Katapult - Edition 5 - May, 2018

Welcome to Katapult!

Where did April go? That must mean it’s time for the May edition of my newsletter, Katapult. So what has been happening at my desk since the last time we had a chat? Truckloads!

What’s Up?

The Newcastle Writers Festival Schools Program and Family Fun Day: This was amazing! In case you missed it, the link to my newsletter blog post about it is here. 

Baking: I’ve been trialling an original recipe I wrote to be included in my latest picture book about a great-grandmother and her great-granddaughter. It has made me realise the work that goes into making a cook book ready for publication. We've had fun eating my creations, even the failed ones! I think I’ll need to make one more before I’m happy.  Maybe two ;)

Writing Workshop with Zanni Louise: I was lucky enough to attend a writing workshop at The Children’s Bookshop, Beecroft presented by Zanni Loiuse during the school holidays. I love going to workshops and soaking up any snippets of information I can on how to make my writing even better. Zanni was so beautiful and so were the people attending.  

Harry Hartog, Kotara: I presented a little storytime at Harry Hartog, Kotara during the last week of the school holidays. Some of the kids made my laugh with their stories about the weather, rainbows, unicorns and their TV viewing.  

Puppy: We got a puppy last Sunday. Her name is Ivy and she is a black cocker spaniel. You may think this isn’t writing related but trust me it is! I’ve been eagerly jotting down notes about her arrival and the ups and downs. There may be a picture book in there somewhere. I do have a dog in my next picture book, No Baths Week. Dogs are an endless source of ideas for stories. 

Play Outside Day: Last Friday, Kirrili Lonergan and I presented an interactive storytime at the Hunter Wetlands as part of the Play Outside Day event hosted by Newcastle Region Libraries. Kirrili and I shared our book Dandelions, went on dandelion hunts, hosted craft activities, blew bubbles, and drew pictures. There were lots of kids, beautiful weather and a few pesky mosquitoes, but overall we had a beautiful day. 

Storybox with ABC1233 Newcastle: I was handed the ABC1233 Newcastle Storybook last Wednesday and was interviewed on ABC1233 at 6:30am the following morning. Whomever has the box agrees to share their ‘story’ on the radio with the local listeners. It was a nerve-wracking experience but lots of fun. 

Upcoming Events

1) I’m doing a monthly story time event at Harry Hartog, Kotara until the end of the year. My next one is this Wednesday, 9th May at 10:30am.

2) I was interviewed for the Just Write For Kids blog by the lovely Debra Tidball. It has been broken into three parts as I talk too much and Deb couldn’t fit it in the usual two parts - oops! Thanks for having me, Deb.

The first part is here.

The second part is here.

The third part will be released early June.

3) The third meeting of the CBCA NSW Branch Inc. Newcastle Sub-branch is this Wednesday night. We’ll be hearing from Deb Abela and Susanne Gervay about Room to Read, SCBWI and their wonderful books. I’m really looking forward to this event.

4) The MANTLE Conference is on this Friday. It’s an annual one-day conference for teaching librarian from the Central Coast up to Taree. I’ll be helping man the local CBCA table at the trade fair. I love talking books and reading with educational specialists. They do such a wonderful job making literature a joy for children.

5) Kirrili and I are off to Melbourne for the Kidlitvic Conference next week. This will be our third year attending and we’re very excited. I have a manuscript critique with a publisher while I’m there so fingers crossed they say something nice and encouraging. They usually do but that doesn’t help the nerves that come with the critique.

6) Kirrili and I have a school visit towards the end of May we are really looking forward to. I’ll have photos in the next edition. If you’d like us to come to your school, shoot me an email so we can organise one that is perfectly designed for your school’s needs. Preschools, Primary Schools and High Schools welcome!

Publishing Update

I have news to announce but not formally yet. Hopefully I can announce it in the June edition. Keep an eye on my social media platforms as the news may appear there first. They’re all linked below.

Anything to Share?

The Aspiring Writers Mentorship Program hosted by CBCA NSW and sponsored by Harper Collins is open for submissions. Good luck to anyone entering. Submissions close 30th June. For more information, click here.

Davina Bell will be hosting a workshop at the NSW Writers Centre on Saturday, 26th May. It looks wonderful. 

Recent Book Purchase/s?

If I’d attended the Sydney Writers Festival on the weekend I would have had a truckload of new books. But I didn't make it so I don’t. Phew! My shelves are getting full and my ‘to read’ pile is very high. I hope everyone who presented at the festival, especially as part of the children’s program, or who attended it had a wonderful time. All your photos on social media looked amazing. I was quite jealous! And the weather was divine.

At the moment I’m reading ‘Missing’ by Sue Whiting. 

Where can you find me on social media?

I’ve made it easy. Just click on the live links below and like or follow me.

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Feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email: author@katrinamckelvey.com

I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Mother’s Day 

to anyone in a motherly role. 

The definition of ‘mum’ is so diverse. 

Hope everyone in your family has a wonderful day. 

This photo of my cherubs is a few years old now but I love it!

CBCA Lunch with the Stars - Newcastle

Photo: CBCA NSW Branch Inc. Newcastle Sub-branch - Lunch with the Stars Booklet Cover

What a day we had yesterday!

The CBCA NSW Branch Inc. Newcastle Sub-branch hosted its third annual 

Lunch with the Stars

A committee of eight local CBCA members spend the last 6 months planning, discussing and organising this year's event. It's a mammoth task to pull together an event like this but it's all worth it once the kids enter the room and fill it with an overwhelming atmosphere of excitement and anticipation.

Thanks to: Kirrili (chief co-ordinator), Jodie, Ruth, Julie, Gwynne, Amanda, Lillian and myself. 

It would never have happened without this team.

Our local children's literature community is such a dedicated bunch when it comes to supporting our local CBCA branch. They jumped on board once again and gave us an entire day to be part of this event.

Photo: Lynn Jenkins, Liz Anelli, Renee Price, Katrina McKelvey, Ant Wood, Oliver Phommavanh, Karen Hughes, Deb Kelly, Paul Russell, Gwynne Jones, Lizzie Wilcock, Kirrili Lonergan, Jenny Blackford and Lillian Webb.

Thanks to our stars: Gwynne Jones, Deb Kelly, Kirrili Lonergan, Liz Anelli, Paul Russell, Oliver Phommavanh (special guest), Lizzie Wilcock, Lynn Jenkins, Anthony Wood, Lillian Webb, Jenny Blackford, and Karen Hughes. We missed you Jess Black - hope you feel better soon :)

Schools came from everywhere to join in the festivities with over 100 children having lunch and a chat with these 14 amazing local authors and illustrators. The kids decorated their tables so wonderfully - such a creative bunch! Check out the photos below.

Thanks to our schools: Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College, Ashtonfield PS, New Lambton PS, Edgeworth Heights PS, Tanilba Bay PS, St Therese's Primary - New Lambton, Kahibah PS, Belair PS, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary - Tarro, Tarro PS, Shortland PS, Waratah West PS, 

and Beresfield PS.

Photos: Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College - Jess Black, Katrina McKelvey, and Renee Price 

(long story as to why they had three stars!)

Photo: Waratah West PS - Jenny Blackford

Photo: St There's Primary, New Lambton - Paul Russell

Photo: Shortland PS - Lillian Webb

Photo: New Lambton PS - Deb Kelly (First Place)

Photo: Belair PS - Lizzie Wilcock

Photo: Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, Tarro - Lynn Jenkins

Photo: Edgeworth Heights PS - Kirrili Lonergan

Photo: Kahibah PS - Oliver Phommavanh

Photo: Tarro PS - Ant Wood

Photo: Tanilba Bay PS - Liz Anelli

Photo: Ashtonfield PS - Gwynne Jones

Photo: Beresfield PS - Karen Hughes

The unforgettable Oliver Phommavanh, our special guest, entertained the room 

with amazing stories and funny jokes. 

Thanks Oliver!

 

This event was impossible without financial support from our wonderful sponsors. We had schools sponsored who would otherwise have never been able to participate. I heard whispers these children went home after having the best day of their lives - happy days!

Newcastle Region Libraries sponsored several schools and gave a free, signed copy of one of Oliver's books to every child who attended. Thanks to Oliver who arrived super early to sign every single copy (over 100!).

Newcastle and Charlestown Toyota also sponsored several schools who would have otherwise not been able to attend.

MacLean's Booksellers in Hamilton always support our local CBCA events with book donations. Amanda also set up an amazing pop-up bookshop full to the brim with books from 

our participating stars for our attending schools to buy.

Beresfield Bowling Club supplied the venue and set up the room perfectly to meet the needs 

of our event. Nothing was too hard. The staff were superb!

Thanks to: Newcastle Region Libraries, Newcastle and Charlestown Toyota, MacLean's Booksellers and Beresfield Bowling Club.

    

We were very lucky to have had two beautiful volunteers on the day to help troubleshoot 

and support our guests (and the MC! - me). They ran around all day making sure 

everything was just right. And they left last!

Thanks Linda and Robyn - you're angels :)

Our booklet took a while to pull together but it finally did thanks to a huge team of clever people. This booklet is aways a popular keepsake from the day and treasured by the kids for years.

Thanks to: Gwynne and Deb for the internal pages

Thanks to: Liz, Kirrili, Gwynne and Lillian for designing the cover

The illustration activity was fun and challenging indeed. I asked children to chose nouns, verbs and places to mash together for our resident illustrators, Kirrili, Liz, Lillian and Gwynne to draw on easels around the room as the kids followed along. Six rounds, one minute time restrains, and lots of pressure made this part of the day truly 'challenging'. It proved to all of us just how clever these illustrators really are no matter how hard I tried to make the suggestions. 

They had to draw:

~ a rooster scratching for fleas in a helicopter, 

~ a unicorn wrangling a crocodile at the zoo, 

~ a librarian knitting underwater, 

~ an alien parachuting in outer space, 

and 

~ an astronaut jumping on pogo stick on the back of a whale. 

Sounded hard to me but they nailed it!

Round six involved a 'Mr Squiggle' type activity and they named that too! Magic!

 

Photos: Gwynne Jones and Liz Anelli (photos by Karen Hughes)

Photos: Kirrili Lonergan and Lillian Webb (photos by Kirrili Lonergan)

Congratulations to the children and schools who won lucky seats prizes and 

book packs for best dressed tables.

It was an honour to have helped Kirrili and the committee provide such a unique and special event for our local community and to be the MC once again. The day ran smoothly thanks to everyone pitching in and helping when needed and for all the finer details being sorted before the day.

Kirrili did an amazing job co-ordinating this event this year (and for being a star, and for being my MC wingman). It's a hard task, especially when the odd thing goes wrong, but we handled it like pros and provided an experience these children will never forget. You're a star!

Thanks Kirrili!

It's now time for us to evaluate and recover. The feedback has been amazing so far and we've loved seeing all the photos popping up on social media. Hope you have too!