Wendy Rudge is a children's author based in Western Australia. Her debut picture book Ruby's Perfect Fire Safety Plan was released nationally in January 2026. Publication was a direct result of a pitching session during the CYA Conference in 2023.
In 2025, Wendy won the Chapter Book category in the CYA Conference writing competition with The Tip Top Tucker Truck and in 2024 was selected for Sasha Wasley's Path to Published mentorship for her middle grade fantasy novel The Night Thorn. Her picture book What's Your Favourite Book? placed 4th (out of 168 entries) in the 2023 CYA Conference Picture Book competition.
Wendy is a member of SCBWI (Australia West), serves on the CBCA WA State Committee as newsletter editor and is also a part of the organising committee for the WA Festival of Fiction in November 2026.
A former WA Police Officer and committed foster carer of over 35 children, Wendy brings her deep understanding of children and passion for storytelling to her writing.
When not writing, Wendy's reading about writing - or attempting to master the art of the macaron.
WHAT CYA CONFERENCE DID FOR ME
The CYA Conference has been one of the most transformative parts of my writing journey. I have been attending for six years now, and from the very beginning it gave me something that is hard to find elsewhere - a genuine community of like-minded creatives, incredible professional development, and real opportunities to put my work in front of Australian publishers.
It was through the conference's pitching sessions that my debut picture book, Ruby's Perfect Fire Safety Plan, was born. In 2023 I pitched two picture books to Wild Dog Books, and while neither was quite the right fit, that conversation sparked a completely new idea. The publisher noticed my background in the emergency services sector and challenged me to write a fire safety story for the house. Two and a half years later, Ruby was on shelves across the country.
CYA has also celebrated my writing in ways I never expected. Winning the Chapter Book category at the 2025 CYA Conference competition with The Tip Top Tucker Truck was a genuine pinch-me moment. But beyond the pitching sessions and competitions, it is the people I keep coming back for. The CYA team under Tina have been so welcoming and inclusive, even from day one, I’ve never felt like an outsider. The networks I have built through CYA have offered encouragement on the hard days, and reminded me that this community genuinely wants to see its writers succeed.
