About

ian trevaskis - writer of children's books
Ian Trevaskis

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.

Latest News

I’m excited! Of Boys and Boats, my latest Young Adult novel has finally been released, (September 2020) and is now available in all good bookstores.

The story is set in Geelong in 1956, the year of the Melbourne Olympic Games, and has been six years in the making. The first complete draft was written in 2014 while I was on a May Gibbs Creative Time Fellowship in Adelaide.

A fast-paced, humorous story about the power of friendship, it’s sure to appeal to both teenagers and an older audience.

To find out more about the book and to read an extract go to ‘Published works’.

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 and spoil our three grandchildren.”

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!

Published works

By Ian Trevaskis
  • The Towers of Zordran, Young Adult novel, book one in a series, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, 2016.
  • Edge of the World, picture story book, Walker Books Australia, 2012, illustrated by Wayne Harris… read more>
  • Hopscotch: Golden Scarab, the second book in the Hopscotch series, a novel for older readers, Walker Books Australia, 2010…
    read more>
  • Delilah’s Dream,  picture story book, New Frontier Publishing, illustrated by Janine Dawson, October 2009… read more>
  • Hopscotch: Medusa Stone,  a novel for older readers, Walker Books Australia, 2009. … read more>
  • Quincy, picture story book, Ashton Scholastic, 1991, illustrated by Sue O’Loughlin; … awarded Children’s Book Council of Australia ‘Notable Australian Book Award’ … read more>
  • 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’ … read more>
  • Periwinkle’s Ride, picture story book, Nelson Thomson Learning/SRA, literacy series, 1994, illustrated by Warren Crossett … read more>
  • Bumped and Thumped, picture story book, Reed Books Australia/Houghton Mifflin USA, literacy series, 1995, illustrated by Craig Smith … read more>
  • Gumboots, picture story book, Random House, 1995, illustrated by David Cox … read more>
  • Buck’s Big Adventure, picture story book, WAW Credit Union, 2003, illustrated by Jacqui Melbourne … read more>
  • Monkey Buys Trouble, literacy series, McGraw-Hill, USA, 2006 … read more>
  • Tom’s Tryouts and Grasslands, literacy series, McGraw-Hill, USA, 2007/08 … read more>
  • Of Boys and Boats, Young Adult novel, Ford Street Publishing, 2020
Of boys and boats young adult novel by Ian Trevaskis

Other stuff

My most recent Young Adult novel, Of Boys and Boats, is now available.

Read more here…

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