Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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How I collaborated with Ben Wood to create Real Pigeons
When I wrote the first book in the Real Pigeons series, I was trying to write a funny book for kids about a bunch of fancy pigeons who solve mysteries by working together. At the time, I had no idea that teamwork would become a central thematic tenet for the series. Nor did I suspect that the series would […]
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Real Pigeons heading to Nickelodeon for a movie and TV series
OK, here’s some news that I am beyond excited to finally announce. Caps lock – on. REAL PIGEONS IS BEING MADE INTO AN ANIMATED MOVIE AND TV SERIES BY NICKELODEON! The Real Pigeons illustrator, Ben Wood, and I are so excited that our whacky, crime-fighting birds will soon be flying into the Nickelodeon studios. The first […]
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My favourite moments from Real Pigeons Peck Punches
Real Pigeons Peck Punches is the fifth book in the Real Pigeons series – written by me and illustrated by Ben Wood – and it’s out now in Australia and New Zealand. It’s full of pigeons pecking and fighting-crime – but like any Real Pigeons book there’s also HEAPS of other things going on. Here are five […]
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Real Pigeons are about to fight crime in the US
I’m flapping my wings and cooing with happiness right now, because the Real Pigeons are about to land in the US. The first book in the series – Real Pigeons Fight Crime – is being published in the US and Canada by Random House on January 7th 2020. Real Pigeons Fight Crime follows a squad […]
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My speech from the launch of Iris and the Tiger
Last night I had honour of launching my good friend Leanne Hall’s new book Iris and the Tiger at Readings in Carlton. Leanne has already published a couple of YA novels, but this is her first novel for younger readers and it’s an absolute winner. So much so that I dressed up as my favourite scene from […]
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Son of Death is a ‘children’s book of the year’
As a cheerful way to end the year I was recently honoured to see Son of Death included in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald‘s best children’s books of 2015. Son of Death was noted in the section for middle fiction, along with The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell, The Cat With the Coloured Tail by Gillian […]
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Me at the Melbourne Writers Festival
Hi guys, Just a quick note to let you know I’m appearing at the upcoming Melbourne Writers Festival (hurrah!) as part of the Schools Program and in the general program too. I am pretty excited about it and since I’ll be (mostly) talking about my latest book Son of Death I’ve been sorting through the best props […]
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Quote a Mortician
Before I started writing Son of Death I immersed myself in the literature of death. If I was going to explore topics of death and mortality through a reimagining of the grim reaper, I wanted to consult the experts first. My first port of call was Ernest Becker, whose Pulitzer-winning book from 1973, The Denial of Death, investigates why and […]
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Five reasons funny books for kids are awesome
This week I had the pleasure of speaking at a special teachers’ night at Readings Hawthorn. The event was the first of a new initiative being run by the excellent folk at Readings. It was great to be involved and equally great that so many school teachers come out for the night. I spoke alongside […]
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