Manly author Andrew Daddo is back with the adventures of Bitza
Andrew Daddo will give anything a go – he’s worked in television on travel shows and appeared on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Australia in 2015. He’s hosted radio shows, produced podcasts, and performed on stage and on screen. But his biggest love is writing – he’s had close to 30 books published including picture books, chapter books and novels.
The first two books in his Bitza junior fiction series are out now with two more in progress.
“Bitza is based on our dog, Peggy, who is a rescue dog,” Andrew tells PL. “We’ve always had dogs, but this one talks! She’s very demonstrative with her behaviour – she’ll tag you on the leg and give you a nuzzle on the chin.” Stephen Michael King does Andrew’s book illustrations, and he based Bitza’s look from his own dog.
Andrew wrote the story from Bitza’s perspective. “You look at (dogs), talk to them and imagine what they’re saying back,” he says. “It’s his understanding of what’s being said and the way he tries to say things back,” he explains. “It’s a love story between a girl, a dog, and a family.
Andrew grew up on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, one of five siblings (brothers Cameron and Lochie also live on the Northern Beaches), and they made their own fun in the days before Netflix and smartphones.
“I’m a kid of the 1970s,” Andrew says. “We grew up with paddocks by the house. We made our own bike jumps, lit fires, and jumped fires, played cricket and footy, climbed trees and then we probably watched The Young Doctors with mum at 6pm.”
Andrew is a regular at Long Reef Golf Club
Andrew was in I’m a Celebrity back in 2015
Between the five children, Andrew says someone was always at war with someone, which rotated among them but when they hit adulthood, they’d go out together and dance to We are Family by Sister Sledge.
Work in radio brought Andrew and wife Jacqui to Sydney. They fell in love with the Northern Beaches when they saw a whale breaching off North Head. They took it as a sign and said, ‘I think this is it.’
“It’s a very special place,” says Andrew. He has a special writing spot in his Manly home looking towards South Head, where he can see the water. He also writes in cafés but worries about ‘being a pest.’ “You know you have people who sit in cafes for hours at a time and drink one coffee and just clog up tables,” he says.
Andrew’s three children provided much inspiration for writing over the years. They’re grown up now with only one still living at home. He says it’s important to nurture a love of reading in children when they’re young. “If you don’t train that part of your brain, then you’re going to be missing out on something quite special in terms of just being able to think and create,” says Andrew. “And reading does that.”
Andrew says he gets distressed when he sees people with the head in their smart phones when he’s out and about.
“One of the great joys is having a swim, sitting there drying off in the sun and just listening to people talk as they walk by or looking at surf or maybe waiting to see a whale,” Andrew says. “People come here for holidays and you’re sitting there looking at your phone.”
Andrew’s a bit of a tinkerer and ‘doesn’t mind the odd pick around Kimbriki.’ He used to make his own surf boards. “I kind of like the idea of recycling,” he says. “Probably part of being (frugal) as well,” he laughs. He’s also a golf fanatic – he started playing with his grandfather when he was young – and is a regular at Long Reef Golf Club. He writes for Golf Australia magazine and is also working on a new golf show – watch this space.
Andrew has finished the drafts for the next two Bitza books which are due to be published in September this year.