The Fix-It Man

To Read, Write and Inspire sum up Dimity’s main passions in life, along with sailing on the beam, eating ice cream and writing in her diary – although doing all three at once makes her nauseous. She’s a Kids’ Lit nut, living, breathing and reading it for huge chunks of her day. She weaves words into story webs for anthologies, digital narratives, junior novels, reading apps and most gratifyingly, into picture books. When she’s not wrangling words, she’s reviewing, managing a team of reviewers for Kids’ Book Review or sharing her love of story in front of crowds of very small people. It says so on her website, so it must be true. She loves rain and is never ever afraid of getting wet. Dimity lives just around the corner from Bat Man on the Gold Coast, Australia although they never hang out. Such is the life of children’s authors and superheroes.

Nicky Johnston is a primary educator, speaker and children’s book author and illustrator. Passionate about raising awareness of the importance of children’s emotional well-being, Nicky has written books to help children deal with anxiety and develop resilience. She is an experienced public speaker and presents at parent forums, seminars and conferences. Her illustration style is described as whimsical, playful, narrative, emotive and dreamy. She works mainly in watercolor, ink and pencil. She also produces work digitally using a variety of illustration software. Nicky’s first children’s book Go Away, Mr Worrythoughts! was adapted into a theatrical production. For five years the show has been performed at primary schools throughout Victoria, educating children dealing with anxiety and helping to develop a healthy resilience. For four years, Nicky was the Creative Director of 52-week Illustration Challenge Facebook group. This online Illustration Challenge inspires a community of artists and illustrators to create artwork using weekly theme prompts while providing a safe and encouraging environment for personal artistic development.