AND HERE WE ARE AGAIN by Peny Dolan

Hello! Here we are again! Hope that the Christmas holiday brought some good times to your door, even if not yet to your writing desk or your blank pages. 

Here, after very lovely times with family I have new books to read and inspire me,  bright flowers to make me happy, candles to add the perfect atmosphere to my workroom, a most beautifully blue notebook for when I need it, and boxes of chocolates to eat instead of preparing nourishing meals. 

Oops. Maybe correct that last suggestion. . .   

More seriously, I can't help thinking about tonight and the bells that will ring the change from one year to the next, with all the struggling hopes and fears for what that this particular future will bring, in so many ways, and to whom. 

This particular infant year faces a hard journey ahead for as the illustrator Chris Riddell showed so aptly in his current cartoon.

Nevertheless, in the spirit of hope - both the small everyday kind as well as hope for greater matters, here's to the first day of this January and to stepping onwards towards the light. 

Wishing all Awfully Big Blog Adventure bloggers and readers the very best for 2024!

Penny Dolan

Year Ends and Hell Yeahs! by Alex English

Photo by Alan Hurt Jr. on Unsplash

I may be strange, but one of the few things I miss about having a proper job is the performance reviews. Back when I was employed, I knew how well or otherwise I was doing (in fact, sometimes I knew too much). But as an author, I’m never quite sure.

As I'm my own boss I've decided to take responsibility and review myself. As I'm a kind and supportive boss, I've decided to stick with the positives and forget the negatives. I like to call this my ‘hell yeah list’, and I write one every new year. I’ve been doing this for (almost) a decade now, and it makes interesting reading going back over them. It's a lazy person's gratitude journal – a few bullet points slung together once a year to help me focus on the good things.

What sort of items should go on the hell yeah list? They can be anything you like – you're the boss after all. I include all sorts of stuff, from hobbies to personal life as well as work. Here are a few of my writing-related highlights over the decade:

Circa 2011 I was celebrating learning how to box and making a wedding cake for my brother-in-law (not at the same time). The only writing-related entry is interviewing Larry Lamb for a Country Life butter commercial (something I’d almost forgotten I’d done - thanks, list!)

In 2012 I’d had my first baby, quit my day job, sold some recipes to a magazine, taken a children’s writing class at CityLit and sent out my first picture book manuscript. I’m glad I put this on – starting to send manuscripts out was a key step for me after playing around with writing children’s books for more than a decade before that. I found that rejections weren't quite as terrible as I had imagined.

By some fluke, in 2013 I had my first picture book contract. I’d also completed my first younger fiction manuscript. This never ended up selling, but it felt like a big achievement at the time to finish a story of 12,000 words. I also started, but ran out of steam and didn’t finish, a middle-grade story.

2014 was the year I published my first picture book, YUCK SAID THE YAK, braved my first school visit and achieved my dream of being on stage at the SCBWI mass book launch! I also made it to the end of a new middle-grade story draft.

In 2015 I got my first agent, ran my first festival event and went to Folly Farm for the first time. I redrafted my middle-grade story, but it still wasn’t good enough to send out. It’s still in a drawer now.

BSU Corsham Court campus

In 2016 I signed a contract for my first picture book with Bloomsbury (still forthcoming… in 2021!) and started my MA at Bath Spa.

In 2017, I had my first award nomination when Mine Mine Mine said the Porcupine was shortlisted for the Dundee Picture Book Award. I also ‘survived World Book Day’ and wrote my first educational title for a Korean publisher.

A move to Paris was a big item for 2018, as was finishing my MA and completing a screenwriting certificate with UCLA.

I haven’t written my list yet for 2019, but it’s bound to include signing with my wonderful new agent, Thérèse Coen, graduating from Bath Spa and getting a book deal for my first middle-grade series SKY PIRATES.

My hell yeah lists help me to finish off the year and look ahead to the new one with excitement. Do you keep a list of your past achievements?

Alex English is a graduate of Bath Spa University's MA Writing for Young People. Her new middle-grade series SKY PIRATES launches in July 2020 with Simon & Schuster. 

Her picture books Yuck said the Yak, Pirates Don't Drive Diggers and Mine Mine Mine said the Porcupine are published by Maverick Arts Publishing. More of her picture books are forthcoming in 2021/2022.
 
www.alexenglish.co.uk

Reading Resolutions by Alex English

It’s the beginning of the new year, and, like many people, my thoughts have turned to plans and goals for the year. For me, it’s not just the calendar year that’s new. I’ve recently graduated with a masters in Writing for Young People, which has meant the end of two years of structure in an otherwise freelance life. The novel I wrote during that course has been polished and sent off, and I’m now eager to get on with new projects. So what should I do now? What should I write? What should I read?

One thing I loved about my masters course was being told what I should be doing. I loved working through the reading list, being set homework and having regular meetings with my workshop group. So this year, I’ve decided to set my own reading list. Here’s how I’m breaking it down.

Keeping up to date 

Because I write for young people, I do at least attempt to keep up with the torrent of new and exciting books that are coming out. I live in France so it’s difficult to browse English titles in bookshops, but I’m sometimes disappointed if I read the next big thing without dipping into it first. I’ve recently discovered the free downloadable extracts on lovereading4kids and will be using those to sample new releases before deciding which ones to read in full. The Lost Magician by Piers Torday is top of my list.

Lost gems 

At the other end of the spectrum, I’ve recently discovered a passion for out-of-print titles. There’s something very exciting about getting your hands on a copy of something old and unusual. Joan Aiken is one of my favourite authors and I am gradually working through her back catalogue, picking up secondhand copies of her out-of-print short story collections and lesser-known novels. I’ve also recently enjoyed Help! I am a Prisoner in a Toothpaste Factory by John Antrobus and Rebecca's World by Terry Nation. I’ll be seeking out more rare reading treasure in 2019.

Non-fiction 

I have got into the (bad) habit of only reading non-fiction when it’s research, but in 2019 I plan to change that. I received a clutch of interesting titles for Christmas and in 2019 I’ll be reading non-fiction with a sense of adventure and exploration, rather than searching for something specific.

Fiction in translation 

I’ll also be looking to broaden my 2019 writing horizons by reading more fiction in translation. Last year I read and loved The Beast Player, an epic YA fantasy by Japanese author Nahako Uehashi, translated by Cathy Hirano. I’ll be keeping a close eye on Pushkin Press for their new releases.

Just for fun 

And finally, just to counteract all that planning, I’m also going to read for the sheer fun of it, something that can often be forgotten once writing becomes a serious part of your life. I’m going to browse for unexpected books in real bookshops whenever I get the chance. I recently moseyed around Waterstones and picked up Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss and Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami. They don’t relate directly to anything I’m planning to write, I just liked the look of them. Sometimes planning to be spontaneous can be the best planning of all!

How do you map out your reading year? Are you a planner like me or do you just take it as it comes? Have you sniffed out any out-of-print gems or stumbled upon a must-read for 2019? I would love to hear all about it in the comments.

NEW YEAR AROUND THE WORLD by Sharon Tregenza

HAPPY NEW YEAR, SASSIES. 

                                “The horizon leans forward, offering you          space to place new steps of change.”

                                                                    ― Maya Angelou

On Monday you may have sung "Auld Lang Syne" or given someone a New Year's kiss. If you're in Scotland, and happen to be tall and dark, maybe you did your duty as First-Footer as midnight struck. 

New Years resolutions are part of our traditions too, but all over the world stranger things are happening.

Ecuador:

Scarecrow burning

To get rid of the bad things that happened in the past year, Ecuadorians set fire to paper filled scarecrows at midnight. It's hoped they will frighten away any negativity.

Spain:

Eating 12 grapes

As the countdown to midnight arrives some Spanish people are eating grapes, one at a time, for each of the twelve rings of the bell. They can make a wish for each one as they represent the months of the year. 

Mexico:

In Mexico and other Latin American countries the colour of your underwear takes on a new significance. People wear red to find love, green, yellow or gold for wealth and white for peace in the new year. 

I have made a resolution or two, but... 

sharontregenza@gmail.com

www.sharontregenza.com

Happy New Year, from An Awfully Big Blog Adventure - John Dougherty

Happy New Year!

I expect some of you are still in bed and fast asleep. I expect I am, too. It's lovely being able to schedule posts in advance. Of course, it means I have no idea what sort of New Year's I had, since I haven't actually had it yet. But I'm sure it was great.

You might have noticed that we took a longer than usual Christmas break this time around. We're back now, stuffed full of turkey or the vegetarian equivalent and ready to hit the new year running.

This year we're posting on Sundays too, so in 2013 every day will be an Awfully Big Blog day! We hope you'll join us, and point your friends here for our awfully big mix of wisdom, wit & whimsy from our current roster of 30 contributors. And if you missed yesterday's close-of-year post by Penny Dolan, do take a look at it now!

 I hope 2013's good for you. I'm looking forward to it. In January, I'll be:

•  writing most of a book
• getting established in my new position as an official Patron of Reading at a primary school - more news on that soon
• trying to organise my life a bit better and spend more time with my family
• getting out running a little more

 How about you?

 John's website is at www.visitingauthor.com.
He's on twitter as @JohnDougherty8

His most recent books include:

Finn MacCool and the Giant's Causeway - a retelling for the Oxford Reading Tree
Bansi O'Hara and the Edges of Hallowe'en
Zeus Sorts It Out - "A sizzling comedy... a blast for 7+" , and one of The Times' Children's Books of 2011, as chosen by Amanda Craig