REBEL Bk one of the FLIGHT trilogy by Dawn Meredith

 

buy here

GREAT NEWS!

The second edition of my 2020 novel, Rebel, is now live! 

 

This is a new, improved version, with internal drawings by yours truly and an updated Avendor dictionary of the three languages in the book. Isn't it stunning? I am very happy with what the book designer, Peter L has come up with - even better than last time!

So, what is it about?

Dragonkind are humans with glorious wings, but as a slave race to the invading Meer, are forbidden to fly. Reeve is a born rebel, son of the Supreme Commander. As a half-blood, he has certain privileges, but after he hurls himself off a cliff and flies over Avendor, he is arrested and tortured. What follows is a war between Dragonkind and Meer and his homeland, his family and his friends are never the same again. Can a rebel with a broken wing lead his people to freedom from a hundred years of slavery and despair? It's going to take something special. Prepare yourself for ridiculous stunts and crazy humour as Reeve struggles to grow up fast enough to become a war leader.

 

 

I'm gearing up for book two - RUNAWAY, which is coming very soon! 

 

In the meantime, click here to buy this stunning new version:

REBEL

The Whispering Stone - young adult urban fantasy fiction

 LOOK!!!! 

My new novel for 13yrs+ is finally here!

I started writing this story in 2006. Can you believe it? It was one of my early works and had a long genesis as I was learning my craft. I never gave up on it, though and am SO HAPPY that it is finally born! Imagine being haunted by your twin; the twin brother you didn't know you had...

 

Buy here: The Whispering Stone

 

So, what's it about?
A circle of salt on the ground, a wooden talisman and the ravings of an ancient mad woman – is it enough to free him from being haunted by his dead twin brother? Only the Whispering Stone, the sentinel, high up on Damage Cliffs, has the answer. It’s happened before. It will happen again. There is a debt to pay. A beautiful, sad-eyed girl says she’s his cousin. His best friend says he’s a selfish jerk and the girl he’s in love with won’t speak to him. Welcome to Harry’s world.

What about my other books?

Here is a list of my other books so far:

Junior fiction:

The Wobbly Wombat

The Anything Shop

Phantom Spies

Friend in a Shell

Fat Abby – Feline Investigator

 

Junior Non-fiction:

Sir Donald Bradman

The Boy Who Went to War

12 Annoying Monsters – Self Talk for Kids with Anxiety

 

Young Adult Fiction:

Rebel – book one of the FLIGHT trilogy

Elkwood

The Whispering Stone

 

Adult Fiction:

Letters from the Dead

 

 See my books page for more details on where to order.

 

 

 

Spring into writing! How to keep motivated

 

I have almost finished the first draft of my current young adult novel, Runaway, which is the second in the FLIGHT series and my 14th book. The main character is Sye - a beautiful but troubled dragonkind girl with finely scaled golden skin and wings. She is trying to figure out who she is meant to be, what she is supposed to do with her life since the end of the war. She has a dark past and struggles to be close to people. Then a fearsome creature of legend asks for her help, (well, kind of tricks her into helping him) and they embark on a dangerous quest to the icy north, to Shagrath, the White Kingdom.

I planned this novel for six months, covering the wall of my studio with scene ideas on index cards, a whiteboard with plot stages, numerous A4 sized notebooks on culture, languages, characters and events. I thought I had enough to get me over the line, keep me on track.

But alas! The closer I got to the end the more anxious I became. Because I just couldn't figure out how it ended. That sounds absurd, doesn't it? After all, I'd spent all that time planning the book...

This is nothing new to me. I always reach a moment in the writing of a book where I seriously begin to wonder why I started it! Doubts creep in. But, you know, there are ways around that, so that I can finish the book and be proud of it. Here's my top tips:

1. Sometimes you just need space from your work. Put it aside for a few weeks. Don't think about it, if you can! Sure, if you get a brainwave write it down, but don't agonise over it. Give your brain a chance to think outside the box you have created.

2. Ask for help. I have test readers, marvellous people who read my work and make suggestions, provide feedback and critique. I love it. They see things I can't see. Often, they come up with an idea that just fits perfectly and away I go again!

3. Think of several different endings, no matter how wild. Something will spring from the chaos!

4. Read books of a completely different genre.

5. Watch a TV show that takes you away from your book. Something entirely different.

6. Go for walks and use your phone to dictate thoughts and frustrations. Just by identifying what is not working can sometimes help you realise what needs to change. Walk along the beach, or with the dog at the park etc. Walking helps you think.

So, there are a few of my suggestions!  Don't give up! I will go back to Runaway in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I have a new book coming out soon with my publisher, Shooting Star Press, https://www.shootingstar.pub/ called Elkwood. 

What's it about? 

Imagine you find out you are a clone of yourself, that you actually died when you were eight years old! And your clone body is starting to change... You can do things no one else can, but there's a price to pay for using this new power...

Kitchen gardens, pear pies and drawing - what Covid 19 did for me

As a childrens' author I am constantly thinking of cool ideas to write about. Sometimes there's a bit of a traffic jam in my head as all the ideas start shouting at once! That's when I have to get organised.

I used to write everything in notebooks. Then I filled 18 of them and couldn't remember where I wrote things! So I switched to a totally different system - index cards. whatever idea that comes to me is jotted down, whether its a story idea, a character, a scene or random stuff i don't know where to put. If I can't sleep  because an idea is buzzing inside my skull I reach for a pen and a card, which are next to my bed. Then the next day I file them with similar ideas. So far its working really well! If I have ideas about the book I am currently writing, the cards help  me keep important bits of information close by, where I can access them, rather that hunting through all those notebooks!

So, being a bit organised helps me keep all these exciting little tidbits handy for when I want to use them. Try it!

So, living through Covid 19 has been interesting hasn't it? Some families have unfortunately suffered from a parent losing their job. Other families have had to adjust to working from home, with all the distractions and jobs to do! PLUS kids being home schooled! What it unique is that every country int he world has been experiencing this together, AT THE SAME TIME. Never have we all been so closely connected by experiences.

Lots of new music and films and books have already begun to emerge from this interesting period. I have gone back to serious drawing, which I used to love so much! I completed the eagle drawing, then a horse and now I am working on a tabby cat. (somewhat ambitious I think, because it's a lot harder than I thought!).

We live on a beautiful 100 acre farm in Tasmania, where there is always lots to do! In a few months we will have lambs popping out, so things will get VERY BUSY! (see my other blog about the farm https://crumbletonmanor.blogspot.com/ )

During isolation we home schooled our daughter, so that took up lots of writing time. I also had a very productive kitchen garden (not a garden in the kitchen, silly, a garden FOR the kitchen!) and was cooking, bottling and chopping all sorts of yummy stuff. I cooked pies, bottled pears and tomatoes, made jam and all sorts of things. It was all very exciting, but there was little time to work on book 2 of my FLIGHT trilogy. Remember book 1 - Rebel?

buy Rebel on smashwords

Isolation made things very difficult for my publisher too, Shooting Star Press. Consequently Rebel is only an ebook at the moment. Print version will be available soon. We've all had to change how we do things,  haven't we? Except Harry, of course. He just does what he pleases most of the time, which generally involves sleeping. I bought him a harness and we go for walks outside now. He is a little scared of the sheep! But quite happy to sniff noses with Polly and Flossie, our border collies. Sometimes he 'helps' me in the kitchen. 

apple pies!

Harry 'helping'

Harry and Flossie pear picking

some produce from my kitchen garden

Harry on a day trip to our bottom 50 acres to pick rosehips

As we all start to get back to the 'new normal' I find myself quite keen to get moving with new projects. So I am working on the tabby portrait, AND book 2 (called Runaway) AND planting out vegetable seedlings in my garden AND planning what flowers I want for spring. Phew! Covid 19 has made me very busy.

2019 - surprises right til the end!

Hello!
Well, we're nearing the end of 2019! I think I will concede defeat and start saying 'twenty...' instead of 'two thousand...' It seems simpler and less tongue twisty! What did you get up to over Christmas? We had a couple of gatherings and lots of great food! Harry loved his new toys. And the dogs' toys too!

We swam in the big dam for the first time since we moved here last year. That's now possible because of all the work hubby has done to clear away nasty thistles, bracken and bulrushes, so there's less places for snakes to hide... The water is so deliciously cool! next I'm going to buy some old pallets and make a sort of platform and then a floating raft thing you can swim out to. Won't that be fantastic?

So what's new?
I'm in my studio, facing its first summer here on the farm and its so far been pretty cool inside. The Lithuanian pine log cabin style seems to keep the heat in nicely in winter the cool inside in summer. I have been working very hard in my garden since the weather improved. Such lovely days we have now! Sunny, gentle breeze and around 25 Celsius. That's a Tassie summer for you! I have some gorgeous colours to gaze at while I beaver away at the keyboard and watch the birds splashing in the birdbath, catching insects on the fly and hopping about.

Superb Blue Wrens
Speaking of birds, the Superb Blues wrens are nesting in my big flower bed, among the pansies! If you look at the photo below you can see some red and yellow flowers. The wrens are nesting somewhere between them, quite low to the ground. I only found this out because I was hauling out the ridiculously long and overgrown pansies and came across the nest. The female takes 3-4 days to build it. Unfortunately the three chicks in the first nest died so this is her second attempt. Good luck Mrs Wren!

Kelly
In other news, we have a beautiful new girl in our lives - Kelly. She is a three year old palomino, quarter horse/warmblood. She is stunning! And has a sweet temperament. She's only very young (horses can live to 40 years old) and full of mischief! Adjusting to life here on our farm has been different for her, because she had never left the stud where she was born. Kelly is learning lots every day and getting on with the sheep and our border collies Polly and Flossie.

Kelly the palomino

You can see more of all of them on instagram @mytasmaniangarden.
Kelly has her own hastag - #kellythepalomino
So does Harry #harryatcrumbletonmanor

Freya
For my new book coming out soon, a young adult fantasy novel, Rebel, I have finished drawing a white eagle, which is one of the characters in the book. Everyone who pre-orders a copy through the publisher's website Shooting Star Press will receive a copy of Freya, the giant white eagle! Here is the finished drawing:

New Book
In other news, I have started writing my next book! All you mid graders out there may be interested to know that I'm working on a farmstay series called Hartfields. The first book is called The Foal of Emerald Queen. Chapter one is complete and now chapter two is coming into life. It's about Jessica Jane, called JJ by her friends, whose family decides to up and move to Bear Island. Lots of chaos and fun! And horses. So if you are interested in how horses think and feel and act, this book will be great! If you're into adventure you'll love it too. I'd love to tell you more but... not yet.

Well, that's it for now. I have to get  back to writing. Have an excellent New Year's Eve and many warm wishes for fun and excitement in 2020.