{"id":144625,"date":"2024-09-04T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?p=144625"},"modified":"2024-08-29T11:19:52","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T01:19:52","slug":"torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORQUAY illustrator and author Michelle Conn has published her debut solo book, The Christmas Star.<\/p>\n

Published on August 27, the book tells a story of teamwork, friendship, sharing the spotlight and overcoming big emotions.<\/p>\n

The children’s picture book follows schoolboy Timmy, who is cast as a Christmas tree in the end of year play and his best friend gets the lead role.<\/p>\n

Playing the Christmas tree, Timmy wants to get noticed and tries different ways to get attention, but when disaster strikes, he is left to find a way to fix things.<\/p>\n

Ms Conn has previously illustrated Raised by Moths and All You Can Be, with The Christmas Star her first book as both author and illustrator.<\/p>\n

She said the story started out in 2019 when a little image popped into her head.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The Christmas Star started off as a drawing of the main character Timmy and developed into a story. Photo: SUPPLIED.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

“I just had to draw it.<\/p>\n

“It was of Timmy. I didn’t know it was Timmy at the time, but it was a little boy dressed in a Christmas tree, standing in a spotlight on an empty stage and he looked a little bit frightened.”<\/p>\n

After drawing Timmy, she posted the picture to her Instagram page where people had a strong positive reaction to it.<\/p>\n

“It just started off with this little character and it was like it wouldn’t leave me alone, I just kept thinking about this character,” she said.<\/p>\n

After Timmy had been created, it was not until 2021 that Conn put pen to paper and started storyboarding the book.<\/p>\n

“I don’t actually ever start with the words, I always start with the images and so the images were my way of writing the story.<\/p>\n

“Getting the character was really important, and I just wanted to make a really fun book that kids could almost live vicariously through this character, just thinking ‘He’s made really bad choices here’ and it kind of becomes funny.”<\/p>\n

Ms Conn will be doing a story time at Torquay Books with local author Kaye Baillie on September 8 at 11am, reading their newly published books.<\/p>\n

For more information, head to michelleconnillustration.com<\/a> or follow her on Instagram @michelleconn_illustration<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORQUAY illustrator and author Michelle Conn has published her debut solo book, The Christmas Star. Published on August 27, the book tells a story of teamwork, friendship, sharing the spotlight and overcoming big emotions. The children’s picture book follows schoolboy Timmy, who is cast as a Christmas tree in the end of year play and […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":144745,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-144625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTorquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book "The Christmas Star" teaches teamwork & friendship.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Torquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book "The Christmas Star" teaches teamwork & friendship.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surf Coast Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abby Pardew\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abby Pardew\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abby Pardew\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/830da1968e4a2c17abb7828279809399\"},\"headline\":\"Torquay author publishes Christmas story\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/\",\"name\":\"Torquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book \\\"The Christmas Star\\\" teaches teamwork & friendship.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Local illustrator and author, Michelle Conn has published The Christmas Star. Photo: GINGER + MINT. Photo: SUPPLIED.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/news\\\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Torquay author publishes Christmas story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Surf Coast Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"Surf Coast Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/830da1968e4a2c17abb7828279809399\",\"name\":\"Abby Pardew\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/surfcoasttimes\\\/author\\\/abby\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times","description":"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book \"The Christmas Star\" teaches teamwork & friendship.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times","og_description":"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book \"The Christmas Star\" teaches teamwork & friendship.","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/","og_site_name":"Surf Coast Times","article_published_time":"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Abby Pardew","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Abby Pardew","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Abby Pardew","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/830da1968e4a2c17abb7828279809399"},"headline":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story","datePublished":"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/"},"wordCount":383,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/","name":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story - Surf Coast Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-03T18:00:00+00:00","description":"Torquay author Michelle Conn's debut children's book \"The Christmas Star\" teaches teamwork & friendship.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Untitled-design-2024-08-29T102527.988.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Local illustrator and author, Michelle Conn has published The Christmas Star. Photo: GINGER + MINT. Photo: SUPPLIED."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/news\/torquay-author-publishes-christmas-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Torquay author publishes Christmas story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","name":"Surf Coast Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#organization","name":"Surf Coast Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","width":350,"height":38,"caption":"Surf Coast Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/#\/schema\/person\/830da1968e4a2c17abb7828279809399","name":"Abby Pardew","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/author\/abby\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/220"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144625"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=144625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}