I’ve been tagged by Lorraine Marwood to answer four questions in the Writing Process Blog Hop. (Thanks, Lorraine!) You’ll find my answers further down this post  — but first, a bit about Lorraine …

THE TAGGER 
LORRAINE MARWOOD

Lorraine is an award-winning writer. She has several poetry collections out (Guinea Pig Town is her most recent) and another poetry collection will be out in 2015. Lorraine also writes stories, novels, and verse novels.

Check out her website and don’t forget to read her ‘Tagged’ post, too where you can find out about her writing process and what she’s working on at the moment.

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And now, my answers.

1. What am I working on?

A folktale-style picture book. It’s a bit dark. I’m also building a collection of children’s poems. I’ve been having fun experimenting with skipping rhymes because my youngest daughter and her best friend really love skipping and the rhythm gets into my head and won’t leave me alone …

And there’s always a new poem to tackle for Poetry Tag whenever it’s my turn to write one.

2. How does my work differ from others in my genre?

Music features strongly in most of my writing. I’m sure that’s why I especially love writing (and reading) children’s poetry, I love the  rhythm and musicality of it.

3. Why do I write what I write?

I suppose it’s the result of years and years of filling my head with the sorts of books and poems I read. The age I remember best from my childhood was 8 to 10 and the 8 to 10-year old me does a lot of my writing. I like stories and poems that stick to kids’ bones and stay with them forever and I’d like mine to be like that too.

4. How does my writing process work?

What I do is walk around with my particular story (or poem) in my head for a long time. Weeks. Months. Every time I go out for a walk, the words shuffle themselves in my head and I go over and over them. And then, when the first draft is pretty much all there in my head ready to go, I sit down and write it in one go. I use a fountain pen. Once I have the first draft written down, I  type it up and I do the rest of the drafts on the computer.

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THE TAGEES

Time to tag some more writers … here are some of my favourite children’s writers. Keep an eye on their blogs where they’ll be answering the Writing Process questions sometime soon. If they can take a break from scribbling in their notebooks.

CRISTY BURNE

Cristy Burne is the author of zany adventure fiction for kids aged 8 to 12. She has worked as a science circus performer, garbage analyst, Santa’s pixie, and atom-smashing reporter at CERN in Switzerland.

Her first book, Takeshita Demons, was inspired by her years living in Japan, a healthy fear of ghosts, and a plastic head she found in her rubbish bin.

 Check out her website where you can find out more about her and her books.

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SANDY FUSSELL

Sandy Fussell lives south of Sydney. She studied mathematics at university, is intensely interested in history, and works in IT. She is the author of Polar Boy and Jaguar Warrior as well as the hugely popular ‘Samurai Kids‘ series.

Check out her website and also her blog. Samurai Kids also has its own site where you can take the ‘Which Samurai Kid Are You?‘ quiz. I got Niya, by the way.

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CHRISTINA BOOTH

Christina Booth lives in Tasmania, near the city in the bush with her family and pets. She works from her studio overlooking a lake and a variety of wildlife where she illustrates her own books and great stories for other authors. Her latest picture book is Welcome Home. 

[I commissioned Christina to do the artwork for the header of my website. I love her artwork.]

Check out her site for more about her writing and gorgeous illustrations.

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