Talking about Alice-Miranda

Over the past year or so I've made several videos with the Random House team, which have generally been used to share the Alice-Miranda love through the marketing department with the various book buyers.  I hadn't see any of them but recently they were loaded to You Tube.  If you're interested to know more about the series, how I came to write the books or what they're about, take a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet Clementine Rose - my first ever book trailer!

This week the lovely team from Random House Australia sent me the book trailer for Clementine Rose.  I LOVE it - the music, which I know Sarana and the team spent ages selecting, is simply perfect and the trailer is adorable.  I love that Lavender does loops jumping on Clemmie's bed too and if you don't see if the first time, have a look at the portrait on the top of the stairs and what happens to Aunt Violet's glasses.

Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor has debuted this week in the Random House Australia top ten YA and Children's books at number six - a huge thrill and particularly when Alice-Miranda Shows the Way is in there at number four.  To have both my girls in the one list is amazing.

I also had a beautiful email from a woman who has just named her baby girl, Clementine Rose (before the series was launched, so just a lovely coincidence).  To top things off there was a great review for the first Clementine Rose book in Magpies magazine (which I'm always a little afraid of  as they can be tough!).

Anyway, this post has to be short and sweet as I've been a bit under the weather recently and am way behind on a deadline for Alice-Miranda In Paris.  Hope you enjoy the trailer!

Two releases in one day and two months to go!

Today marks the release of two books for me.  In Australia, Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor is officially in stores.  I'm really excited about Clemmie's launch into the world and I hope that little girls love her as much as I adore writing her stories.  She's quirky and funny and has a tea cup pig - what's not to like a about a pet pig called Lavender!  I'm thrilled too that Clementine is on the Get Reading Program - which is a promotion that happens throughout September, encouraging Australians to do just that, and get reading.  It's wonderful to have that level of promotion, particularly for a new series.
In the UK, Alice-Miranda On Holiday is officially out today too (although today, means Friday 31 August).  I'm excited that the series is getting a foothold in the market there and Random House UK will release two more books simultaneously in February.  It's hard to know how things will go when you are across the other side of the world, but I will certainly tour the UK again sometime next year as I think being there and being able to talk to your potential audiences is so important.

I've got two months until I finish up at Abbotsleigh as Director of Development.  Yesterday we ran a new event for our parents and friends; a corporate sports lunch in the city at The Establishment.  I was really anxious about this one, but it was fantastic.  We were so fortunate to have Rebecca Wilson as the MC (she is wonderful - and was a brilliant MC) and Ellyse Perry, Rod Kafer, Jason Ball and Laurie Daley on the panel.  They were all engaging and professional and the feedback has been amazing.  Not to mention a whole table of Olympians including Dan Noonan from the men's rowing four who brought along his bronze medal too!  I know I'll miss the community of the school - there are so many things I love about being there, but Alice-Miranda and Clemmie need me and so, I am really looking forward to being able to give them my full attention.

Get Reading 2012

Yesterday the Get Reading Program was launched for 2012.  I am thrilled that the first book in my new series, Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor is featured on the list of '50 Books You Can't Put Down'.  It's a real honour to have been selected and I hope this will see Clemmie get into the hands of lots of readers - the book is officially in Australian stores as of next Saturday 1 September.  There are 49 other fabulous books on the list - and I'm pinching myself to be among such amazing company.  I've included some information about the program from the Get Reading website as well as the text from Clemmie's page.  You can click through to read the entire catalogue as well.

Get Reading!, formerly known as Books Alive, is Australia’s largest annual celebration of books and reading, which encourages all Australians to pick up a book, put up their feet and get reading!
50 Books You Can’t Put Down Get Reading! is primarily a month-long, nationwide campaign focused on inspiring more Australians to discover or rediscover the pleasure of reading. Central to this campaign is the FREE 50 Books You Can’t Put Down Guide which includes 50 of the year’s top reads. During the month of September hundreds of thousands of the FREE guide are distributed nationally via bookstores, libraries, events, and festivals located around the country.
 

Clementine Rose and the Surprise Visitor

Jacqueline Harvey

 

Clementine Rose lives in Penberthy Floss in a large,

ramshackle house with her mother, Lady Clarissa, butler

Digby Pertwhistle and a very sweet little teacup pig called

Lavender. When her scary Aunt Violet arrives unexpectedly,

the household is thrown into disarray. What is it that Aunt

Violet really wants and what is she carrying in her mysterious

black bag? If you loved Enid Blyton when you were growing

up, your little girl will love Clementine Rose.

Recommended for children age 5+

News!

After much soul searching and endless discussions with Ian, a few weeks ago I decided that I would resign from my full time job as Director of Development at Abbotsleigh School for Girls in Sydney.  I know that there are many things I will miss - mostly the people and the stimulation of doing such a broad range of tasks, but the time is now to try my hand at writing and speaking full time.  I'm excited about the future and a little nervous too - it's impossible to know how things will go.  I do know though, that while I was on tour, I realised that I missed working with children in the classroom.  I think I was born to be a teacher and a writer and I need to work in a way that caters for both.  I am not leaving until the end of October so the school can find the right person to replace me, but come 1 November I'm looking forward to being able to say 'yes' to opportunities that come my way.  I'll also be looking for speaking and teaching opportunities so if you'd like to talk to me about that, please email!

This past week we had our Literary Festival at Abbotsleigh with so many talented Australian authors and illustrators.  Sally Murphy, Hazel Edwards, Kate Forsyth, Gabrielle Wang, Morris Gleitzman, John Marsden, Colin Thompson, Anthony Eaton, Aleesah Darlison, Tobhy Riddle, Ursula Dubosarsky, Sarah Davis, Aaron Blabey, Geoffrey McSkimming, John Larkin, Chris Morphew and Barry Heard to name a few - sorry if I've left anyone off! 

It's fantastic to have so many like minded people in the one place and my only regret was that I didn't have a lot of time to sit and chat, being part of the organising committee and conducting sessions, while also keeping up my other job.  I did have the pleasure of collecting Barry Heard and Anthony Eaton from the airport on Wednesday evening.  Anthony was flying in an hour after Barry, so Barry and I sat and had a cuppa while we waited for the flight.  Barry Heard is without doubt an extraordinary man.  I must confess that I didn't know much about him until then - a Vietnam veteran who had written a couple of books was about all I had learned.  That was underselling him something shocking.  He's a survivor, a dad, a husband, a mate and an incredible story teller who has a quiet passion for history.  I wanted Anthony's flight to be late so I could keep talking to Barry (sorry Anthony) - and I was upset that I couldn't see him speak on Thursday as I had my own sessions to do.  I will be buying every one of his books and reading them in a quiet place, with plenty of tissues on hand.  He made such an impact on our girls at school that several of them told me afterwards that he was 'amazing'; 'I just wanted to give him a hug'; 'he was incredible' and so on.  I can believe that's exactly how they felt.  I am so pleased that I had the opportunity to meet him - and I do hope that our paths will again cross in the future.

Paris - a post script

A couple of days ago I was at work and received an email from a colleague who I have done some videoconferencing with.  We have never met in person.  Lynette wrote the following:

'I wanted to tell you I was recently holidaying in Paris, and I visited the famous Shakespeare & Co Bookshop in the Latin Corner. I was perusing the children’s book area, and low-and-behold, there you were…two books signed by yourself.

I was excited for you to have TWO books in this globally well-known library/bookstore, and wanted to send my congratulations!'

Never for a moment when Ian and I left those 7 signed books in the store, did I imagine that someone from Australia - who knew me - would see them.  And if there were only 2 I hope that means Shakespeare & Co have sold the other 5.

So while my experience of leaving the books there was not quite the lovely moment I had imagined it to be, this email from Lynette made me realise that it was indeed a great thing to do - and once again the world really is a small place!

Hong Kong - the final leg of an incredible journey

Walking out of Hong Kong airport was something akin to wading into a bowl of warm soup.  Sticky, warm soup.  At 32 degrees and 95% humidity, it was certainly a shock to the system after the cool temperatures we’d experienced in the UK and Paris.

I’d never been to Hong Kong before.  Ian had, many times but in the 80s and 90s when he was frequently there for work.  We found the right taxi to get us to Kowloon – there’s a red taxi and a green taxi and I think the other was yellow and they all go to different areas.  I was amazed by the expressways and the incredible bridges.  And the container ships – there were masses of them.

On the way into the city, the heavens opened and we experienced a proper tropical rainstorm.  The streets were awash and it was almost impossible to see out of the windscreen.

We stayed at the Hyatt Tsim Sha Tsiu, apparently almost brand new and in a very central location in Kowloon.  We had a fantastic room on the 20^th floor with views of the harbor and over to Hong Kong.  Ian certainly saved the best bathroom for last – it was incredible.  With a wet room, shower/bath and enormous vanity, I was in love. 

We were keen to see if it was still possible to get some custom tailoring in five days.  We made some enquiries with the concierge and were given a few options.  Of course we could also have gone with one of the many touts on the street, ‘you wanna cheap suit sir, tailor made, copy bags, copy watch’.  'NO!' These guys were incessant.  I just smiled and said nothing and found that was the best approach by far. 

We decided to visit a lady called Linda Chow.  Okay, so she’s definitely not the cheapest tailor going around – and she will tell you that straight up, but I’m quite sure she could be the funniest.  She was happy to give us a price and there was absolutely no pressure whatsoever to go through with having the garment made.  But I did.  I’ve had a Cue jacket for about ten years that I love.  But the lining is worn out and it’s a little past its prime so I had Linda make me a replica jacket in slightly different fabric.  Ian decided to get a suit too.  Linda had a wall of celebrity clients including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hilary Clinton, Jamie Lee Curtis and our very own Deborah Hutton.
I found walking around outside somewhat of a challenge, not being at all acclimatized.  The many shopping centres along the harbour held a certain appeal (mainly for their airconditioning), although once inside I was fairly keen to get back to the hotel – they are so expensive.  I was amazed by the number of high end boutiques – seriously who can afford to buy Chanel and Prada and Valentino when they pop out to what is the equivalent of the local Westfields?  Apparently not many of the locals, as the shopping bags were few and far between. 

I had to laugh (and take photos) in one section of the mall where there was a row of high end children’s stores including Dior Baby, Fendi Kids, Chanel Kids, Polo Kids etc etc.  They went on and on.  So that’s where Suri Cruise buys all her clothes.  Even in New York and London we never saw such a proliferation of obscenely expensive kidswear stores in the one place.

We had a fun morning in the Ladies Markets and I learned that my husband is a superstar haggler.  I, on the other hand just kept my mouth closed.  We walked away with some great bargains.    

Our main reason for stopping in Hong Kong was to meet David Parrish from Random House UK, who we spent a day with, touring various bookstores and learning about the local book business.  We met Christa who runs the Blooming Club for Commercial Press.  She made us feel so welcome and took us for a fabulous lunch too.  The Commercial Press Shop in the Miramar Shopping Centre on Nathan Road is absolutely beautiful, as is their specialist children’s shop at the Olympian Centre.

We also met the irrepressible Shonee, who with her sister owns a fabulous chain of stores called Bookazine.  They are very clever young women with loads of added extras instore to attract children back time and again.  I certainly look forward to returning to Hong Kong next year for some events in schools and working with both ladies.
David took us to see some of the Page One stores as well, which are huge and very well stocked.  Dymocks is a big chain in Hong Kong too.
We travelled with David on the MTR which is clean and efficient.  You cannot eat or drink on the train or in the station and what a difference that makes to the level of cleanliness.  We had a short walk around the Hong Kong side of the city and then caught the Star Ferry back across to Kowloon.

That night we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant on the 31^st floor of a relatively new building called iSquare.  It was our last night of the tour so there was much to celebrate.

On Wednesday morning we had a final fitting with Linda Chow.  We were both pleased with our purchases and they arrived pressed and packaged at the hotel half an hour before our departure for the airport.  I love the fact that in Hong Kong, as soon as we checked in they asked what time our flight was and then extended our check out until 3pm so we could go straight to the airport from the hotel.

I am really looking forward to returning to Hong Kong (probably at a cooler time of year).  It was the perfect end to our incredible journey, as I spent quite a lot of time in the air-conditioned comfort of the hotel, working on Alice-Miranda’s Parisian adventure but there was just enough sightseeing to give me a taste of the city and most importantly, we met David and got some insights into the book industry as well as making some great contacts for the future.