Hard to put into words the joy of winning the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for my Young Adult novel, Drift. The news didn’t fully sink in until the book cover came up on the big screen and I was collecting my medal and making a speech, my legs shaking with nerves!
15 years of writing YA novels led to this moment.
The night was a blur of photos, catch ups, well-wishes, giant lamington desserts and utter disbelief that this was happening to me! Making a book is a collaboration, and it was a lovely chance to thank all the people who helped this book along on it’s journey - from the bees who swarmed my home in their thousands inspiring the story, to the beekeeper who helped to save them, my incredible publishing team at Hachette Australia and the book’s biggest supporters - children’s publisher Jeanmarie Morosin and my agent Benython Oldfield at Zeitgeist - both there in the audience cheering me on. Also a shout out to the brilliant and now retired Karen Ward, who meticulously edited every word. This writing life is full of plot twists!
The winners!
