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Welcome to the Natalie Jane Prior's website. This website is designed to keep readers up to date with news about my books and work. I hope to update it regularly as news comes to hand-keep watching this space! News Feb 3, 2010Minivers On the Run UK Edition Now Out The UK edition of Minivers on the Run is being released this month. The book is published by Marion Lloyd Books, an imprint of Scholastic. The second book in the series will follow in April (under the title Minivers in Danger). The UK Minivers website is here: http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/static/minivers/index.htm The site includes a story competition for UK readers to enter, with mini glamour packs as prizes. Jul 3, 2009 Minivers Fight Back Now Available Miniature celebrities and sisters, Emily and Rosamund Miniver are back in their newest adventure, Minivers Fight Back, which has just been published in Australia.  You can find out more at http://www.theminivers.com.au An official launch will be held for the book next week, at the ALEA/AATE Conference in Hobart. Jun 10, 2009 Sun and Star in the US The US editions of Natalie\'s two picture books for babies, Sun and Star (illustrated by Anna Pignataro) have just been published by Kane Miller. The books, which were small hardbacks in Australia, have been published in the US as board books. The original editions are still available in Australia from ABC Books. May 6, 2009 The Dolls Audiobooks Now Available from Audible Two audiobooks from The Dolls series are now available to purchase as downloads from Audible. You can find Annie Jones's sprightly performances of Fashion Follies and Susannah's Notebook at http://www.audible.com/ Apr 2, 2009 The Minivers Fight Back: Australian Publication Update The second book in The Minivers series will be published in Australia by Penguin at the beginning of July. I hope this news cheers up all the kind readers who have been sending me emails asking when Emily and Rosamund's next adventure will arrive! The second book in the series is called The Minivers Fight Back.Here is some information about the book: The Minivers are in danger. They’ve lost their home. They’ve lost their possessions. And they nearly lost their lives. Now they’re ready to fight back … Miniature celebrities Rosamund and Emily Miniver thought they had escaped from their enemies. But the battle for survival isn’t over yet. Determined to destroy the sisters, the evil Madame fills the news with stories about the Minivers’ selfishness and extravagance. Helped by their few remaining friends, Emily and Rosamund hatch a daring plot to restore their reputation. But will Madame’s malicious plans triumph before the Minivers can succeed? Mar 20, 2009 The Minivers: UK Publication and Foreign Language Lily Quench The Minivers series will be published in the UK by Marion Lloyd, in her imprint at Scholastic UK. Publication of the series will start in 2010. More news will be posted here as details come to hand. Lily Quench continues her overseas adventures, with the overseas publication of the fifth title, the Swedish translations (published by Wahlstroms) of the first two titles (the rest still to come), and the completion of the series in Italy with Giunti's publication of Lily Quench e La Ricerca di Re Drago Mar 2, 2009 ALEA/AATE CONFERENCE, 2009 Natalie will be attending the 2009 National Conference of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English and Australian Literacy Educators' Association, to be held in Hobart at Wrest Point Convention Centre in Hobart from July 9-12. Natalie will be presenting a keynote speech Small Pleasures: an Australian Children's Author Working in an International Market and a practical workshop and discussion for teachers Please, I'm Stuck: Common Creative Writing Mistakes Children Make, and How You Can Help Them Avoid Them. You can find out more about the conference here: http://www.englishliteracyconference.com.au/ Sep 1, 2008 Meet the Minivers! Meet Emily and Rosamund Miniver... They’re rich. They’re famous. They’re glamorous. Now they’re on the run… And they’re only two feet tall. 
Aug 27, 2008 The Minivers are Coming! Penguin Australia will publish the first novel in Natalie's new series, The Minivers at the beginning of September. A modern adventure fantasy series for readers in the upper primary age bracket, The Minivers should appeal strongly to the many Lily Quench fans out there. A new website for the series with information about the characters and story, an extract, game and downloads, and a great competition is about to go live. Stay tuned for more news, coming very soon! May 6, 2008 Bologna Book Fair Natalie has just returned from the annual Bologna Book Fair. Here is her report on it. The name Bologna, if it means anything to most people, usually conjures up a vague image of continental sausage. To me, as a children’s writer, it was always more of a mystery, a place to which people I knew tended to disappear every year around April, and which was always in the back of my thoughts as something likely to produce unexpected deadlines. Over the years I became very curious about Bologna and the children’s book fair held there annually around Easter, and, having heard many stories about it I always wanted to go. Something—usually lack of finances—always stopped me, until this year, when the moment and opportunity finally came. Even then I managed to miss an international flight and almost didn’t make it (it’s hard to say who was more worked up, myself or the travel agent). The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is not really meant for authors, but it’s still instructive to see how the agents and publishers work, and how those mysterious overseas deals actually get done. For someone like me, with a lot of foreign publishers, it was useful to be able to meet everybody under the same roof and to talk about forthcoming projects. Interesting and sometimes bizarre things happened in those meetings, some good and some bad. I put faces to names, and names to projects, and came away with some of my preconceptions about the publishing industry substantially changed. Working at the quality end of the market, I was particularly taken aback by the sheer quantity of dross on display, almost like the submerged two-thirds of the iceberg. And the differences in publishing styles between countries is even more marked when the books are seen en masse. All in all, a very interesting and useful experience to have had--even if I never go again. Feb 15, 2008 New Japanese Lily from Gakken The long awaited Japanese versions of the seven Lily Quench novels will begin publication in February, 2008. The books have been translated by Yoshie Okada and feature brand new illustrations by Shizuka Arai. Books 1 and 2 will appear in February with the remaining books to be published by Gakken at three monthly intervals. Yoshie has included a Lily page on her website, where you can see how Lily looks in Japan: http://www.okadayoshie.com/lily/index.html Feb 15, 2008 My New Writing Assistant I have a new writing assistant! Jasmine, the long-haired red dachshund has just joined the team and is sitting at my feet as I write this with her new husband Rupert. Jasmine (Jussy for short) is 6 years old and used to be a show dog. She has a very friendly and gentle temperament. Nov 13, 2007 New Junior Novel Series Starts 2008 Natalie is pleased to advise that she has signed a contract with Penguin Australia for a major new series called The Minivers. This four book series will appeal to readers of the Lily Quench series or slightly older, and combines modern fantasy and high-octane adventure, with a real emotional punch. The first book will appear in 2008—watch this space for further details! Aug 28, 2007 Lily Quench Poster Winners The six winning entries in the Lily Quench mailing list poster competition have been received. The winners are Rebecca, Peta, Cate and Kira from Australia, and Maggie and Alayna from the United States. Signed posters will be sent out to the winners shortly. If you didn't win a signed poster, a small unsigned version has been added to the FUN STUFF section of the Lily Quench Website for you to print out. Thanks to all who entered! Aug 22, 2007 New Lily Quench Website The Lily Quench website (www.lilyquench.com) has been relaunched! The new version of the site has been completely redesigned to match the covers of the new Australian edition, and includes new information and several new activity sheets (under Fun Stuff). More material will be added to Lily's internet hideout in the weeks to come. Aug 1, 2007 Lily Quench in a New ABC Books Edition The classic Lily Quench fantasy series for readers in middle to upper primary is being re-released in a beautiful new edition by ABC Books. The ABC edition features stunning new covers by Stephen Michael King (the nicest ones they have had anywhere, in the author’s biased opinion!), and will be available in ABC Shops and good bookstores from mid-August. Aug 1, 2007 New Lily Quench Book Also published in August to accompany the re-release of the seven Lily Quench novels is a new Lily Quench book, Lily Quench’s Companion to Dragons and the Art of Quenching. A compendium of articles about everything a budding dragon-slayer needs to know, the Companion will teach readers how to distinguish good dragons from bad (even when they are wrapped in human skin). As well as articles by Queen Dragon, Matilda Drakescourge, Queen Dragon and Lily herself, the book includes two brand new short stories, “Queen Dragon’s Christmas” and “The Incompetent Quench” and an article by the author about how the Lily Quench novels were written. The book features the best ever Lily Quench cover by Stephen Michael King, and has been illustrated (as always) by the incomparable Janine Dawson, who has managed to sneak both herself and Natalie into the very last illustration. |
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