From Australia with Love - Introducing Melissa Gijsbers

Australian writers rock. We know it, and we love them. But it’s not always easy to discover the Australian talent that is right under our noses.

From Australia With Love Blog Hop introduces you to 18 Aussie authors across a variety of categories and genres. Each author is hosting three of their fellow blog hop participants between now and Valentine’s Day to let you find out more about them. So follow them on twitter, like their Facebook page and visit their blogs during the blog hop period to discover more great Australian writers.

Today I'd like to welcome Australian author Melissa Gijsbers to my blog.  Apologies that we missed the Feb 14 cut off, but things have been hectic for Melissa and me of late!

What do you write and why?

I write a number of different things, from flash fiction to picture books and chapter books. I’ve found that I enjoy the shorter stories than writing novels for adults, partly because I get bored part way through!

In 5 words describe your writing style

This is a hard one; I ended up consulting my kids to help me!

Real, descriptive, exciting, fun, and awesome!

Who were your favourite authors growing up?

The books that stand out to me from my childhood include Grug by Ted Prior, Storm Boy, the Little Golden Books, Enid Blyton and Dr Seuss. I was given Storm Boy to read because it was an Australian book and I was an Australian kid in a missionary school in Pokhara, Nepal. I also read The Hobbit when I was in Grade Five, but never got in to The Lord of the Rings!

Who is your favourite children’s book character and why?

This one was hard as there are so many. One of my favourite kids books was “Mr Bear, Babyminder”. I can’t remember who it was by, but I remember laughing at Mr Bear trying to look after all those rabbit babies. But the character that has really stuck with me would have to be Grug – probably because I memorised the text of the first book and have recited it to my kids.

Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Keep writing and don’t give up.

Blog: www.melissawrites.com.au
Web: www.melissagijsbers.com (coming soon)


The competition has now closed.

Upcoming events February and March

I'm thrilled to be getting out and about in Sydney over the next few weekends to meet the readers.  It's certainly one of my favourite things about being a writer.  I love hearing the feedback and asking children where they would like Alice-Miranda to go next.  There are lots of wonderful things happening and there is a summary below plus individual posters for some of the events which are free but you will need to book.

Hope to see you out there somewhere!

Some very exciting news!

I've been bursting to be able to tell everyone my celebratory news but have been waiting for some official wording, and finally here it is!

Random House Australia (and me!) are delighted to announce that SLR Productions has optioned the television adaptation rights in the Alice-Miranda series.  Established in 2002 by CEO, Suzanne Ryan, SLR is recognised for creating successful brands such as the internationally acclaimed preschool property, Guess How Much I Love You™, the Australian comic book series GASP!™ and the Emmy Award winning animated series I Got a Rocket™.  We’re thrilled that Alice-Miranda will be in such great company and can’t wait to see her on the small screen.

I'm afraid I can't tell you any more than that, and all good things take time, but watch this space for updates.