Several years ago, we travelled to the US to stay with our son, David and his wife, Kathleen. David was in Austin, Texas in his year at a university working on oceanographic research as part of his Fulbright Scholarship.

So, of course, I contacted the regional assistant at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in Austin, author, Samantha Clark, and the Illustrator-coordinator I knew there, Mark Gregory Mitchell. I attended a few of their SCBWI meetings … and fab they were too!

But one day in Austin, Mark Mitchell asked if he could interview me for his series of videos on his How to be a Children’s Book Illustrator website. I was a bit nervous at the start, then I forgot the camera was on when clever Mark got me talking about Aussie dinosaurs and researching and writing Secrets of Eromanga on an outback fossil dig.

Here we are in the kids’ section of the Austin Library, a brilliant space.

Here are a couple of images from the SCBWI Austin gigs. Their membership in just the city of Austin is 5 times the size of Queensland’s.

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And also here are some of the fun times Ross and I spent with our family … being tourists in Austin and San Antonio. What lovely cities they are … so many interesting things to see and do.

The adobe churches, the fraught history, San Antonio’s Venetian canals, the friendly people and delicious Latino food (except for capsicum, my only allergy!), and that Texan BBQ outside Austin … so much meat with the most amazing smoky flavour. I said I couldn’t eat meat with no veg or salad, but … famous last words!