Tuesday 31 December 2013

OLD STRATEGIES FOR THE NEW YEAR by Penny Dolan.



Happy New Year to one and all, and good to have you here on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure! 
 
Yes, it’s January the First. New Resolution Day! Now you may well be one of those people who don’t make resolutions, don’t need to make them, or prefer to make your resolutions on the magical cusp of the midsummer moon. 

However, if you - like me – use these early January days to shift your life into a more orderly state, here are three small, possibly contradictory and even familiar suggestions.

ONE JAR.
The story goes like this:  

A Nobel prize-winner came to talk to a business conference about planning. She went up to the desk, took out a glass jar and some big stones. She put the stones into the jar, filling it right to the top.

Then, from a dish, she took a handful of tiny stones. She tipped those in too, and another handful, filling the jar to the top.  “Full, again,” she murmured.

Then, from a third dish, she took a handful of sand. As she tipped that into the jar, the sand slid down to fill in the gaps. Finally, she smiled, took a nearby tumbler of water and poured that in too. “Full again, again?” she asked.

Then she spoke to her audience. “Believe me, the only way you can get so much stuff into this one jar is by putting the big things in first. So, when you start planning your time, get those big things put into your day first. The rest of the stuff will fit around them.”

Maybe in 2014, the most important work needs to come first, and all the small stuff should be made to slip into the gaps between?

Or, as somebody else said, “The main thing is to make the main thing the main thing.”

Now for: 

THE TWO TIMERS

A while back, I heard about the “timer technique” as a way of edging yourself back into writing, especially when you are daunted  by the work. I know lots of writers regularly turn to this as a way of getting unstuck.

Method: Take a kitchen timer (the portable tick-along kind, not the whole oven, obvously!) to wherever you intend to write, along with your notebook/laptop/pc/ whatever. 

Focus your mind on the project for a moment, set the timer for a short time, such as twenty or thirty minutes, and just write what you can. Then re-set and start again. Then again. If you need to take a short break, do - but then sit back down with that timer again.

Somehow, coping with a shorter commitment is easier than coping with the voice in the head that screams “I’ve got to do three hours on this really difficult project and I’m scared to begin, even though I sort of know something about it but do I? Aaaagh!” You might even find you write right through the timer, going on longer than you thought you could manage.

I’d suggest that, even if you have a timer for the kitchen, you buy yourself your own personal timer. Choose one with a tick that doesn’t irritate  - and it doesn’t need to be kept next to your ear while you’re working, anyway. Just keep the Timer Two near your desk and grab it whenever the void starts to echo, echo, echo . . .

There is a whole trademarked-tomato-shaped-Pomodoro-management-and-life-style website as well as various apps that do the same thing, but for me the real-world physical act of setting the timer to just the right number of minutes is part of the process.

So on to:

THE THREE ANYTIME PAGES.

Julia Cameron “Artist’s Way” approach is well known. Her writing style – or is it her so-American life style? - can seem slightly annoying here in the damp UK, but, as a good friend told me, you have to read through the layers to find the ideas that will work for you. 

Julia's core practice insists on the writing of three pages, on waking, without shaping or editing the words in any way. The drowsy mind lets all the worries and anxieties and bad stuff rise to the surface, as well as the moments of good stuff and gratitude. It’s worth finding out more about this whole approach if you haven't already dipped into her many books 


However, Julia’s “mornings” rarely seemed to be my “mornings”, often full of rush and responsibility, even now. So often, for many reasons, those three contemplative morning pages have seemed impossible, have been an empty failure at the start of the day.



Well, during the busy days of December, and having some writing trouble (too boring to expand upon!) I decided to opt for a half-way practice:   The three “anytime” pages.  Yes, anytime, anywhere. I gave away the guilt.

If I can do my pages first thing, I do. If not, I don’t grieve. I plan for some other patch of the day to sit and think and write, and so far this has worked, with only one day – the visitor changeover of Boxing Day- skipped entirely. I feel positive, not negative.

My anytime pages are written by hand, so there's no chance of the words being "work" - or even legible. I use a beloved green fountain pen, filled with green ink, and scribble away on yellow pages, which brings a touch of playfulness to the process. 

The quiet, slow, steady dropping down into the three anytime pages may not be Perfect Julia, but as December passed, I began looking forward to showing up at the page, started finding a little faith in my words and work again.

 Now, with the clear and empty days of the New Year ahead, who knows what might happen? Maybe it's not so big a step to get back into writing now the festivities are over, after all? And maybe old suggestions can still be good suggestions?

 Wishing you good writing and reading in 2014.

Penny Dolan

Saturday 21 December 2013

Seasons Greetings from the Awfully Big Bloggers!

What are you doing reading a blog? Shouldn't you be doing your last-minute shopping? Haven't you got a turkey (or acceptable vegetarian alternative) to collect from the shop? 

We're sure you must have, and we don't want to distract you. Besides which, we've got our own last-minute preparations to be getting on with. So we're going to take a break.

We'll be here again on Wednesday 1st January 2014, when Penny Dolan will welcome you back for another year of Awfully Big Blogposts on all manner of things intimately or tangentially related to the world of children's fiction. In the meantime, we hope that on Christmas morning your stockings are bulging with good things to read.

And till January, from all of us here at An Awfully Big Blog Adventure, we'd like to wish you all a very, very merry Christmas and, ahem, An ABBA New Year.

Friday 20 December 2013

"Caprice. Frolic. Joke. Jest. Dance." - Joan Lennon


Caprice. Frolic. Joke. Jest. Dance. This is the word cloud that takes me to what makes us human. The great German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said this: “. . . one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star”. It is the chaos in ourselves that is divine. We can be trained to do almost anything, harnessed to almost any purpose. But there remains a wayward spark whose unpredictability lies in the fact that it is pointless. That is humanity.

The quote is from a New Statesman article by Matthew Parris, titled What makes us human? Doing pointless things for fun. 

I agree.  (I love his cave painting story!)  And because there is a Shetland-shaped place in my heart, I give you this, as well, in confirmation.



Here's to your Christmas and all your new year being fully flavoured with caprice, frolic, jokes, jests, and dance!


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


Thursday 19 December 2013

How to Teach A Guardian Masterclass - Lucy Coats

Next July I shall have been working in the world of children's books, in one guise or another, for thirty-one years.  I've been an editor, a bookseller, a journalist and a writer. What I'd never been before last September (in any formal way) was a teacher of adults, but by agreeing to tutor a Guardian Masterclass on how to write for children, I became one.


My first book was published twenty-two years ago, and since then I've written a good many more. Could I teach others how to do it, though? Is how to write for children even teachable?  I've always been one who says that there are no rules for writing - only what works. Preparing for a whole day workshop taught me otherwise.  There are rules - the trick is how each individual chooses to interpret them. Thinking about how to get over the salient points of how to plot, write dialogue, create convincing characters and build credible worlds, plan story arcs, show not tell and all the other tricks of the writing trade, made me really focus in on what makes a children's book great instead of ordinary. It also made me realise how much I have actually learned in all those writing years (thankfully, quite a lot, in case you were wondering).

Until I started my first day of teaching, though, I had no idea if what I planned to say was going to be at all useful to anyone else.  I also didn't know what kind of teacher I was going to be.  Before that initial September morning, I prayed to all the gods of Story that I would be the flame-lighting kind, not the damp squib sort, and my prayer seems to have worked.  After three Masterclasses, the feedback has all been positive, and I have found in myself a surprising passion for imparting the writing trade I love to everyone from grandfathers to graphic designers.  (I've also loved working with my fellow writer, Michelle Lovric, who has kindly agreed to be my regular guest author, and whose incisive brilliance in pinning down plot flaws and age-inappropriateness during the group writing exercises fills me with awe.)

The wide spread of professions and ages who signed up to be taught surprised me. Their enthusiasm heartened me. What saddened and slightly depressed me, though, was that almost none had read any children's book later than Roald Dahl, even the ones who had children of their own. They'd just about heard of Philip Pullman, because of the film of his book, but they had no idea that The Hunger Games was a book first. None of them had even heard of Meg Rosoff or Patrick Ness, or Marcus Sedgwick or Sally Gardner, even though they are some of the biggest names in UK children's books right now, and they had no idea that Malorie Blackman is our present Children's Laureate.  Still, as with any class, you work with what you have - and they've all gone away with a long list of current books to look out for.  I hope at least some will use it to their advantage, along with my advice to read, read, read - the ones who really want to be writers, anyway. Because that was another surprising thing I discovered.  Not everyone who comes to a Guardian Masterclass actually wants to go away and write a book. Some are just there for the experience, and I think that's fine. As long as everyone enjoys themselves and takes away a bit of useful knowledge at the end of the day, I've done my job.

So, what are the five most important things I've learned from my Guardian Masterclass teaching experience?
First, that proper preparation is a key element to everyone's enjoyment, including mine.
Second, that a PowerPoint presentation is a thing of wonder, and, more practically, breaks up the talking bits.
Third, that writing exercises are a powerful tool for building confidence.
Fourth, that not everyone will ask questions, so having extra material to fill in unexpected gaps is good.
Fifth, that, as ever, chocolate is the way to a writing Masterclass's heart.

I've finished teaching the current Guardian Masterclass workshops for this year, but am delighted to say that the wonderful Nosy Crow team, headed by Kate Wilson, will be joining me next February for a whole weekend of children's writing and publishing, which will provide what we hope will be a fantastic opportunity to see both sides of the industry.  Personally, I can't wait to do more teaching - and to be amazed at the unique ideas even people with no confidence in their own creative capabilities can come up with in a very short space of time, given just a spoonful of encouragement (and, of course, a good dose of chocolate).


Lucy's new picture book, Captain Beastlie's Pirate Party is coming soon 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. 
Lucy's Website
Lucy's Tumblr
Lucy's Scribble City Central Blog (A UK Top 10 Children's Literature Blog)
Join Lucy's Facebook Fanpage
Follow Lucy on Twitter

Wednesday 18 December 2013

School Librarians - A Precious Resource - Linda Strachan

What kind of a society are we going to become?  

It makes you wonder when they start to close libraries - now the axe is raised over the heads of the School librarians, champions of reading and often the one person who can open the door for a child into the world of books.

Many children do not have books in their home. In December 2011 the National Literacy Trust released figures which showed that of 3.8 million children in the UK, 1 in 3 do not own a book.
 With fewer libraries,restricted opening times and closures, for some children the only access they will have to books will be the school library. But it will become a mere storage facility for books if the school does not have a professional librarian.

Perhaps you are one of those who thinks that a librarian is just someone who arranges books on shelves?   Do you know what a school librarian does?

 CILIPS maintains that school librarians and educational resource service expertise are key factors in the improved delivery of curriculum outcomes, attainment of the goals of education, promotion of literacy and reading, information literacy and technology use, and should be retained.
 (CILIPS is the Chartered Institute of Library and Information professionals in Scotland)

 I have to admit that I don't know all about the different kinds of work school librarians do - (if you are a school librarian reading this, please do tell us more about your job in the comments!), because I have never been a librarian, not trained as one and I don't have their expertise. But what I have seen is the enthusiasm and excitement about books and reading that a great librarian can create among the children in their school. I know they organise reading programmes and promote books and reading in a huge variety of ways that no one else in the school has the time or expertise to do.
I have been involved in lots of different events and projects organised or managed by school librarians, such as the Kids Lit Quiz, where teams of 4 pupils compete in a quiz about books, and where the winning UK team travels to the final, which in the past has been as far away as New Zealand and South Africa. There are lots of practice runs and many books are read in the run up to the competition each year.

Kate Harrison, Teresa Flavin, Jane McLoughlin
& Elizabeth Wein at Teen Titles event
I've been interviewed by pupils for the glossy Teen Titles magazine where teenagers review books they have read. I have no doubt that these reviews and interviews would never be written, collected and organised without the school librarians from Edinburgh Schools. They also host a great evening during the Edinburgh Book Festival when the young reviewers get to meet some of the authors whose books they have reviewed.

It seems very strange, Teen Titles is an Edinburgh Council publication, so why is it that Edinburgh Council has suggested that as part of its proposed budget cuts they plan to cut the number of school librarians by half? They suggest that if enough stakeholders act during the consultation process this will be overturned. Surely a matter like this should not depend on a vote of interested parties to over turn it, any more than other important aspects of education?

Red Book Award
I tried to find a photograph of a school librarian to put here but despite librarians inviting me to visit more schools than I can count over the years, I was struggling to find a picture of any one of the wonderful librarians who had organised these author visits.
It made me realise that in these days where everyone seems to want to be center stage, school librarians tend to stay well behind the scenes, working tirelessly and often well beyond their remit and contracted hours, providing an invaluable service to our children.

So instead I put in this photo of the very excited audience at the Red Book Awards in Falkirk. It is an amazing day, full of fun, and a really wonderful example of how school librarians working together can get huge numbers of children reading and talking about books they have read. There are book awards organised by librarians all over the UK, but sadly many of these are also falling foul of budget cuts.

School librarians appear to be a soft target to those who lack a proper understanding, and those who might think that they are a luxury. But reading for pleasure is not an extra or a luxury for young people.

The National Literacy Trust’s 2012 report for UNESCO also found that pupils who read outside class were thirteen times more likely to read above the expected level for their age.

As Lin Anderson Chair of the Society of Authors in Scotland mentioned  in her letter to Sue Bruce, Chief Executive at the Edinburgh City Council - ' a new analysis by the Institute of Education (September 2013) has found that children who read for pleasure do significantly better at maths, vocabulary and spelling, compared to those who rarely read. Regular reading and visits to libraries were found to be more important factors in improving a child's test scores than a parent's level of education.'

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”  Albert Einstein.

Librarians have the expertise to know exactly which book to direct a child to when they are floundering, and which they are not yet ready for. In these days of poor literacy levels we need dedicated school librarians to help children discover the joy of reading that will sustain them throughout their lives.

The Society of Authors' survey on Author Visits in Primary and Secondary Schools (October 2013) found that school librarians play a crucial role in selecting texts and organising the author visits that inspire so many pupils. One respondent to the survey said:
‘I believe that inspiration for reading comes at a very early age. With cutbacks in library services and funding in local communities an issue, schools must play a larger part in encouraging pupils’ reading and writing. As a secondary librarian I see a percentage of pupils who have decided it is not cool to read; some pupils joining us from primaries have already adopted this attitude. It is our job to work hard to convince them otherwise (hence as a passionate librarian I organise as many author visits as I possibly can). It should be our job to enrich, empower and expand pupils’ reading without the hurdles of peer-pressure.’

Primary schools often lose out and if they have a library at all it is all too often staffed by a parent or part time by a teacher and at times it is reduced to a few shelves in a corridor.  Far from reducing the number of librarians, because they seem like a soft target,we should be increasing them by making sure that not only every secondary school has a trained librarian but also that each and every primary school also has, not only a proper library but a well staffed one, too

At least Edinburgh Council have put it to consultation,far too many councils have been reducing the number of school librarians by stealth, simply by not filling posts when they become vacant. This way they disappear
without even a whisper of loss.
Sadly even as I write this I have heard that another region is about decide whether to split school librarians between two schools, reducing the number by half.  The worry is that after this has happened and the librarians that remain are unable to keep doing all the work twice as many people did, will that leave them even more vulnerable to even more cuts?

What kind of society do we want to belong to?
Reading for pleasure is a way of understanding the world around us, fiction and non fiction have an important place in the education of our children at all ages. Reading gives children the opportunity to experience life beyond their immediate surroundings and experience, it can show them how to empathise with others in situations we might hope they never encounter themselves, to consider and question other views and to understand the past and how it might influence their future.

School librarians are a vital resource. Parents should ask whether their school has a full time librarian, but to make sure we have a literate and educated society we all need to take responsibility to make sure that this vital resource is retained and not lost by lack of a vote or by stealth when we are not watching.

Does your child's school or your local school have a full time librarian?


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Linda Strachan  is  Patron of Reading to Liberton High School, Edinburgh 

Author of over 60 books for all ages from picture books to teenage novels and a writing handbook  Writing For Children  

Her latest YA novel is Don't Judge Me  


website:  www.lindastrachan.com
blog: Bookwords


Tuesday 17 December 2013

Better be good this Christmas....by Saviour Pirotta

I got an email from a young reader in Umbria the other day, asking me if I knew any stories about La Befana. 

La Befana taking a well-deserved rest
La Befana is the Italian equivalent of Father Christmas, often referred to as Father Christmas' wife.  Usually depicted as a hook-nosed octogenarian, she flies through the air on her broomstick.  Her face and clothes are black with soot because, like Santa, she comes down the chimney.  She brings with her a sack full of toys and treats for well-behaved children but leaves lumps of coal, onions or garlic for the naughty ones.  Families leave her a small glass of prosecco and some tasty local delicacy as a thank you for her gifts.  If she has the time, she might use her broom to sweep the floor, an act of kindness often pointed out to kids as proof that she has visited.

The origin of the Befana tradition is not clear.  According  to Victorian writers she  is derived from the ancient Roman goddess Strina. Her festival was celebrated on the first of January with an exchange of gifts.  Presents in both Italy and nearby Malta where children are given money on New Year's day, are still called Strina  to this very day.

There are two folk legends explaining the origin of the Befana, one of them very similar to the Russian Babushka story.   The most popular depicts her as a house-proud spinster living on the road to Bethlehem at the time when Jesus was born. The three wise men call on her to ask for shelter and invite her to go along with them in search of the newly-born Christ. She accepts but, unable to leave until she has tidied the house, she gets left behind.  By the time she takes the road, bearing toys for Jesus, it is too late.  The magi, and the Holy Family, have left Bethlehem.  La Befana is still searching for Jesus to this very day,  giving presents to every child she meets in case he is the Christ.

A second, lesser known story, tells of a mother mourning a long-dead baby.  The magi call on her but
Befana doll on sale in Venice
she turns them away.  At night, she sees the star of Bethlehem shining in the sky and has a change of heart.  She follows it and finds the new-born Jesus in a stable.  Delighted by her gifts of bread and woollen blanket, the Christ-child makes her the mother of all Italian children and entrusts her with the task of handing out Christmas gifts every year.

The tradition of La Befana is still strong in Italy to this very day and has even been exported to other countries where there are huge Italian immigrant communities. Mother Christmas appears in parades, at markets and prize-giving ceremonies. Piazza Navona in Rome hosts an annual market selling toys and sweets shaped like lumps of charcoal.  Children in Rome are told that the Befana takes off from one of the windows in the piazza on the 6th of January.  The old lady features in poems, sonnets, stories and even in Ottorino Resphigi's music. The fourth movement in his Feste Romane is entitled La Befana. The old woman who started out as a  humble housekeeper on the outskirts of Bethlehem today enjoys worldwide celebrity status.


What would you like Befana to bring you this year?  Leave your wishes in the comment box and I'll see if I can have a word with her.

A warning to the wicked!

Monday 16 December 2013

A confession of my own - John Dougherty

It's my view that Liz Kessler's post of the 27th November is one of the most important we've ever published.

It's certainly been among the most popular; within hours of posting our stats page was showing it as one of the ten most-viewed pages on the site in its five-year history, and within a couple of days it had made its way up to the number four slot. Meanwhile, 92 comments were left, which is probably a record, and all of them were positive. As Liz says, as a society we've come a long way.

Which is why it feels appropriate this morning to make a confession of my own. You see, I used to be a bigot.

Is 'bigot' quite the right word? I'm not sure. My dictionary defines a bigot as someone who has 'an obstinate belief in the superiority of one's own opinions', and actually it was other people's opinions I held to be superior: God's, mostly, or at least the people who claimed to know what he thought. And apparently in God's book gay people were Very, Very Bad, and so were you if you disagreed with him. This chimed with what I'd been taught in the playground - gays were weird; gays were different; gays were to be cast out and mocked and despised; gays were you if you didn't conform or if the kid at the top of the pecking order didn't like your face.

Essentially, as so many things are, it was about stories. The stories told us that being gay was a choice; that it was a sin; that it only happened to people who were Not Like Us and who we'd probably never meet as long as we continued to be Good and Normal and stayed out of trouble.

What changed my mind? Stories. First and foremost, the stories of a friend who'd been told the same stories that I had, and found they weren't true; who found that he had no choice about being gay; who found that that no matter how hard he tried to be straight, he just wasn't; who did all the things prescribed by the People Who Know What God Thinks and found that the more he did them, the more messed-up his life became.

I wish I'd heard stories like that sooner. I wish that, when I was younger, there had been stories about people who happened to be gay without 'gay' being the whole point of who they are, who were gay without being ridiculous caricatures like Mr Humphries, who could have been my uncle or my friend's mum. Of course in those days even the hint of a gay character in a children's book would have been enough to have the Daily Mail and the Sun thundering BAN THIS EVIL BOOK! But I can't help wondering if perhaps the publishing industry should have been brave enough to try.

I'm glad it's different now. I'm glad there are books, however few, like Morris Gleitzman's wonderful Two Weeks With The Queen. I'm glad that Liz's publishers now feel the market is ready for her forthcoming Read Me Like A Book. And I'm glad that my friend no longer has to hide who he is. But I wish I'd made friends like him earlier, in the safety of the pages of a book, so that when I first met him I'd have understood him already.

______________________________________________________________________

John's next book:  
 Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Badness of Badgers, illustrated by David Tazzyman & published by OUP in January 2014

Sunday 15 December 2013

Nelson Mandela...Poem and Peace by Miriam Halahmy


In 1952, the year I was born, Nelson Mandela opened his law firm and became involved in  ANC defiance activities. All my life he has gone before me as a beacon of hope and reconciliation. In the 60s as my political consciousness was developing I became more and more aware of  apartheid.


As a student in the 70s I helped to swell the tide of demonstration in Trafalgar Square. 








In the 80s I took my seven year old son to the vigil outside the South African Embassy and we signed the demand to release Mandela and end apartheid.
I could never buy a Cape apple.









In 1994 I sat and watched Mandela vote for the first time in his life. The most extraordinary smile broke over his face, almost shy, yet beaming, as he posted his slip of paper into the slot. That smile lit up the world.


The next day I went to the supermarket and proudly bought my very first bag of green Cape apples. Now it felt safe. Mandela was not only free but he had cast his vote. 
I went home, dumped the apples in the sink, turned on the tap and as I began to peel off the stickers a huge smile spread over my face.



I sat down and wrote this poem :

Washing Apples

Like Mandela casting his vote, I smile
and peel Cape stickers from green apples,
reel back the years, vigil, marches,
taking my small son to sign.

He knows now why I said,
at street stalls and supermarkets, 'Not those or those'
why it was never just an apple.

 © Miriam Halahmy

 As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.
Nelson Mandela   1918-2013

This is the mark of the man and this is his legacy. Peace and reconciliation can be achieved between neighbours, peoples, countries. We are all citizens of the world.





Saturday 14 December 2013

Nelson, Steve and me: by Anne Cassidy

Like many other people I’ve been thinking about Nelson Mandela a lot this week. The explosion of emotion surrounding his death made me remember my first encounter with ‘apartheid’. As a young woman in the 1970s, I was interested in politics, but South Africa was on the other side of the world and in my consciousness it was at the level of news headlines, facts and figures, political speeches. I understood about apartheid but I didn’t really know about it.

I was a white woman living in one of the richest cities in the world. I was political. I was a thinking person but how could I really connect with what was going on?

It took a book to make me really feel something. It was during the year of my teacher training course that I picked up Donald Woods’ book on STEVE BIKO. He was an activist in South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1977 he was arrested by the South African police. He was beaten and tortured by them.
During this abuse he was transported from one police station to another in the back of a van. His injured body was thrown in and he was left to lie there uncared for many hours while the van travelled from place to place lurching over the uneven roads. I remember, all those years ago, reading these passages and feeling slightly sick. This is what this system came down to. The headlines were about the injustice of apartheid as a system. The reality was a tortured man rolling about in the back of van while the police decided what to do with him.

There was a hint of fiction about this description. I don’t mean that it was made up. I mean that the writer had used the tools of fiction to heighten this experience. He had included the small details of being in the back of the van, going over the bumpy roads to put the picture in the reader’s mind. Biko had endured the cruellest abuse from these police officers and then on top of that there was this huge journey to suffer.

He died six days later.

Steve Biko is buried in King William Town in the Eastern Cape Province and is remembered by South Africans. Because of that book, written by Donald Woods, he is also remembered by me.


Friday 13 December 2013

My Christmas Wish List by Karen King

With Christmas less than two weeks away I'm busy - as I'm sure you are too - with all the preparations. So far I've decorated three Christmas trees - one outside my husband's shop, one in our lounge and one in the conservatory. Here's a picture of the one outside the shop.


I've also been buying and wrapping presents. With four daughters, nine grandchildren and a great-grandson you can imagine how many presents I've had to wrap! "What do you want for Christmas?"  is a question I ask, and have been asked, constantly the last couple of weeks. Not that I 'buy to order' it's ideas I'm looking for. I know that it's the 'thought that counts' but I like to make sure that the presents I buy are things my family will like.




Which made me think of my own Christmas Wish List. My favourite presents are books and chocolate and I can guarantee on getting those every year. This year I also wanted a SatNav as I've just passed my test and and worry about getting lost. So, Dave, my husband, has bought me that. I've also said that I'd like something bright and easily recognisable to stick onto my car aerial so I can find it in the car park - I'm notorious for trying to get into the wrong car - so let's see if anyone comes up with that! Candles, pretty notebooks and pens are also things I like




And if money was no object a 'round the world' ticket for two would be brilliant!




What about you, what's on your Christmas Wish List?


Karen King writes all sorts of books. Check out her website at www.karenking.net




Thursday 12 December 2013

Short 'n' Sweet by Ann Evans


Our latest anthology
It's all been about short stories recently. Belonging to the Coventry Writers' Group, we decided to put together another anthology of our stories to publish ourselves and to have as an ebook.

Coventry Tales 2 came hot off the press last week, and the group celebrated with a launch at Waterstones last Saturday and a launch party at our main library on Tuesday evening.

We all know how isolated it can be at times when you're a writer, so its nice to belong to a group of like-minded people. Of course it doesn't always work out, but happily over the last few years our lot have really got their act together in making good use of our work.

A couple of years ago, after running a Christmas short story competition, it was decided to compile them into an anthology. Fortunately for us, one particular member is a dab hand at publishing his own non-fiction books and runs a small publishing company. (Yes, we know we're dead lucky in having him as a member!) So he (Mike Boxwell of Greenstream Publishing) was the driving force behind our efforts at getting an anthology together.
Another member of the group was a qualified proof reader and copy editor, and a friend of yet another member is an artist - who volunteered her services to do the cover - again.

For some members of the group that was the first story they had ever published, so it was quite a big deal for them. Plus we all got involved in marketing and promoting the book (definitely good practice) as well as doing some leg-work in calling in at local newsagents and other outlets to see who would like to stock the book for us. One member even went along to the Lord Mayor's office and sold him some books. Seems he was delighted to have a local Coventry book available to give away to visiting dignitaries as gifts.

That anthology Coventry Tales was followed up by a free ebook called Christmas Tales. While another industrious member entered our anthology into a national competition for anthologies – which went on to take the first prize of £250!!

As another promotional event, which was also great fun, we held a performance at a local amateur theatre. We offered it free and put on refreshments as bribes! Then more recently we indulged in a writers' group breakfast at a local pub paid for by the anthology competition prize winnings.

Naturally, we decided to repeat the whole thing, so earlier this year we ran another competition, the theme being fact or fiction and linked to Coventry. During the Coventry Literary Festival we staged another performance (with costumes) at the local theatre which was great fun. And more recently we got all the stories together again, and Mike (bless him!) has once again turned it into a lovely book.

Some of the Coventry Writers' Group rehearsing for
our anthology performance

Following a press release, local radio stations became interested in our latest escapades which resulted in invitations to two radio stations and pieces in local papers. Plus the Coventry library were again fantastic in promoting Coventry Tales 2 and letting us do a launch party, which took place on Tuesday.

Then if that's not enough about anthologies, there's another one on the go, with a totally different group. Around January last year I started up another writing course, called Focus on Fiction. It was intended as a 6-week course, and I had about 10 students. After the six weeks were over, eight of the group were enjoying themselves so much and finding it really useful and supportive, they wanted to continue meeting up – and so the course continued – and continues...

As winter approached we decided to write some short stories with a winter/Christmas theme with the intention of reading them out around Christmas. And then we had the great idea of compiling them into an anthology and producing it as an ebook.

We needed to give ourselves a name, so we played around with names before coming up with The Wordsmiths. And now Winter Tales by the Wordsmiths is about to be launched on the world via Amazon Kindle... and the group are fantastically excited about the event, and so am I.


Only two of this intrepid group have been published before, and I am so impressed by the work and effort they have all shown in writing their stories, and working hard in proof reading them, it's just been absolutely fantastic. Plus knowing they are being published has boosted their confidence in themselves as writers, that they have all visibly upped their writing so impressively that I can't wait to tell everyone about our anthology.

I've only just uploaded it on Kindle, so at the time of writing I can't give you the link. But if you're browsing at any time, please take a peep at Winter Tales by The Wordsmiths.




And my website is: www.annevansbooks.co.uk

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Unseasonal Greetings - Cathy Butler



I remember being rather disappointed as a child in the 1970s when I was told that the Christmas Specials of many of my favourite shows were actually filmed at the height of summer. It made sense, though. That forced jollity, the frantic over-tinselling, could be explained only by the peculiar discomfort attendant on singing about snow and reindeer in the middle of July, wearing a thick polo-neck jersey.

Most of the people involved in those shows are now either dead or in jail (it’s a strange life, being a 70s child); but amongst writers at least the unseasonal arts have flourished much longer. Keats noted in an age before fridge-freezers that Fancy "will bring, in spite of frost,/ Beauties that the earth hath lost”; and Susan Cooper has described writing the snowy chapters of The Dark is Rising – a Christmas staple in all sensible households – in the middle of a Caribbean summer.

A few months ago I had my own taste of this experience. In April I was asked to provide a story for the December edition of the Bloomsbury website 247 Tales. The idea is that every month an author writes a story of 247 words or fewer, and young writers then offer their own stories on the same theme. I duly wrote a creepy Christmas story while the daffodils swayed outside my window; then I snuggled down and waited for winter. Unfortunately, as you will have seen if you clicked on the link, the 247 Tales site is undergoing technical problems. It seems my story will not appear there after all.

What shall we do with the poor orphan story? Can the doors of ABBA be opened to give it shelter at this season of goodwill, and bring it shivering out of the cold? They can, you say? Why, God bless you!

Here then is my Christmas squib. Enjoy it if you're able - but remember, April is the cruellest month…

Crackerjack

Jack lay coffined in a cardboard tube. He was trussed tightly, arms bound above his head. The half-darkness revealed outsized objects filling the cramped space: a huge plastic whistle; a bale of crêpe paper; a broadsheet riddle. His mouth was gagged with Miss Jago’s gingerbread.
The gingerbread had been bait, of course. Old Miss Jago might seem friendly, but from the moment they’d met, Jack had guessed she was a witch. He’d known that even before she caught him pulling the tail of her mangy cat.  She’d told his parents – so unfair!
Christmas dinner was his parents’ peace offering. They’d sent Jack with a polite invitation and Miss Jago had come, bearing fresh-baked gingerbread and homemade Christmas crackers. That gingerbread had smelt delicious. Coming across it in the kitchen before dinner, how could Jack not try a slice?
Immediately he’d felt a sickening blackness – a violent blurring – and then he’d woken here, trapped in this cardboard prison. Nearby, wine glasses chinked. He could smell turkey.
“Where’s Jack?” he heard Dad ask, very loud, very close. “I’m starving.”
“He won’t have gone far,” said Miss Jago. “Why not pull a cracker while we’re waiting?”
“Oh yes, let’s!” said Mum.
Jack’s world lurched as a giant fist seized him by the arms. Another crushed his feet. In mute agony he was lifted into the air and stretched out tight.
“Go on!” cried Miss Jago merrily. “Don’t be shy!”
Laughing, Jack’s parents pulled their Christmas cracker. One – two – three – snap!

Tuesday 10 December 2013

When Does it End??? by Damian Harvey

I've written quite a few books now for Primary School aged children and so far all of them have been fiction. I just love making things up. With fiction for children I have the chance to stretch my imagination and let it wander wherever it wants without the constraints of the real world. I'm completely free... 

Ok, I'll admit that on the odd occasion I've had to look something up here and there, but that's only so I can rest in the half knowledge that the fictional world I'm writing about makes some sort of sense. For a little series of books set in the Ice Age (The Mudrusts) I wondered whether Monstrous Mammoths could have come face to face with my Human characters. I found that there were (or possibly were) Mammoths in certain parts of the world when human-like beings existed - even if some of the Mammoths weren't as huge and monstrous as they might have been. Sabre-Toothed Tigers were a bit smaller than I'd imagined too - but that was all fine by me. I'd just about satisfied my inquisitive mind enough to allow them to exist together for the purpose of my story.

For a novel I'm working on at the moment I've had to look up genetics and DNA - I probably didn't need to as the whole thing is completely made up and total nonsense, however, there's always this nagging little voice at the back of my mind that speaks up every now and then.

"Could this really happen?" asks Tarquin Woodbine from 5P, casually probing his left nostril for nourishment like an inquisitive aye-aye.

I've spoken to non-fiction (and fiction) writers in the past who have told me about the joys and obsessions of research - something I've never fully understood until now. But at the moment, as well as my fiction work, I'm busy writing a little series of non-fiction books. The books are only around 1000 - 1300 words in length, so nothing too lengthy, however, I'm finding myself sinking comfortably into a world of research.

The first book in the series is about Christopher Columbus - he famed for discovering America. (Now who would have thought it had been there all along?)

I've been interested in Columbus, and other famous explorers, since an early age so I have a little bit of knowledge about them (a dangerous thing indeed). Despite this knowledge I knew I would have to do a lot more research. I started on the internet. There's lots of valuable information to be had from the internet - from many respected and some not so respected sites. Despite reservations, Wikipedia can be a good starting place. It can give lots of little nuggets of information (all of which need checking and double checking of course).

Then it's off to the library and home with a heap of books. So many pages, chapters, paragraphs, words, facts and tit-bits of interesting information that can be included in my book.

By the end I had written thousands of words of notes which then needed to be put into some sort of context and order. I also wanted to make the text read like a story rather than a simple timeline of events so a lot of cutting and tweaking was involved.

And then there's that mountain of contradictory information that you get. His brother was called Bob - he lived in Spain. His brother was called Frank (though many called him Demetrius, or Cal for short) and he lived in Portugal... These are not facts about Columbus or his family - but you know the sort of thing I mean.

Starting the research was easy. Just a little snippet of information here... a paragraph there... a book or three to ensure that you know what you know. Then you check it all again with another source, and another, and another and...  

"Oh! I've not read that before!!!"

Researching information for a book is far easier (and harder) and far more enjoyable (and frustrating) that I ever thought it might have been. In fact, some might say that it's addictive.

The most difficult thing I've found is knowing when to stop the research and get down to the business of writing. In my limited experience,even the knowledge that most of what you research will never appear in the book doesn't make it any easier.

But that's fine by me because I can stop researching any time I like. Really I can.
Just one more Google and I'm done.

Damian Harvey
www.damianharvey.co.uk

Monday 9 December 2013

Who reads the paper? - Anne Rooney

Remember in Not Now Bernard, when Bernard's dady won't take any notice of him?
He's reading the newspaper.

Reading the paper is what daddies (and sometimes mummies) do in picture books when they are being grown-up, not engaging with their children, and not wanting to be disturbed. But who reads the paper? How many small children see their parents reading the paper? I wondered about this as I tried to write a page of a picture book in which a daddy does some household chores and then sits down to relax. I don't want him to watch television. (Apart from anything else, he lives on a beach in Mauritius. Oh, and he's a dodo.) But I don't want him doing something alien that will require unpicking by the small reader. Perhaps he'll do some baking. (I know, he lives on a beach in Mauritius...)

Once you start thinking about it, lots of activities that used to be the familiar routine of a small child's life aren't actually that common any more. How many people walk to the shops? How many even GO to the shops? Is there a picture book yet in which the arrival of the Ocado/Tesco delivery man is an awaited event? In which daddy reads The Times app on his iPad after work? In which the Tiger uses all the bandwidth and no-one can look at YouTube or update their status to say 'There's a tiger in the kitchen'?

I wonder if we're in danger of the quotidian humdrummery of mid-twentieth-century life becoming the Hansel-and-Gretel forest of picture-book land? The comfortable home life - Max with his hot drink before bed, Sophie sitting at the kitchen table for tea made on a proper cooker, Bernard whose daddy can (can't, actually) wield a hammer - do they even look like reality any more to most kids? Older siblings in picture books don't sit playing Angry Birds on their phones. Children still go outside to play (with no-one warning them about paedophiles or road-ragers). In the supermarket, they queue at the checkout instead of scanning their own shopping. Babies sleep under quilts and not in grow-bags.

So what should a daddy dodo do when he's finished his chores? Perhaps he will dance. That never goes out of fashion.

Anne Rooney
aka Stroppy Author