One of the unexpected benefits of Covid 19 has been the uptake of the use of video conferencing, to teleport people into events and workshops in far-flung places! I was so pleased that the SCBWI community embraced this technology in a big way! It meant I had the pleasure of zooming into various events, one being the SCBWI Queensland Bibliotherapy Symposium, from my temporary lock-down digs in Canberra in August 2021.
As an author with a social worker heart, the topic of using books in the helping professions interested me. It was an inspiring day of speakers, from bibliotherapist and GP, Dr Zewlan Moor, to speech pathologist, Claire Monsour, speaking about how ‘speechies’ use kid’s books, as well as judging the Speech Pathologist Book of the Year award. Publisher Anouska Jones from EK Books was also in the speaker’s line-up, and here’s where the story gets even more interesting for me…
One of the perks of attending the conference was the generous offer by Anouska for participants to submit a picture book manuscript that fitted the EK brief (Books with heart on issues that matter) direct to her. And it just so happened that I had one such manuscript tucked away in my bulging ‘manuscript’ computer folder (surprise, surprise!!). I took up the opportunity to email it direct to her, and zip bam boom, my latest picture book, Anchored, sails into bookshops in April! Just like magic! Actually, maybe that should be the title of this post: SCBWI Makes Magic Happen?!
The book is about a big ship and a little tugboat and the sustaining and transformative power of love, despite being oceans apart. The illustrations by Adelaide-based artist, Arielle Li, are simply stunning! Anchored is for anyone who spends time away from someone they love.
Many thanks to SCBWI Australia East and especially the Queensland team, and Anouska Jones and the EK team, and my wonderful illustrator, Arielle. It’s been a magical ride!
Join Deb to help launch Anchored.
Saturday 29th April 2-3.30 Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre
16-18 Fitzroy Street Kirribilli