Bundaberg Write Fest 2014

I have just returned from the Bundaberg Write Fest presented by Bunderberg Writer's Club. I had a fantastic time.
This is the third time I have been to the festival but it was the first time I was in a position to go to the Meet and Greet.
It was lovely to catch up with people and, of course meet new ones. One of the people I met was Louise Cusack.

Louis Cusack and me - Nicola Tierney at the Bundaberg Write Fest May 2014

 Louise presently is promoting her Shadow Through Time trilogy. They are eBooks and are available here.

Louise was my teacher over six years ago. In 2009 she convinced the the Gold Coast Council to run a 'Write that Kids Book.'  Sixty people applied but only sixteen where chosen. I was one of the lucky ones.
She looked at my work and said, "Yes, very nice BUT!" and told me to work on it. The next year our group (some people did not carry on through to this year) applied for a grant and asked Louise to teach us again. In 2011, we became the Prana Writers.

I have now been involved with Prana Writers of the Gold Coast for six years. They are a lovely bunch of people. I have been involved with many people, in many situations and committees but nobody like these. They are so supportive of everyone. They are like the family people dream of and this support has definitely paid off because several of them are published in one form or another.Also Prana Writers have published the e-book The Coral Sea Monster which raises money for the Children's Hospital. They won the State and National awards.
On the 10th May 2014 Prana Writers launched the Gold Coast Anthology - Undertow.
I am sure that when Lousie and the Gold Coast Council started on this journey they would never have thought we would go this far. I can't wait to see what we will do in the future.

One Saturday I went to Scott Baker's talk on Making Book Trailers That Buzz.

Scott Baker at Bunderberg Write Fest

I found this talk very interesting. He showed trailers he had made and we all wanted to know when the movie was coming out. We were astounded that it was going to be a book. I found the subject of colour fascinating. How to look at the emotion of watching book trailers and how to work out what it is you want to say.
His newest book is The Rule of Knowledge.

In the afternoon I went and listened to Jacque Duffy and her talk Capturing Kid's Interest in Chapter Books.
This was very relevant to me as I am writing a chapter book. I found it interesting. There is such a vast array of chapter books. She went into how they were thought of, written and for whom. Fascinating! She also had a display of a huge selection of books and I shall be purchasing a couple of them.
Her newest book is The Bear Said Please. 

Image used from Miss Marple's Musing Blog.

On Sunday I was chosen to attend the masterclass held by Jo Butler editor and former fiction publisher of Harper Collins.
This was very interesting hearing about the industry from someone who is inside it. I also had the opportunity to talk to Jo, on a one to one basis (as did everyone else who attended the class) about my Ebony story. This was something very special.
I'm sorry that I didn't get around to taking more photos.