News & Blog by Tristan Bancks
Read the latest news and bulletins, essays, features, opinions from our bestselling authors. Find out what's being said, debated, and discussed in the world of books and ideas.
FRIDAY Astred Hicks was the cover designer on my Mac Slater, Coolhunter books and now she has designed the splotchy, goopy, messed-up internals of My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up. Here, she gives insight into the book design process. 1. Where do you begin when considering how to lay out a book? What inspired your approach to My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up? The brief for My...
THURSDAY Illustrator Gus Gordon was a natural choice to illustrate My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up. We set him loose on the book with very little guidance and he became the other half of Tom Weekly's brain. Here he gives insight into an illustration process that reflected his own childhood. In Gus's words: Tom Weekly reminded me very much of my 12-year-old self. It wasn’t...
WEDNESDAY Here, Random House Australia Managing Editor Brandon VanOver gives an intimate insight into the editorial process on my new book of weird, funny, gross short stories for kids, My Life and Other Stuff I Made Up. Brandon was an essential player in pushing me to the end of the line as a writer and making these stories really zing. 1. Why do you think Zoe asked you to edit My Life and...
TUESDAY Zoe Walton is a children's and young adult publisher at Random House Australia. She published my MAC SLATER, COOLHUNTER books, later published by Simon & Schuster US. She also works with many other Australian authors including Deborah Abela and ‘New York Times’ bestseller John Flanagan. Here she gives insight into my new book of short stories MY LIFE AND OTHER STUFF I MADE UP from...
Hi, I'm Tristan Bancks, author of the new children's short story collection MY LIFE AND OTHER STUFF I MADE UP . This week on this here blog I'm going to take you on a journey through the publishing process from initial idea to final design. I will give insight into the processes of the key people who ushered this project from concept to print. Monday: Author (Me) Tuesday: ...
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > It's been a speedy week's adventure on this most Random of blogs. I hope we've given some interesting insights into our process on this kooky book of ours, IT'S YR LIFE. As a parting note, I'd like to announce our IT'S YR LIFE writing competition, open to Australian residents under the age of eighteen....
This article is part of a series. Read the previous article here > Howzers, I'm Tristan, the other author of new YA title, IT'S YR LIFE. As Temp mentioned, I come from an acting background, too. And making films. Some shorts that I've made have won some awards and you can see my world-changing film for kids on my YouTube channel. I also write the MAC...
TRISTAN BANCKS is a writer and filmmaker. He has a background as an actor and television presenter in Australia and the UK. His short films have won a number of awards and have screened widely in festivals and on TV. Tristan has written a number of books for kids and teens, including the MAC SLATER, COOLHUNTER series. Tristan's drive is to tell inspiring, fast-moving stories for young people. Find...
