Paula Boock facts for kids
Paula Boock, born in 1964, is a talented writer and editor from New Zealand. She is known for her exciting novels and television shows. Many of her stories are written especially for young adults.
Biography
Paula grew up in Dunedin, New Zealand. Her family was very sporty. She has four brothers, and two of them are well-known in sports. Her brother Stephen Boock played cricket for New Zealand. Her other brother, Richard Boock, is a sports journalist. Paula herself played cricket for her home region, Otago. She studied at the University of Otago. After university, she became an editor and publisher. In 1994, she helped start a publishing company called Longacre Press in Dunedin.
Writing for Young Adults
Paula Boock first wrote plays and short stories. Soon after university, she started writing novels. Many of her books and TV scripts are for young adults. Her first novel, Out Walked Mel, came out in 1991. It won the AIM Best First Book Award. Other books also won awards. These include Sasscat to Win (1993) and Home Run (1996). Her book Dare, Truth, or Promise won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards in 1998.
Television Work
Paula started writing for television in 1995. She wrote an episode for the drama series Cover Story. In 2000, she began writing more TV scripts. She was one of four writers for the Gibson Group series The Strip. An episode she co-wrote won an award. It was for Best Drama Script at the 2003 New Zealand Television Awards. Later, Paula wrote for The Insiders Guide to Happiness. She also worked on its prequel, The Insider's Guide To Love. She helped edit and advise on scripts for Bro'Town and Burying Brian.
Lippy Pictures
In 2007, Paula Boock and Donna Malane started Lippy Pictures. This is a company that makes TV shows and movies. They made Time Trackers, a children's time-travel drama. This show was nominated for an award in Australia. They also made the TV movie Until Proven Innocent. This movie won many awards in New Zealand in 2009. Later, Paula co-wrote scripts for other Lippy projects. These include Bloodlines, another award-winning series. She also wrote Tangiwai - A Love Story. This show told the story of the 1953 Tangiwai train disaster.
Awards and Fellowships
Paula Boock has received several special honors. In 1994, she was the Writer in Residence at the Dunedin College of Education. This means she was invited to write there. In 1999, she was named the University of Otago's Burns Fellow. This is a very important writing award. She was also the Writer in Residence at Victoria University in 2009.
