Wendy Rudge used to stand in the children’s section of her local library, running her hand along the spines of picture books, imagining what her own might look like shelved beside them. Now Ruby’s Perfect Fire Safety Plan, her debut picture book published by Wild Dog Books, is right there among them. For Wendy – a curriculum developer in the emergency services sector based just south of Fremantle in Western Australia – it’s been a long road to get here. After years of false starts and shelved manuscripts, it was courses at the Australian Writers’ Centre, starting with Writing Picture Books, that put her back on track.
Cakes or books?
Wendy had dabbled in writing over the years – first as a young police officer in the north-west of Western Australia – but life kept getting in the way. At one point she’d put her pen down for about five years. In the meantime, she’d built a busy cake-making side business, filling weekly orders for cakes, cupcakes and biscuits. But the pull of storytelling wouldn’t let go.
“The desire to tell stories just wouldn’t leave me and the voices in my head telling me those stories wouldn’t be silent,” Wendy says. “I had to make a choice – do I ramp up my cake business or do I write? I couldn’t do both. I knew I could make a cake, but could I write a book? The decision was clear and I didn’t want to die wondering.”
She closed the cake business and got back to writing – this time in earnest.
Finding the Australian Writers’ Centre
With a picture-book manuscript still languishing in her bottom drawer and a middle-grade novel brewing, Wendy knew she needed to upskill. She started researching online options.
“The Australian Writers’ Centre courses kept coming up over and over again,” she says. “A high-quality Australian course – tick. Online – tick (not brave enough to try face to face yet). Lots of support and information – tick. Industry recognised presenter – tick, tick, tick!”
Her first course was Writing Picture Books, and it exceeded expectations. “I was amazed at the depth of content and real industry information in the course – it lifted the lid of the industry and told me real-world information that I could use and apply now – warts and all,” she says.
As a curriculum developer by trade, Wendy couldn’t help running a professional eye over the course design itself – and was impressed by that too. “From the quality of the videos and the presenter to the handouts to the exercises – it really did exceed my expectations.”
The feedback process was a highlight. “Her feedback was encouraging, gentle but constructive – just the salve that my timid writing brain needed.”
Doors started opening
Wendy went on to take several more AWC courses, including Writing Picture Books Masterclass, Laugh Out Loud, and Writing Chapter Books for 6–9 Year Olds. But it was the practical, real-world content in that very first course that made the biggest difference – not just the craft lessons, but the gentle, respectful approach to feedback that gave her the confidence to put her work out into the world again.
“I can absolutely put my hand on my heart and say that part of the success I am experiencing in relation to my writing now, was as a direct result of the courses that I did with AWC,” she says. “Doors started opening after my courses through AWC.”
How Ruby came to life
Ruby’s Perfect Fire Safety Plan was born from a pitching session at the CYA Conference. Wendy pitched two picture books to Wild Dog Books, but the publisher wasn’t looking for that type of material. What caught the publisher’s eye instead was something in Wendy’s bio – her work in the emergency services sector.
“The publisher had noted that I was working in the emergency services sector and why am I not writing books about fire safety,” Wendy says. “I didn’t really have an answer for her but the saying ‘write what you know’ did flash before my eyes!”
The publisher offered to look at a fire safety manuscript – if Wendy could deliver it in two weeks. “I pretty much dropped everything and spent the two weeks writing and rewriting and rewriting,” she says. She submitted three different versions, and after some back and forth, the publisher selected the one with the strongest storyline.
Then came the real challenge. The publisher asked Wendy to strip it right back, go deeper and really bring out the child’s voice. “It really challenged me but it was fabulous and I went back over some of the learnings from the AWC Picture Book Masterclass to help me rewrite the manuscript.”
The illustrations were done by acclaimed illustrator Tom Jellett. When the final illustrations arrived, Wendy happened to be in Bali – with no family around to share the moment. “I had to show random strangers at the hotel who all showed me polite enthusiasm but must have thought I was a little strange shoving fire safety illustrations at them in a tropical paradise like Bali!”
A book with real purpose
Ruby’s Perfect Fire Safety Plan tells the story of a girl who loves making plans – for the perfect sandwich, the perfect sock drawer, the perfect birthday party. But when firefighters visit her school, Ruby realises she doesn’t have a plan for how to stay safe in case of a fire. The book steps through Ruby’s conversations with her family, a fire safety audit of her house, and the development of documents a child can put together that have the real potential of saving lives.
For Wendy, the response from young readers has been the most rewarding part. “After the reading we all jump to our feet and get down low and go, go, go and get out fast and stay out!” she says. “To hear the children discussing this with their families gives me hope that one day the words in this little book may well just save a child’s life.”
The book carries some personal touches, too. Ruby is named after the family’s first dog – “a labradoodle and the smartest and goodest dog ever” – and the dedication goes to TRIS, an acronym built from the names of Wendy’s family: her son Tremaine, husband Ray, son-in-law Ivan and daughter Sheridan. “I played no favourites and everyone got equal billing!”
Writing in the margins
These days, Wendy juggles writing with a full-time job. Every week, she meets her sister – an indie author – at a local coffee shop for four hours of writing, brainstorming, and book-world chat. As a former shift worker, she’s also productive in the late hours. “As a rule, I try and go to bed at midnight. Sometimes though, I get lost in my world and look up and find it’s way past that!”
She’s a firm believer in snatching time wherever it appears. “I recently heard a saying that sometimes you just have to write in the margins – that is, snatch a bit of time wherever you can. So, I often will dictate into my phone on the way to work, or take my computer to the hairdressers and get a few words down there. It’s surprising how much time you can actually find to write if you look in the margins.”
Next on her desk: the final edits of the first book in a middle-grade fantasy trilogy about a boy who discovers he’s part of a night-time world of Dream Protectors, battling an evil force that wants to take over the world one nightmare at a time. There’s also a chapter book series called The Tip Top Tucker Truck – about a boy and his dad navigating life after loss through a food truck, recreating his mother’s recipes. Each book features a quintessentially Australian food, with the recipe at the back. And three more safety stories for Ruby are in the works.
A recommendation from the heart
“I’d absolutely recommend the Australian Writers’ Centre to any writer wanting to learn and grow,” Wendy says. “The courses deliver real-world, practical content you can actually use – especially if you’re new to the craft. Their presenters are published authors and subject matter experts who really know their stuff and the website and course format are straightforward and easy to follow.”
And when she needs a boost of motivation? “I read some of the success stories on the AWC website. People just like me are getting offered contracts and are being published. I tell myself if they can, then why can’t I?”
You can find Wendy on Instagram or on Facebook.
Courses taken at AWC:
