This year, Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff was a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults! While it didn’t win (it was up against the some stiff competition – it’s really been a stellar year for Junior and Middlegrade fiction in Aotearoa. Congrats to Li Chen!), the best part about being nominated for these awards is the marketing and publicity boost that finalists receive.
I contributed to these two cool articles on the fabulous and essential children’s book website The Sapling: this one where the Esther Glen finalists asked one other writer a question, and another where we all answered everyone’s questions.
I write about ‘The moment I know I wanted to be a children’s author’ for Kete: the answer may surprise you. No, really!
I took part in four Books Alive events around the country: one in Palmerston North, one in Wellington, and two in Christchurch (with WORD Christchurch) and met hundreds of kids, signed books, gave out bookmarks, shook hands and had lots off photos taken.
I even had a performance review of the Palmerston North event in The Sapling which was heartening: “Rachael truly worked her audience like the rock star in her new book, Violet and the Velvets: The Case of the Missing Stuff. The crowd hung on every word, squealing like groupies at times and even raging in their seats to the song that Rachael wrote for her titular heroine, Violet.”
Hearty congrats to all the winners of the book awards, and to the judges – it’s no mean feat judging apples against oranges.
A huge thanks to Joy Sellen and the rest of the NZCYA team and to all the organisers of the regional events. Please enjoy some photos!
