The Mistakes Series

5 mistakes I've made as a writer

Dear Reader,

It’s been several months since I mislaid my newsletter mojo but I felt the urge to say hello and offer you something from the archives.

This is one for the writers among you.

Originally, most of the 5-part “Mistakes” series was sent out to paid subscribers. Since I no longer use that model I’ve unlocked* all 5 posts.

*Substack has a frustrating bug that sometimes re-locks posts after you’ve gone to the trouble of making them available to everyone — if this happens, please let me know by comment or reply.

This series is about some of the daft / career-changing mistakes I’ve made as a writer, despite my day-job(s) being 100% book industry since I left university many moons ago. A handful of teachable moments, perhaps. I’d be pleased if any of my cautionary tales were helpful to someone else, so take your pick:

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1: I subbed before I was ready

5 Mistakes I’ve Made As A Writer: #1

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2: I gave my work away

5 Mistakes I’ve Made as a Writer: #2

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3: I wrote the book they wanted

5 Mistakes I've Made As A Writer #3

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4: I did NaNoWriMo when I didn’t really need to

5 Mistakes I've Made As A Writer #4

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5: I said “no”

5 Mistakes I've Made As a Writer #5

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Let me know if any of those resonate with you.

Writing Update

I’m still spending a lot of time outside my comfort zone. For the first half of the year I devoted myself to finishing a manuscript that was as a present to myself for turning fifty. I simply asked myself: can I do this? And I could. I did! Whether I’ve done it successfully in a commercial sense remains to be seen.

I’m editing a middle-grade novel that is coming out in the first half of next year. This is also out of my comfort zone and I’m equal parts adrenalised and trepidatious.

Finally, I’m feeling pure anticipation for the illustrated junior fiction that is also due next year (second half), a collaboration with Sarah Zweck whose work tenderly taps into the landscape of early childhood emotion. (Sarah’s website.)

Thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this and you’d like to support me in some way, I’d love it if you’d consider leaving a review of one of my books or sharing this newsletter with a friend.

I’ve worked in the children’s book industry for 25 years in various roles: in-house editor, consultant to a literary agent, children’s book buyer, reviewer, freelance manuscript assessor, and as a writer-in-residence in a high school library. My writing includes the Young Adult novels Girl, Aloud (2009), Steal My Sunshine (2013) and I Am Out With Lanterns (2018). For late primary/early high school readers: The Other Side of Summer (2016; a companion novel to I Am Out With Lanterns) and Aussie Stem Stars: Gisela Kaplan (2021). Eliza Boom’s Diary books 1 & 2 (2014) are for emerging readers aged 5-9. My latest novels are Elsewhere Girls (2021) and Outlaw Girls (2024), with Nova Weetman, and The Goodbye Year (2022), for readers aged 10+.