River Stone – the process

9 July, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

Guest Post by Rachel Hennessy, author of River Stone

I started writing River Stone in 2015 because, as I talked about at the launch, it helped me re-find joy in writing. I had been living in Melbourne since 2009 but I had lost track of myself as a writer. Writing had slipped into that region of the tedious, the thing I was supposed to do, not what I wanted to do. I’d got caught up in judging everything I wrote against possible publication prospects, rather than enjoying the process itself.

Then came a tutorial with my creative writing first year students. Continue reading River Stone – the process →

Launches

Launching The Day We Built the Bridge

8 May, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

The Month (or more) We Launched the Bridge Book!

Guest blog post by Samantha Tidy, author of The Day We Built the Bridge

What a book birthday! This year, I have launched The Day We Built the Bridge in no less than 5 cities! Now that the dust has settled, and the second shipment of the book has arrived (gosh – 4500 copies sold in 3 days – and in reprint already!) I thought I’d share the joy and gratitude that ‘the bridge book’ (The Day We Built the Bridge, written by Samantha Tidy, illustrated by Fiona Burrows) has brought into our lives. Continue reading Launching The Day We Built the Bridge →

Title

I Would Dangle the Moon

27 March, 2019 Editor-in-Chief 1 Comment

by Amber Moffat

HB 32 | 260 x 280 | ISBN: 9781925227529
$29.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | June 2019
Distributed by NewSouth Books

What would you do if you could pluck the moon from the sky? Would you scoop it up in an ice cream cone, or ride it like a snail shell across the night sky? I Would Dangle the Moon is an imaginative and playful story about all the wonderful things a mother would do with the moon for her child if she could do anything in the world. Continue reading I Would Dangle the Moon →

Author

Amber Moffat

27 March, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

Amber Moffat is a writer and visual artist based in Western Australia. She believes that being able to share stories is the most magnificent thing about being human. Amber is originally from New Zealand and still has strong ties to her hometown of Dunedin. She is an experienced teacher and a fierce advocate for arts education.

At the end of 2015 Amber was awarded an Emerging Writers’ Mentorship by the Australian Society of Authors. The judges said of her work, “This picture book text was absolutely wonderful – lyrical, evocative, poetic, and quite unusual. It had a really unique voice, and the imagery was very striking.”

Amber was the recipient of a Paper Bird Fellowship in 2018, and she completed the final artwork for her debut picture book, I Would Dangle the Moon, during her residency at Fremantle’s Paper Bird Books and Arts.

Title

River Stone

27 March, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

by Rachel Hennessy

Pandora, of the River People, wants more than her village can provide. When disaster comes to her people, Pan has the opportunity to become their saviour and escape her inevitable pairing with life-long friend Matthew. She wants to make her own choices. Deep in her soul, she believes there is something more out there, beyond the boundaries, especially since she encountered the hunter of the Mountain People.

A story of confused love, difficult friendships and clumsy attempts at heroism, Pan’s fight for her village will bring her into contact with a whole new world, where the truth about the past will have terrifying reverberations for her people’s future survival. Continue reading River Stone →

Author

Rachel Hennessy

27 March, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

Rachel Hennessy is the award-winning author of five novels of contemporary fiction: The Quakers (Wakefield Press, 2008), The Heaven I Swallowed (Wakefield Press, 2013)), and the three books in The Burning Days trilogy: River Stone (MidnightSun, 2019), Mountain Arrow (MidnightSun, 2020) and now City Knife.

Her first novel, about a group of obsessive teenagers, was described by John Birmingham as ‘un-put-down-able’ and was the winner of the Adelaide Festival’s Best Unpublished Manuscript Award. Her second novel was Runner Up in the Australian/Vogel Award, long-listed for the Nita B Kibble Award and described by Australian Aboriginal Studies as ‘an important book’. Rachel lives in Melbourne with her partner and their two young daughters.

Uncategorized

New Year – New Books

1 March, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

The year is planned out for MidnightSun and it’s full of exciting titles including a book for 8-12 year olds called Cryptosight. It’s written by Nean McKenzie and it’s her first book so we are extra excited to see it come to life. The cover design by Jenna Vincent is stunning and we are sure that it’ll capture the imagination of lots of kids around Australia.

It’s fabulous to have so many wonderful books coming up this year! Keep an eye here on the website and on our Facebook page for more info as the months pass.

Teacher Notes

Teacher Notes – The Day We Built the Bridge

20 February, 2019 Site Manager

Teachers’ Notes for The Day We Built the Bridge (pdf)

Title

The Day We Built the Bridge

1 February, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Samantha Tidy
Illustrated by Fiona Burrows

HB 32 | 210 x 297 | ISBN: 9781925227437
$29.99 | Picture book
MidnightSun Publishing | February 2019
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Big dreams can take generations. It can also take six million hand-driven rivets and 53,000 tonnes of steel. The Day We Built the Bridge celebrates our connection with one another, and declares that despite the greatest of challenges, together we can make history.

There are moments in history that connect us and define a country. In our hearts and minds, some moments rely on us to hold onto a dream, face tough Continue reading The Day We Built the Bridge →

Author

Fiona Burrows

1 February, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

After completing her BA and PhD in literature at UWA, Fiona Burrows is now focusing on her first love, children’s picture books. She has had work published in journals including the Australian Poetry Journal, Writ Review and Westerly, exhibited in local galleries, and won awards and commendations including the Town of Mosman Park’s Open Art Prize, the CYA Writing and Illustrating Competition, and the ASA’s Ray Koppe Young Writers’ Residency.

Fiona’s picture book, The Day We Built the Bridge, with Samantha Tidy, was published by MidnightSun in February 2019.

Fiona’s picture book, The Friendly Games, with Kaye Baillie, was published by MidnightSun in June 2020.

Author

Samantha Tidy

1 February, 2019 Editor-in-Chief

Samantha Tidy is a writer of children’s, young adult and adult fiction. She has a Masters in Creative Writing and is the author of Cappuccino Diva, The Blue Polar Bear and The Flying Dream. Her most recent novel for adults, The Happiness Jar, won the ACT Writing and Publishing Award for Fiction, among several other award nominations.

Samantha’s picture book, The Day We Built the Bridge, was published by MidnightSun in February 2019.

Title

Vanishing

27 November, 2018 Editor-in-Chief

Written by Mike Lucas,
illustrated by Jennifer Harrison

HB 32 | 250 x 295
ISBN: 9781925227444 | $29.99
Picture book | November 2018
MidnightSun Publishing
Distributed by NewSouth Books

Once creatures of all shapes and sizes, from the magnificent and mighty, to the tiniest of marvels, wandered this empty land. They had horns and wings and survived in all kinds of lands, from desert plains to icy tundras. But where are they now? Continue reading Vanishing →

Uncategorized

New Submission Guidelines

23 November, 2018 Editor-in-Chief 7 Comments

We have recently updated our submission policy!

MidnightSun is always accepting submissions.

Please send a digital copy of your manuscript to submissions@midnightsunpublishing.com Please include a subject line stating your name, the title of your manuscript, and its genre (eg: Jane Doe, ‘High Tea’, Picture Book). Please attach your manuscript as a Word document titled, ‘Name: Manuscript Title’ (eg. Jane Doe: High Tea).

Send the first 20 pages only! If we are compelled to read more, we’ll ask for the rest. We want digital manuscripts with 1.5 or double line spacing. Choose Times New Roman or another easy-to-read font.

Please proof-read thoroughly and always Continue reading New Submission Guidelines →

Title

Heaven Sent

27 October, 2018 Editor-in-Chief

by S.J. Morgan

Angels come in many guises; some have broken wings …

Evie’s life is in tatters. She has a father she barely knows, a step-dad she’d rather she didn’t, and a best friend going off the rails. Then there’s the brace she has to wear for her wonky spine… Continue reading Heaven Sent →

Author

S. J. Morgan

27 October, 2018 Editor-in-Chief

S.J. Morgan grew up in the UK and arrived in Australia many years ago, via a twelve-month round-the-world air ticket. She lived in New Zealand for ten years before settling in South Australia. In her former life she was an Occupational Therapist, but she now writes full-time. She writes across several genres and has won prizes for short fiction as well as an Australian Society of Authors mentorship for her children’s writing.

She has been writing for over ten years and, in addition to short stories and articles, has written six novels. She won first prize for short fiction at the Salisbury Writers’ Festival and was awarded a year-long mentorship by the Australian Society of Authors. Continue reading S. J. Morgan →

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