A little book that could

From writing resolutions to throwing away trophies, surprises you find on the internet to finding your story, Q&A with a literary agent and a little word called PO ...

Ah, February, the month of love. Did you feel it too? But hang on, where did it go? February is a shorter month than usual. Maybe that’s it.

Earlier this year, I set myself an intention: to spend my morning writing and my afternoons doing business. That means no emails, socials, or phone calls before 1 pm unless absolutely necessary.

And guess what? A month in, I am on track. Better than on track some days, when the emails get opened right before school finishes and the socials get neglected altogether. Sorry, Instagram! This is such a lovely rhythm and so conducive to creativity. I feel like I get to finally call myself a full-time writer with no shame attached.

Weirdly, though, my story is writing itself much slower than ever before. I wade in, cruise around the chapters, and wade out again. I’ve steamrolled forward and back over the first twenty-thousand words so many times, I’ve lost count.

The problem? There have been many. The characters weren’t quite clear to me. They’ve shifted sands several times and rebirthed themselves over and over. I am dealing with a “chemical equation”—a romance—so they have to work both together and against each other. It’s worth getting it right though.

The plot, too, has been sticky. On the one hand, it’s quite clear. But when I get to writing, it gets murky. I find myself muddling around, dazed and confused, wondering, what the heck is going on? Then I steamroll the crap out of there, fast.

I deleted the entire twenty-thousand words last Monday and started again. No joke.

This final steamroll, though, seems to have done the trick. I am moving through the scenes a little faster with more certainty. The characters are pinging off each other; making more sense to both me and each other. Their actions no longer seem random and what the hell just happened? Talk to me again in a week, and I might have another story altogether …

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Things you accidentally find on the internet

I accidentally stumbled across Emma Watkins reading one of my Human-Kind books on Storybox Library the other day. One more time, please … EMMA! As in, Emma Wiggle—iconic, beloved, and wonderful Emma who takes her bunny for a walk! What an honour to hear her introduce my series and then read one of my books. Check it out here. If you don’t yet have a Storybox Library subscription, I highly recommend it for your homes and classrooms.

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Find your story

Sally Rippin was announced as Australian Children’s Laureate this month, which is just so great. I met Sally right at the beginning of my publishing journey when I did a writing workshop with her. She presented at my Victorian writing retreat last year too. She’s the loveliest, most generous human and is the perfect person to inspire young people to love reading.

Sally is dedicated to valuing every reader; valuing their strengths and their quirks. This is so important and applies to writing as well.

At my very first school visit, I ran a workshop at a little country school. One of the kids nervously held his pencil. “I’ve never written a story,” he told me. I encouraged him to write what he loved and what he was interested in, assuring him he just needed to write for himself. Don’t worry about spelling or any of it, I said. He sat back ten minutes later, beaming with pride. He had filled a whole page! Sure, it was a retelling of Star Wars, but who cares? He wrote it! He was proud!

Not long after, the principal came around to read the kids’ stories over their shoulders. “Ah, but how should you spell this word?” she asked. “Do you think that’s right?” I watched this little kid’s shoulders slump and his beam die out. He didn’t write another word for the rest of the session.

It was a stark reminder that young writers and readers need to feel valued and worthy. To be encouraged to read and write what they love and assured that whatever that is to them, it is meaningful. I love that Sally is on the ground, assuring kids Australia-wide that they’re on the right path.

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Night spinning

Are you a night spinner? Don’t you love this term? A night spinner is a person who wakes at night and ‘spins’ a creative web. There’s a beautiful interview on Radio National Life Matters with Annabel Streets about her personal research into insomnia. She suspected that her nightly wake-ups were possibly ancestral and perhaps served some purpose.

When she read journals written by female poets, philosophers, and artists, she discovered so many used the night hours to ‘spin’. By candlelight, they’d foster knowledge about the stars, write poetry, paint, weave, and study. Lee Krasner (Pollock’s wife) painted completely differently in her night hours. Katherine Mansfield wrote poetry she’d never write in the day.

When the world is quiet and dark, our hormone release is different. Less cortisol (less energy), less serotonin (explains night melancholia), and more dopamine (our creative, adventurous brain). Annabel suggests to lean in, as our ancestors did.

I long suspected my nightly wake-ups served some practical purpose. Throughout most of human history, at least some adults in the cave needed to be alert so the rest weren’t eaten by a saber-toothed tiger. Thousands of years of hereditary habits surely can’t be undone within a few decades by a modern life that demands a good eight hours of solid sleep so we are fresh as a daisy for our work hours.

I’m with the night spinners. I won’t be getting up to paint, write, or fight off saber-toothed tigers. But I will be feeling more at peace as I lay awake, letting my creative brain meander.

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News from the Sunshine House

This month, I am excited to invite literary agent, Rochelle Fernandez to the Sunshine House group mentoring meeting. Rochelle is an agent at Alex Adsett Literary and has many years of experience in publishing. Our Sunshine House members will get to ask Rochelle everything they’d like to know about approaching agents.

We meet every month to workshop author careers, ask questions, and grow confidence and knowledge. If you’d like to join our meetings for just $9.99 a month, register here.

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Creative Corner with Annabel Blake

Each month, I invite an author to drop by and share their reflections on creativity. Meet Annabel, who I first met as a client and has become a very good friend. I am endlessly inspired by Annabel’s creative mind …

The Power of PO

Did you know there is a word between yes and no? That word, is PO.

Discovered by Edward de Bono, PO stands for Provocative Operations. And it’s the space where your next best idea is hiding.

“NO is the basic tool of the logic system.

YES is the basic tool of the belief system.

PO is the basic tool of the creative system.” -Edward de Bono

In 2022, my Provocative Operation was a fish. Specifically this fish. I had torn it up to demonstrate a concept to my colleagues, for an activity I call ‘stinky fish’ ( that’s a story for another time).

Before I threw it out, it tickled me that with a few rips, this piece of paper had become a plaything. Something that the rigidity and formality of a book rarely affords (even though I’ve seen plenty of children balance books on their head like a game). The fish continued to stare at me between Zoom meetings until I scribbled a few ideas on it’s paper scales.

Sitting with PO allows us to avoid prematurely deploying ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ on creative ideas, before they’ve even had time to properly stew. Or in this case, swim. The idea scribbled in that fish is now a newly released book called ‘THIS BOOK IS A TOY’.

The world is brimming with PO. Sometimes PO looks like a question (what if the floor really WAS lava?); a character name you like, before you know who they are; or a crumpled piece of paper which, if you squint just right, takes the appearance of a fish. So, keep a look out for PO. And play with it for a moment, swimming between yes and no. You never know where the PO will go.

You can catch more PO-isms in my newsletter at

Read THIS BOOK IS A TOY from Five Mile (or soon, Big W) https://fivemile.com.au/products/this-book-is-a-toy

Or find my other books at annabelblake.com and bookandbot.com

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One final wanderling before I go …

I’m feeling quite somber this week because Queenie in Seven Moves missed out on a CBCA Notable. I know these things are subjective and you shouldn’t lean too far into external accolades. But I’d had enough people tell me they hoped Queenie would be selected that I dared raise my little hopes …

A lot of good books missed out. That’s the nature of these things! I know I’m not the only one feeling disappointed.

I was one of those kids who put a lot of weight on awards. There’s a picture of me at the kindergarten assembly, holding my certificate with a gold sticker wearing a smile for days. Every year after, I longed for stars on badges, gold stickers on my work, book prizes at the end of the year. Embarrassingly, I have journal entries from January along the lines of Please win lots of book prizes this year! You know you can do it!

A few years ago, I cradled a box of plastic gold trophies that had sat under my bed for decades, gathering dust. I wondered what to do with all this hard-earned plastic. You know what? I popped it in the bin. The big green one that goes on the street. (Sorry, environment!) It was a funny feeling. A good one, in many ways.

I had a friend called Peter back in the day who was a very successful artist. Not that you’d know by looking at his CV because Peter was a Buddhist who never entered art prizes. He probably would have won several of them; $50,000 kind of awards and big accolades. But he chose not to. His philosophy was that art can’t be judged or valued.

While I won’t be bowing out of the chance to be shortlisted or longlisted any time soon, I keep Peter’s philosophy in mind this week as head down, I keep working and writing. The joy is in the making. It’s in process. That’s where my validation comes from these days.

I am truly happy for those who have been longlisted. I feel your joy and celebrate with you. But I let myself be sad. Not sad for me, strictly; more for my little book that thought it could but still goes on to have value and meaning and I can’t forget that …

From throwing out trophies to being patient with your story … I hope you find the creative spark you need this coming month.

Zanni x