To all those interested in fantasy children’s fiction, I am currently refining the first two novels of my series. The background is that I began to self-publish in draft with KDP around 2018, but the novellas have been withdrawn until I have properly refined products. Book 1 Isabella Airyfairyabelous & the Sleepy Dragon is now about 30,000 words, double the original length. I have included a more prominent element of magic to exemplify King Alfred’s transformation into King Ping, the king locked inside enchanted armour. I know many young readers enjoy characters speaking to each other, so dialogue is now a strong feature of Sleepy. Emerging friendships and relationships between…

The fine tuning of Sleepy continues as I check each line to ensure no errors have slipped in. The novel is shaping up and looks great, especially for junior fantasy and fairytale fans at Grade 5-7. My next great challenge is to ensure Book 11: Doughnut Dungeon is up-to-speed and ties in with book 1 Sleepy well enough. I rewrote Doughnut Dungeon by developing new sections prior to my restructure of Sleepy, so I do hope to have Doughnut Dungeon finished soon and ready to add to my list of refined publications. Writing series has its own unique challenges and takes years of development. Can Australian writers earn a living?…