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| Hi
there. I'm John Heffernan. I'm an author and a farmer. I
live with my wife and two daughters, three cats, too many
dogs, heaps of horses, and loads of sheep and cattle on
a property in northern New South Wales, Australia. |
| On
an average day I do farmer-type things: like racing around
on a motorbike or quad, or a horse, breaking down in the
old tractor, chasing sheep and cattle like a lunatic, and
getting red-faced shouting at too many dogs. But on some
days (and most nights) I write. |
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My
first book was Spud, about a blue
heeler cattle dog. We partied for a week when it was given
a Notable Book Award by the Children's
Book Council of Australia.
My second novel, Rachael's
Forest, deals with a family's fight to save their
farm.
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Click Here
Environment Award
For Children Literature. |
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Click Here
Notable Book Award
By Childrens Book Council of Australia
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This
book was short listed by the Wilderness Society for the
Environment Award For Children's
Literature. More parties.
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| Pete
Paddock-Basher is for younger readers, three fast-moving
stories of an old car who dreams of more than just bashing
around a paddock. |
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CBD
is for an older age level. It's set in a Sydney of the future,
and is the first book in the Mythos Trilogy. More
Than Gold is a sports story about a young boy who has
olympic ambitions. |
| In
2001 I produced two books. The first was Chips,
a sequel to Spud. The second was a picture book called My
Dog with illustrator Andrew McLean. 2002 was a very
busy year, although I only managed to publish one book, PUP,
the third book in the Spud series. I also worked on the second
book in the Mythos series, GBH, the
follw-up to CBD. Basically I was busy
collecting some awards for My Dog.
The book won a few National and State awards. Yahoo! My
Dog is also being translated into other languages, namely
French and Japanese. Click to see the French
and Japanese. |
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| The
second book in the Mythos series, GBH, came out early in 2003.
In October a new picture was published called
Two Summers. Freya Blackwood is the illustrator, and her
drawing are wonderful. Click
here to have a closer look. |
| Check
out A Horse Called Elvis (published
March 2004). If you liked the Spud series, I think you'll
like this one. Find out more by clicking here. Elvis was short-listed
by the CBCA for Book of the Year (Younger Readers). It was
awarded Honour Book. |
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| A
new version of Pete Paddock
Basher is now out too, through ABC Books. It is called
The Adventures of Pete Paddock Basher, and includes six stories.
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"Also
for teachers and anyone wanting to work on their creative
writing, have a look at (and listen to) Heads
For Tales. This is a creative writing kit which
contains a CD and booklet of exercises, aimed at the
upper primary level, but useful for other ages. I've
read three short stories onto the CD, explained what
I was trying to achieve in the tales, and highlighted
a number of techniques used. Click
here to find out more.
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"Spook
addicts should have a look at Haunted
Australia, published in November, 2005. This book is a
collection of supposedly true ghost stories that happened
in Australia.
I only published one book for 2006, but I’m pleased I did
this particular book; I’ve always wanted to write a story
about the power of imagination. The book is called SYKIE,
and it’s the story of a girl with an imagination so powerful
that it takes over her life. |
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I
spent most of 2006 writing, which means four books for
2007. Three are for younger readers, and one is for
older readers. I have two small chapter books in the Giggles
Series from Lothian. One deals with the adventures of
a tiny dog that’s decidedly on the nose – Stinky:
The Tale of a Smelly Dog.
The other is a kind of detective story set on a farm – The
Boot Thief.
Eric
and Einstein is for slightly older readers. It’s the
story of a boy and a mouse. Not just any mouse, though.
This little rodent has a mega-brain and attitude to match.
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