Interview with...KARYN SAVAGE

Dearest CW Members~

HAPPY FOUR MONTHS since our March 23, 2026, launch date! As

always, we celebrate that occasion with an interview of a published writer

writer, and this month it’s KARYN SAVAGE, author of the children’s

book My Pet Archie.

Karyn, welcome to CollectivelyWrite.com and thank you SO very much

for agreeing to do this interview!

Before we get into the book itself – one of my all-time favorites, I

have to say, right up there, for me, with Maurice Sendak’s Where

the Wild Things Are and Mercer Mayer’s There’s a Nightmare in My

Closet - I want to acquaint our members with “personal you:” where

you’re from, where you grew up, how you became a teacher and

musician, and what your life is like now.

Congratulations on your first four months of CW and creating a

space for writers to journey together, and thank you so much for

asking me to chat with you.

I’m from Down Under and live with my family and fluffball of a dog

Milo, in Newcastle NSW. I grew up in Sydney playing the flute as

part of the Sydney Youth Orchestra Association and then moved to

Newcastle to complete a Bachelor of Music. I then conducted school

bands and tutored the flute on a full-time basis. But while I loved it,

I also felt as though I was missing being part of a team as I was

operating as a self-employed musician.

I retrained and completed my Masters of Education. I ended up

taking nine years out of teaching to raise my young children and I

think it was during this stage of my life, reading stories and telling

stories to my children that I started to find a creative outlet in

writing stories I thought they would enjoy.

My weeks are currently very full working part time as a music and

drama teacher in a Primary school, providing schools author visits,

presenting creative writing workshops in schools as a Story Guide,

volunteering and creating events for a variety of children’s book

organisations, playing music when I can and organising three busy

children’s extracurricular demands and trying to write in the cracks

of a full life.

Wow!! That sounds like a whirlwind kind of life! I’d love to hear more about the Story Guide part, please!

Absolutely! It’s very exciting. Newcastle Writer’s Festival is a fabulous annual event

that has become known as one of the nation’s best literary festivals over the years.

As part of that, they have a funded wing called Hunter Story Guides that operates throughout the year.

With funding from government grants and corporations they are able to provide a 5-week writing

program to disadvantaged schools around the region.

I’m lucky enough to be one of their new story guides and inspire the next generation of writers!

Okay, so back to your book. I absolutely LOVE that you told this story with rhyming couplets

AND that you structured it in alphabetical order. So “teaching

perfect!” And then, as if that weren’t enough, the lesson that you

offered up – don’t judge something by how it looks – was done with

such tenderness and heart. How did you come up with these

important facets?

I’m thrilled that you love My Pet Archie. You know, many of my

manuscripts for children I sit down and plot and think about

character and themes and so on and build the story up around it. The

funny thing with this story is that it was only ever meant to be an

experiment. I love playing with words and adore poetry and

challenging myself to write in a variety of poetic styles. So, My Pet

Archie was a playful experiment in writing an ABCDarian poem.

I had a collection of poems that I had been working on for children

and I ran them past a highly regarded editor in the kid-lit space.

When she saw Archie which was then title ARGIE, she said the poem

had such a terrific story arc, character and themes that it should

be developed further into a picture book structure.

I then had the idea to have a big sneeze at the end which then

prompted the name change to Archie.

When you were little, did you enjoy poem-stories?

Do you remember any one in particular that was your favorite?

How about your own children? Did they have favorite books/authors?

You know, you have just reminded me of one of my favourite books as a kid.

It was a collection of rhymes and fables. I think it was called The Children’s Treasury of Humour.

I haven’t really thought on this before, but I loved writing poems and limericks through my school years as well as stories.

I usually reflect on my childhood classic books like Magic Beach by Alison Lester or Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French,

but I think it was the volume of poems and short stories that I read on repeat which probably made the biggest impact on me.

My own children loved me reading to them especially anything with humour like Pig the Pug.

As they enter their teen years, sadly I’m seeing them read less.

Although, I want to briefly mention my daughter has dyslexia and the new wave of Graphic Novels

has been a game changer in finding books for her that she enjoys without the overwhelm of being too text heavy.

So, going back to Archie, how did you proceed to the next step: finding a publisher?

My Pet Archie went on to win Highly Commended in a writing

competition that was part of a conference, well regarded in the

Australian kid-lit space and subsequently had an assessment with the

publisher from Riveted Press. I was delighted when she loved it and

with a few tweaks she agreed to sign it.

Wow, Karyn! That is so exciting and impressive!!

Thank you! It was definitely the neon sign I needed to say, “hey, you’re on the right track!”

Yessss! ABSOLUTELY!!

The illustrations are absolutely exquisite. Tell us how you came to

team up with Tamlyn Teow.

Aren’t Tamlyn’s illustrations incredible?! She is a true talent. Many

traditional publishers prefer to select their own illustrators whose

work either complements their brand or style or an artist whose

work they feel best suits the story. I had no idea who I was going to

be paired with. When I was finally shown the first drafts, I knew my

publishers had found just the right person to bring Archie to life.

I couldn't agree more! You hit the illustrator jackpot, didn’t you! I guess sometimes, we just get lucky in this life.

How was the publishing experience for you? Was it what you

imagined? From start to finish, how long a process was it?

For me it was a hold-on-to-your seat and buckle-up process! Exciting,

thrilling but also terrifying at times. Originally, we were going to

take a leisurely – normal turnaround of about 18 months from the

date of signing the contract to publication. Suddenly the thought

occurred to my publisher that with the film How to Train Your

Dragon hitting cinemas in July 2025, that it would be good to bump

publication forward. This meant that Tamlyn illustrated the entire

thirty-two-page book in six weeks, which must be close to an industry record!

This also meant making quick plans to organise a launch, workshops,

teaching notes and a bunch of other things I hadn’t considered.

Little things like organising my own liability insurances and setting up

payment systems so I could sell my own author copies. Things I had

never really considered before.

A typhoon delayed my shipment of books to Australia which pushed

back the release dates and meant I had no idea if I would end up  

with any books to sell on the day of my launch.

Like all good stories, the tension of this climatic point had me at nearly breaking point

until my publisher was able to redirect some early release copies to

me that arrived the day before my launch. I had over one hundred

people in attendance and sold over 70 copies. Relief doesn’t even do

justice to what I felt having the books in my hands.

Wow, wow, WOW!! What a HEART ATTACK!! So glad it worked itself out, but YIIIIIIIIIKES!!

I know; right! Not much sleep that week in the lead up!

Oy! For sure!

Knowing what you do now, is there anything you would have done

differently?

Knowing that there are such tight turnarounds for things and each

circumstance hinges on every little detail falling into place, I think I

would organise a launch a few months after the expected release

date and really enjoy it. Often people say that important days like

wedding days go by so fast, I think savouring the moment is

important and it’s not actually about my success at all. It’s about

taking time to truly celebrate with family, friends, writing groups

members, mentors and all those who supported the process.

Will there be a sequel, or are there any more books of any sort we

can anticipate?

It’s a tricky industry at the moment and even authors with a

bookshelf full of titles are getting manuscripts knocked back.

Securing a contract is not always something within our control.

Having said that, I believe it’s very much about continuing to create

and put work out there. I have two manuscripts currently through to

acquisitions with two different publishers and just this week two

manuscripts placed 1 st and 3rd in non-fiction picture book categories

of the same competition that Archie received Highly Commended a

couple of years back. I am also working on a middle grade novel and

have received some fabulous feedback so far. Watch this space!

Any final thoughts or nuggets of wisdom you’d like to bestow?

Find your why and follow the joy. I think as creatives we can find

ourselves at times wondering what success looks like. Comparing

ourselves to others. Feeling stuck. We create but loose the joy as

we are so focused on the next ‘yes’ or validation. I’m speaking to

myself here as I have to remind myself of why I write. If it

becomes a chore or takes me away from my family or creates

anxiety or overwhelm, it’s okay to step back and change tactic. For me

it’s trying a new writing form; poetry, journalling or a new genre and

connecting with people. It’s people that make the journey so worth

while.

Oh my goodness! That is SUCH good advice. I KNEW I would be able to count on you for the best possible feedback. This has been such a joy for me, Karyn. Thank you for this opportunity and for being so generous with your time and your insights. I appreciate everything you have bestowed here as we celebrate four months of being online. You made it extra super special.

Thank you again for the invite Rachelle, your CollectivelyWrite crew are so lucky to have you at the helm; someone who is deeply passionate about championing writers and providing a space for connection. I really believe that building community is where it’s at.

And this is why I adore you! ALWAYS Miss Warm and Positive. xoxox