Her first novel is The Naming of Tishkin Silk, which was published in 2003. The book was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and CBC Book of the Year Awards. Glenda doesn’t plan the story when she writes a book. When she has an inspiring idea, she just starts writing and the story develops.

Writing The Stars at Oktober Bend

The Stars at Oktober Bend was released in 2016. She got the initial idea for this book from a newspaper article about a homeless girl. The article described how the girl earned herself a scholarship for studying music at a renowned conservatorium. Heavily inspired by the article, Glenda based her story on someone who took to singing as a means of escaping a past trauma.

As she went further into the story, the characters started evolving and more information emerged. It changed the direction of the story. This change of direction led her to becoming aware of language disorders and their causes and effects. She could understand how someone feels when the individual struggles to express ideas verbally despite being intellectually brilliant.

What Glenda thinks about the characters in her books

Glenda prefers to be totally engaged with her characters and believe in them. This is her way of making others believe in her characters. She feels that readers must emotionally connect with them. If they don’t feel this connection, a good plot will not matter much.

They need that motivation to make them turn the pages one after another. Such motivation in readers is generally brought by the characters according to Glenda. The impact of characters on readers is such that it’s hard to forget them even after finishing the book.

The secret to creating unforgettable characters

According to Glenda Millard, creating a literary character is similar to acting that character in a movie. She tries to feel what her characters would feel. Once this is done, she expresses those characters in ways that readers would relate to them.

The readers not only relate to such characters in an intellectual way but they also relate to them emotionally. She also deliberately invents some characters. They may have all their human shortcomings, but may also have some good qualities.

About the audience she writes for

For Glenda, the age of her readers is something quite irrelevant. Even when she writes picture books, there’s no presumption in her that only children would read them. She focuses less on her audience and more on the story. That way, she ensures that anyone who reads the book will enjoy it. She also believes that every genre comes with its own pleasures and challenges.

Her books range from picture books to novels. She always tries to keep her writing fresh and avoids getting too predictable. Among her favorite authors is David Almond, a UK-based writer. When it comes to the authors in her home country, Australia, she greatly admires Ursula Dubosarsky.

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When she was growing up, she used to read a lot as there was no television in her house. Today, she writes picture books as well as novels for young readers and adults. Now, let’s take a look at some of the fascinating books she has written during her literary career:

1. The Stars at Oktober Bend

This is a young adult novel about a teenage girl named Alice. After suffering a traumatic brain injury, she finds herself unable to speak properly. She expresses herself by writing poetry. Often ostracized by her peers, she lives with her grandmother in a small town.

One fine day, she meets a 16-year-old boy named Manny. He was once a child soldier and now battles with his own demons. Together, the two form a deep and meaningful relationship. The Stars at Oktober Bend is a powerful story about these two teenagers who find love and healing in each other.

2. The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The Naming of Tishkin Silk is the first book in Glenda Millard’s Kingdom of Silk series. It tells the tale of Griffin Silk, who is a young boy living with his family in a small town. Griffin develops a strong bond with his younger sister, Tishkin, when she is born. However, their family is shattered when Tishkin becomes seriously ill.

This book has been written beautifully by Glenda and is a heartwarming story about the power of love. Released in 2003, this book was an honor book at the 2004 CBCA Awards. It also had a nomination for the 2004 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards.

3. The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk

This is the sixth book in the Kingdom of Silk series. It tells the story of the flame-haired Saffron, who is the youngest among the Silk sisters. Her family is aware that she has a special talent. She loves reading myths and legends. She goes to the city to see a specialist for curing her terrible headaches. It is during this time that she realizes how deeply her family loves her.

The Tender Moments of Saffron Silk is yet another touching story in Glenda Millard’s award-winning series. It was shortlisted for the 2013 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards. The book was also shortlisted for the 2013 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards.

4. A Small Free Kiss in the Dark

A Small Free Kiss in the Dark is a young adult novel by Glenda Millard. The book follows the story of Skip, a teenage boy who is forced to fend for himself after a catastrophic event. After the bombs hit Australia, life as everyone knows it has ended. In such a situation, Skip finds a friend in Billy, a homeless man.

As they search for a safe place, they come across a mysterious ballerina and her infant child. This book narrates a story about hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversities.

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There have been many books that she has read as a child and fallen in love with. However, when she recommends books for children, she makes sure she’s choosing the more recent ones. Glenda does this hoping they’re still in print and the children would truly read them.

Glenda has herself published picture books such as Unplugged, Angel Breath, and Mrs Wiggins’ Watermelons. She also writes novels for young readers and reads widely from all the categories. While recommending books she doesn’t simply review them.

She wants her readers to know what makes these books so special to her. While she has certain recommendations for children at the moment, they may be different in the near future. Here are some of her recommendations in picture books for children:

1. Fox

This picture book by Margaret Wild and Ron Brookes is perfect for children according to Glenda. She admires most of the books written by Margaret Wild. This also makes it difficult for her to choose between those books. One of the reasons why she recommends Fox is because it has stunning artwork created by Ron Brookes.

The warm ocher colors reflect the dry environment in the place where her home is. The font chosen for the text also appears to be something unique. It looks as if it has been scratched with a burn stick over an ocher palette. The story of this picture book is fable-like, folkloric, troubled, and sad.

At the same time, it also sends out a message of courage, perseverance, and hope. Fox would teach children some valuable things about nature. It is also a good book to remind them that their natural world is wild and beautiful.

2. The Man Who Loved Boxes

The Man Who Loves Boxes is quite an old book written by Stephen Michael King. Glenda Millard hadn’t written any of her books when she first came across this picture book. There are several reasons why she was initially attracted to this book. Among them was its strange title and the topic. Every time she read this picture book, she felt extremely moved by the story.

It is about a father who found it difficult to express his love for his son verbally. Yet, he found a unique way of showing his love. All the illustrations by Stephen Michael King in this book are light, whimsical, and loose. They make for excellent companions to his spare text.

3. The Trouble with Dogs

One of the reasons why Glenda recommends this book for children is that she loves dogs. The Trouble with Dogs is the creation of Bob Graham. Glenda has several books of Bob she feels are worth reading. She finds this book extremely funny and this would surprise many of her readers. In fact, there are many who think that she likes only sad books.

She feels that The Trouble with Dogs can make anyone laugh out loud. Glenda says that Bob’s books are wonderful, tender, wise, and insightful. His writing is apparently influenced by his observation and empathy with people in general and children in particular.

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