new horizons sometime. I'm really relishing the new projects I'm working on.
25.01.2022 I'm always thrilled when my work reaches new readers but this is a first - an extract from one of my plays is in a textbook in Namibia.
24.01.2022 My latest book is out! An adventure set in the Blue Mountains which now feels all too real, it was written before the horrors of the current bushfire season. My two brave teenaged bushwalkers face the challenge of surviving a raging fire. My thoughts are with all those people who have lived this nightmare in recent times, and my heart breaks for the devastation to the county I love. TRIAL BY FIRE can be ordered online and will be in bookstores in Europe from tomorrow.
24.01.2022 I'm about to launch my new website. Thanks to Ron James, I now have a new author photo. And a photo of the solar powered meerkat light in my garden. Let your light shine! The website should be live within the next day or two, and it's a work in progress: suemurray.com.au
24.01.2022 Back from retreat and into the library. A project is up and running. And isn't there something lovely about old school research?
24.01.2022 Perfect weather to be at my desk, revising the first chapters.
23.01.2022 Congratulations to the cast and crew of 'The Formal' at Lourdes Hill College, Queensland. I'm delighted to hear that the production was a smash hit and that the production helped raise funds for the Mind over Matter service group, supporting mental health services and initiatives. This play is one I wrote some time ago which seems to have timeless appeal. It's all about the shocks and frocks, the dreams and schemes and the occasional runaway mother that is The Formal.
22.01.2022 It's alchemy, isn't it - conjuring up characters and their world? Lucky me to be spending the day writing a new story for characters who will be illustrated by Gabriel Evans. Watch this space!
22.01.2022 I've just received my author copies of the Dutch version of my latest book. I do enjoy knowing my words are reaching readers across the world. It also takes me back to the time a few years ago I travelled to Guatemala and Belize with truly adventurous fellow travellers and explored ancient temples, caves and cenotes.
20.01.2022 Are you on the south coast of WA? Do you want to write for children? Do come along to the workshop I'm running at Tea House Books in Denmark. Details are on their Facebook page. I'm grateful to be working with Dawn and her team to offer this one-off event.
19.01.2022 I'm in Denmark, WA, on an extended writing retreat. Yesterday I had the pleasure of conducting a workshop for local writers who are interested in writing for children. I'm grateful to Dawn at Tea House Books for hosting the event, to Kookie Magazine for supporting it and to all the people who attended. I've promised to offer more workshops next time I'm in the Great Southern area - I can't wait!
19.01.2022 It's always a joy to have a play in The School Magazine. I'm so delighted by the sumptuous illustrations by Ana María Méndez Salgado in the Feb 2019 issue of Orbit. The School Magazine
17.01.2022 I'm prepping for a writing retreat this week, while also exploring a small part of south-east Queensland. Week three of my return to freelance writing is mighty fine.
17.01.2022 I'm in Western Australia for a while to finish the next draft of my book about crossing the Nullarbor. Trouble is, Perth is turning on perfect weather. It's hard to sit and write when beaches like North Cottesloe beckon. The water is warm, clear, salty and I've just been told there are sea horses living amongst those rocks. Let's call it research ...
17.01.2022 THE CAVE OF THE JAGUAR is inspired by my travels in Guatemala. (Hola to the fabulous fellow travellers on that Intrepid tour!) and was published this year in Europe. The book is part of a series I contribute to that is aimed at students of English who want to read original fiction carefully tailored to their level of English. There are thrillers, mysteries, sci fi, crime and other genres in the series. Far more engaging than the 'Where is Spot? See Spot run!' type of text is ...the 'Jane is dead. Who killed Jane?' type of text, isn't it? These books are created by International Language Teaching Services (ILTS) who are based in England and who then licence the books to publishers worldwide. James Bean has edited all 12 of the books I've written so for the series (and I've had the pleasure of editing his contributions too). Here is the Hueber version for German-speaking students of English. I am thrilled with the illustrations by Paul Fisher Johnson, who has captured the spirit of the story and the place perfectly. I love writing these stories - it's challenging to wrestle big ideas into a small list of words and a tight word count. See more
16.01.2022 Planning a road trip... Yee ha! Nullarbor here I come. By car this time, and only solo one way. Travels with my aunt first. Can't wait. Best way to research and fact check that I know. And yes, we're adventurers and dreamers.
14.01.2022 Fascinating to see A Midsummer Night's Dream staged in the pop up Globe with Merran Regan
14.01.2022 Looking for authentic contemporary scripts for young adults and adults that address challenging issues ? This collection is the result of a long-term project I was very proud to be a part of.
10.01.2022 Research for the book: that's what I now call any day riding.Yesterday was a perfect day to ride to Wollombi. 300 ks of bliss. We crossed the Hawksbury, went up the Old Pacific Highway, through Peats Ridge and stopped for coffee in Kulnura. See the thin white line on the wall of the Wollombi pub? That's the 2007 flood level - the creek is in that gully below. Hard to imagine during this drought. And those birds? Blue-cheeked honeyeaters, every bit as persistent as their seaside cousins, seagulls.
09.01.2022 Travelling ... Such a good topic for storytelling, isn't it? Thanks to the Storytelling Guild for organising this event.
09.01.2022 What a time I've had in Western Australia! I've been here for a couple of months to spend time with my family and to write - a wonderfully enriching work life balance. WA is full of wild beauty and civilised charm, all of which is very inspiring. I've ended my time here on a high note - a week in residence at the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre. Thanks to all at KSP for making me so welcome. My memoir for adult readers is now at the spit and polish stage of the t...hird draft. I've been murdering my darlings and fact checking while I've been here. AND I've finished the first draft of what I HOPE is the first book in a series of books for young readers. The series concept came out of the blue as I was on retreat in Denmark on the south coast. That's why it's so important to give ourselves time to unplug from our everyday lives and to let our imaginations loose.
07.01.2022 I love my local library. What a welcoming and inspiring place to do some research for a new project.
07.01.2022 I'm delighted to share the news that my latest book is a finalist in the 2018 international Language Learners Literature Award. It was inspired by a trip I took through Central America with some marvellous, adventurous people. Thanks to my editor James Bean and to all at ILTS, and to the illustrator, Paul Fisher Johnson. http://erfoundation.org/wordpre//lll-award-finalists-2018/
04.01.2022 I met one of my heroes tonight. Robert Drewe.
04.01.2022 What a place for a meeting! MCA cafe. Ah, here's to being freelance again.
04.01.2022 I'm about to start a 5 day writing retreat. Bliss. I'll tell you more about this when I'm back.
03.01.2022 Sneak peek of my story, 'Threads of time', illustrated by Angela Ho, which is in the inaugural issue of KOOKIE MAGAZINE. The mag is aimed at pre-teen girls and is published in Australia and the UK. It's full of art, music, science, comics, quizzes and, of course, a morsel of fiction.
02.01.2022 Congratulations to Kirli Saunders on the launch of her picture book, 'The Incredible Freedom Machines', illustrated by Matt Ottley. In launching it, Yvette Poshoglian asked us what our freedom machines are. I rode mine to the launch - my motorbike. It turns out that Kirli's motorbike inspired her to write this wondrous book!
01.01.2022 Hooray! The latest issue of KOOKIE MAGAZINE arrived in my letterbox.
