ANNA'S WAR by DJ Taylor
Published by Riveted Press

Thank you so much to DJ Taylor for stopping by to tell us all about how her debut historical novel for young adults, ANNA'S WAR (published by Riveted Press), came to be!

1. Congratulations, DJ, on your debut novel Anna's War which is published July 2nd 2025! What prompted you to write this book? 

My elderly parents-in-law were the inspiration for Anna’s War. They spent their formative childhood years living under Nazi occupation in southern Netherlands. They lived in different villages and had different experiences and would often talk about them. One day about six years ago my mother-in-law, Catherina, mentioned that her father hid in a secret cellar under their house to avoid deportation to Germany. She had never mentioned this before. When I did some initial research I found it compelling and knew it was a story that had to be told.

2. What key takeaways did you uncover during your research for Anna's War? 

I did very little research before writing except reading about the forced deportation of Dutch men to work as slaves in German factories. I initially concentrated on telling a story. My parents-in-law who migrated to Australia in the late fifties have never read any books on the war so the first draft was based on their memories. However, I was conscious that memories can be a tricky thing but found that when I researched the war’s events there was a high correlation between their oral history and formal documents and other people’s accounts. Anna’s War is historical fiction and as I devised scenarios I would often question my parents-in-law as to whether something could or would happen and they guided me.

3. How did it find a home with Riveted Press? What was the publication experience like?
 
I submitted the first 5000 words of an early draft of the manuscript into the Young Adult section of the competition at an annual CYA conference. To my utter surprise it was short-listed and then came third. However, I felt it needed more work and spent another couple of years refining the manuscript.

When I felt it was ready I re-submitted the first 2500 words for assessment with four publishers at CYA. Rowena Beresford, the publishing editor of Riveted Press requested the full manuscript and within three days I had an email saying what a wonderful, wonderful story it was. I was over the moon and that was the start of the journey. Rowena made the publication experience an enjoyable one as she likes working with debut authors and nurturing them. I have learned so much.

4. Why did you choose to write under the pen name of DJ Taylor? 

It was a pragmatic choice. I have a common name - Di Taylor (There are three at my doctor’s surgery!). Initially I did a Google search and found there are many Di Taylors who are writers, artists, musicians etc. There’s also a lot DJ Taylors but not as many as Di Taylor. I also found that DJTaylorauthor hadn’t been used for Instagram or a web name so that sealed my decision.

5. Do you have a typical writing process? What is your writing space like? 

I wrote the first draft of Anna’s War (36,000 words) in seven weeks by writing a chapter a day. I flipped the day and stuck to a strict morning routine of going for an early morning walk, having breakfast and sitting at my desk at 8.00am to write another chapter. I wouldn’t leave my desk until the chapter was completed (Except for getting cups of tea!). It could take an hour to three hours. I would then walk away from my desk and do all the other things I would normally do in the morning and think about the storyline until the next morning.

Each day I made writing my priority. I would start the day reading the last chapter I wrote, not correcting anything (as tempting as it was!). It was to remind myself of what I had written the previous day.

I’m a pantser writer so I used to look forward to writing the next chapter to see what would happen. The story had a life of its own. The first draft storyline never changed but I kept adding to it as I did more research. When Anna’s War was completed it ended up being 62,000 words. The subsequent research added depth and breadth to the storyline.

The first draft was written on my iPad at my messy desk facing a wall. I wrote many subsequent drafts with my iPad on my lap in many different settings. I never returned to my desk after the completion of the first draft. During the writing of the first draft I didn’t tell anyone outside the family that I was writing Anna’s War. I didn’t keep it a secret but kept it private. I didn’t want people asking me how the book was progressing as I had no idea if I could write a book or not!

6. What is in the pipeline? Can you share anything you are working on next?

I’ve started writing a sequel to Anna’s War and I’ve called it Josephine’s Journey. Josephine is Anna’s best friend and they are separated after being evacuated from their town. Many readers have asked me what happened to Josephine. She’s a likeable, optimistic character despite the hardships of war.

7. Anything else you would like to add? 

My secret weapon is my iPad with an attached keyboard. I can type very fast as I learned typing at school. It’s proven to be useful to keep up with the flow of my ideas.

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Thanks to DJ TAYLOR for stopping by. Congratulations on your fantastic new novel ANNA'S WAR, now available in all good bookstores.

Visit DJ Taylor online at djtaylorauthor.com or on Instagram @djtaylor_author

and visit publisher Riveted Press at rivetedpress.au or on Facebook & Instagram 

Thank you to JEANETTE STAMPONE, children's author extraordinaire!, for stopping by my blog on her promotional tour celebrating her new junior fiction release "Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost" - written by Jeanette, illustrated by Jasmine Berry and published by About Kids Books (Publisher, Di Bates). 

Visit Jeanette online here!
Visit illustrator Jasmine Berry here! 
​Visit the publisher About Kids Books here! 

1. Jeanette, your debut chapter book Ghost Detectives: Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost was recently released, published by About Kids Books and with fantastic illustrations by Jasmine Berry. Where did the idea for this book originate and what was the process like of writing and rewriting it?

I grew up in an old English house which is believed to be around three hundred years old! As you'd expect, it was very spooky and a little bit scary. More so as I lived in an area full of stories about ghosts, fairies, pixies, and other supernatural beings. I became fascinated with this subject matter and knew it was only a matter of time before I wrote about it myself. So, that's where the ghost element came from! As for the bakery part, that's also very personal. My parents owned a small bakery and I also have a sister in Perth who runs her own bakery business. So I spent many years being surrounded by delicious baked goods. By the way, in case anyone wants to know, my favourite is carrot cake. ;)

It's been really fun to combine these two parts of my personal history to create a story. Once I had the idea, it really took off and felt very natural to write. Saying that, there was plenty of editing afterwards but thankfully, the main plot was pretty solid. I think the most major change was completely writing the first chapter. I originally spent most of chapter one describing the protagonist, but after having an editor look at it, I realised I should jump straight into the action. I'm so glad I took this advice on board as it's so much better now.

2. How did it come to be with About Kids Books? What was the experience like?

Di Bates put a call-out in her newsletter, Buzz Words. She was specifically looking for middle grade or chapter books. I already had written the story so I thought I would try! And much to my delight, she took it on.

The publication experience was so fast! My last two books were picture books and there was a wait of two to three years before they came out. This time, it was a matter of months so it whizzed by. The editorial experience was also fast but very thorough. I learnt a lot about sentence length and word choices for younger readers. 

3. It seems Ghost Detectives is intended to be a series. Will there be further sequels? Did you plan for the story to be first in a series from when you first began writing it? 

Yes, Ghost Detectives is the first in a series of three. So I have my fingers crossed for books two and three! I definitely intended to write it as a series from the start.  The first reason is that junior fiction books are quite skinny due to their lower word count, so by having multiple books, they stand out on the shelf better. The second reason is that I think kids love to love a character! If they have invested in a character, they want more! I remember this myself from reading books such as The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy and My Naughty Little Sister by Dorothy Edwards.

4. What made Terry Fide and the Bakery Ghost such a great read, in my opinion, is the humour, the mystery, the friendships and the light spookiness of your story and of course the wonderful artwork by Jasmine Berry: who is the best audience for your book, and what do you want readers to take away from your story? 

The book is primarily aimed at children aged 6-9 years but could certainly be enjoyed by any primary school aged child, depending on their reading and comprehension ability. 

I hope that readers will enjoy the spooky mystery element and relate to the fun characters. I aimed to create a story that combines ghosts, fun and friendship. Something that's spooky but not scary for young readers.

I would love readers to come away with the simple enjoyment of a silly book, but also understand the key messages of bravery and supportive friendships. It is a book with both slapstick humour and heart-warming moments. 

5. Do you have a typical writing process? What is your writing space is like? 

It depends on what I am writing as picture books are quite different to junior fiction. I actually struggle to write longer works - even a junior fiction is intimidating for me! I overcame this by setting myself a small daily target of only 150 words per day. This is literally a maximum ten minutes work so it was always manageable. Even on those days when I wasn't really in the mood to write, I told myself that it's only ten minutes and I got it done. And most of the time, once I got going, I ended up doing much more.


6. What is in the pipeline? Can you share anything you are working on next?

As well as writing, I am also love to draw. I have a big dream to one day become an author-illustrator! So, at the moment, I am squirrelling away of a couple of illustration projects. Fingers crossed!

7. Anything at all you'd like to add? :) 

I would just like to say thank you, Brenton, for your time and effort in supporting other creatives. I look forward to seeing your new release with Riveted Press, The Prime Minister Problem AND your picture book with Wombat Books! You're on fire!

1. Your first children's book, Something Terrible: Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces, is a funny, zany chapter book for young readers. And the first in a series with two more titles after it. How did you come to write your debut children's book? 

I came up with the idea when I was tutoring a boy who was a reluctant reader. I was telling him about my granddaughter who had tripped over her shoelaces (luckily unhurt) and we began to talk about what 'terrible silly things' that could have happened.  Although my student didn't enjoy reading he loved being 'told' stories so I came up with Tim Tie Your Shoelaces and, as happens when my slightly wacky imagination gets hold of something before long, Becky Brush Your Hair, then Wanda, and Sam soon followed, with Daisy and Elliot works in progress. 

I am an unashamed word nerd and love words and word rules, and word origins and so on. What  I found that I wanted in these stories was apart from them being rather ridiculous, I really wanted to introduce a wider vocabulary to the reader, while keeping the content suitable for the younger advanced readers who might not come across an advanced vocabulary in the books written for their age. However, I also want to attract the older reluctant readers through varied font size and relatable stories, who too may not be exposed to an expanded vocabulary, as they tend to stick to books that do not challenge them.

2. What was your journey of having Tim Tie-Your-Shoelaces go from story idea to revising and rewriting then submitting to having it picked up for publication? 

Much to my delight (and disbelief), I had won a competition with another book, Goodnight Sheep, and part of the prize was mentorship with the wonderful Clare Halifax at Walker Books (amazing!) She had shown interest in publishing Goodnight Sheep; however, at that point, I had already signed a contract with Fremantle Press (unbelievable) who I had sent Goodnight Sheep to and promptly forgot about as I never dreamt they would call me. Clare asked if I had anything else on the go and I said, yes, I had two early readers completed

I had written Tim and Becky almost a year before it was picked up and had done the usual write, read, put away, reread edit, repeat for about 6 months before then, never dreaming these tales would go anywhere other than live in my laptop, where all my stories live. I was still in shock from a: winning the competition and b: being offered a contract with Fremantle Press when I was asked to send Tim and Becky to Walker Books and was offered a contract a few months later.

3. You have also got a picture book Goodnight Sheep. Can you tell us how this book came to be? 
The idea for Goodnight Sheep came to me when one night I couldn’t sleep and my husband said casually ‘count sheep.’ This made my somewhat odd imagination wonder ‘what if the sheep don’t want to be counted and this led to another thought and then another, ending with the question, would a child’s sheep behave if they were to count them? When it came to Lilly May’s sheep, apparently not. This particular child’s sheep wanted nothing to do with being counted, preferring mischief and chaos over sleep, until finally exhaustion wins.
It took about six months to write Goodnight Sheep with a lot of input and critiquing from some great people.

​4. Where do you write? 
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Having five children, a writing space WAS no more than a desk tucked into a corner and a computer at my disposal when everyone went to bed.
​But that was fine, and I wrote two 80, 000-word novels that way, one published in 2023 under a pen name.
Now my children are all adults, and I have a whole room to myself that is filled with the things I love and that are important to me.
On the wall hangs the very first story I wrote called Animal Caper. I wrote it when I was ten for a writing competition advertised in the local newspaper and won first prize.
On a chair sits a bear who was given to me when I was born. He has one eye, a split in a seam and has lost his growl, however like me has all his hair and his limbs are still attached.

5. You have the third book in the Something Terrible series (Wanda-Wear-Your-Glasses!) coming out later this year. Is there anything else you are working on, or something in the pipeline? What do you foresee wanting to do next in the children's book world? 
 
I’m always thinking (mostly when I am meant to be sleeping) and jotting down ideas. Sometimes there too many ideas and I get a bit lost with which one I am going to work on first. So in saying that I am working on more books for the Something Terrible series but also looking at some partially non-fiction tales told in the same ridiculous way that I can't seem to get away from. I’m also working on another Sheep story with a Christmas theme and one about aliens, lemonade and a rogue carrot, another about some missing dogs and re-writing a story about a pig and some wishes.
I am hoping in the near future to run some writing workshops for children who wish to write but feel that their spelling will let them down. I want to encourage the idea that good story telling comes from the imagination and not from how well someone spells.
 
6. You have had your first few children's books published in such a short time frame. What has been the most exciting, or surprising, part of this whirlwind time for you?
 
I guess for all novice writers the most surprising was that I had arrived, I was ‘good enough.’ Although I loved my stories, and my family thought they were pretty good, I never dreamt, even though it was my long held dream, that I would be published as I knew it was a hard industry to get into. I am still waiting for the sense that I am an ‘imposter’ to go away. I am so honoured to be asked to sign a book but the part I love the most of all is when I am told a child really loved my book, as that was the whole point in the first place.