News Flash! 23rd March, 2012.

Toni Brisland's up-and-coming engagements are:

19th June 2012          Author's Literary Lunch, Fraternity Club, Wollongong.

10th July 2012           Author Morning Tea, Warringah Library.

11 September 2012     Author Lunch with the Stars, St. Pat's Estate, Manly.

12 September 2012     Author Afternoon Tea, Galston Park Primary School.

TBA November 2012   Author Afternoon Tea, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Narrabeen.

News Flash! 18th March, 2012

Toni Brisland has secured the domain www.tonibrisland.com

Toni has engaged Eyedea Media Makers to develop the new webpage which will be "Home" for the DemiChat page. It will be a simple page of Bio, Books & Blog. The Blog will include information that would normally be found here on this News Page and also information on the DemiChat Facebook Page. It will replace the DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery Newsletter which currently has a subscription of 498. Subscribers to the Newsletter will automatically be subscribers to the Blog with the option to Opt Out at any time.

News Flash! 8th March, 2012.

As a 2012 National Year of Reading contribution, Toni Brisland is volunteering from today each Thursday at Neutral Bay Public School taking children in Years 1 and 4 for Reading.

News Flash! 29th February, 2012.

Toni Brisland continues in 2012 as Secretary of the CBCA NSW Northern Sydney Sub-branch. The first meeting of 2012 was held today at St Kieran's Catholic Primary School, Manly Vale, with Speaker Author Wendy Blaxland who spoke about Making a Living from Writing.

Other Meetings this year are organised for:

• 10th May 2012 a Warringah Mall Library with Speaker Jill Bruce, NSW Judge for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards. Jill will talk about NSW CBCA Judge's Perspective.
• 25th July 2012 at Abbotsleigh Junior School Library, Wahroonga. Speaker TBA.
• 10th October 2012, AGM, venue TBC. Our Speaker is Sarah Foster, Publisher, Walker Books.
• 28th November 2012, Christmas Party, Venue and Speaker TBA.

For all CBCA 2012 Events Visit:

www.cbca.org.au

News Flash! 6th February, 2012.

Toni Brisland is on Susanne Gervay's Organising Committee for the 4th International Australia and New Zealand Conference to be held in Sydney at the boutique hotel, The Hughenden, Woollahra, with sessions at the NSW Writers' Centre, form 29th June - 2nd July 2012.

Dates for 2012 for NSW SCWBI Quarterly Meetings are: 30 April, 17 September and 3 December 2012.

Visit: www.scbwiaustralia.org

News Flash! 30th October, 2011.

'DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery' has been listed on the 2012 NSW Premier's Reading Challenge for Years 5 - 6 and also Years 7 - 9. Yay! For the full list go to: www.premiersreadingchallenge.nsw.edu.au

News Flash! 19th October, 2011.

Toni is enjoying being Secretary of the CBCA Northern Sydney Sub-branch and is busy with the Committee planning their End of Year Celebration on 30th November 2011 at the Balgowlah RSL Memorial Club.

Committee members, Lindy Batchelor, Wendy Blaxland, Belinda Murrell, Kate Forsyth, Oliver Phommavanh and Toni Brisland got their heads together to plan for their AGM on 26th October 2011 and to discuss events for the National Year of Reading 2012.

News Flash! 1st October, 2011.

Toni Brisland appeared at the Sydney Children's Festival at Carriageworks in Redfern on a 'Short n Sharp' panel with Nathan Luff, Jacquie Harvey and Oliver Phommavanh. All four were either previous winners or runner-up in the Children's Book Council of Australia Mentorship Competition. They talked about their work, writing and their life in general. Organiser Pip Sprout did a fantastic job and it was great to see NSW CBCA Committee members in the audience!

News Flash! 15th September, 2011.

Toni Brisland appeared at the Bookfeast Event at Burwood RSL organised by Michael Fraser, Teacher/Librarian of Haberfield PS. What a HUGE event!

Oliver Phommovanh was hilarious as the Master of Ceremonies and kept everyone laughing. Author's speeches by Vashti Farrar, Dawn Hort, Libby Hathorn and Pulbisher Irith Williams helped students from 35 Primary and Secondary Schools learn about the writing and publishing process. There was an author on each table and Toni sat with Carramar Public School. Their teachers and children were awesome.

Michael gave a big vote of thanks to the authors & illustrators who attended and organisations and people who contributed to the day's success: NSW Government Department of Education and Training, Shearers Bookshop, Scholastic, Syba Signs and Sponsors Bloomin' Books and Roslyn J Motter. And, everyone present at the event went away with a free book. How good is that!

 News Flash! 8th April 2011

Toni Brisland was adopted by Grades 5 / 6 at Somerville Primary School in Melbourne during Book Week in August 2011 after she'd been interviewed on radio by Del Nightingale of Radio3RPP. This community radio station is Radio Port Phillip 98.7 fm and it's live streamed on www.3rpp.com.au each Monday morning. The program is 'Writers at Work' and it often features school children and the wonderfully creative work that are doing in their classrooms.

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News Flash! 31st March 2011

Toni Brisland has been invited to attend the Burwood Literary Festival on 15 September, 2011, and will be workshopping DemiChat with Primary School Children. Yay!

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News Flash!  15th December 2010

DemiChat Competition Winner!

The winner of the iPod Shuffle is Roland S. 10 years old and going into Year 6 in 2011 at Barker College Junior School, Sydney, NSW.

The DemiChat December 2010 Newsletter No. 3 was distributed today announcing the winner. A BIG thank you to everyone who entered!

Roland's entry was:

A scavenger hunt using highlighted paragraphs of the book as clues, the beginning of each paragraph being one letter that when combined forms a word.

NEWS FLASH !  October 2010.

DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery has been selected to be on the South Australian Premier's Reading Challenge for 2011.  Go Demi !

NEWS FLASH ! Competition Announced in ......

DemiChat Newsletter No. 2 October 2010 distributed to Mailing List on 15th October 2010. 

Prize is an iPOD Shuffle.

To enter the competition you have to be at Primary School and you cannot be related to the author. Winner will be announced in the DemiChat Newsletter No. 3 December 2010.

Here's what to do:

In 25 words of less tell Toni what type of competition associated with the book 'DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery' you would like to enter next year in 2011. That's right! This is a competition to find the MOST UNIQUE competition!

Entries will be judged on the criteria of originality, creativity and practicality! Judges will be Educationalist Ms MaryAnne Diorio and the author, Toni Brisland. A complementary copy of the novel and accompanying 'Teachers' Companion' will be donated to the winner's school.

Competition closes 12th December 2010 and prize will be posted to the winner care of their school. Entrants - put your Name, Age, Class, Name of School and School Address on you entry and post to Toni Brisland, P.O. Box 1366, Neutral Bay Junction, NSW, 2089 or send it by email to toni@demichat.com

DemiChat Newsletter No. 1 August 2010 distributed to Mailing List on l9th August 2010.

Here is a Newspaper Article to read:

PENSINULA NEWS

Issue 246 – 16^th August

http://www.peninsulanews.asn.au/2010/0816/default.aspx?item=BkLaunch

Book launched at St John's

Australian children's author Ms Toni Brisland launched her latest book at St John the Baptist Primary School in Woy Woy on August 13.

Ms Brisland's latest release Demichat and the Kent St Mystery is a Sherlock Holmes style novel about crime-busting duo feline investigator DemiChat and retired police beagle Lord Flannery.

The award-winning author provided 15 copies of the new book along with a teacher's companion and poster for the school library, according to school principal Mr Frank Cohen.

Ms Brisland also conducted lessons with several library groups showing younger students how to care for pets and the opportunity to meet the animals that inspired the book.

Older students also learnt more about the creative process with the former teacher.

"Toni Brisland has enjoyed a distinguished and varied career," Mr Cohen said.

"She taught high school for a decade before moving on to become a school counsellor, and holds diplomas in education, psychology and law.

"Toni was office manager for the NSW Papal Visit Office in 1986, which she describes as a life-changing experience.

"Toni's recent career with the NSW Police Service provided inspiration for the novel's characters.

"She now writes full-time.

"DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery was a runner up in the 2006 Children's Book Council of Australia Frustrated Writers Competition, which Toni had previously won for her story The Golden Goal."

Press release, 2 Aug 2010 Sarah Sheppard, My Marketing Manager

And another Newspaper article:

Q and A: Toni Brisland, author of "DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery"
PEOPLE    20 JUL 10 @ 12:01AM BY POLLY SIMONS

Toni Brisland said cats Jade and Flannery were the inspiration behind her first novel.

When Neutral Bay author Toni Brisland sought inspiration for her first novel, she found it on her lap. On it were cat Jade and a copy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. “And I thought - ‘why not just put them together?’,” she said. She roped in second cat Flannery and her nieces’ two beagles and the result was DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery, her spoof for readers aged nine to 11 about the adventures of crime busting duo, French feline DemiChat and retired police sniffer dog Lord Flannery.

The book won runner-up in the Children’s Book Council Frustrated Writers competition and will be launched at Berkelouw Books in Leichhardt on Sunday.

Q. What is DemiChat like?

A. She’s based on my real life cat Jade, a Himalayan. She’s a sophisticated feline from Paris, but she’s been purchased by a couple who are archaeologists and taken to London. She comes from a life of glitz and glamour to solitary confinement alone in the house. She wants to be at the front of things, not sitting on a windowsill. Then she meets a beagle called Lord Flannery.

Read more at:

http://northside.whereilive.com.au/news/story/q-and-a-toni-brisland-author-of-demich... 21/07/2010

And another article in Jigsaw - Spring 2010 Edition

 DemiChat and the Kent Street Mystery
Crooks beware, there's a new crime-busting duo on the beat:
beautiful French feline DemiChat and recently retired police beagle Lord Flannery.
This charming new mystery novel by Toni Brisland sees the unlikely partners on the trail of an Italian mob, hunting for a kidnapped scientist with a formula for fuel efficiency.
Readers aged nine to eleven will love this Sherlock-Holmes-esque tale with its larger-than-life characters. There's Jake the Scotland Yard police dog who provides the brawn to DemiChat's brains; there's Signora Capella, head of an Italian family; and the double- crossing Irishman O'Malley.
With clever illustrations throughout. Toni Brisland's novel is great fun for children.
The book is supported by an interactive website with games and links for children to explore. This multi-platform approach means readers will get more out of the book and enjoy reading that much more. Visit wvvw.demichat.com
Available at all good book stores. RRP $14.95.