Friday 31 January 2014

RANTING ON PAPER by Penny Dolan



I loved Anna Wilson’s recent post about the six year old boy bored by writing at his school. One he and his brother were, at home, given their own special notebooks for stories, they filled the paper.




I repeat, paper.

Often I come across paperless schools, places where a visiting writer’s request for a flip chart seems as incomprehensible as a request for a chisel and a tablet of rock.

If you want me to work on writing with children, I’m likely to need a flip-chart. I need it to collect ideas, to help to model the writing of a story together, to show the children how I - and they - can work.

Admittedly, writing in primary schools right now worries me. There's excellent stuff in all the technology, but occasional glimpses into KS2 literacy books still reminds me of the worksheets of olden times. What was useful about worksheets? They presented a specific, restricted learning task. They came in a set format. They were easy to mark – marking and measuring is SO important now! - and they took away the need for too much of that handwriting. 

However, back then, schoolchildren did have other opportunities to write, to explore, to try things out. Even the chance to draw and paint on paper. Do they have such paper space now?

I must say that, to this particular observer, the children’s experience of writing seems heavily structured and slightly joyless. The writing curriculum includes diaries, letters, reports, accounts, chronological and non-chronological writing and more. Fictitious letters to local mayors or suggestions to head teachers seem to frequent favourites. (One local school did address a real issue by writing to ask for Richard III’s body to be re-buried in York, but I’m not convinced it was that strong an issue for the children in question.)

Young children do  – oh, delight! –  encounter story writing, or genre specific writing, to be exact. During one half-term a year – yes, year – they are taught how to write a Myth or Legend, or a Quest story or an Adventure. Wow! An allowance of ONE WHOLE STORY a year, broken up into weekly tasks! Expression aplenty for the modern child, especially between the ages of seven and eleven, surely! Or possibly not?


I often wonder if the need for handwriting – and the need to write? – has been damaged by the wretched interactive whiteboard. 

The screen can be excellent – when it works - for downloading ready-prepared presentations and documents, for showing diagrams and text that can be circled or crossed out, for drawing lines from Thing A to Thing B, as well as for showing extracts of books and accompanying video clips, of course.  

(A reading of a whole book in class? Heaven forfend!)    

True, the set of the four inspiring “pens” - black, blue, red and green – lets you make marks but what you can’t do easily on such whiteboards is to  model writing properly. For a start, you can’t rest the side of your hand on the surface as you write. One touch messes up the system. Even the most fluent writers need to rest their hand at times, especially while thinking. These devices aren’t made for the loose collecting of ideas, or drafting a story together, or even writing on at any speed. (Write too much and the writing pages will probably need to be reset.)

Apologies if I seem to be ranting. I feel like ranting!  Having just done a month of “morning pages” as a way of kick-starting my own writing, I’m very sensitive about the need for pen and paper – or, at the very least, the option of paper and pen - to start the writer's voice speaking. 
 




Others may feel about these amazing screens differently - and if so, do let me know - but for now, you paperless places, I’m not sure whiteboards do good service to writing. 

And yes, I do work on a computer and use the internet and so on, but I'd never, ever want to be without the space of paper to write on.

Penny Dolan 

Finally, another person's thoughts about handwriting. Thank you, Michael Sull.



Thursday 30 January 2014

The Seven Stages Of A Book - Lari Don

A book goes through many different stages as it travels from the writer’s mind to the reader’s mind, and the writer’s relationship with the book changes at each stage.

This week, I’ve experienced one of the major shifts in my relationship with a book: when it goes from being something I have the power to change, and becomes something I can no longer change, but must now start to promote. And I think I find this shift the most terrifying of all.

But looking up at my shelves, some with only a few sheets of scribbled paper, and some creaking with heaps of notebooks and piles of manuscripts, I realise that I have a book at almost every stage here in my study.

When I’m writing, I go through seven stages of a book, which may be conveniently Shakespearean, but does seem to accurately represent my writing process. I wonder if other writers recognise these stages?

# 1 The thrilling moment when the idea for a book emerges, which may be the only moment the book is ever entirely perfect!

# 2 Thinking and scribbling and considering: ‘what is this story about?’, ‘what am I trying to find out?’, ‘who are my characters?’, ‘what are the big questions?’, ‘what happens next?’ ‘how will I ever defeat the baddie?’ This bit is incredibly exciting, filled with possibilities.
the scribbling stage

# 3 Actually sitting down and writing it. Finding the story and putting it into words. For me this usually involves lots of self-imposed deadlines, late nights and ignoring my family. I find this bit exciting too. (I realise, writing the stages down like this, that I find every stage of writing a book exciting. I suppose that’s why I’m a writer…)

# 4 Turning the story into a manuscript. My first and most personal edit - lots of reading out loud, and cutting the word count by massive slashing and burning. This stage is perhaps less heart-thumpingly exciting but it is very satisfying.

 # 5 The real editing, with an actual editor. This stage can be emotionally draining, but by this time I can also see the original idea turning into a book that other people can read. Which is, of course, quite exciting!
the proofreading stage
 
# 6 Proofreading of the layouts. I did this last week, for my next novel Mind Blind. This stage is both exciting and chillingly terrifying. Any silly little mistakes I miss here will be printed in real books to be read by real readers. Which is a great incentive to keep your eyes wide open and focussed as you proofread!

# 7 Finally, the shift I’ve experienced this week: the shift from the writer creating a story to the writer promoting a book. I’ve stopped meeting new characters, and started having meetings with marketing people. I’ve stopped writing the story and started looking for extracts of the story I can read at book festivals, I’ve stopped thinking about chapter length and started thinking about ‘content’ for websites.

Can you tell I find this final stage a little less exciting? But really, this should be the most exciting shift of all. This is the bit where I look ahead to the story being read by readers, and that is, after all, what really excited me right at the start when I had the original idea, which got me scribbling, which got me writing, then editing…

Anyway, even if I will spend the next few months promoting this teen thriller, I’ve also just had another idea. So I’m starting a new relationship, with a new story and some new questions and new characters, and perhaps that relationship will go all the way too…



Lari Don is the award-winning author of 20 books for all ages, including a teen thriller, fantasy novels for 8 – 12s, picture books, retellings of traditional tales and novellas for reluctant readers. 

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Space to be Me - Anna Wilson

A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting with a friend about how to encourage children to write creatively. The topic came up because she was concerned that her seven-year-old son had been put off writing stories at school.

Her SEVEN-YEAR OLD son . . .

I was pretty horrified to hear her say this, not only because at the tender age of seven a child is coming home and declaring that “English is boring” and “I hate writing stories”, but also because I have known this child since he was a baby, and the minute he could string a couple of words together he was telling stories. He has the gift of the gab and a way with words that has always astonished me. At three years old he was already telling long and involved stories which kept me hanging on his every word, wondering what on earth he would come up with next, and making me laugh a lot along the way. So when I heard that this child no longer enjoyed storytelling, I had to ask why.

“He finds it paralyzing to have to remember where to put the finger spaces, full stops and commas,” my friend said. “And he hates the fact that joined-up writing is more highly prized than the content of the story he wants to tell. By the time he has struggled through following all the rules, he has forgotten what he wanted to write in the first place or has lost interest altogether.”

Of course he has!

“Take him to Paperchase, buy him a notebook of his choice and a really nice pen or pencil and tell him, ‘This is your own private writer’s book. It's your space to be you! You can write exactly what you like in it, draw pictures, whatever. I promise no one will correct your spelling or tell you to join up your handwriting or argue over commas. Just go for it.’ And tell him it's what I do and that I wish him good luck with his writing!”


A couple of days later I received the following email, which my friend has agreed I can share with you. I felt a little tearful when I read it.

“Just wanted to say that I gave both my sons a notebook, inspired by what you had said about writing. They both used to write lots of stories, but I realized that they hadn't for a while and that X in particular had been getting upset about how hard he found joined-up writing. When I said to him that he could write whatever he wanted in it, and he didn't have to write neatly or properly he literally danced round the room! He did his disco moves in excitement! That night he wrote two stories, one entitled "My Mum is growing..... round the middle", about a Mum who got too fat (she got obsessed with special offers) and exploded in the Prime Minister's house. The other was about an alien who visited two boys in class to help them with their hard Maths questions, then they let him stay and took him round school. It was quite a revelation, so thanks for the lovely idea. You are now a superhero in the eyes of my 7-year-old nutter!!”

When I asked if I could use this email as the basis for my next blog post, my friend replied:

“Quote away! I have never seen a little boy so chuffed! He did a new disco move as he said "no capital letters" one disco move, "no joined up writing" another disco move "no full stops" another disco move, it was hilarious! Apparently finger spaces are worth having though. He was so excited he told his dad all about it when he got home, saying, ‘It's amazing Daddy! I can write what I like and it doesn't matter if it's messy etc.’ Thanks for inspiring me!”

I feel as though these emails should be included in a manifesto of some kind . . .

Hurrah for notebooks and the space to be me! (And as for that story about the Mum who was obsessed with special offers, I might just ask if I can "borrow" that . . . )


Find me on the web at http://www.annawilson.co.uk

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Still Second Sex, Even on Skates - Clementine Beauvais

A few anecdotes. I know, they're very banal. Please add yours to the comments.

1) A friend (and fellow children's literature academic): "I'm going to buy your Sesame Seade book - it looks great! I'll buy it for myself, of course - the boys [7 and 9 years old] won't want to read it, since it's for girls."
Me: "It's not for girls."
Friend: "It is."
Me: "Seriously, it's not. It's not a girly book at all. It's an adventure story."
Friend: "Well, the cover is pink."
Me: "The cover isn't pink."
Friend: "It is pink."
Me: "It isn't pink."
Friend: "Really?"
Me: "Well, look for yourself."
Friend: "Oh, that's funny, I remembered it as pink. Well, there's still a pink line at the top."

2) An email, or rather ten emails, from teachers, in preparation for school visits:
"I've looked at your books, they look great. I was just wondering if you have an equivalent set of books for boys? Or else the boys might feel left out during the school visit."

3) A friend: "All your books have female main characters."
Me: "Yes."
Friend: "Will you write for boys too one day?"

4) The head of the children's literature department in a national bookstore chain, looking genuinely surprised: "You know what? I've talked to a few parents who told me that their boys really enjoyed the Sesame books!"

5) "He liked it even though he's a boy!"
"He had to admit he really liked it!"
"He even wanted to read the second one!"
"It's funny, he didn't seem to mind that it was a book about a girl."

6) "This book will appeal to girls who like strong heroines."
"This book will delight girls between 7 and 11."
"It's a perfect book for little girls."

7) Acquaintance: "Would you self-define as a feminist?"
Me: "Yes, radically so."
Acquaintance: "Ah. That's why you only write books for girls, I guess."


One is not born a book for girls, but becomes one.


_____________________________________

Clementine Beauvais attempts to write gender-neutral books in both French and English. The former are of all kinds and shapes for all ages, and the latter a humour/adventure detective series, the Sesame Seade mysteries, with Hodder. She blogs here about children's literature and academia and is on Twitter @blueclementine.

Monday 27 January 2014

'Literature truly nourishes the hungry' - Lily Hyde


Last year wasn’t a great writing year for me. Nor a great reading year either.

I think I lost faith in literature. I started to wonder what was the point of putting all these words down on paper or a screen, sending them out into the world while the world seemed in so many ways to be falling apart. And if I couldn’t see the point of writing myself, why would I want to read other people’s words? Or, if I didn’t want to read other people, why would I bother to write myself?

I didn’t write, so I didn’t read. I didn’t read, so I didn’t write. The world continued to fall apart regardless.

For Christmas I got Burying the Typewriter, by Carmen Bugan, from someone who didn’t realise I’d pretty much given up reading.

In this memoir of Ceausescu’s Romania, Carmen Bugan's father bought two typewriters. One stayed on the living room table, and 12-year-old Carmen wrote poems on it. The other was a secret typewriter. Carmen’s parents dug it up and typed anti-Ceausescu protest leaflets on it all night. Every morning, they buried it again in the back garden.

Ion Bugan went to prison for five years because of that secret typewriter and the words he wrote on it. The rest of the family was starved, ostracised, spied on and relentlessly persecuted by the secret police. The only teacher who dared show Carmen any kindness at school was her literature teacher, Lucia, who secretly gave her salami sandwiches.

Carmen writes:

‘With time, she [Lucia] will become the reason I believe that literature truly nourishes the hungry. She will become the reason I love morphology and syntax, and she will suffer with me through my family’s nightmares and through my intense love of poetry, which often makes me confuse the worlds of reality and imagination. I will never, for the rest of my life, know or love a teacher more.’

 While I was reading these words, the British press was full of words about Romanians – words like job stealers, benefits scroungers. I wonder what Carmen Bugan, who knows what it is to starve, who has this astonishing faith in literature, thinks about those words; the power they have.


I’m back to writing again. And to reading. I felt humbled by Burying the Typewriter. And stupid too, to have doubted the relevance of literature. Literature, love of literature, belief in its importance, can be a salami sandwich when you’re starving. It can be a prison sentence. The difference between a closed door and an open one, into another country, to a better life.


www.lilyhyde.com                

Sunday 26 January 2014

Newport 1937 - Andrew Strong

My mother is in hospital, so I went to have lunch with my father.  He’s a sprightly and intelligent man, he can string out a tale, and always surprises me.  We sat in a very ropey pub in a damp corner of Newport in south Wales.  For some reason we began talking about my father’s childhood, and the story of the King coming to Newport.  I wanted to rewrite it from my father's point of view, trying to keep it more or less as how he told it.  The year is 1937. 

 *    *    *    *    *

Mother, or Mama as I called her, took me into town to see the King. I was nine, so I assumed it would be some sort of private conference, just me and him.  Perhaps he had something to tell me.  Of course it wasn’t like that at all. When we got to the centre of Newport, there was a huge crowd, but Mama, bold and obstinate, pushed through them all to the front.  And there was His Majesty, about to lay the foundation stone.

Suddenly Mama grew excited.

“The King,” said Mama, “he digs with his left hand.” 

It was a grand day. A big cheering crowd. Mama had bought me a flag.

“I knew it,” said Mama.

I could see the King’s head but not the shovel he was holding.  I waved my flag.

“You don’t remember, do you?” said Mama. 

“I don’t remember what, Mama?”

Someone started speaking, a very loud voice. There was a lot of clapping and cheering.  I couldn’t see what was happening and I needed a wee.

We went to the Kardomah.  Mama allowed me a lemonade.  She sat opposite me with her coffee.  The Kardomah was steamy and busy. It was nice.

“You don’t remember any of it, do you?”

“Yes, Mama,” I said. “You told me.” It was in the papers and on the wireless. I repeated her words exactly.  She’d said them enough times. “The King is coming to Newport to cut the first sod.”

“I don’t mean the King,” she said. She looked cross. The lemonade wasn’t very fizzy.

She stared past me. Perhaps she was hoping to spot someone she knew.  She knows lots of people. She is always stopping to talk about her sciatica.

“I was talking about you, not the King,” she said.  “When you started school the teacher wouldn’t let you write with your left hand.  Don’t you remember?”

“I think so Mama,” I said.

“You were forced to use your right hand and it made you stammer.  You stammered quite badly. We went to see Dr Harris and he said you must be allowed to write with your left hand. He wrote a note to school and straight away your stammering stopped.”  Her eyes were getting watery.

“I know Mama.”

“And the same silly people have done that to the King,” she said.  She looked cross again.
Cross but with watery eyes.  “He’s been forced to use his right hand, but he naturally uses his left.”

“Poor King George,” I said.

“But don’t you see?” she said, as much to me as everyone else. “That’s why the King stammers!” 



Saturday 25 January 2014

When Libraries Can't Afford Books - Tamsyn Murray

I heard a worrying thing a few weeks. An author friend asked online whether other authors had been received requests for free copies of their books. This wasn't a charity requesting signed copies to auction off. No, the request that my friend had received was from a library. And they'd had more than one request.

We live in difficult times. Newspaper articles constantly declare that nobody reads any more. Authorities are trying to save money wherever they can and often seize on the fact that reading appears to be on the decline to cut library services and reduce staffing levels. Increasingly, libraries are staffed by volunteers and I can only assume that it's these lovely-but-barely-trained volunteers who hit upon the idea of asking authors for copies of their books to stock libraries, because no actual librarian I know would behave this way. You can almost imagine the thought process: We can't afford books...who has access to free books? Publishers have lots of books but they're running a business, we can't ask them...authors have books and they write the things so must have piles of the things knocking around. Hey, I bet they'd be GLAD to get rid of a few...

This assumes several things - firstly, that authors get unlimited copies of their books (we don't; my last contract gives me six copies that are strictly not for resale and I buy further copies to give away in competitions or to charity), secondly, that once a book is written, we don't need to worry about people buying it, and thirdly, that we're not in business just as much as the publisher is. The money I earn from writing pays my bills and feeds my children\pets\husband. If I don't sell enough books, my publisher is unlikely to offer me another book deal, making it difficult to write more books because I'll have to work elsewhere to pay my bills and feed everyone I have to feed. And if all authors are put in the difficult position of being asked to stock libraries out of our own pockets, then I'm sure I don't need to draw you a picture about how this is going to work out.

A library, Jim, but not as we know it...the Library of Birmingham is how it should be


I'd like to live in a world where libraries are treasured and supported as the beacons of knowledge and potential they are (see Library of Birmingham). They're life-rafts for people who couldn't otherwise access such a wide range of titles. They encourage experimentation and risk-taking, because you can take a chance on reading something new if you don't have to pay to try it. But that doesn't mean I think that authors should foot the bill for providing the books to read.

Libraries need to be funded properly, run by librarians and treasured as the skeleton key to many, many doors. So let's nip this idea about asking authors for the books to loan out in the bud, eh?

Friday 24 January 2014

Falling in love...with a story - Liz Kessler

There’s something about the early stages of writing a book that is like the beginning of a relationship.

You think about it all the time, wake up excited and full of ideas about what you can do together. Everything you do relates to it and you want to talk about it all the time, but also want to keep it special and private just for you. And of course, there is the ever-present worry about whether it will all work out.

That’s where I am right now – and it’s both exhilarating and nerve-wracking. Added to this is the fact that this new book will be the sixth in a series (a new Emily Windsnap mermaid book). I guess that makes it like being at the start of a new relationship with someone you know really well.

Which has its good sides.

For a relationship, this might mean that you’re already comfortable enough to hang out in your scruffs together, or you already know how they take their coffee, you already share lots of secrets and if one of you accidentally belches after your dinner, it’s not the end of the world.

With a book, it means that I know my characters pretty well, too. I know how they talk, how they behave.  I know their little quirks. Throw them into a new situation and I have a half-decent chance of figuring out how they will each respond.

For example, let’s say a shark is following them in their boat – and the engine has just died. Emily’s mum, Mary Penelope, will freak out a bit. Her dad, Jake, will take charge and act all brave but won’t really have a clue. Mystic Millie will probably try to hypnotise the shark into submission. Shona will find it cute. Mr Beeston will almost certainly have set the whole thing up – and of course Emily will be the one to do something crazy/brave and save the day.

If we go back to the relationship analogy, the one where I’ve just got together with someone I’ve known for years, knowing how they tick would be nice. Having an idea how they'd respond in a given situation could be helpful.

The thing about writing a book, though, is that YOU are the one who has to come up with the situations. You have to think them into existence, dream them up, chip away at the block of stone to discover them inside it, or whatever. Whichever philosophy of creating plots you subscribe to, the point is the same: it’s down to you to figure it out. And it needs to be interesting, exciting, enthralling, thrilling, engaging.

Oh, and don’t forget the deadline. Which is in eight months.

So, not much pressure then.

While we’re at it, let’s add to this the fact that your story doesn’t like to feel hurried. It needs space and time. You need to carefully explore tiny sparks of ideas and see where they lead; you need to make lots of mistakes, create an atmosphere of spontaneous creativity, indulge freely in following your imagination and seeing where it leads. You need to give your story room to breathe.

It’s a pretty tricky balancing act, now I think about it. Going back to the ‘new relationship’ analogy, it feels a bit like needing to give yourself up to the freedom and openness and vulnerability that go hand in hand with falling in love – but at the same time asking for a major commitment and a certainty that it will all work out.

So, yeah. It’s complicated. And yeah, it’s hard. But – like falling in love – those early stages with your new book have a special kind of magic about them that somehow trumps the difficulties. Every tiny idea is, at this point, a possibility. Every new avenue is waiting to be explored. Your mind is filled with thoughts and plans and hopes and schemes. It’s all there to be discovered, and anything could happen. It’s a tiny spark of light in a brand new room.

Chuck in a publisher drumming their fingers and looking at their watch and a bunch of readers who already know what they want to happen next, and the spark of excitement can at times feel like a lit fuse. But I have to say, I love it. That moment before it has all really started happening. When it’s all in my hands. My characters and I coming together to start a new adventure, where anything could happen. As far as day jobs go, it’s pretty hard to beat.

And so, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off out with a notebook. 

My story and I have a date.



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Thursday 23 January 2014

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words - Lynne Garner

Recently a friend posted a cute animal photo on my Facebook page. As soon as I saw it I just knew I had to use it as a basis for a picture book story. So I grabbed a sheet of A4 paper and divided into 12 sections (I tend to write the traditional 12 double page spreads). I started to plot my story, which started well. However when I reached the last page I stalled. I had the image in my minds eye, I knew what action was taking place but I just couldn't put it into words. I decided to put the story to one side and allow my subconscious solve the issue for me. However a week or so went by and I was still stuck. Suddenly it hit me. The page didn't need words, the picture could show the reader what I wanted them to know.

I'm not the only author to let the picture tell the story. In the hands of the right illustrator the story can be told successfully without a single word on the page. For example in one of my favourite pictures books The Big Bad Mole's Coming! written by Martin Waddell and illustrated by John Bendall-Brunello there are two pages that contain no words (part of one page below). The action needs no words, I can tell exactly how the animals are feeling from their body language.



Another book that uses this device is Knight Time written by Jane Clarke and illustrated by Jane Massey. The page is a fold out page which opens to reveal a second page with text. Jane informs me the idea was that as the reader turned the page they would feel they were entering the forest where Little Knight and Little Dragon are lost. As you can see from the page below you don't need words to feel the tingle run up your spine and to start to worry about the main characters.



So to all those picture book writers out there. If you're working on a new picture book story and stall ask yourself "can a picture paint the words I need?" If the answer is yes then don't be afraid to allow the illustrations to tell the story for you. 

Lynne Garner
www.lynnegarner.com

I also write for: 
Authors Electric - covers digital self-publishing 
The Picture Book Den - all things picture book related
The Hedgehog Shed - concerned with hedgehog rescue
Fuelled By Hot Chocolate - my own ramblings
The Craft Ark - craft how-to blog

My online classes with WOW starting March 2014:

Tuesday 21 January 2014

21st Century Authors on the 21st of January - Megan Rix / Ruth Symes


Ages ago one of my publishers, Puffin, asked if I'd like to take part in the 21st Century Author Training Programme run by the National Literacy Trust.


'Great, yes please,' I said, always wanting to help with anything that encourages reading. 

'


We'll apply for you,' the publicity people said, and I assumed they had applied and I hadn't been selected as I didn't hear anymore.

But in late December the publicity people called: 'You're on it - lunch next week. We'll pay the train fare.'

I love writing on trains (unless its overcrowded of course) and so did several of the other 40 or so authors I chatted to when we arrived at the Premier League Building. 

First there was a talk by Jim Sells from NLT. Their Premier Reading Stars Programme is very much part of the project and players from the teams are helping to enthuse reluctant readers - and so far its been phenomenally successful.

'Some authors might get to visit one of the premier league clubs,' I told my husband when I got home. He immediately asked if he could come too. 'And did you tell them our dog's called Traffy after Old Trafford?' he wanted to know.
Sadly I'd forgotten, although I had mentioned she was a reading therapy dog. Big disappointed sigh from husband.
He took over making dinner while I sat down to rectify my omission with an email.
'It's not very likely I'll be going to Manchester United, is it?' I told him as gently as I could but the email got sent anyway.


Just after Christmas I had the first of my 3 days training run by Author Profile. We were divided into groups of 8 for the first session and 4 for the next. Our first day was concerned with building the content of our talks and presentations in schools and libraries.

Swopping ideas with each other was lots of fun and the environment the trainers created really supportive. There was a mixture of newbies and authors who were quite established. I tried not to feel too envious of the newbies: did they know how lucky they were to have this training. When I was new... :)  Ho hum.

The second day's training was last week and due to a slight hiccup there were only 2 of us instead of 4. This course was on performance and owning the stage, vocal exercises and microphone work. It was AWESOME. Plus due to the hiccup in timing I got to write at the NLT's office all morning before the session started and got tons of work done.

Can't wait for the the third day's course which unfortunately isn't until June/July. We're going to learn about profiles and social media and the business side of arranging talks and fees then. 

So I'm feeling happy and I just wanted to say if you're published or about to be and based in the UK and the course is offered to you - JUMP AT IT. 

Your publisher can put you forward but quite a few clever authors had applied themselves without their publisher being involved and that was fine too.



  Ruth Symes' latest book is 'Bella Bewitched'
Megan Rix's latest book is 'The Bomber Dog





           







Monday 20 January 2014

There's a Moral Here - Joan Lennon


                                                              Cursed be this cat for peeing over my book! 
                                                 (© Cologne, Historisches Archiv, G.B. quarto, 249, fol. 68r)

A medieval manuscript - an incriminating stain - and a heart-felt curse -

Hic non defectus est, sed cattus minxit desuper nocte quadam. Confundatur pessimus cattus qui minxit super librum istum in nocte Daventrie, et consimiliter omnes alii propter illum. Et cavendum valde ne permittantur libri aperti per noctem ubi cattie venire possunt.
Here is nothing missing, but a cat urinated on this during a certain night. Cursed be the pesty cat that urinated over this book during the night in Deventer and because of it many others [other cats] too. And beware well not to leave open books at night where cats can come.

Don't get me wrong - my cat would never do such a thing!  (Mostly because it hasn't occurred to her yet.)  But there are plenty of other people and things in this life that have just the same effect on our hard-scribed words - unkind reviews, discouraging sale numbers, lukewarm publishers, absences on bookshop shelves - hell, I've been known to pee on my stuff all by myself!  (We're talking metaphorically here, right?)  But, after the finger-pointing and the cursing, what did the monk do next?  He turned the page, and he carried on.


And that's the moral of the story.  Though the smell of pee may remain for days (and days and days and days), there's another page waiting.  

Onwards! 

Many thanks to Pigeons Rule for popping this image up on Facebook, and Medieval Fragments Blogspot.

Joan Lennon's website.
Joan Lennon's blog.

Sunday 19 January 2014

Writing Gifts from The Goddess of Serendipity - Lucy Coats

I believe in the powerful Goddess of Serendipity. Happy and useful 'discoveries by chance' have happened to me too often while writing for me not to. The latest of these discoveries happened only yesterday, while watching Italy Unpacked on BBC2. I hadn't meant to watch it at all, but during the course of it, the Goddess showed me an immeasurably valuable bit of information, which gave me the vital jigsaw piece I needed for my book.

I am currently writing the first novel of a pair about the young Cleopatra, which will be published by Orchard in 2015. I've researched my socks off to get things right for this book: gone back to sources (though what sources there are on Cleo herself are unreliable, and written with an agenda), pored over tiny type, ploughed through piles of useless information for just one useful nugget - and perused endless maps and pictures. Have you any idea how hard it is to find contemporary visual evidence in colour as to precisely what boats of the time would have looked like? Believe me - I've searched. And then I discovered, through this programme (which, as I say, I hadn't meant to watch at all), the clue I needed.  It was this.


The Nile Mosaic at Palestrina (ancient Praeneste), was commissioned by the Etruscans of what was then the kingdom of Lazio, in about 200 -100BC, depending on which sources you believe. It was made from minute tesserae by Greeks from the city of Alexandria, and is meant to represent the course of the Nile from top to bottom, probably at the flood season of Akhet or Inundation.  It contains some extraordinary detail - animals (both mythological and real, including a Sphinx and a possible dinosaur), birds, people (both Ptolemaic Greeks and native Africans), buildings, activites, and (yay!) BOATS of all types.


I needed exactly the one which is depicted at the top of the picture - the one with a sail - to transport my characters up and down the Nile.  Of course, it's a little earlier than Cleopatra's time - but I'm taking an educated guess that boats wouldn't have changed much in that timescale.

Sometimes The Goddess of Serendipity gives you just the thing you needed most - so to all of you - I say open yourselves up to her. You never know what you may receive!

Lucy's new picture book, Captain Beastlie's Pirate Party is coming on Feb 6th from Nosy Crow!
Bear's Best Friend, is published by Bloomsbury "A charming story about the magic of friendship which may bring a tear to your eye" Parents in Touch "The language is a joy…thoughtful and enjoyable" Armadillo Magazine. "Coats's ebullient, sympathetic story is perfectly matched by Sarah Dyer's warm and witty illustrations." The Times   
Her latest series for 7-9s, Greek Beasts and Heroes is out now from Orion Children's Books. 
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Lucy is represented by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor Ltd