IAN TREVASKIS    

 Author

Welcome

G’day and welcome to my website. I’m an Australian author living in a beaut little country town in north-east Victoria, not far from the mountains where I love to ski the back country in winter.

About me

I was born in 1949 in Geelong, Victoria where I had a great childhood hanging out with my mates, riding my bike everywhere, terrorising the local neighbourhood and spending endless summer days bodysurfing and lazing on the beach.

When it was time to give all the fun stuff away and grow up I became a primary school teacher, but that little kid is still lurking within me and often pops up somewhere in my stories.

A ‘proper’ job and marriage led to another gang of kids – four to be precise - who are now all grown up and doing their own thing. This means I’ve now got plenty of time to do what I love – write!

When I’m not writing, my wife and I go for long bike rides in search of good coffee, travel overseas, visit wineries and gush over our first grandchild.

In the beginning

My first attempt at serious writing was in the diaries I kept as a pre-teen. These contained incisive and enlightening entries such as “Jam sandwiches for lunch” and “Washed the dog after school” and progressed to long-winded, flowery essays while at high school.

It wasn’t until the late author Michael Dugan was visiting my school in 1989 that I decided I too could write a story and get it published. Ha, ha, this was easier said than done! Up until then I hadn’t realised just how hard it is to be a REAL writer.

Anyway, thanks to my son’s total fear of dogs I ended up with a story that a publisher actually liked and even offered me some money (not much) to publish.

Quincy, about Christopher and a fearsome dog that follows him home from school, was first published in 1990 and reprinted again in 1991 (twice) and 1993.  It must have been okay because the Children’s Book Council of Australia decided to give it a ‘Notable Australian Book’ award. Unfortunately it didn’t make me mega rich so I had to continue with my ‘proper’ job.

In between the demands of teaching I squeezed in some writing time on weekends and holidays and managed to write a few more stories that were good enough to be published.

Now that I’ve retired from my ‘proper’ job I can play with words all day long and create all sorts of characters and worlds where anything can and does happen!

• Illustrated children's books
• Young adult fiction
• Writing workshops
• Author visits
• Writers’ resources & links
• Other writing projects

Published works

By Ian Trevaskis

• Edge of the World, picture story book, Walker Books Australia, 2012, illustrated by Wayne Harris more>

• Hopscotch: Golden Scarab, the second book in the Hopscotch series, a novel for older readers, Walker Books Australia, 2010... more>
• Delilah’s Dream,  picture story book, New Frontier Publishing, illustrated by Janine Dawson, October 2009... more>
• Hopscotch: Medusa Stone,  a novel for older readers, Walker Books Australia, 2009.
• Quincy, picture story book, Ashton Scholastic, 1991, illustrated by Sue O’Loughlin; awarded Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Notable Australian Book Award’.
• The Postman’s Race, picture story book, Random House, 1992, illustrated by Greg Rogers; awarded Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Notable Australian Book Award’.
• Periwinkle’s Ride, picture story book, Nelson Thomson Learning/SRA, literacy series, 1994, illustrated by Warren Crossett.
• Bumped and Thumped, picture story book, Reed Books Australia/Houghton Mifflin USA, literacy series, 1995, illustrated by Craig Smith.
• Gumboots, picture story book, Random House, 1995, illustrated by David Cox.
• Buck’s Big Adventure, picture story book, WAW Credit Union, 2003, illustrated by Jacqui Melbourne.
• Monkey Buys Trouble, literacy series, McGraw-Hill, USA, 2006.
• Tom’s Tryouts and Grasslands, literacy series, McGraw-Hill, USA, 2007/08.

Forthcoming titles

• Clover,  picture story book, Hootenanny Books.

Other works

• Sea Nymph with Snake, a short story published in the anthology fourWtwenty-two a collection of poetry and prose, edit. David Gibney, fourWpress, 2011.

• Murray Time, (Chapter 8) an illustrated progressive novel created by 34 artists and writers, edit. Jane Downing and Dirk Spennermann, Latao Press, 2003.
• Butterfly, a short story published in the anthology fourWfifteen, a collection of poetry and prose, edit. David Gibney, fourWpress, 2004.
• Freelance articles published in various  magazines including Great Walks, The Bulletin, Outdoor Australia, Royal Auto and Australian Cyclist; and newspapers including The Weekly Times, The Herald Sun, The Geelong Advertiser, The Border Mail and The Canberra Times.

Edge of the World, my latest picture story book, is now in all good bookstores. Described by my publisher as  “...a healing narrative about the return of light and joy to lives that have been rendered dark and colourless by tragic events”  the first draft was written back in 2005 when I was on a teaching exchange to Colorado, USA. As with all first drafts, it has gone through many changes to eventually emerge as a deeply moving and evocative story of which I am justifiably proud. The book is suitable for ages 7+ and I’m sure adults will find it just as moving. More>