A sunny new year
Reflecting on the year that's been and preparing for what's ahead ...
Hello! Welcome to 2025. Lovely to see you here.
As you can tell if you’ve been following my social media accounts, I am not technically sending this note from the Sunshine House. Though I am typing from a yellow sunbathed cottage in an Austrian village, so the title still works!
How are you? How’s the start of your year?
I have started this post several times, but to be honest, since we left Australia on the 17th November, I’ve barely spent a second on the computer. Every day has been filled with family adventures. I swear, I’ve visited more UNESCO sites than ever in this time, eaten more delicious food, soaked in incredible culture …
We started our adventure in Japan, where I had a school visit. I know, right?! So much fun. Such a great opportunity to tour a country I have always wanted to go. Having visited both Beijing and Tokyo kids in schools last year, I conclude that kids are kids wherever you go: magic and full of hope. As are teacher librarians! Probably our favourite thing in Japan was the food. But I have to say, seeing Fuji resplendent in the sunshine as it hovered over a crystal lake was hard to beat.
We are lucky to have family based in Europe, so spent two weeks in the Netherlands, a week in Paris where we caught up with Tristan and Amber, and are now ensconced in our European sunshine house in Austria. The last few weeks have been dreamy, spent with family either in the ski fields, forests or cafes.
Now the busy Christmas period has passed, I’ve started my daily nature runs. From our back door, I head straight into the forest, up a mountain overlooking what I suppose are the Alps and surrounding valleys and back home through the fields. The air is cool and fresh, and story ideas whirl. I have a few deadlines to meet this month, but I am also using these days to help tease out new stories and invite creativity to spark.
2024 was a big year in lots of ways. World-wise, it was epic, and I admit to burying my head in the sand and training my algorithm to feed me ‘silly duffer’ and lovely stuff. I guess it’s about finding ways to cope in the modern world. Do what you can to help others, but when things are too big and too unfathomable, find ways to manage your emotions. Since my primary income comes from creating for kids, I need to keep space for that. Mental health becomes a priority when your family’s income relies on it. Hence the head-burying.
There were personal lows, for sure. We lost three beautiful family members to dementia this year. I’d particularly like to pay tribute to my beloved aunt, Hendrika, who was one of the most remarkable humans you could meet. Hendrika wrote and self-published more than seventy tomes in her time. Huge books dedicated to family history. Incredible. She was funny, smart and kind. I will forever treasure my last conversation with her the day before we left Australia.
There were highlights too, thankfully. I’ll keep it brief, as you’re probably well over hearing about everyone’s year by now!
Professionally, I signed up twelve books (well, one contract isn’t quite complete, but let’s just go with that), including my first US and first UK deal. I visited thousands of kids around Australia, Beijing and Tokyo, launched three new books and a second edition of This is Love, which has sold over 20,000 copies. I was awarded a Create NSW grant to complete a new middle grade project in 2025, Cora Seen and Heard was shortlisted for Adaptable and Hazel’s Treehouse was long-listed for the Indie Book Awards. Both books were selected for several best-of lists, and stunningly, Hazel was the second highest selling book of the year at Quick Brown Fox Bookshop and Book of the Month in November at Better Read than Dead. Queenie in Seven Moves was selected for the Stage 5 Narrative text on the NSW Curriculum. I also loved hosting the kids’s day at the Byron Writers Festival.
Creatively, I spent more time than ever working on a novel, which I think (or hope) means my writing has improved. As my writing confidence grows, I no longer feel like I have to push through so fast. I can wallow in words and let the ideas grow.
Community speaking, the Sunshine House community on Facebook flourished and is the balm I need on social media. I hosted two very special retreats in the Blue Mountains and went on my own retreat with my writing buddies, Sarah, Deb, Lian and Tristan. Our 5 Writers 5 Minutes podcast kept us busy through the year. I started a teen book club for my daughter’s friends, which was so much fun! I loved being part of a grown-up book club too, which was just as good. Ah, friends. Where would we be without them? Books, as well.
I won’t lie, 2024 was busy! The second half especially took a toll, in the form of tight deadlines and weeks away from the family. It meant I wasn’t writing anything new; just keeping my head above water. Now that I’ve had a break, I’m looking up at the mountain of potential stories and wondering, how? But I know from experience, the creative lake is full, even if I can’t see it yet. I just need to chip away, climb the mountain one step at a time, day by day, word by word, and trust the process.
What’s helping your creativity at the moment? These are some things I am trying:
maintaining my visual journal, which shares snippets from life, both in text and drawings
writing regularly in my messy notebook where I scribble down ideas and story starts
keeping a little notebook in my handbag to write down any old thing when it pops into my head
reading for pleasure
staying fit and well
not panicking.
Creativity is there. It just needs space. Time. And a whole lot of play. If you’d like to join my short course next month, to help stimulate new stories, check it out here. I’m also offering a short course on pitching to agents and publishers which you can find at the same link.
What’s been your favourite reads for the year? Here are some of my top hits:
Kids and YA:
When the Lights Went Out by Lian Tanner and Jonathan Bentley
Thunderhead by Sophie Beer
The Kindness Project by Deborah Abela
We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis
A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Better than the Movies by Lynn Painter
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
The Unexpected Mess of it All by Gabrielle Tozer
Grown-ups:
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary
Hope you have a wonderful year, filled with stories you read and stories you create. Filled with community, wonder and friends. Filled with good experiences and a whole lot of love. Thank you for being part of the Sunshine community and I’ll touch base soon.
