..............................................................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
Rose Trapnell
I am a Brisbane-based writer interested in exploring the part that landscape or environment plays in our lives. Australia has a rich, diverse landscape and I believe that 'where we live' has a direct impact on how we live our lives, particularly impacting on how we use our spare time.
As a former ABC Radio News journalist I travelled around much of Queensland and have a real feel for the variety of landscape within this state. I recently completed a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the Queensland Institute of Technology, and my creative work was a children's novel called Ali Seashells. It is based in Brisbane's bayside and was short-listed for the 2000 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Emerging Author Category.
I enjoy walking by the bay, gardening and listening out for the call of frogs who inhabit my back yard frog pond.
Bibliography of published work
My published children's novel Frog Happy concerns a group of children whose school backs onto bushland that leads to Moreton Bay. When a new housing development threatens the habitat of frogs living in the bushland, the school decides to build a large frog pond and run a frog-collecting competition. The tadpole and frog collecting and the subsequent competition between children forms the main action line running through the novel. My main character, Jenny, is dead keen to win the competition, but a big problem has come into her life. Her single parent father is spending so much time with his new girlfriend Lola that he doesn't have time to take her into the bush and help with her collecting. The story is based in my local Wynnum/Manly/Lota area. It is aimed at 8-9 year olds and children in the local area are enjoying seeing their neighbourhood depicted in fiction.
What I'm writing at the moment
At the moment I have two manuscripts being considered by publishers. Ali Seashells which was short-listed for the 2000 Queensland Premier's Award Emerging Author Category. This story is aimed at 12/13 year olds in the transition from primary to high school. The Dream Box follows the adventures of Jenny and her friends who were featured in Frog Happy. This novel is being considered by Greater Glider Productions.
I'm in the process of writing another children's novel and a young adult/adult novel. The children's novel, Mudflats Murder is aimed at 10/12 year olds and is based in Brisbane's bayside. It's a murder mystery about a couple of boys who are determined to crack a local break and enter gang. Unfortunately, the closer they come to solving the mystery, the deeper involved they appear to be and they have to prove their innocence.
Fern is a young adult/adult novel based in rainforest in far north Queensland. Fern is an 18 year old girl whose family lives a somewhat idyllic life until Fern's older brother returns with his bikie friends. Family relationships and friendships are put under pressure while the practical and mythical values of landscape are explored.
Prizes
Short-listed for the 2000 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards for Ali Seashells a children's novel about the transition a group of children undergo in the Christmas holidays between primary and high school.
Example of my work
...................................................................................................................................................
2001 Mudflats Murder, a children's novel aimed at 10/11 year olds is presently being written with the assistance of an Arts Queensland grant of $3000. No publisher has yet been sought for this manuscript.
2000 The Dream Box, a novel for 9 year olds sent to Greater Glider Productions, Maleny, Queensland in November 2000. It is currently being considered by Jill Morris.
Ali Seashells, a children's novel aimed at 12 year olds, shortlisted for Queensland Premier's Literary Awards Emerging Author category, September 2000. This novel is presently with several publishers on an unsolicited basis.
1996 - Joined Novels-in-Progress writing group in Brisbane. This group meets monthly and members exchange sections of their manuscripts for constructive criticism and other comment.
.............................................................................
..............................................................................................................................................................
