Welcome to my Time Out Blog, Teena.
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Thanks for inviting me, Robert. It’s always a pleasure to chat about writing, especially with a fellow author.


​1. Please tell us a bit about your fictional debut YA novel, Monelli & Me.

​It’s a story about family relationships that explores what happens when 15-year-old Kate learns her mother has been keeping a secret. Kate has grown up unaware that the man she calls Dad is not her biological father.  A phone call brings the lie to light and she is launched on a rollercoaster of emotion as she struggles to come to terms with the fact those she loves most in the world have been less than honest with her. To complicate matters, her biological father, Nick Monelli, is coming to Perth. He wants to take Kate back to Brisbane with him to get to know her grandmother who is seriously ill with cancer. Essentially it’s about the consequences of being dishonest, even if it is by omission. One of the books earlier titles - it has had a few! - was Half Truths and Consequences.
 

2. What was the inspiration behind this story? Is any of it based on reality?

​Monelli & Me isn’t based on reality. I came up with the original idea more than 20 years ago when my older daughter was a teenager. She and her cousin had joined the local theatre group and I wrote it as a play with them in mind for the lead roles. I chose to write about a teenage girl who discovered a secret about her past because it offered lots of scope for drama. Family has always been really important to me and I was fascinated by my Italian/English heritage from an early age. My father and I were always close. He was patient, gentle and incredibly insightful and I imagined how I would feel if I discovered he wasn’t my biological father and I didn’t have the cultural heritage on which I based my sense of identity. Incidentally, the play was never produced because I had such scant knowledge of stagecraft. Time passed, I took another look at it and I decided I wanted to reimagine it as a YA novel.  


3. What was the process like in getting it published?

As with most of my published titles, not easy! I entered the manuscript unsuccessfully in a couple of competitions and submitted it to a few publishers over the years. While I received some lovely comments no contracts were forthcoming. About 18 months ago I started releasing some of my own titles while waiting for new manuscripts to do the rounds of traditional publishers. Monelli & Me had been through a comprehensive process of critiques and rewrites so I opted to self-publish.  I love the process of making books and after nearly half a century of writing, I’m not short of manuscripts.


4. What were some of your favourite children’s and YA books as a child?  

Magic, mystery and adventure. Biographies about famous people. Books about ancient civilisations and how people lived in the past. From books I found out about photography and film making and the history of dance. A few of my favourite authors at that time were Enid Blyton, E Nesbitt and Elizabeth Goudge. At home we had a full set of the Richards Topical Encyclopaedia and I was fascinated by all the information in those.
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I used to hide away in the car when it was parked in the driveway and read because Mum couldn't find me there to do jobs around the house. When Dad went to work on the weekend to check on the leather at the tannery, I went with him so I could sit outside in the car and read. I don’t think there was such a genre as YA when I was a teenager. Favourite authors at that time were John Wyndham, Thomas Hardy. I also read Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo. 


5. What’s on the horizon for you next?

I have two new picture books scheduled for release later this year. Solo Dan is in production with Daisy Lane Publishing. It’s about a boy who wants a forever home and is being illustrated by Kym Langfield. Looking After Grandma has been picked up by Serenity Press and will be illustrated by Amy Calautti, who did such wonderful work on my picture book When the Moon is a Smile.
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I recently completed a MG novel that will soon start doing the submission rounds and I’m working on another that I plan to complete by mid-year. In non-kidslit, I am working on a couple of romantic novellas and I’ve given myself a December deadline. Wish me luck!


6. Where can people get in touch with you?

There’s lots of information about me and my books on my website at www.teenaraffamulligan.com
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I’m also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TeenaRaffaMulligan

Title Listing Information

ISBN 13:                    978-0-6485346-0-0
Retail Price:              $19.99 incl. GST
Genre/Category:      YA
Format:                     Paperback
Size/Pages :              8in x 5in / 166 pages
Publication Date:     31 March 2020
Author:                     Teena Raffa-Mulligan
Distributor:              Novella Distribution  sales@novelladistribution.com.au

Also available from: Online retailers
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Sea Song Publications sea-song@bigpond.com

Teena Raffa-Mulligan is a reader, writer and daydream believer who can’t imagine a world without stories. Her many publications for children include poetry, short stories, picture books, chapter books and MG novels. Since retiring from journalism, she also occasionally flirts with romance. Teena shares her passion for books and writing by presenting talks and workshops to encourage people of all ages to write their own stories. She shares her home near the beach with a sometime surfer and a gorgeous Labrador with a toast obsession and anxiety issues.
Website: www.teenaraffamulligan.com
Email: teenawriter@gmail.com

Bigger Than Yesterday, Smaller Than Tomorrow  has been licensed to a major publisher in China. They will be printing this beautiful book for English-language distribution in Mainland China. Woohoo!

I was interviewed on the radio by Brad Aldridge from FIVEAA Talking Adelaide in South Australia chatting about my latest picture book The Voyage. I'd like to thank Brad and Liz for their support.  Listen here.

I have awesome news! 

I am now represented by literary agent Sarah McKenzie. Cue the celebratory dance.
 
I am super excited to be working with Sarah.  She’ll be focusing on my picture books and I’m so thankful to Sarah for her dedication, support and guidance.

I have been querying agents for a year now. I thought I’d never land an agent and believed it would never happen. Yet I kept pushing and kept writing. And then it finally happened.

Securing an agent is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work. But I was thrilled when Sarah’s offer to represent me arrived in my inbox. Sarah loved my story. Her exact words were, ‘I am rather taken by it!’ This was music to my ears. I decided to wait to announce the news until I had time to write a post about it. And, here it is!

When approaching an agent, make sure your work is the best it can be – a great story that has the ability to invite the reader to be part of the journey. The ingredients to shape a great story can be like cooking your favourite recipe – a pinch of wonder, a dash of surprise and a drop of sweat. If you are passionate about something it will show in your work and come to life. 

To sum up, I had queried agents for picture books for the past year before receiving an offer. I still can’t believe it’s real. Persistence is key.

Without persistence, I would not have kept writing and submitting my work to publishers. Securing a literary agent is a huge turning point. And I’m looking forward to my next adventure.
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So, open your heart. Let your words spill out. And tell your story that only YOU can tell.

I recently had the opportunity to interview Cameron Macintosh about his latest middle grade release Max Booth Future Sleuth Film Flip.
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A fun-filled adventure series about a boy and his robo-dog sidekick that sees Max and Oscar in all sorts of strife.

​Welcome to my Time Out Blog, Cameron.
 
Thanks so much for having me, Robert. I’ve watched your publication pile stack up with much admiration! Huge congrats! Keep them coming J
 
That’s really kind of you to say, Cameron. I send you my warmest congratulations on your success, as well.
​

1. Tell us about Max Booth Film Flip.

Film Flip is the latest adventure for 11-year-old Max, a street kid in the year 2424 who makes a humble living by identifying strange old artefacts for the city museum – artefacts that most present-day readers would recognise, but that are long-forgotten in the 25th century. Max’s investigations always lead him into trouble, but with help from his robo-dog sidekick, Oscar, he has a knack of sleuthing his way to success. In Film Flip, Max and Oscar help to identify a photographic film reel from the year 2006. Max knows it belongs in the museum, but some greedy adults they encounter along the way realise its value and have other plans for it…
 

2. How did you come up with the idea for the Max Booth series?

The initial inspiration struck on a visit to Pompeii, and the Archaeological Museum in Naples, where you can see all sorts of everyday artefacts that would have been used by the people who lost their lives in the catastrophic eruption in 79 CE. The more mundane the items, the more interesting I found them – mostly due to the fact that these precious artefacts (such as combs and cutlery) would barely have rated a second glance back then. It all made me wonder if people in the future will be as interested in the everyday items we take for granted now. This thought sparked the idea of a future detective, with a special interest in these items… and along came Max! So far he’s investigated a 1980s cassette tape, a 2017 mobile phone and a 2019 postage stamp.
 

3. How many books are planned for this series? Did you plot these out from the beginning, or did they develop more spontaneously?

At the moment we’re looking at six titles. Film Flip is number 4. Number 5 has been written and number 6 is currently a mess of paper on my desk!
When I pitched the first story (Tape Escape), I did include brief synopses of another five or six stories, just to show that the characters and their interests had potential to be taken on further adventures. But they were just sketches, really – the main plotting has happened as I’ve looked at each new story individually.
 

4. What were some of your favourite children’s books as a child?

I was a big fan of Judy Blume’s Fudge series, as well as The Secret Seven, and anything by Dr Seuss. But there were two books that I read and reread more than any others – Boy by Roald Dahl, and Under Plum Lake by Lionel Davidson.
 

5. What’s on the horizon for you next?

As I mentioned earlier, I’m currently finishing off book 6 in the series (Max’s encounter with a long-lost GPS navigation unit!). After that, I’m hoping to get back to redrafting a YA novel and a grown-up book – both of which have been gathering dust in the cupboard for too long. I also do a lot of writing for the educational market – mostly readers for primary – so hopefully there’ll be more of that too. It’s always an interesting challenge.
 

6. Where can people get in touch with you?

They can find me on Facebook (Cameron Macintosh, author), on Twitter @CamMaci99, Instagram @cam.e.macintosh and on my website: www.cameronemacintosh.com.au
 

Thanks for our chat, Cameron. I wish you every success with your book!


BOOK 4 - Film Flip
Author: Cameron Macintosh
Illustrator: Dave Atze
Release Date: 16/Sep/2019
Subject: Children, Sci Fi, Adventure, Mystery
Pages: 130
Book Type: Paperback
Dimensions: 153mm x 213mm
ISBN: 9781922265104