Exciting event in Sydney - Dymocks George St Saturday 8 March

I am so thrilled to be visiting Dymocks in George Street on Saturday 8 March to celebrate the release of Alice-Miranda in Japan.  Come along and dress up - there will be prizes too!  This event is free but bookings are essential.

Upcoming events in February and March

Hello Friends,

I am so excited that my new adventure Alice-Miranda In Japan has just hit the shops.  To celebrate the release, my best grown up friend Jacqueline Harvey and I will be visiting bookshops around Sydney for several different events.  I will post more details and the beautiful flyers that go with them soon but for your diary now:

Friday 14 February from 3.30pm Novella Wahroonga
Saturday 15 February from 10.30am - midday Book Review St Ives at St Ives Village
Saturday 1 March 1-2pm a huge celebration of Alice-Miranda In Japan at The Children's Bookshop at Beecroft
Saturday 8 March 11-12 noon big dress up event at Dymocks George St Sydney

There will be lots more happening in March as Jacqueline is touring in Melbourne and Queensland as well as visiting the fabulous Somerset Festival on the Gold Coast. More details soon.

Somerset Celebration of Literature

Hope you're having a fantastic week at school.

Lots of love,
Alice-Miranda xxx

Alice-Miranda in Japan: High Tea at The Tea Salon by Georgia Cameron

Hello Friends,

I am so thrilled that my new book, Alice-Miranda In Japan is out in the shops in Australia.  During the school holidays we had three wonderful events to celebrate the release (some lucky children got to buy the books two weeks early) at a beautiful place called The Tea Salon in Sydney.  One of my good friends, Georgia Cameron, who is ten years old, wrote a fantastic recount of one of the high teas.  You can read it below.  A big thanks to Georgia for sending this to my best grown up friend Jacqueline Harvey (who also happens to be a friend of Georgia's too).

On 22 January 2014, there was a very special event to celebrate the launch of Alice Miranda in Japan at the Tea Salon at Westfield in the City. It was great fun and very busy.

We arrived early at the tea salon because my mum, my little sister Julia and me travelled into the city with Jacqueline (except that we call her Jacquie). There were lots and lots of people coming to get their photo taken with her and also buying the wonderful Alice-Miranda and Clementine-Rose books. Everyone really wanted Alice- Miranda in Japan! We were all queuing to get into the Tea Salon because there was such a big crowd but luckily we were the first one’s seated. We met some people called Melissa, Eugenie and Araminta and enjoyed chatting and eating scones with jam and cream, pink cupcakes, sushi and ribbon sandwiches. Julia ate 2 or 3 cupcakes!  It was so busy that Jacquie couldn’t even sit down or eat anything.

Jacquie gave a speech about Alice- Miranda in Japan as an introduction. She knows a lot about Japan because she went there with a school group and she’s been back with her husband Ian too. She also read the first chapter of Alice- Miranda in Japan but not anymore because authors don’t like giving away their stories. Jacquie asked if anybody had a question and a row of hands popped up very fast. These were some of the things people wanted to know.  Why did you become an author? When did you publish your first book? And do you have any kids? When people asked Jacquie that question she said she had a step daughter but she and Ian don’t have any children together but I think of Alice-Miranda and Clementine-Rose as her children.

 

At the end of the speech Jacquie signed some more books and then we all headed home. It was a fun time and I loved it and I hope that everyone else that was there enjoyed it to.

Georgia Cameron

Thanks for the great report Georgia,

Lots of love,

Alice-Miranda xxxx

There are some more lovely photos of the event below.

Welcome to Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale - Class Lists are up for 2014

Hello Friends,

I hope you've had a wonderful holiday.  I've just been to Japan and I can't wait for you to read all about it. I'm so glad to be heading back to school and there are lots of new friends joining us.  Thank you to everyone who sent their enrollment form in.  It was really tricky because so many of you wanted to have the same room mate and Miss Grimm suggested that Millie and I share again this year because we get on so well.  But the other girls are all lovely and the new girls are good at so many things - especially being friends.

There have been loads of wonderful suggestions for outings including: riding, shopping, swimming, trips to the beach and a fun park, sewing workshops, a visit to the fair (I'm sure that Miss Grimm will let us do that again this year but hopefully it won't be nearly as dramatic as last time), walks and a visit to a cafe for breakfast or hot chocolate.  Mrs Smith will be busy in the kitchen too making all those new recipes - she's very keen to try Tortellini Boscaiola, some seafood including salmon and of course she'll make lots of roast dinners (which she's very good at).

Brummel Bear is excited to meet all your softies with the cutest names ever - Hariette, Mustard, Peaches Primrose, Piggy, Carlos, Doggie, Fluffy and Framboise.  I think we should have a midnight feast softie picnic!

Lots of you are good at lots of things, but there was definitely a trend that many of you wanted to improve in Science and Maths.  I think Mr Plumpton will have to get busy with his experiments and I've heard that Professor Pluss might be coming over from Fayle to help with some extra Maths lessons.  Miss Reedy is always wonderful offering extra tuition for English too.  Remember when she helped me study for my test when I first arrived.  She was so helpful.

There might be a little bit of confusion with the class groups as some students said that they were going into that year but others didn't specify, so if you're in the wrong class, please let my best grown up friend Jacqueline Harvey know and she will make sure Miss Grimm changes you into the correct year.

It's not too late to get your form in.  Miss Grimm's expanding the school this year so there are still some spots available.

Welcome to Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale.  I can't wait to meet you!

Lots of love,
Alice-Miranda xx

Winchesterfield-Downsfordvale Academy for Proper Young Ladies Class Lists 2014
Surname	First Name	Class	Room Mate	House	Co-Curricular Activities
Signorelli	Phillipa	5	Ashima	Shakespeare	Piano, drama
Ayres	Brianna	7	Jacinta	Bronte	Riding
Bell	Maisy	3	Cara	Bronte	Art, drama, music (percussion)
Bloom	Madeline	7	Danika	Shakespeare	Choir, piano
Covich	Nadia	6	Susannah	Austen	Riding
Dare	Susannah	7	Nadia	Austen	Riding
Divall	Ashima	5	Phillipa	Austen	Choir
Headlington-Bear	Jacinta	7	Brianna	Dickens	Gymnastics, Choir
Hicks	Ivory	5	Molly	Dickens	Tennis
Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones	Alice-Miranda	4	Millie	Bronte	Riding, choir, sailing
Hobbs	Araminta	4	Laura	Shakespeare	Drama
Mallyon	Georgie	8	Imogen Walton	Dickens	Riding
McLaughlin-McTavish-McNoughton-McGill	Millie	5	Alice-Miranda	Bronte	Riding, tennis, choir
O'Brien	Molly	5	Ivory	Shakespeare	Drama, riding
Radford	Caprice	6	Sloane	Austen	Everything
Rigby	Danika	7	Madeline	Bronte	Sailing, choir
Sharry	Cara	3	Maisy	Austen	Choir, piano, drama
Sykes	Sloane	6	Caprice	Shakespeare	Choir, piano, drama
Venn	Laura	4	Araminta	Bronte	Drama
Walton	Imogen	8	Georgie	Dickens	Riding

Sneak Peek at my next adventure - Alice-Miranda In Japan

Hello Friends,

I couldn't wait to share the beautiful new cover for my next adventure, Alice-Miranda in Japan which will be released in Australia 1 February 2014.  I think it's gorgeous.  We had such a great time and what a mystery to solve!

Have you got your diary for next year?  I'm excited to find out who's going to be in my class - there's an enrolment form inside and lots of girls have been signing up and sending their forms to my best grown up friend Jacqueline Harvey on her email address Jacqueline@jacquelineharvey.com.au
Classes will be on the blog and Jacqueline's website in time for school to go back in January 2014.

 

I'm very excited to be heading to Singapore tomorrow where I'll be meeting lots of new friends over the next 10 days.  Then we're off to England so that I can introduce Clementine Rose!  We're going to loads of lovely schools in London and then we're going over to Lancashire, Shropshire and Manchester.  I can't wait - although I think it's going to be a lot colder in the UK than it is in Sydney at the moment.  I love the English cover of Clementine's first adventure - it's different colours to the Australian one but the second book is almost exactly the same.

Happy reading everyone.

Lots of love,
Alice-Miranda xxx