Are you unpublished? No, I'm PREpublished

In this last little bit of my holidays, before I go back to my day job, I have squeezed in a tiny extra bit of travelling. Because really, can you honestly say you've travelled enough if you've only been to LA, New York and London when you sit around gossiping at morning tea on your first day back at work? No, I thought not.

So, I went to Melbourne. Sadly I missed catching up with some dear friends but I did see the Tim Burton exhibition. It rocked my socks off! I feel completely energised and inspired. Seeing snippets from a lifetimes worth of creative work - from hand written high school stories to college sketchbooks to puppets and costumes and props from some of my favourite films was mesmerising and delicious. I loved the whole crazy swirling, stripey, monsterish extravaganza.

But it was a wall of caricatures and character paintings that truly set my brain on fire. It was like a jigsaw piece finally clicked into place. All of a sudden I could feel a connection light up - from my brain to my fingertips - and I saw a new way to approach my own characters. After soaking up the exhibition for a good couple of hours, I raced back to my hotel room to begin sketching. Here's some of the little critters...

After that tremendous experience I flew to Sydney for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) conference. I am still in a happy daze after a weekend of networking, learning and laughing. Some of the wonderful sessions included - market trends and what publishers are looking for, Gabrielle Lord discussing her bestselling series Conspiracy 365, a discussion on creating picture books, and finding work in the educational market.

On top of learning ways to improve my craft I had two crazy-good experiences. Firstly I had the opportunity, along with my darling friend Angela and five other delegates, to pitch an idea to a panel of publishers. In front of the entire conference. My business card was drawn out of a barrel, and with about 60 seconds prep time I stepped up to the mike and ... well, it's a bit of a blur really. I vaguely remember my knees shaking while my brain rushed to fill my mouth with intelligent words about a picture book I've been working on. Apparently it went well. The panel of publishers said they loved my idea! And whenever I chatted to people across the weekend they congratulated me on my great pitch - which was lovely, especially as I felt so unprepared and nervous while doing it.

Secondly, I had a wonderful critique of my writing. I was so nervous - this was only the fourth person I had ever shown my short stories to. And you know what? At the end of my 30 minute session I felt so positive about the quality of my work, and the future possibility of being a published author. The publisher who critiqued my writing was warm, generous and gave me useful constructive feedback.

So, while i may still be a prepublished* author and illustrator, I am well on my way to seeing my name on the front of my very own book.

PS - Check out the work of two new friends I made at the conference.

The stylish Serena Geddes!

And the darling Lesley Vamos!

Want more conference goss? Chris Cheng has also posted about the conference.

*This was my favourite new word from the conference this weekend. I think it was from Lin Oliver.