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A book by Booki.sh
 So far three travelling books have been released. One in Victoria, one in New South Wales and another in Queensland. There is one currently on its way to South Australia and another on its way to Tasmania and before too long there will be at least one book released in every Australian State and Territory. I am hoping people will participate in the tracking of these books by reporting in where they found them and where they left them. Check the Travelling Books page for regular updates. Travelling book number one will be released into the wild somewhere in Melbourne this weekend. I have my people on the job and all of the books will be finding their freedom soon. The Travelling Books page will go live as soon as number one escapes ...  I will soon be releasing some travelling books into the wild. The idea is that each book is left in a random place (in a cafe, on a bus or train seat, at a shopping centre, etc) where it is picked up and taken home by someone to read. When they are finished reading the book, they set the book down somewhere else for another person to find. The books will be tracked on a new page on this site once they are released. I will record both where the books were found and where they were left. Each book will be numbered so we can see how far they can travel. Exciting times. Stay tuned. In chapter 5 of No Ordinary Excuse, Gemma springboards her stolen project idea from a story she heard about kidnapped garden gnomes. I found a real-life, international garden-gnome kidnapping story online recently. Scroll down to the garden gnome photograph underneath the book excerpt and click on the picture to take you to the story. Chapter 5I was astounded by my own genius. As I watched Mr Bedford with his precious statues, I remembered a story my Aunt May had told me about kidnapped garden gnomes. The story went like this: Once upon a time, when Aunt May was young and planned to go around Australia, there was a bit of a garden gnome kidnapping craze going on. Lots of gnomes were mysteriously disappearing from gardens everywhere, and the owners would soon receive news of their whereabouts via letters, photos and postcards sent in the mail. Some gnomes even made their way overseas! Aunt May had loved the idea the first time she'd heard of it, and because she was heading off on her own adventure around Australia, she decided to take a travelling companion. So she swiped a garden gnome from someone's flower bed and stashed it in her oversized handbag, memorising the address as she dashed off with her new friend. The following day she named the brightly painted statue Bill, and strapped him in the back seat of her Kombi van and took him all over Australia with her. During the following year, Aunt May sent lots of photographs of Bill back to his owner. She then returned him to his garden home as soon as she got back from her travels. It was a great story and the perfect springboard for my own idea. My idea went like this: Because I needed to prove to Miss Haven that my project was stolen, I decided that just like the garden gnomes, someone could've kidnapped my project. Coincidentally, and luckily for me, Aunt May was heading off to Sydney tomorrow for a two-week holiday.So she could act as the project napper and photograph my project all around Sydney and email the photos back to me. A modern day version of her own story! Then I could print the pictures out and take them into Miss Haven. She's have to believe me because there would be evidence. And she'd have no choice but to give me some extra time to "redo" my project. It was perfect! Well it was perfect in every way except one. I had no project to photograph. I have always found the garden gnome kidnapping craze exciting. It can be fun for both the owners and the kidnapper and anyone else who is a part of the story, as long as the gnome is returned, eventually, to his rightful owner. I came across this article online about one gnome's 7month-adventure around the world!  Click on the picture to read the article.  I have been out and about lately, visiting schools and bookshops and signing books. One of my favourite things to do is talk to all of you and answer your many questions. One of the most frequently asked questions at the moment is, "will there be another book?" Yes. There sure will. In fact, there will be many books. I have a head full of ideas and an office full of notes. I have so many characters that I think you will love and I can't wait to bring them to life in the pages of a book! Stay tuned. You know what I also love about talking to you all? All of the young writers out there. The ones who constantly write stories and want to believe that they can grow up and write books. Did I always know I wanted to be a writer? Yes, I did. And do I think it's possible that you'll grow up to be a writer? Yes, it is more than possible. If you believe in yourself, you can do anything. Keep reading, keep writing and always keep dreaming! Sunshine and rainbows, Michelle. xx   Making your own bright and colourful cupcake picks is easy. I made all of the cupcake picks for my launch and the display stopped people in their tracks. If you are planning a party (or just baking cupcakes for any reason) why not jazz them up and make them personal with your own handmade cupcake picks. You will need coloured cardboard or strong white paper, toothpicks, sticky tape and a fast drying craft glue. Here's how to make them.  First you need to cut out your shapes. I am lucky to have plenty of paper punches to do the job for me, but you can easily cut out your own shapes. You can cut out flowers or love hearts or circles or diamonds. It's totally up to you and your imagination. You'll want your shapes to be somewhere between the size of a 20 and 50 cent piece. Use bright coloured papers if you have them, or you can cut out circles of plain white paper and draw your own designs.  Use a fast and clear drying craft glue to stick all your bits and pieces together. Use a tiny dab of glue to secure paper shapes together. Make two sides for every cupcake pick. Match your shapes to be exactly the same size and shape.  Stick a toothpick onto the centre of one shape and secure with a small piece of tape. You only need to stick the toothpick to one side of your design.  You'll want to add enough glue to hold the two sides of your cupcake pick together but not so much that it will ooze out of the sides when you put your pieces together. There is no need to cover the entire back of the pick. Keep your glue to the centre.  Stick your matching side onto the shape with the toothpick and the glue. Squeeze the pieces together gently until the glue starts to dry. You may need to check on the pics and squeeze together again until the glue dries enough to hold the pieces firmly together.  Allow your glue to dry thoroughly. Make as many picks as you need and then allow them to dry thoroughly (preferably overnight) before you use them. After icing your cupcakes (see recipe here), push cupcake picks into the centre of the cakes until the cardboard rests just above the top of the cake.  I can't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight. If my life was a fairytale, my carriage would have turned into a pumpkin long before now and I'd be stranded. Speaking of fairytales, I have decided I need a fairytale skirt for the book launch. What is a fairytale skirt? you ask I'm not sure yet ... but I'm working on it. So far, it's a collection of gathered and pinned fabric on my table. If you've seen the movie Enchanted, I'm kind of like Giselle when she cuts up the curtains to make herself a dress. I have cut up everything in sight today just because I liked the fabric. Nothing is safe in my house--quilt covers, curtains, you name it--if the fabric fits my colour scheme, it gets the chop. Now wave your magic wand, or at least cross your fingers for me and hope that the skirt works, otherwise I have no idea what I'm wearing to the launch ... Stay tuned.  There will cupcakes galore at the book launch! However, because it's summer and buttercream frosting can be quite unstable in the heat, I think I might ice them with fondant instead. The display will be bright and colourful and each cake adorned with a handmade cupcake pick (I will share these with you soon). This is the recipe for the cupcakes used in my fantastic photo shoot! Make them for parties or afternoon tea or just because! Vanilla CupcakesCake Mix 125g butter, softened ½ cup caster sugar 2 eggs, lightly beaten ½ teaspoon vanilla 2 cups self raising flour ½ cup milk Preheat oven to 180°C. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Fold in sifted flour alternatively with milk, mix well. Drop tablespoonfuls of mixture into lined patty pan tins. Bake for 10-15 mins or until golden. Cool completely. Ice with buttercream frosting and decorate with sparkling cachous and halved cherries. Buttercream Frosting 250g unsalted butter, softened 500g sifted icing sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla essence Beat butter with an electric mixer until almost white in colour. Add sifted icing sugar and beat until combined. Add vanilla essence and beat well. Pipe onto cupcakes in a circular motion, working from the outside of the cupcake to the centre. | This is the No Ordinary Excuse blog page. There'll be lots of things happening here so stay tuned. There are book excerpts, recipes, things to make, stories, quotes and writing prompts ...
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