Aleesah Darlison Guest Post

Last week I interviewed children's writer Aleesah Darlison, to give you some idea of her background and her writing. Today I will let Aleesah tell you about her books themselves. Take it away, Aleesah!

Hello everyone, my name is Aleesah Darlison and I’m a children’s author.

I’ve been a published author for two and half years now and in that time I’ve had fifteen books released. I’ve been very lucky as I’ve had two series picked up: Unicorn Riders (Walker Books) and Totally Twins (New Frontier). These have been fantastic series to work on, I’m so proud of both of them, but it has also been hard work. You certainly learn the meaning of the words ‘deadline’ and ‘multi-tasking’ when writing a series. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My latest release is Book 4 in the Totally Twins series. It’s called Birthday Bonanza. The twins in the series, Persephone and Portia Pinchgut, are planning their eleventh birthday. Little do they know, they are going to be in for some HUGE surprises!

Also, I’ve just submitted Books 7 & 8 to my editor at Walker Books for the Unicorn Riders series. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the draft illustrations come through soon. I’m probably not looking forward to tackling the structural edits though! Still, it’s all part of the writing process so I won’t complain. 

Unicorn Riders is a fantasy adventure series for girls aged 8+. The stories feature four strong, empowered female lead characters: Willow, Quinn, Ellabeth and Krystal. These girls protect their kingdom from evil forces and go on important missions for their queen. The stories are fast-paced and action-packed with lots of twists and turns. I’m passionate about this series because it’s all about empowering girls and helping them find their inner strength.

I’m also passionate about my picture books. For me, having a picture book published is one of the joys of being an author. My picture books so far are:

Puggle’s Problem, which is on the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge, and Warambi, which was shortlisted for the 2012 CBCA Eve Pownell Award for Non-Fiction and the 2012 Wilderness Society Award for Children’s Literature.

I also have two more picture books on the way in 2013.

Bearly There is illustrated by Jill Carter-Hansen. It’s a story about two very different teddy bears. Bearly There is a well-loved and loyal teddy. Unfortunately, he’s rather raggedy and old. A well-meaning relative tries to replace Bearly by introducing a brand new teddy called Winston. Winston is naughty and cheeky and causes loads of problems for Bearly. Bearly There is due out in March 2013, so please keep an eye out for it.

My other picture book due out in 2013 is Little Meerkat. I just adore meerkats and I’m absolutely delighted that Wombat Books is publishing this story. I’m also delighted that WA illustrator, Shannon Melville, is illustrating the book. Little Meerkat is about an over-zealous, over-courageous, but terribly cute and mischievous meerkat. It’s due out in October 2013.

Well, that’s it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Please feel free to post any comments or questions here and I will respond.

If you’d like to find out more info about me you can visit my website at www.aleesahdarlison.com or go into Facebook and ‘LIKE’ my author page: www.facebook.com/AleesahDarlisonFanPage.