Two minutes of FAME!

I am a star !!!!

Or at least I was a star for 2 minutes last week at the 

12th annual Children's Book Council of Australia's event,

A Night With Our Stars!

West Australian authors and illustrators that had a book released in the past year were invited by the CBCA to give a 2 minute talk about their book to an audience of librarians, teachers and other interested booky people.

It's a long way for me to travel from Singapore to Perth for 2 minutes of stardom but I had a things I needed to do in Perth (e.g. a family barbeque  a catch-up with friends and some shopping) so I took the opportunity to combine business with pleasure and went along!

It was particularly enjoyable because Michael Scott Parkinson, the illustrator of  Darcy Moon and the Deep-fried Frogs, and I were able to do our first ever double-act together.

I talked for two minutes (which went rediculously fast) about Darcy Moon while Michael illustrated my words in 'real' time. I didn't get a photo of what he drew because I was too busy talking, but he had the crowd in hysterics and made me sound even more hilarious than I usually am, so thanks Michael. 

I then illustrated (after receiving a few online lessons from Michael) his newest character creation 'Norbert' while Michael spoke about his new book coming out in August 2015. 

My impression of Michael Scott-Parkinson's 'Norbert'

The event was sponsored by Fremantle Press and Westbooks and was a fantastic celebration of wonderful children's books that were born in WA this year.

Rottnest - I got an AWARD!

I'm writing this blog from my sunny balcony on Rottnest Island. I'm overlooking the ocean, the waves are rolling and the air is full of salt and eucalyptus. I'm here for SCBWI WA's annual Rottnest Retreat so not only am I in one of my favourite places in the world, but I can talk about writing all day without boring anyone. Everyone here is as obsessed with children's books as I am. It is heaven.

This is my third SCBWI Rottnest retreat. It's four days of fun, laughter, peace and creativity. I look forward to it every year, but this year has been very special because I won an AWARD!

With my very own name engraved on it *squee*

 I'll show it to you in a moment, but first I need to give you some background. 

One of the traditions at Rottnest is the 'Two Minute Pitch'. 

The idea is we get two minutes each to pitch our story idea to the group, making it sound as enticing as possible.

(This is hands on practise for when we trap some hapless publisher/agent in the queue for the loo and have two minutes to convince them to sign us up). 

Whoever gets the first publishing deal for their  pitch wins the award.

And guess what? I pitched Darcy Moon in 2010, which means that I won the award in 2012!

Too much happiness!

Here it is. Isn't it pretty? The engraving says,

2010

SCBWI ROTTNEST RETREAT

PITCH AWARD WINNER

CATHERINE CARVELL

Does this mean I get a little gold sticker on my book cover?

Hmmm. Maybe not.

But seriously ...

Thank you everyone at SCBWI WA for being a great group of people

For all the fun and encouragement and support over the years 

Getting this award felt like another great big hurrah from my very own personal cheer squad.

You guys rock!

Now race you for the Pitch Award 2011 !!!