My Amber

My Amber

Imprinting your shape,
feel
and texture
into the palm of my heart;
muscle,
bone
knobby horns,
knees,
      rump,
           nose;
forehead whirl,
and floppy dewlap.

Hands smooth across
sleek red hide,
eyes clouded by tears.

I inhale.

Hold time.

Breathe in the scent of you.

Each pat

   a memory,
   a caress,
   a pause;


‘I love you.’
‘Thank-you.’
‘Goodbye.’

‘My beautiful girl.’

'I love you.'

© Kathryn Apel December 2019

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Find Your Costume Treasure!

Looking for Book Week costume ideas? I’ve just created a new tab with easy-peasy ideas linked to my books – so you can find them year after year. 🙂

Don’t have a copy of the books? You can order signed copies here. From now until end of August 2018 you can order two-for-one on copies of ‘This is the Mud!’ – plus postage.

New Book, New Poem, New Project

It’s been a busy week on the blog. I don’t usually post this much! But here I am again, for Poetry Friday.

On Tuesday I shared a collage of pictures from my exciting mail day.

On Thursday I posted my line in the progressive poem. Irene has the next line on her blog, Live Your Poem – and she’s also collating this week’s Poetry Friday round-up.

Today I’m posting a double tetractys – only my second Antarctic poem (How is this so?!) and the first thing written on a new project I’m currently researching. (It’s just the tip of the iceberg!) This poem likely won’t make it into the project – but I’m testing the water (ice-cold!) and gaining some confidence to strike out on this new adventure.

hut

chink
of stone
on stone on
stone near stone on
stone on stone grey stone
stacked high like brick by balanced, cold, stone brick;
bleak stone walls rise from shale floor; upturned sledge
and planks form the roof;
ice winds bluster
as snow swirls
seal each
chink.

And … for my youngest son’s benefit, I’m also posting my first ‘real’ author pic. A number of years ago he declared I wasn’t a real author until I’d published five books. He’s trying to shift the goal posts now, but … I’m claiming!

Real Author. It sure has taken long enough!

My week’s been wonderful – and super-productive. Hope yours has, too!

Writing-Related Holiday Pics

There were so many reasons to take pics on holidays.

Stunning vistas.
I want to remember this forever.
There could be a story in this …
Sick hubby in isolation is missing all this! (!!!)
Kids at school will love this.
won’t believe this.
I can’t believe I’m doing this!!!!
And many more…

Here are some I took because;

….9. Books … Words … Writing.
………(I hope I’ve found them all! Be assured I will edit and add them if I haven’t, because… #justso) Continue reading →

Congratulations Warren Crossett

Tweet How exciting to hear this week that Warren Crossett, illustrator of my rhyming picture book, ‘This is the Mud!’ (Lothian Hachette 2009) won the 2015 Doug Moran National Portrait Prize – the world’s richest portraiture competition. That’s pretty awesome-impressive! Continue reading →

Ipswich Story Arts Festival

Every kidlit festival I have attended has been a lot of fun – and each of them special in their own way. The first week of Ipswich Story Arts Festival was this year held in the Ipswich CBD, with authors staying at the Metro Motel, and sessions spread around venues in close proximity, in the city centre. My first day’s sessions were held in the Metro conference rooms, and the second day I popped over the road where I had a lovely auditorium at the library. Whichever venue I was presenting in, I had one requirement; I had to have a microphone! I’d lost my voice at a school visit the week before, and you have NO idea how hard it is to find a lost voice!

From a presenter’s view, the Story Arts Festival shines because of the relaxed environment that the close proximity fostered – which enabled friendships and fun with other presenters, both in breaks, and during the after-school events, whilst still being accessible to the kids. (And THEY were the reason we were there!)

One of my favourite images from the event is this – slightly blurry, but catching the movement of a stream of students passing in (and out) of the Metro Motel’s main entrances, enroute to the conference rooms, where talks were held. Because that’s what kids do!

Ritzy Kids

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International Book Giving Day – Bundaberg East State School

Bundaberg East State School was very much affected by the Burnett River flooding in the wake of Cyclone Oswald. Many classrooms were inundated and the school grounds and play areas were covered in mud. There is still a lot of work to be done, and lots of enthusiastic people who are stepping up to do it. I was in Bundaberg on the day school started back at East – almost 2 weeks late. I spent the day helping Year Ones settle into their classroom, and I read my muddy book with one of the classes. The kids have seen a lot of mud around Bundaberg in recent days – many through their homes. It was good to be able to share a bright, colourful story with them, that looked at mud from a different perspective. Warren, your gorgeous illustrations were greatly admired and appreciated!

Kendall’s Flat – an East Bundaberg sporting field, now covered in thick, caked mud.

As a part of International Book Giving Day – and just because I wanted to from the depth of my heart – I donated copies of This is the Mud! and Fencing with Fear to the East State School, to let them know I care, and to give them a book with a FUN muddy experience. The fact that Year One is ‘On the Farm’ during this first term made it doubly triply appropriate to their class.

Thank-you 1R and 1A for letting me work in your rooms today. I’m sure you’re going to work hard and make heaps of progress this year!

Year One – Bundaberg East State School

International Book Giving Day is 14 February 2013 – but the giving can take place any time in February. Anyone can take part – and it’s not too late to register, or to gift a book. Your gift will help a child feel loved – and maybe even start a love affair with books. Click on the poster below for more information. I have more muddy books I’m giving to other flood-affected community groups. Because reading is fun and reading takes you places. And sometimes we all need a little escape from reality.

Things I like…

1. Via email… Thanks to the lovely Dee White for sharing this pic, taken at the Little Bookroom in Carlton. Always a delight to see my Muddy book on the shelves. 🙂 Continue reading →

School Visit at St John’s, Bundaberg

Author visits to schools are great fun! At a recent visit to St Johns in Bundaberg we;

Dramatised ‘This is the Mud!’ (Prep/Yr1)
Wrote shape poems (Yr2/3)
Wrote haiku (Yr4/5)
And performed poetry (Yr6/7)

Dramatising 'This is the Mud!'

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Mud in Pre-Prep

I loved hearing about the fun that the Pre-prep student at Bundaberg Christian College had after reading ‘This is the Mud!’ recently. Thanks for sharing!

We put paint onto foam letters and matched them to the letters on our sheets and then had another look at ‘This is the Mud’ book, at the mess the diggers and tractors made in the mud. We drove some small tractors and diggers into our ‘mud’ and then drove all over our paper with it.