WRITER 670: Rory H. Mather and his prolific picture book writing career

Should all picture books rhyme? Why use animals as characters? And what’s the deal with working with an illustrator? Picture book author (of more than 15 books) Rory H. Mather joins the podcast in this episode to discuss all of these things, as well as his own journey into the industry, and his latest titles, Laugh in the Bath and Mumma Bear. 00:00 Welcome 04:20 Writing tip: Learn to play an instrument (sort of) 08:23 WIN!: The CIA Book Club by Charlie English 11:40 Word of the week: ‘Psephology’ 12:30 The world of words: Capitalising the seasons 14:05 Writer in residence: Rory H. Mather 15:00 Rory explains his love of writing picture books 18:45 How Rory got his start 22:55 Where he gets his ideas from 26:30 Why writing animals can be a good thing 27:47 The importance of curiosity 29:40 A discussion about picture books that rhyme 31:39 Who is the picture book audience? 32:30 Working with illustrators 37:00 Selling books to publishers 40:48 Remembering the first book he signed 41:30 The economics of picture book writing 42:30 Telling succinct stories 45:05 Writing longer books 47:33 More books coming up 49:30 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.