SCBWI New Zealand

Deborah Hinde works from her home based studio in rural Waikato. Her studio is a converted double garage not far from the house, with garden and rolling countryside views. Pheasants, hares, hedgehogs and rabbits, plus a multitude of birds are often seen enjoying the garden. Her surroundings often provide great inspiration for some of her characters. Deborah is the illustrator of more than 100 books, both fiction and non-fiction, with over 45 of these picture books. Her illustrations for  The Spaghetti Giraffe  (Flat Bed Press) was awarded the 2018 Storylines Notable Book Award (and more recently in 2023,  A Kiwi Night Before Christmas  (Scholastic NZ), the first book she ever illustrated, received the Gaelyn Gordon Award for a well-loved book.  In 2016 Deborah ventured into independent publishing with  Hare.  Since then she’s produced another 5 books working on her own text as well as bringing other authors stories to life. She illustrated and pro...

One of the hardest things about writing is maintaining focus. It seems the writers who have no trouble with this also often have no other job. Or they are so committed to their novel that they get up an hour earlier to write – every day. The rest of us continue to struggle. We have to work at jobs we usually don’t enjoy much for 7-10 hours every day, we have family to spend quality time with, chores, bills to pay… The time for working on our novels gets squeezed from every direction and it’s hard to find the time and energy to write. That’s why writing retreats are so beneficial - and often downright amazing. Not just because you have a week or a month (or perhaps three months if you are lucky) to do nothing but focus on your novel and write. But because of what it creates for you in other ways. A writing retreat is the perfect opportunity to grow your writing, and to grow as a writer and learn what that means for you. Time There are 24 hours in a day. You might spend 8 of those sleepi...