The Eastern Regional Library Show

Library staff member Lesley Conway runs a radio show each Wednesday 12:05pm-12:45pm on Eastern FM 99.1 called The Eastern Regional Library Show. Tune in this Wednesday for a great show.

On last week's show

Unapologetically Australian, is how a new series of books for younger readers between 8 and 11 years of age is described. Our guest today, author Delwyne Stephens has written one of the series, published by Aussie School Books. The Copperhead tells the story of a young girl who often acts before she thinks, but when faced with her younger brother being bitten by a snake, must show how resourceful she can be. Delwyne has another book published, for teenagers, titled Wheels. This book is a down to earth, fast paced and realistic look at what an active young man has to deal with when he becomes a paraplegic. The book tackles some big issues, such as how do friendships stand up to the challenge of disability, dealing with an ambitious father and an honest look at the uncomfortable physical consequences that are rarely talked about.

Delwyne shared some thoughts on the challenges of reaching publishers, and how to decide what to write. She has only recently employed an agent, and initially did all the leg work of contacting companies, and organising publicity herself. She suggests researching as much as possible via the net, finding out about different publishing companies and their focus, subscribing to online newsletter and chat rooms such as Pass It On (for those interested in the children's writing industry), and making use of organisations such as The Victorian Writers Centre.

I look forward to talking to Delwyne in the near future, as she has several books with publishers at the moment, and it would be interesting to hear more about them. Wheels can be found in the ERL collection, and The Copperhead will be in the near future.

Cheers, Maryanne