School Program                                                                                          Story by Tyrion Perkins

Sandy brought props to show – a gong, which a couple of children got to hit, a Shakuhachi flute, and a Bokken which everyone thought was an actual sword until she said the penalty of touching the blade was death.

It was a Bokken which was wooden for practice like the ones used by her characters in her Samurai Kids series, and also used by the Greatest swordsman in the world, Mitsuka Minamoto.

She told us about her research into Japanese history and surprised the class with the fact that young Samurai students were expected to learn poetry and flower arranging along with fighting.

Her love of Pokemon lead to the spirit animals of her series. She had known many disabled people and decided to make her character more interesting by him having only one leg. But what happens when you try to do a one-legged kick? The audience guessed right, except she fell forward and did a face plant.

She went on to do sword fighting classes where her son stayed on the other side of the room so not to be embarrassed, and also did hands on research when she came to write “Polar Boy.” No, she didn’t go to the pole. She filled the bath with ice and sat in it!

She gave tips on writing which included: close your eyes and notice other senses; be mean to your characters and make something awful happen, then something worse; use the best words ever; and practice lots.
 
For more information http://www.sandyfussell.com/

Family Program                                                                                        Story by Tyrion Perkins

The Book Gig is where drama students bring a book to life. Final year students from the University of Southern Queensland were given the book “White Crane,” the first in Sandy Fussell’s Samurai Kids series.

Rather than act out the book, they decided to use it to inspire new scenes that explored similar themes.

They performed four pieces. In the first, two tigers trained for a Samurai competition. One boasted she’d be first, and looked like she would, leaping up the mountain, until she froze, frightened of heights. The other tiger who was not likely to win, saw her fear and carried her on her back so she could win.

Moderator Alan Cockerill then lead a discussion with the audience and author Sandy Fussell. The young audience was able to find links of themes with Sandy’s books including working together; everyone has some sort of strength even if you don’t see it; and forgiveness, through a scene with rat being charged in court for chopping off gecko’s arm.

Sandy was surprised that forgiveness came out as one of the themes, as it was not clear in the first book, but became a major theme of the series.

Adult Program                                                                                                Story by Yvonne Mes

Sandy Fussell is an accidental writer. She started out in computing, but when she was included in a writer’s group with experienced authors she got the push she needed. Once her stories became published she had to face a challenge, a fear of speaking to groups. This meant that doing author talks in schools was nerve wrecking.
At the time there was a great opportunity for emerging writers who were linked with experienced writers to mentor them through the school talk experience.
Sandy shared how she has developed writing workshops for children using Minecraft. Minecraft is a well-known virtual sandbox game, where children build their own world and aim to survive and thrive. Sandy uses the characters, landscape and inbuild challenges to inspire children to write their own stories.
Sandy finished her session by sharing practical the practical uses of software Trello which not only assists writers organising their writing life but can also be used to plot out their stories.
 
Sandy Fussell is a best-selling author of books and short stories for young people. The Samurai Kids series garnered an International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) award for Outstanding Books for Readers with Disabilities three CBCA Book of the Year Notables. Her picture book, Sad, the Dog, was recommended in a New York Times review, she was shortlisted by the CBCA for several other of books.