I am on the home stretch with my new Our Australian Girl, Pearlie. I received advanced copies of Meet Pearlie  (Book 1) and it looks lovely. It is always a thrill

to finally hold the actual book in your hand. It will be available on 29th January so look out for it in your local bookshop or library.

Book 2 is called Pearlie’s Pet Rescue. I am editing first pages at the moment. First Pages is when the manuscript is printed as it would appear in the book.

Here is the piglet Leonetta, one of the animals Pearlie saves. Isn’t she cute? And that’s my scrawly handwriting where I’m making a change.

Lucia Mascuillo illustrates all the Our Australian Girls. I love her work.

After changes in First Pages have been made then Second Pages are printed up, checked, followed by Final Pages. By this stage, there should be no corrections necessary.

Book 3 is called Pearlie the Spy. I have written it but it still needs a lot of editing before it is made into First Pages.

Book 4 is Pearlie Finds a Friend. This is the final book in the series and all I have done so far is the chapter outline. Writing a first draft is fairly quick though if I have an outline to guide me.

I’ve loved working on Pearlie and have learnt so much about the history of Darwin and its people during the Second World War. It was a hard time for everyone in Australia especially in the north. Not many people know that Darwin was bombed 64 times.

I hope you enjoy the Pearlie books. I’ve been with Pearlie for more than a year now. She is like a little friend whispering in my ear, telling me her story.

Love