I've long had a fascination with the verse novel form, in particular verse novels for children and young adults. Since I read one for the first time, I have sought them out, read them, loved them, and shared them with others. I also dreamt that I would one day write one, though I imagined myself first studying the form in more depth - reading treatises on the form, studying how-to books and articles and then, perhaps, finally being brave enough to tackle a project of my own.

I did eventually write my first verse novel, though the process was very different than that which I'd imagined. One night I was getting into bed and some lines of poetry popped into my head. I wrote them down, then a few more. Over the following weeks little bits of poetry came to me at odd times, and finally I realised these poems were connected and that a little girl wanted me to write her story. There was some wrestling as I tried to figure out just what her story was, but really the story just flowed. That story, Pearl Verses the World, will be published in May this year by Walker Books Australia.

Here on this blog I'll not only share news about Pearl, but also my thoughts and responses to other verse novels, and also news and opinions from across the blogiverse about verse novels.

Enjoy.