Artists their Stunners and Love: Beauty in Thorns

Art, poetry, love, beauty, dreams, betrayal, pain and fairy tales are all included in Kate Forsyth's new book, Beauty in Thorns. Kate's Canberra book launch was held at the National Library of Australia (NLA) on 20 July 2017, for the audio and transcript of the talk see here.

I love the stories that Kate Forsyth brings to readers; 

• Eight years ago Kate's series The Witches of Eileanan and Rhiannon's Ride were there to sweep me away to a fantasy world when I was very sick. 
• As a children's librarian I loved reading the adventures of two Romany children in the series The Chain of Charms. 
• Later I soaked up the stories that are linked to fairy tales; The Wild Girl, Bitter Greens and The Beast's Garden.

I first met Kate at an event in Canberra for the launch of her first children's picture book Grumpy Grandpa and was impressed with her gentleness and passion. It is this passion, gentleness and strength that comes to the fore in how Kate writes, researches and how she connects with her fans.

Dragons and Vets: August Children's Book Author Talks @ Harry Hartog

Have you ever dreamed of ....

Having a dragon as a special friend?

OR

Being a vet when you grow up?

If your answer is yes, then the authors hosted by Harry Hartog Bokseller, 

Westfield Woden in August have written the perfect books for you.

I wish I could read Japanese: Literature Themes of Melodrama in Meiji Japan

I wish that I could read a language other than English, especially Japanese, since visiting the  Melodrama in Meiji Japan exhibition at the National Library of Australia. The exhibition is open until 27 August 2017.

I never thought about the specific content of the books that would be in the exhibition. I was planning to see the exhibition to view the beautiful images, kuchi-e, made from woodblock prints. I went to the May talk by Gary Hickey, curator and scholar of Japanese art, to find out more about the pictures in the exhibition. See here to listen to this talk. 

While viewing the art and reading the information on the section and object labels, located next to the artworks I realised that I was becoming interested in the content of the books. As a aspiring writer and a veracious reader of fantasy, mythology, historical fiction and romance that many of the themes of the kuchi-e and their books intrigued me. 

Creators, do you have a online presence?

When I discover the work of a fabulous creator, I love to find out more about them. 
So I pull out my phone to look them up on the internet.

I type their name into my search engine.
No matches for my search.

I try another search.
This time I type in their name and profession as part of the search.
The results only mentions them on other websites but there no links to their website or social media accounts.

I try Facebook - Hit - but it seems to be their personal page.

I really like their work.
I want to get to know them better.
Where can I see their work again?
Do they have a new book coming out soon?

Nothing is more frustrating than looking up a creator and they have no online presence or no useful online presence.