Meredith Costain
Meredith Costain joins us this month on Creative Kids Tales.
I chatted with Meredith earlier in 2014 on The Author’s Shelf and discovered there is much to learn about this creative story teller.
Meredith grew up on a dairy farm in West Gippsland, Victoria. She spent her youth with her head buried in books and much preferred reading over dairy duties, although she did enjoy playing with the dogs.
Her writing prowess began early making use of her bike rides to and from school by creating poems to pass the time. Meredith would make the mad dash home from school and settle into the farms haystack where she would frantically write down her creations. At the age of nine she was rewarded with her first poem, My Little Creek published in the Junior Age section of The Age newspaper. She received 17 shillings and sixpence for her work.
During her school days Meredith together with her cousins produced a newspaper called The Thrilling Three. Although not aware of it at the time this was a good footing for her future career.
After graduating University Meredith was eager to break away from farm life and began teaching English. Bitten by the travel bug she travelled extensively to places such as Morocco, Northern Sumatra and Siberia before returning to Melbourne to resume her teaching.
Meredith continued to write along with enjoying her other passion, playing the piano. She played in a few rock and blues bands around Melbourne and had short stories published with Explore, Comet, Pursuit and Challenge magazines.
But it was a trip to Paris that would change her live forever.
While crossing a pedestrian crossing Meredith was tragically hit by a car. During her recovery in a Paris hospital Meredith decided writing was her first love and she should see where it could take her. A full-time author was born.
Now with over 200 books to her credit it is clear Meredith made the right choice. Combining her love of music and dogs Meredith often writes about these two subjects. Her books include learning to read, picture books, chapter and non-fiction books.
Meredith lives in Melbourne with her partner, children’s author Paul Collins and their four-legged friends Jack, Molly, Harriet, seven chooks and seven goldfish and a menagerie of wildlife.
We invite you to read more about Meredith on her website www.meredithcostain.com
Read Creative Kids Tales' Mar 2015 interview with Meredith Costain
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'CKT is informative, relevant, recent and fun! It’s an exceptional resource for anyone involved in children’s literature.'
'Thanks for having me on Creative Kids Tales. It's a great resource for emerging writers and illustrators and I hope it will have a long future.'
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'The long-distance marathon of writing, illustrating and publishing usually begins along a very foggy road, in the dark, shoeless. But wait! What's that light on the horizon? A glowing little cafe, full of a bunch other runners plotting out mud-maps on napkins and exchanging anecdotes, warning about ditches and praising short-cuts. Stop for a while, have a cup of tea, maybe even a shoe-fitting, then get yourself back on the road for the long slog to sunrise.' - 
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'If there's anything emerging authors struggle with (beyond the dreaded writer's block), it's receiving recognition or even acknowledgment of their work – battling for a slice of that incredibly elusive publishing pie. Georgie Donaghey has created a priceless promotional and networking station that allows new authors to not only share their work, but gain the courage and nous to take their work to a whole new level. Creative Kids Tales is a valuable addition to Australia's burgeoning children's book market.' - 
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Writing can be a lonely profession. By necessity, you need to work alone much of the time. But it is wonderful to have a website which eases that by connecting creators with each other and with a wealth of information and resources.
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