Print your Own Audrey Bookmark

Hi

See Audrey's bookmark?
If you click here you can print your own to mark your place in your Audrey books.
If you cover the bookmark with laminate or clear contact, it will last a long time.

bye
Christine Harris


ps. Audrey's illustrator is Ann James.

Discover More About 'Audrey of the Outback'

Hi
This is the cover of 'Outback' where Audrey first appeared in print in 2005. This year, 2010, the book was released with this brand new cover in paperback.

If you have read the three 'Audrey' novels and want more, then you can look for this book in shops or ask at your local or school library.

'Outback' is set in 1928, two years earlier than the three Audrey novels and tells about the time cousin Jimmy comes from the city to stay in the Outback with the Barlow family.

There is currently a film option by well-known Australian, Lisa McCune, on the 'Outback' novel. It is up to the second script stage, so you never know, you may just see a young Audrey on screen some time in the future.

Click here to read a short excerpt from 'Outback', which is written in diary form by Jimmy.

bye,
Christine Harris

An Interview with Audrey of the Outback: Part 2

Hi
Here is part two of the long interview I did with Audrey to help me write the books.
I had to think of the questions, then listen to Audrey as she answered in her own voice.

Who is your best friend?
Stumpy.

What is your fondest memory?
Blowing up the dunny with my brother, Price.

Do you have any hobbies?
Playing hide-and-seek with Stumpy. My cubby houses.

What is your favourite weather?
Rain. I don’t get to see it much, and when I run in the rain I don’t have to bath. I also like clear night with stars for wishing on.

What is your favourite time of day?
The evening – just after we eat tea but before we go to bed. Our family is all together and we talk and read and play. It’s comfortable.

What is your favourite food?
Mum’s fresh bread with plum jam. It smells like home. I like Mum when she smells like bread. The cooked bread, not the dough because that’s sticky and then crusty.

What is your least favourite food?
Kangaroo. It’s chewy and strong and I reckon it’s a bloke’s food.

What is your favourite drink?
Tea with sugar because it makes me feel grown up when I have a cup of tea with Mum at the table with proper plates, and when the bread is really hard you can dunk it in the tea so you can chew it.

What do you find relaxing?
Sitting on a kero tin with Dad, watching the sun go down and waiting for the first star.

What is your favourite animal?
A kangaroo. I like them when they’re in the bush, just not when they’re cooked. I like the way kangaroos turn their ears when they hear you. Stumpy isn’t an animal. He’s only a camel on the outside. Inside, he’s my best friend.

If you missed part 1 of the Interview, click here.


Audrey's picture was drawn by Ann James.


For more fun Audrey information, puzzles, crosswords and printables, click here.


bye,
Christine Harris

An Interview with Audrey of the Outback

Hi

I am often asked for advice about writing and one of the things that can work well is to interview your character and let them answer in their own voice.

From this, you - the writer - can get many ideas about what to put in your story.


I did this last year with Audrey of the Outback. We sat down for a long chat. So long, in fact, that it will take several Blog entries to tell you it all.


Here are the first questions and answers.

Audrey, what about you is heroic?

I see the good side in people and things. I care about other people’s feelings. I won’t give up. My joy in life. Endless curiosity.

What do you like about people?
The surprising, strange things they do and say. I like it when visitors come to our place.

How do you dress most of the time?
In my brother Price’s old trousers, with rolled cuffs and braces And I have two dresses, one blue, and the other is yellow.

What is your best feature?
My family.
Your family isn’t a feature.
It’s my feature. It’s my question so I can answer it however I want. I choose family.

What is your most prized possession?
I haven't won any prizes. We don’t do prizes in the bush. Is that a city thing? I’d like to see a prize one day. But I do have an emu egg and a book that are special.

Describe yourself in one word.
One word is not enough. I need lots of words for describing. But my mum says I’m imaginative.

What is your first memory?
Dust hissing in a storm.
My mum’s voice. It makes me feel warm, like I’ve always heard it.


What is your favourite game?
Pretend. Cubby houses. Sometimes I’m a lady, sometimes a swaggie. Depends which cubby house I’m in and if I’m wearing a dress or trousers.

What is your favourite toy?
A sardine tin. I used it for a train until I realised that trains have wheels. Then the tin didn’t work. Sometimes things go away when you realise them.

Check out Audrey's Interview Part 2.


The drawing of Audrey is by Ann James.

p.s. If you have any questions you would like to ask Audrey, leave a comment on this Blog and I will ask her to tell you.