tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36038712128819618062024-02-21T11:49:26.603+00:00bookengineCelebrating children's writers and children's fictionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14528879746218315030noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-63416478114154132762013-12-06T23:36:00.004+00:002013-12-06T23:36:55.832+00:00How to become a published author (by telling bedtime stories)<h4>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First, write a book.</span></b></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sounds obvious, I know.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But it’s surprising how many people who want to be writers don’t do it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did I take the advice? Well, not for a long time. Oh, I was writing. Lots and lots. I just didn’t finish what I started.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was never going to become a published author (let alone a BESTSELLING author) by not finishing anything.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sound familiar? Maybe this is you, too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting here </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">now,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with a trilogy of children’s books being read by people all over the world, I can smile wryly to myself at what a fool I was for so long. (I’ll be telling you shortly how you can download all three of my children’s books from Amazon for FREE. You love FREE books, don’t you? Course you do.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But back before my personal journey brought me to where I am now, I was blind to this advice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For five years I’ve been writing Bookengine, writing about other people’s books, profiling the most wonderful children’s authors in the world. People like Philip Reeve, Curtis Jobling, the late great Robert Westall, Barbara Mitchelhill.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stuck on the hamster wheel</span></b></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And all the while I was harbouring my own ambitions of being a children’s author.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But with a full-time job as a newspaper journalist and the demands of a busy family life, I just never seemed to have the stamina to sustain my enthusiasm to finish the books I was writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dreams of seeing my writing published, of readers enjoying my stories, perhaps even making some money were very much on hold.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had ideas for books. Plenty of them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I lacked was the motivation. Something to get the juices flowing. The words on the hard drive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always had faith that it would come good in the end. And when the answer did materialise, it was the most obvious thing in the world. Simple. But how often in life is the solution to a problem staring you in the face?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I’m being honest, I had become a little discouraged by the whole traditional publishing process.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Write book, query agent, wait an age for a judgement like a condemned man waiting for a reprieve from the gallows. Then celebrate or commiserate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my case, no exception, it had always been the latter. Which was then followed by a period of despondency, from which I would have to pick myself up and start over.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the years I had experienced the usual rejection letters from agents for the novels and scripts I’d sent out. Looking back, the reason none had successfully tempted any to represent me was because they weren’t good enough. I accept that. I was learning how to write.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But as you will see, when I finally did finish something I was happy with, I was feeling less than excited about the long wait involved in dispatching my magnum opus to agents.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What I didn’t realise was the solution to this second problem was also right under my nose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, to recap. I was feeling a lack of motivation and drive in my writing. And I was more than a little discouraged by the traditional agent submission route to publication.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, how did I finally break the writer’s block and finish a book?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Inspiration at bedtime</b></span></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The motivation to push all the way through to the end and not sabotage my own endeavours through a feeling of inadequacy came when I was telling my children a bedtime story. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as reading books to them, I’ve always told them my own stories, completely off the cuff, pushing myself - like a tightrope walker - to see how far I could get before I fell off the highwire.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using the well-oiled tools of conflict, suspense and resolution - put a character into a dilemma, make it worse, draw out the suffering before bringing it to an end either happily or otherwise - I could keep the story going over several nights.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And my children loved it. They begged me to keep going. The sound of ‘aw, Dad!’ as I said ‘to be continued’ and switched off the bedroom light became a nightly chorus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s when it hit me that I should be writing a story for my children. I had a ready-made audience, and I enjoyed the pressure of having to create new chapters each night. I couldn’t ditch the story half-way through because the prospect of seeing two disappointed faces staring back at me would have been too much.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was plenty of precedent for parents turning bedtime stories into successful books. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roald Dahl’s children were the first to hear about the BFG. A A Milne based Winnie-the-Pooh on a teddy bear belonging to his son, Christopher Robin, who famously became the human hero of the classic tales. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kenneth Grahame first recounted the Wind in the Willows stories to his son Alastair, while the Rev W Awdry came up with Thomas the Tank Engine for his son, Christopher.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Bond creator Ian Fleming was recovering from a heart attack when he conjured up the tale of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for his 10-year-old son Caspar.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Stinky-Robbery-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJF46E2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-2&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHn9jeTH9xDOEKEXcU8GWUHxC8R-TS0N2mLSfX1DCo49TquwT1OEHQunCKLO-uOLXJFCG5wYO1ojd__giDEfSfahnbZOsBr6JISHxxAsYR75TD5c_25DJ2-8sQRyyRZoQpDpwoUmI04LU/s200/stinkcover.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Stinky-Robbery-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJF46E2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-2&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">My first children's book</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I, too, found myself scouting round for ideas for stories to tell my little ones. I’ve always been a lover of heist movies - Ocean’s Eleven being a classic example. I don’t know how - perhaps I was tinkering with the name Ocean - but I came up with the premise of a gang of starving alley cats attempting to raid a fishmonger’s shop.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that’s how the idea for The Great Stinky Fish Robbery was born. It took a long time to get the story right, and I tried out the different elements on my children in embryonic form for some time before I finally wrote the version that’s now in the hands of readers.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A publishing revolution</span></b></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It so happened that this Eureka moment coincided with the explosion in self publishing on Amazon Kindle and other ebook readers. Suddenly, anybody could publish a book. No longer did you need to jump through an agent’s and publisher’s hoop. You could do it yourself at the click of a button.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What also convinced me that I should have a go was reading about the glut of self-published authors who were having huge success through their ebooks (and seeing their bank balances swell in the process).</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Great-Escape-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJSAU76/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-3&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxJSpg59efupgqedqgPOYHpASoMDqvzK_374UcrEWlgG1r2e457fRlENpoBF3fuTk9nCsyYHIkWKiB1x4K8jdBYWwg4bCFCU3Uqi3nBP0VAYN3UWlZHDYkT5AZMxVP-ea_60fe2WQ3vY/s200/escapecover.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Great-Escape-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJSAU76/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-3&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">The second book in the trilogy</a></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The success of independent authors like <a href="http://www.donovancreed.com/" target="_blank">John Locke</a>, <a href="http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Amanda Hocking</a>, <a href="http://seanmplatt.com/" target="_blank">Sean Platt</a>, <a href="http://www.jakonrath.com/" target="_blank">Joe Konrath</a>, <a href="http://kerrywilkinson.com/%E2%80%8E" target="_blank">Kerry Wilkinson</a> and <a href="http://jamesoswald.co.uk/" target="_blank">James Oswald</a> convinced me that this was the way ahead for new authors, particularly those jaded by the traditional ‘gatekeeper’ system of agent and publisher. (I believe a hybrid approach - a mixture of self-publishing and traditional publisher-author relationship - will actually become more common, but that’s for another blog post.) </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are a wannabe author, I heartily recommend you click through on the authors’ names above and study their stories and learn from what they did to find success.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It could be the best thing you ever do in your writing career.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, I promised you FREE books earlier, didn’t I?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">Well, for a limited period, beginning Saturday, December 7, 2013, you can download </span><span style="color: red;">ALL THREE</span><span style="color: #222222;"> of the Archer trilogy of books for </span><span style="color: red;">FREE</span><span style="color: #222222;"> at Amazon. Yes, that’s all three: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Stinky-Robbery-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJF46E2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369881&sr=8-2&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">The Great Stinky Fish Robbery</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Great-Escape-ARCHER-TRILOGY-ebook/dp/B00FJSAU76/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-3&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">Archer’s Great Escape</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Rise-ARCHER-TRILOGY-Book-ebook/dp/B00H267M9C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-6&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">Archer’s Rise To The Top</a> absolutely </span><span style="color: red;">FREE</span><span style="color: #222222;">.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just click on this little link: </span><a href="http://amzn.to/18BKfqH" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://amzn.to/18BKfqH</span></a><span style="background-color: #f2f8fb; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></b></span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Rise-ARCHER-TRILOGY-Book-ebook/dp/B00H267M9C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-6&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLf_3pMsRhv2HnMdUlLvKmiDSbZ7uPjlZKm-8Ty19ubcfOzEMDfVV96iba3APYviFrDJ3psBqr26vkIyY0IdbEyGAYT6Pm9DRDJio-Y3e6W8kIAObSBtblJkBPds52MEEp0FrVuZoAcYY/s200/risecover.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Archers-Rise-ARCHER-TRILOGY-Book-ebook/dp/B00H267M9C/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1386369907&sr=8-6&keywords=jeremy+craddock" target="_blank">The final book in the trilogy</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That will take you through to my Amazon author page where you can download each book individually for FREE.</span><span style="background-color: #f2f8fb; color: #63b5dd; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m still very much on the first rung of the self-publishing ladder. But I can’t tell you how excited and energised I’ve become by taking this path. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hope my story inspires you to pursue your own writing dream.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Good luck and maybe you’ll turn your dream of becoming a published author into a reality. Just take a look at those bedtime stories you’re telling your kids.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="color: red;">P. S. FREE ebooks at Amazon:</span></b><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><a href="http://amzn.to/18BKfqH" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #61b3de; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://amzn.to/18BKfqH</span></a><span style="background-color: #f2f8fb; color: #63b5dd; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: #f2f8fb; color: #63b5dd; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">www.jeremycraddock.wordpress.com</span></span></div>
Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-78736413478371203422013-05-07T17:01:00.000+01:002013-05-07T17:04:22.645+01:00Jeff Norton: Training Days<br />
<em>I'm thrilled to welcome as my latest guest one of the most exciting and successful authors of young adult fiction currently working.</em><br />
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<em>Jeff Norton is the author of the exciting MetaWars series for young adults. His innovative science fiction world has been much acclaimed by critics and readers alike. He has also been credited with sparking an renewed interest in reading among a generation of young people raised on the internet, social networking, video games and satellite TV.</em><br />
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<em>Many, many thanks to Jeff for taking time to write for Bookengine.</em><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff with enthusiastic fans</td></tr>
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Writing can be a lonely pursuit. I spend hours inside my own imagination, forming a meaningful relationship with my MacBook Pro and coffee machine. And so it was a wondrous break from this isolated routine when I embarked on my first book tour this Spring. <br />
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I traveled up and down the country, from Brighton to Newcastle, and spoke to and met with over 3,000 young readers (both avid and reluctant), ranging from nine to sixteen. I returned to the writing desk with a bad cold but a richer picture of who I’m writing for….and why.<br />
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I was a very reluctant reader as an adolescent. I hated reading. It was hard and I couldn’t win at it. So the first question I ask when speaking to a group of students is: “who enjoys reading?” About half of the hands go up. Then I ask who doesn’t like reading. The other half comes clean. Those are my people.<br />
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As a boy, in the 80s, in Canada, I couldn’t find anything in book form as compelling, engaging, or addictive as the best films, TV shows, and video games. So when I started writing, that became the bar; to create a book series that could compete with the amazing array of 21st century visual media on offer.<br />
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I wanted my ‘MetaWars’ books to be the inflection point for reluctant readers, the book that shows them that books don’t have to be boring, that they can be fun to read and possess big, immersive, challenging ideas that linger with you long after you close the spine.</div>
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What I learned on book tour is that the reluctant readers, the second wave of hands in the air, were out of the habit of reading. Reading wasn’t something that was part of their (non-school) day. <em>New York Times</em> journalist Charles Duhigg explores the disproportionate share of human behaviour that’s powered by habits in his book ‘The Power of Habit’ and I witnessed this phenomenon in every school I visited. </div>
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For me, getting into the habit of reading was the critical first step on the reading ladder, and it was thanks to the slim and addictive game books called ‘Choose Your Own Adventure” that I persevered. I was able to burn through them, gaining confidence and ability as I read the series. I didn’t know it, but I was practicing. </div>
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Now I’m tempted to write series fiction to create a training ground for younger kids to gain confidence to tackle longer novels like the ‘MetaWars’ books. So watch this space!<br />
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* Jeff Norton is the author of the MetaWars saga. The third book publishes May, 2013 from Orchard Books. He can be found at www.jeffnorton.com and tweeting at @thejeffnorton.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-370370390233141972013-04-19T15:24:00.000+01:002013-04-19T15:24:12.557+01:00Interview #18: Craig McCannMy latest interviewee is Craig McCann, a designer of textiles and stationery, and an aspiring children's picture book illustrator. He lives in Manchester. He has a wonderful website, <a href="http://www.fishink.co.uk/">www.fishink.co.uk</a> and blog, <a href="http://fishinkblog.wordpress.com/">http://fishinkblog.wordpress.com/</a> This latter site is a beautifully put-together commentary on artists who have clearly influenced the talented Mr McCann.<br />
My thanks to him for agreeing to be interviewed for Bookengine.<br />
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<strong>Your background is in textiles, illustration and photography – how did </strong><strong>you become interested in children’s books and how have your skills </strong><strong>influenced your work?</strong></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Craig McCann</td></tr>
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I was a textile designer for over 20 years, after completing a textile degree back in 1989 and setting up a textile printing business in Nottingham in the early 90s. I have since established my own business, creating ranges of greeting cards and notebooks (<a href="http://www.fishink.co.uk/">www.fishink.co.uk</a>) and a blog on which I look at many designers, illustrators and creative peeps (<a href="http://www.fishinkblog.wordpress.com/">www.fishinkblog.wordpress.com</a>) and discuss their merits and qualities. I have become interested in children's book illustration over the last couple of years after working on the blog and drawing more and more characters in sketchbooks. Ideas for stories and scenarios for the characters I'm creating then pop into my head and I let them roam and stew for a while before they start to formulate into a book.</div>
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<strong>What books have you written/illustrated? Can you talk about them and what prompted you to create them?</strong><br />
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I've written two books to date, both are still in the early stages of reaching a publisher so I'm not going to give everything away in terms of the ideas, but one is about a dog in space and the other is about a lion who is searching for something. They are both very different in style, the former was created largely from hand-drawn images which were later coloured on the Mac. The latter was also using drawn figures as a starting point but the images were then collaged and assembled in Photoshop and as a result have a very different feel to the earlier book illustrations. You can see some examples of my work here <a href="http://fishink.carbonmade.com/projects/4182518#1">http://fishink.carbonmade.com/projects/4182518#1</a><br />
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<strong>Do you feel you have a theme or themes running through your work? If so, what are they?</strong><br />
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Most of my characters are 'born' quirky, colourful and usually striving to induce a smile or two, I believe humour to be one of the greatest elements to interweave into my work and I try to include it whenever possible.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Craig's website</td></tr>
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<strong>What difficulties have you encountered trying to get your work published?</strong><br />
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From meeting other published authors and illustrators and reading so much online, I realise that getting that initial break into publishing is the hardest part of all. There are so many people who want to write children's picture books that publishers are inundated and find it difficult to cope with the quantities of material they receive as submissions. I'm told that many publishing houses only ever create a few new books every year, the rest of their publications are reprints. It's a hard journey for the new illustrators to get into the bookshops.<br />
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<strong>What advice would you offer new writers and illustrators?</strong><br />
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Get your work out there, be seen and don't be afraid to try different styles. Not everyone illustrates in one style all the time. By experimenting you may find whatever the next big style will look like.<br />
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<strong>Which authors and illustrators have inspired you and why?</strong><br />
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I'm inspired by so many wonderful people, mid-century artists like Alain Gree, Miroslav Sasek, Charley Harper, Helen Borten, Bernice Myers who were drawing crazy amounts of beautiful work in the fifties and sixties. They are now becoming more sought after and in the last five years have been seen by a new generation of fascinated illustrators. I feel that European publishers tend to take more chances with different styles of illustrators and sometimes 'darker' or more unusual books are given the chance to be published than many I see in the U.K. I hope the trend is changing and the likes of Chris Haughton, Oliver Jeffers, John Burningham, Quentin Blake.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork by Craig in his Mr Perkins' Travels card range</td></tr>
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<strong>What would you like to achieve with your work in the future?</strong><br />
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As with most illustrators, I'd love my work to be seen and appreciated by a wide audience. I'm also wishing to eventually develop a local group or illustrative class in Manchester where like-minded creatives can come together to help one another and play with ideas and possibly collaborate on ideas and projects. That will be something for later in the year. In the meantime, I'm busy with stationery, ceramics and children's books, plenty to keep me occupied.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-15863542679575752302013-03-28T09:40:00.000+00:002013-03-28T11:49:51.328+00:00Interview #17: Barbara MitchelhillA young mum and her little daughters were watching television together. The mum was struck with the idea that she would like to be a television presenter. It would be a nice job, she told herself.<br />
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Never mind that she had no experience. Never mind she already had a job as a school teacher. The mum decided to write to the BBC anyway. Well, why not? What did she have to lose?<br />
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Little did she know that the letter would set her on a long journey to publication as an award-winning writer. Barbara Mitchelhill is today the author of thrilling YA historical adventure novels <em>Run Rabbit Run</em>, <em>The Road to London and</em> <em>Storm Runners</em> as well as the Damian Drooth series for younger readers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best-selling author Barbara Mitchelhill</td></tr>
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"I was naive," said Barbara, speaking to Bookengine by phone from her home in Staffordshire. This may be true. But to her great surprise, she got a call from the BBC, inviting her to go to their studios in London. <br />
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"I spent the whole day there. They were very nice. At the end of the day they asked if I had an Equity card. I said, no I didn't. Obviously I didn't. I was a teacher. They said we can't employ you.<br />
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"But instead they said 'would you like to write for us?'. I had never written anything. But I said yes, I would love to."<br />
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Barbara was soon a successful TV writer. She was writing for shows like <em>Play School</em>. Often she would take her daughters, Susie and Sally, to see the shows being made.<br />
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She was still working as a teacher. Her next good fortune came when an educational publisher contacted her school and asked the head if there was a teacher who might like to help write stories for their new reading scheme. Barbara was the natural choice.<br />
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Writing with such tight boundaries might seem restrictive. Yet the process of having to find new and creative ways of pushing those boundaries can be great training for authors seeking to work on the bigger canvas of a novel. Barbara Mitchelhill is not the only famous writer to hone his or her writing talent in this way. Mal Peet, author of the brilliant Paul Faustino novels, too, began by writing reading scheme books.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barbara's multi-award winning novel</td></tr>
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Barbara said: "It taught me to come up with ideas. You had a limited number of words. It's fine if you have to come up with only two or three stories. <br />
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"But you had to come up with eight or nine of them. That was hard."<br />
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In time, Barbara was ready to spread her wings. She began writing novels for older children. At last she found what she really wanted to do.<br />
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"Now I write only for nine- to 13-year-olds. I don't write for educational publishers any more.<br />
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"I really enjoy writing novels with something to say. I love history. I've found this niche of writing adventure stories with a historical backdrop.<br />
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"I love doing the research and writing for children of that age.<br />
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"I write adventure stories set in a historical period. But I write about ordinary children, not about kings and queens."<br />
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<em>Run Rabbit Run</em> is set during the Second World War and tells the story of a brother and sister who go on the run when their father refuses to go to war to fight.<br />
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<em>Road to London</em> follows a theatre-obsessed young boy who finds himself in Elizabethan London in the company of William Shakespeare.<br />
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She said: "Having a book you enjoy as a story, you absorb so much. I do spend a lot of time on the research. I want them to be factually correct.<br />
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"I've just finished a book and sent it to my editor today. It's another World War Two one. You have to be so careful about dates and times."<br />
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Barbara described her writing process: "I think of an idea and write out a two-page outline for my editor. If she says yes, I start writing it. Often I find the final book is nothing like that original outline. Characters take over! When I look back at the outline, I realise it's gone a bit adrift.<br />
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"I do find that if the outline is too detailed you lose that freshness. And the writing can become a real slog if there's no excitement there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Road to London was nominated for the Carnegie Medal</td></tr>
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"When I was writing <em>Road to London</em> I had a most odd experience. An apothecary walked into the story out of nowhere. He turned out to be a key character in the book."<br />
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Barbara is drawn to certain periods of history.<br />
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"I've no idea why I'm drawn to the Second World War. With <em>Road to London</em>, which is about Shakespeare - I love theatre and am very interested in Shakespeare.<br />
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"I have got one coming out soon, <em>A</em> <em>Twist of Fortune</em>, which is set in Victorian London. It's so easy in this country to experience certain places. London is awash with historical settings. There are some buildings in London that were in existence 400 years ago."<br />
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It can take Barbara around nine months to write a novel, which includes all the research.<br />
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"I feel slightly empty when I finish a book," she said.<br />
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Going on tour and visiting schools to promote the book extends the time she spends with her characters. But sometimes, once she's thinking about her next book, she can forget what was in her earlier ones. She remembers a child once asking her about a character she had no recollection of whatsoever.<br />
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Barbara has been asked to write a new Damian Drooth book. This series is about a young detective and is aimed at younger readers.<br />
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"I enjoyed writing about him and found it easier to write about him because the characters were already there. It's just about working out a situation for him."<br />
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Her work is receiving the recognition it clearly deserves. <br />
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<em>Run Rabbit Run</em> recently won the Stockton Book Award, a Young Quills award from the Historical Association and the West Sussex Children's Book Award. It was also nominated for the Carnegie Medal.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her new book, out in April</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, more novels continue to appear.<br />
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<em>A Twist of Fortune</em>, is out next month (April 2013) and is another thrilling tale set in Victorian London. It's the story of three siblings, the Pargeters, who are forced to live with their uncle and auntie in a dangerous part of the city. When life becomes intolerable, they decide to leave and seek their long-lost grandfather.<br />
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<em>A Twist of Fortune </em>seems a rather apt title for Barbara. For it was her own twist of fortune - a letter to the BBC - all those years ago, that led her on this wonderful writing journey.<br />
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* My thanks to Barbara for speaking to Bookengine. If you'd like to find out more about her and her books, visit her website, <a href="http://www.barbaramitchelhill.com/">www.barbaramitchelhill.com</a>. She is appearing at the Urmston Literature Festival in Greater Manchester on April 17.<br />
<br />Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-78181751937492298992013-03-15T21:22:00.002+00:002013-03-24T21:39:36.028+00:00Interview #16: Julia EccleshareWHICH current young adult authors will we still be reading in 20 years’ time?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julia Eccleshare</td></tr>
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Julia Eccleshare, the <em>Guardian</em>’s children’s books editor, is more qualified than most to make that call.<br />
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She revealed her predictions during a recent phone interview with Bookengine.<br />
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But we’ll get to that all in good time.<br />
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I’d wanted to interview Julia for some time. She’s a hugely influential figure in children’s fiction and young adult books, certainly one of the most important of recent years without actually being a fiction writer herself. (We'll get to that too, so be patient!)<br />
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As well as her <em>Guardian</em> duties, she’s Puffin Books’ general editor of their mighty Modern Classics list.<br />
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Pick up a copy of <em>Stig of the Dump</em>, say, or <em>Carrie’s War</em> and there she is, introducing these great books of the recent past with insightful introductions and afterwords.<br />
<br />
She has served as a judge - and continues to do so - on many book award panels. Over the years she has been involved in the Whitbread Children's Book Award, the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and also the <em>Guardian</em> Children's Fiction Prize. She is a co-founder of the Branford Boase Award for an outstanding novel for young people by a first-time writer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCciFNg56Dtaeglo_ZizW-gTi1N5XYJT0Y-2MGLdMHHzwe1bGLTWmep23rt7gh1NvSDeNjW5rmb8xe3CMnroOK9mQNrO0qW3w-Bkf-ZM9nUJG8JvKsvDsPpaH9XWCWQ_GU-zBpcTkQTdg/s1600/1001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCciFNg56Dtaeglo_ZizW-gTi1N5XYJT0Y-2MGLdMHHzwe1bGLTWmep23rt7gh1NvSDeNjW5rmb8xe3CMnroOK9mQNrO0qW3w-Bkf-ZM9nUJG8JvKsvDsPpaH9XWCWQ_GU-zBpcTkQTdg/s400/1001.jpg" width="371" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fabulous guide to children's and young adult fiction</td></tr>
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She has edited many important books about children's literature. Chief among these is the essential <em>1001 Children’s Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up</em>.</div>
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As I intimated earlier, Julia has never written a children’s book herself. Why?<br />
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“I’ve read too many children’s books. I remember being a child but I don’t see the world as a child does,” she said.<br />
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Her first job was working as children's book editor on the <em>Times Literary Supplement</em> in the 1970s before working as a book editor at Puffin Books and at Hamish Hamilton children's books in the 1980s. Eventually she moved into freelance book reviewing.<br />
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I asked Julia what drew her to children's literature in the first place and she replied in an instant: Rosemary Sutcliff.<br />
<br />
"I read history at university and I absolutely loved her books. I also liked authors like Philippa Pearce and books like <em>Emil and the Detectives</em>.<br />
<br />
"I absolutely loved the sense of escapism books gave me. That feeling of wonder, of realising you could find out what someone else is thinking.<br />
<br />
"I am not someone who read for plot as a child. I was never as concerned about what happened next in the story. I always read for feeling, for the emotional response a book caused in me."<br />
<br />
I asked Julia about her thoughts on the importance of reading to children and young people, particularly for today's youngsters who have so many more ways to spend their time, so many more distractions than previous generations had.<br />
<br />
She said: "I'm not sure that it's reading, actually, that's important. I think it's stories. Two of my children are dyslexic so reading is difficult. I like books myself, the book is a good form, it works very well. But I don't think it matters if you get these stories through another medium, such as audio books.<br />
<br />
"So rather than get hung up on books, it's the stories that are important.<br />
<br />
"Stories should be fun, they should be exciting and funny. They're about disinhabiting yourself and inhabiting another character."<br />
<br />
Julia said she was annoyed by what she calls 'lookalike' fiction, such as the overwhelming number of books about vampires inspired by the success of <em>Twilight</em>.<br />
<br />
"It's driving out originality. I'm not against it, but I've had enough of it. Publishing is a curious business, it's got to make money, but it's not prepared to take risks. And without that it's difficult for originality to come through.<br />
<br />
"Yet I think it is original voices that people want.<br />
<br />
"And for writers today getting published isn't difficult, it's staying published. People aren't given time to build a reputation."<br />
<br />
She says authors like Jacqueline Wilson (whom Julia first published in the 70s) and Philip Pullman were published for 10 years before they became major successes.<br />
<br />
I asked Julia what she thought about the popularity of self-publishing among first-time authors thanks to the advent of e-readers. Was this a route she would recommend for the serious writer who was finding it difficult to get published on the conventional agent-publisher path?<br />
<br />
"I don't know enough about it. It's a very speculative question.<br />
<br />
"I believe in the democratisation of all these things, but at the same time I do feel very strongly that books need to be edited."<br />
<br />
From the days of Robert Cormier and S E Hinton through to today's leading writers such as Anthony McGowan and Melvin Burgess, young adult fiction has always ventured into dark and disturbing areas. Was there any subject matter Julia believed was unsuitable?<br />
<br />
"Violence is off-limits. I read a book this morning and it starts with 60 pages of a child being beaten up. That angered me.<br />
<br />
"There is nothing wrong with death in children's books, but it has to be handled in an emotionally sophisticated way."<br />
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I asked her what made a book worthy of Puffin's Modern Classics list? How did you define a classic?<br />
<br />
She replied: "I guess it's books that have long-lasting values. You look at something like <em>Charlotte's Web</em> and you can feel it."<br />
<br />
And what are the classics of the future? Which contemporary authors will we still be reading?<br />
<br />
She believes it's irrelevant how much a publisher pushes an author or how many copies a book sells. That's no guarantee of longevity.<br />
<br />
"It's very often the quiet books that last," she said.<br />
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So, if she had to stick her neck out, who did she believe was headed for classic status?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O4o5vQwH8nG0vsANNgW3_i12i3x591c2MWvURa_U2gkHREByYXq5EgFK7AFl2x-21UHgk9_at2_2Ix_UxgP8Y20nKZCxsjvMiFJSYs9kzmYCRhVUix8iB5niG_8paTOfb8HR5L_6I0I/s1600/220px-A_Monster_Calls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" psa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-O4o5vQwH8nG0vsANNgW3_i12i3x591c2MWvURa_U2gkHREByYXq5EgFK7AFl2x-21UHgk9_at2_2Ix_UxgP8Y20nKZCxsjvMiFJSYs9kzmYCRhVUix8iB5niG_8paTOfb8HR5L_6I0I/s1600/220px-A_Monster_Calls.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patrick Ness's Carnegie winner is likely to last, says Julia</td></tr>
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She cited Patrick Ness, particularly <em>The Knife of Never Letting Go</em> and the recent Carnegie Medal-winner <em>A Monster Calls</em>.<br />
<br />
Although she's not a fan of fantasy, Julia earmarked Philip Reeve's <em>Mortal Engines</em> series as one that would last.<br />
<br />
"Geraldine McCaughrean should still be read. She's an exceptionally talented writer - she writes a different book every time. I also think <em>How I Live Now</em> by Meg Rosoff will still be read 20 years from now.<br />
<br />
"But, you know, not all authors write good books all the time. Philippa Pearce, for example. Not all of her books are good."<br />
<br />
So, there you have it. If you have first editions of anything by Patrick Ness, Philip Reeve, Geraldine McCaughrean or Meg Rosoff, it's probably wise to take very good care of them. Chances are they will be worth something in the years ahead.<br />
<br />
• Many thanks to Julia for sparing an hour on a Sunday morning to speak to Bookengine. <br />
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Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-85388060205456647072013-03-08T23:39:00.001+00:002013-03-08T23:39:35.246+00:00Interview #15: Rachel Lyon<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel Lyon with her book outside the Childe of Hale's cottage, near Runcorn</td></tr>
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A remarkable thing happened to Rachel Lyon when she was a little girl.<br />
<br />
Remarkable because it was a kind, generous and selfless act by someone who had been moved by her writing and had such faith - even at that young age - in her talents as a writer.<br />
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Now she is a published author, Rachel intends to say thank you to that person by giving him a signed copy of her brilliant debut picture book <em>The Cautionary Tale of the Childe of Hale</em>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel's charming debut, The Childe of Hale</td></tr>
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I'll let Rachel take up the story: "I have always wanted to write. From when I was very small, I used to write poetry. I got a typewriter for Christmas when I was nine or ten and I used to write my poetry on that.<br />
<br />
"When I had a bundle of poems, my family showed them to a neighbour. He asked if he could show them to his wife. For two weeks we didn't hear a thing. And then he turned up and we discovered he'd paid for them to be printed and bound.<br />
<br />
"He'd called the book <em>No Thorns On This Berry</em>. Berry was my maiden name. And he'd written a lovely preface, saying I was only ten years old."<br />
<br />
It seems Rachel has been blessed by mentors in her life who kept the flame of her writing ambition flickering, as she explained as we chatted in the coffee shop at the end of the road where she lives in St Helens.<br />
<br />
"In primary school, if they had a writing competition, teachers used to say to me, it's something you are good at, you've got a good imagination. I won a few prizes and got a lot of encouragement."<br />
<br />
She continued to write throughout her years at high school and at Leeds University, where she studied communication and English. The notebooks of ideas for stories and poems piled up.<br />
<br />
After graduating, she worked in London for a while before returning to St Helens, where she struck out on her own as a freelance copywriter.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanina Starkoff's beautifully striking illustrations accompany Rachel's words</td></tr>
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<br />
Her passion for telling stories had not waned in all this time. She decided to sign up for a creative writing course at St Helens College. Little did she know how her fortunes were about to change. She discovered the course's tutor had written a musical about the Childe of Hale, a true story of a 16th century giant, John Middleton, from a village near Runcorn. <br />
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Contemporary accounts put Middleton's height at nine feet three inches (2.81 metres) which would mean he was taller than Robert Wadlow, the Guinness Book of Records' tallest man.<br />
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Middleton is reputed to have met the King in London, and defeated the monarch's wrestling champion. For his troubles he was presented with £20, which was stolen by thieves on the journey back to Hale.<br />
<br />
It was a story Rachel was vaguely familiar with. But as she researched Middleton further, she realised nobody had ever written a children's book about him. When she read about Middleton having to sleep with his feet dangling out of his cottage window, she realised she had to write his story.<br />
<br />
"I thought, children would love that. I thought, why has nobody ever written that as a story for children?"<br />
<br />
So she sat down one day and began writing, in rhyming verse. "The words just flowed. I finished most of it that day and the next day I polished it and took out any awkward rhymes."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The grave of John Middleton, the Childe of Hale</td></tr>
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She felt a change in her writing with <em>The Cautionary Tale of the Childe of Hale</em>.<br />
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"As soon as I had written it, I knew that it was what I had been trying to do for all those years."<br />
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After friends encouraged her to try to get it published, Rachel sent it out into the world. After some interest from a small Liverpool publisher, the story was snapped up by Maverick and its charismatic boss, Steve Bicknell.<br />
<br />
"I liked Maverick because they published <em>Mrs MacCready Was Ever So Greedy</em> and <em>the Fearsome Beastie."</em><br />
<br />
As Steve told <a href="http://www.bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/interview-13-steve-bicknell-maverick.html" target="_blank">Bookengine last year</a>, there is a timeless quality to Rachel's <em>The Childe of Hale</em>. In a bid to reflect that quality, Vanina Starkoff was hired to illustrate the book.<br />
<br />
Steve told Bookengine: "It's going to be absolutely amazing. We want to give it an interesting old look without falling into cliches."<br />
<br />
And they certainly have. The book was published in January, and Rachel attended a launch party in Covent Garden, where she met other authors from the Maverick stable, including <a href="http://bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/interview-12-giles-paley-phillips.html" target="_blank">Giles Paley-Phillips</a> and <a href="http://bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/interview-9-julie-fulton.html" target="_blank">Julie Fulton</a>.<br />
<br />
I suggested to Rachel that she might have struck gold with her first book by finding a particular niche - historical true stories told in verse. She agreed. Perhaps sensing a classic book in the making, the National Trust is stocking the book at Speke Hall, where a portrait of John Middleton hangs, while the Childe of Hale's cottage may soon stock the book when it opens as a holiday cottage.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanina Starkoff consulted pictures of Hale village for her illustrations</td></tr>
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Rachel has written other stories since, including a convention-busting version of George and the Dragon (<em>Georgie and the Dragon</em> where the damsel in distress saves herself). But she has been scouting around for another slice of history that she can turn into her rhyming magic. And she thinks she might just have found what she's looking for.<br />
<br />
<br />
A school teacher who read <em>The Childe of Hale</em> suggested Rachel should turn her talents to Queen Ethelfleda. Not heard of her? No, neither had Rachel.<br />
<br />
But seemingly she was a warrior queen, not unlike Boadicea. The foundations of her ninth century castle were found by workmen constructing the Runcorn-Widnes railway bridge across the Mersey. (I used to be the editor of the local newspaper in Runcorn and Widnes and I'd never heard of her, but apparently the bridge has a plaque bearing her emblem.)<br />
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Rachel is researching the story but she has not yet talked with Maverick about a follow-up book. That, however, will have to wait. Rachel has a rather more pressing matter to contend with... she's heavily pregnant with her first child.<br />
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* My thanks to Rachel for speaking to me. Her website is here, <a href="http://www.rachellyon.co.uk/">www.rachellyon.co.uk/. </a><br />
Maverick Books are here, <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/books/the-cautionary-tale-of-the-childe-of-hale/">http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/books/the-cautionary-tale-of-the-childe-of-hale/</a>.<br />
Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-48067056069948878772013-02-26T18:14:00.001+00:002013-02-26T18:14:39.423+00:00Otfried Preussler 1923-2013<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Otfried Preussler</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.preussler.de/index1e.htm" target="_blank">Otfried Preussler, the great German children's author</a>, who has died at the age of 89, wrote one book that left an indelible mark on me as a child.<br />
<br />
I also have him to thank for helping me to win my first (and only) literary prize.<br />
<br />
I've never forgotten his classic <em>The Robber Hotzenplotz</em> since I read it when I was about nine.<br />
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One night, my grandfather appeared with a pile of children's books. I'm not sure where he got them from - I've a feeling he won them in a raffle at the working men's club where he used to drink.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLLV-VSLW4F0ngeyXRGI90uwEC0RmCeVBPRDO8D50ouCUXk2OivcyfkFX8N18NTcl20eeSYkWItBeaOyO5jIHV_z9cnfh-poJ0bc7m-T_9e2IAH1wmF9p4bdopxNJb3HjxagiCKL4DeM/s1600/hotzenplotz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" gsa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLLV-VSLW4F0ngeyXRGI90uwEC0RmCeVBPRDO8D50ouCUXk2OivcyfkFX8N18NTcl20eeSYkWItBeaOyO5jIHV_z9cnfh-poJ0bc7m-T_9e2IAH1wmF9p4bdopxNJb3HjxagiCKL4DeM/s1600/hotzenplotz.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A modern classic</td></tr>
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Among them was <em>The Robber Hotzenplotz</em>. I loved it from the moment I dipped my nose in between the pages.<br />
<br />
It had the same magical, picaresque quality that <em>Pinocchio</em> has and I raved about it so much I made my brother read it. Yet nobody else seemed to have heard of it. And I don't ever recall seeing it in a bookshop.<br />
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It made such an impact on me, however, that I took some of the elements of the story and incorporated them in a tale of my own creation. The characters were different but the hallmark of Preussler was definitely there.<br />
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When we had a writing competition at school, I put my Preussler-inspired tale forward. And it won. I was delighted. I won an encyclopaedia.<br />
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By rights, I should have shared it with Mr Preussler!<br />
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That was 1978. My debt is way, way overdue.<br />
<br />
So, Mr Preussler, I salute you.<br />
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Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-59225466920545815622013-01-15T00:26:00.002+00:002013-01-15T07:14:18.611+00:00Late great #1: Eric Knight, the man who gave us LassieDO you believe in synchronicity? I do.<br />
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I keep a folder of ideas for blog posts. One idea has been in there for months. One I've been meaning to get around to. A post about Eric Knight, the creator of Lassie, probably the most famous literary dog ever.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUddTj7sPFqRx8PH2FuwEtZmQM9ktb2_AD-Pqu2tvjAPHXqKQ95evWHizThz-mLJ4E8fyejVG2sZ9v-5Les0ndrqQs9-Izcu2XiltJEyr7GbFKeaWpUGVgdXBcXztBKrXobxAScY3bZSA/s1600/LassieComeHome.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUddTj7sPFqRx8PH2FuwEtZmQM9ktb2_AD-Pqu2tvjAPHXqKQ95evWHizThz-mLJ4E8fyejVG2sZ9v-5Les0ndrqQs9-Izcu2XiltJEyr7GbFKeaWpUGVgdXBcXztBKrXobxAScY3bZSA/s320/LassieComeHome.JPG" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Knight's classic story</td></tr>
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I'd been thinking about starting a new strand of posts for Bookengine called Late Greats. And I decided to kick off with a piece about this Yorkshireman who went to America, became a writer in Hollywood and wrote a classic book, <em>Lassie Come-Home</em>. <br />
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Knight would never know how influential his book would become or the movies and television series it would inspire. <br />
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As we know, it is now the archetypal loyal animal story, which paved the way for other famous tales such as <em>The Snow Goose</em> and <em>War Horse</em>. A classic, tear-jerking Hollywood movie starring Roddy McDowell and Elizabeth Taylor was made from Knight's novel, and while the author visited the set, he would never see the final film.</div>
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That's because Knight, a Major in the United States Army - Special Services, was killed in an air crash just as the Hollywood screen version of his novel was reaching movie theatres.<br />
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For some reason I decided to pull this particular idea out of the folder last night, with just these facts in my mind. <br />
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As I began my research I noted that Knight died in 1943. Ah, 70 years ago. That's a handy anniversary to hang the post on, I thought. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdxqiBF3tNxtPPsq98_h_mVd5UUhrbN_NsiMm7P_r96QtfmrSTxg4NR7jRh3vC6DPRwiNbIlK60cSmgnDp5nfw44lHWy1obDEBj3nydjKBPnugs_Hx-2F8Pr989YHkpus2EYtVcS-ME8/s1600/EricandLassieonsetWeb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdxqiBF3tNxtPPsq98_h_mVd5UUhrbN_NsiMm7P_r96QtfmrSTxg4NR7jRh3vC6DPRwiNbIlK60cSmgnDp5nfw44lHWy1obDEBj3nydjKBPnugs_Hx-2F8Pr989YHkpus2EYtVcS-ME8/s400/EricandLassieonsetWeb.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Knight on set with the movie 'Lassie' in 1942</td></tr>
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When in 1943? January... Somehow, I knew instantly what was to follow. <br />
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I looked at the date on my watch... January 14. And the day Knight died?<br />
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January 15.<br />
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A shiver went down my spine. So, whether you believe fate is at work, nevertheless I offer up my tribute to this brilliant and - in my view - underrated writer, on the 70th anniversary of his death.<br />
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Eric Oswald Mowbray Knight was born in Menston, Yorkshire, (a village notable also as the place where the Kaiser Chiefs met), on April 10, 1897.</div>
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Knight was young when his father died and his mother left England to become governess to Princess Xenia's children in Russia. By 1912, she had remarried and had moved to the United States. Eric followed her out there to finish his education. He eventually graduated from Cambridge Latin School, in Massachusetts.<br />
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The young Yorkshireman saw military service in the First World War before becoming a professional writer. He worked as a journalist, reviewing plays and movies for newspapers in Philadelphia.</div>
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Hollywood beckoned and he worked as a screenwriter for a couple of years, scripting movies at 20th Century Fox, while also finding time to publish five novels and short stories.<br />
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But by 1939, Knight and second wife, Jere, were living on a farm in Pennsylvania. The expatriated author found his mind wandering back to the land of his birth and in particular to the proud county of Yorkshire.</div>
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He sat down and began to write a quintessential English rural story about a collie, Lassie, partly inspired by his own dog, Toots, and filled with the bluff Yorkshire humour he knew from his childhood.</div>
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The story was initially published in the <em>Saturday Evening Post</em>, before being published in 1940 as a book. </div>
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Although, Eric Knight published other books - notably the humorous <em>The Flying Yorkshireman</em> which garnered comparisons with James Thurber and Thorne Smith - it was Lassie that brought him lasting fame. It's sold millions of copies and has been published in 24 countries.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOmToUO8q6z85uGu43wQKFf3JymnWg3oo9SGDy2tVVXq9twukSf0IcOvrK6LGb4xTbSAbGYYjHO3VoD6kSPvCw5iV80Oov5tPd_IAEOMBCKC9Ta5pDdAyTAIvdr4qtyvChjeVJTm6lOE/s1600/lassiecomehomefilm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHOmToUO8q6z85uGu43wQKFf3JymnWg3oo9SGDy2tVVXq9twukSf0IcOvrK6LGb4xTbSAbGYYjHO3VoD6kSPvCw5iV80Oov5tPd_IAEOMBCKC9Ta5pDdAyTAIvdr4qtyvChjeVJTm6lOE/s320/lassiecomehomefilm.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The famous Hollywood movie</td></tr>
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Like many people who grew up in the 1970s, I watched the schmaltzy American TV series Lassie, which really bears little resemblance to Knight's book. The 1943 movie version, starring Roddy McDowell, is nearer to the spirit of the story and watching it as a child is one of my abiding memories of childhood.</div>
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It's only recently I got round to reading the book. The thing that impressed me most was Knight's straight ahead, unpretentious writing. He never lost the Yorkshireman's call-a-spade-a-spade directness and I think this is what gives Lassie its timelessness.<br />
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In essence, it's a simple but powerful story of love between a boy and his dog, told simply.<br />
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So, that is my tribute to Eric Knight. Please track down a copy of <em>Lassie Come-Home</em> and discover this late great author.<br />
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I'd also like to direct you to a wonderful website dedicated to Eric Knight at <a href="http://www.lassiecomehome.info/">http://www.lassiecomehome.info</a>, run by his granddaughter, Betsy Cowan.<br />
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Another interesting website is: <a href="http://www.chelsea-collies.com/knight.html">http://www.chelsea-collies.com/knight.html</a> packed full of information.<br />
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* I dedicate this blog post to the memory of my aunt, Jill Craddock (1936-2012), of Castlerock, Northern Ireland, who died over Christmas. Jill was a teacher who dedicated her life to young people and was a great encourager of my own reading and writing. This she continued with my own children, with the many books and audiobooks she sent them at Christmas over the years.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-63186788894678533982012-12-07T10:25:00.002+00:002012-12-07T10:25:55.996+00:00Bookengine guest #2: Mandy Ward<em>Please welcome my second guest blogger on Bookengine, Mandy Ward, author of the Cassy Kindly books, about a witch who decides to stop being mean and start being nice to people. You can follow Mandy's exploits in publishing, marketing and selling her series of ebooks through Amazon Kindle on her blog, <a href="http://www.cassykindly.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</em><br />
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<strong>My journey as a Writer and what motivates me to write</strong><br />
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When I was invited to write my first guest blog, which this is, I wasn’t at first sure what I would write about. I was asked to consider my journey as a writer and what motivates me to write. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B0Dbin6owgbzL3ZxpYA9GSDzH5bUGhCL2Jf6XyGiDhnE-YvqR1HI7aMSQEk8NQjxe4rbEO7du2p8fBp00TwMLFohgRLmSpztt7p24X6TdDT9vjdUL__Voed4VDZbb9rjY3kL1YFPKjM/s1600/cassykindly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B0Dbin6owgbzL3ZxpYA9GSDzH5bUGhCL2Jf6XyGiDhnE-YvqR1HI7aMSQEk8NQjxe4rbEO7du2p8fBp00TwMLFohgRLmSpztt7p24X6TdDT9vjdUL__Voed4VDZbb9rjY3kL1YFPKjM/s200/cassykindly.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take a look at Mandy's books on <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Kindly-friends-GodMother-ebook/dp/B0069OQKXM" target="_blank">Amazon</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As I reflected on this a memory popped into my head. It was vivid and never before re-collected. <br />
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I don’t so much remember the pictures of the memory, which are in sepia when I recall them, more the tastes, the smell and how it made me feel.<br />
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Moving from one level in school to another can be a bit worrying when you are little and I was moving from the infants to the junior school. My elder brother Eddie had told me about the English teacher, Mr Blanc. I can’t remember what he’d said to me but for the first lesson in English, I’d sat very quietly, towards the back of the room and just listened, watched and learned. <br />
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Mr Blanc was a little bit terrifying. He had ‘presence’ and an air of authority about him which was instantly recognisable. Some of my new friends were fidgeting, talking, doodling or gazing out of the window and he would give them a look that would make them stop instantly. The ‘death stare’. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJbxFMGORHmmAG1qr9DDBNV1Qv5E2N_assO2DeJHztZa1EvZEZ7aZuvdycwk6U95WTr3PXIOyzYS-uQIhlUpieCCFier0Z2n-iTbVohfSMsSAO1q33Lm8k28AsyQIsN2gCzLw5MY2aBM/s1600/mandyward1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJbxFMGORHmmAG1qr9DDBNV1Qv5E2N_assO2DeJHztZa1EvZEZ7aZuvdycwk6U95WTr3PXIOyzYS-uQIhlUpieCCFier0Z2n-iTbVohfSMsSAO1q33Lm8k28AsyQIsN2gCzLw5MY2aBM/s320/mandyward1.JPG" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dolls house from Mandy's latest book... stunniing artwork by Jeff Lewis</td></tr>
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The feelings that I felt in those first few lessons were a mixture of being scared, nervous, frightened. I was shy and timid. I loved to sing and I’d sing at every opportunity. I used to sing before I went to sleep. I still hum now and don’t know I’m doing it. I do it when I’m stressed and when I’m amused at something. I wanted to sing or hum in that lesson, but knew I couldn’t and it wasn’t because I was amused.<br />
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We’d been asked to write a story in that first lesson. I wish that I could remember what I’d written. Maybe it will come back to me. Mr Blanc must be at least 70 by now and probably has grand-children. He might even still live in the village, where those English lessons took place, in a little village in Warwickshire called Water Orton. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another beautiful illustration by Jeff Lewis from Mandy's stories</td></tr>
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Mr Blanc had our little pile of neatly lined blue covered books in front of him. They still looked brand new and I always loved that opening of that first page, which always had my name and my smallest, neatest hand-writing.<br />
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I knew that my ‘story’ was on its way back to me, having been read and marked by Mr Blanc with that first score in the margin, out of 10, in red ink. Two of the kids who sat opposite me were kicking each other under the table or something similar. They were aggravated and I was willing them to stop doing whatever they were doing, in case Mr Blanc turned his attention on them and by association, onto me.<br />
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Mr Blanc stood up and asked ‘Where is Mandy Ward?’. All eyes were on me. I cringed, whilst turning the deepest crimson. He asked again and I slowly raised my hand. Mr Blanc looked straight at me and said ‘This story is excellent’. I went an even deeper shade of crimson, my heart skipped a beat, my furrowed brow eased off and I smiled a little.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhmD5j1bW8ffmf5ykLBKjvwUD9SlJPazESH0hVdyhH7Ja5m7GfPqmQU6q9pdK19sSWSL_kCHEZZXMAfmLfSEi_NogTGWH5rXr5075k5Qv1l742btEM7qDzcvqg75Mk6VcmzVqvBm2xNo/s1600/mandyward3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYhmD5j1bW8ffmf5ykLBKjvwUD9SlJPazESH0hVdyhH7Ja5m7GfPqmQU6q9pdK19sSWSL_kCHEZZXMAfmLfSEi_NogTGWH5rXr5075k5Qv1l742btEM7qDzcvqg75Mk6VcmzVqvBm2xNo/s320/mandyward3.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
That was when my writing journey started. Mr Blanc’s four little words of praise, planted the seeds.<br />
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That was how my writing journey began and I write because secretly, without wanting to shout about it, I know I’m quite good at it.<br />
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Thank You Mr Blanc.<br />
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<strong>Mandy Ward</strong><br />
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<a href="http://www.waterortonprimary.co.uk/">http://www.waterortonprimary.co.uk/</a><br />
<br />Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-34714404886750396072012-12-03T16:47:00.001+00:002012-12-03T23:42:02.854+00:00Interview #14: Maudie SmithFor years, Maudie Smith was an actress, touring with a community theatre group. She and her fellow thespians wrote the shows they performed in. She loved the experience, but always found it hard to cope with the nerves before going on stage.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddb4ZkzbqaYFsbD33Hk70HYGtborIBE86jM-OTE8Xk5-NAJ8FRabx6drEnA4lM7mepIXPQ243LKYM9eNPUNWle2hKPf47AGncUrg6wmIuEs9EQata2B_Kk762ZhTVui5VMee6zPuNbZc/s1600/maudie_headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgddb4ZkzbqaYFsbD33Hk70HYGtborIBE86jM-OTE8Xk5-NAJ8FRabx6drEnA4lM7mepIXPQ243LKYM9eNPUNWle2hKPf47AGncUrg6wmIuEs9EQata2B_Kk762ZhTVui5VMee6zPuNbZc/s320/maudie_headshot.jpg" tea="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maudie Smith</td></tr>
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So writing became a great way for her to be creative without having to appear in front of an audience.<br />
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The irony, of course, is that her first novel, <em>Opal Moonbaby</em>, has become a huge success and she now has to go out and appear in front of enthusiastic audiences.<br />
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"One of the main reasons of giving up theatre was being terrified on stage," she laughed, speaking to me from her home, near Bath.<br />
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"Suddenly, I find myself on stage, on my own! It's daunting, but I do like it now!"<br />
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Maudie was inspired to write <em>Opal</em> by her two daughters, Madeleine and Emma.<br />
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It's the tale of an alien who comes to Earth from her planet of Carnelia and befriends Martha and Robbie and bewitches them with stories of her home and her strange language. But Opal has been sent to Earth on a mission - to work out what people are and to make a friend.<br />
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Maudie had been reading Astrid Lindgren's <em>Pippi Longstocking</em> books to her daughters and they'd loved them. The girls were no longer interested in fluffy stories about princesses and wanted something funny and exciting.<br />
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She can't remember why she decided to write a story about an alien - "it just sort of popped into my head" - but she said Pippi Longstocking was a definite influence, as was watching her daughters in their friendship groups and remembering what it was like during her own childhood.<br />
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"I'm a bit like Martha, while Opal is a show-off."<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUUMCUrOnQhjwtv528ANw_s2ylBcyfDKUTeBMuaVjxRSHL5BzPZx-aFZp0LZ_BFZl3IU6HLfToMCB0yUAz1BOlKRP2IknbLVtl_0RBxdLUHenkyIxzYGCSY35tiSrV5r4nWPQQqBjxkA/s1600/maudie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUUMCUrOnQhjwtv528ANw_s2ylBcyfDKUTeBMuaVjxRSHL5BzPZx-aFZp0LZ_BFZl3IU6HLfToMCB0yUAz1BOlKRP2IknbLVtl_0RBxdLUHenkyIxzYGCSY35tiSrV5r4nWPQQqBjxkA/s320/maudie1.jpg" tea="true" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maudie Smith at a book signing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The book has been very well reviewed. <br />
<br />
Sue Magee, of <em>The Bookbag</em>, said: "Now - I want you to remember the name of Opal Moonbaby - she's a brilliant comic creation ... Opal sparkles and she's totally original. I loved her. And Maudie Smith gives us a great story too. She's pitch-perfect on the way that girls in this age group act." <br />
<br />
<em>The Bookseller</em> reported: "The story of an alien who comes to earth on a mission to make friends, this is a rather lovely debut. Quirky and very charming, Opal is something of a futuristic Pippi Longstocking, which can only be a good thing."<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhj21ENBujkb0VFLqygKmpfhAxOCBLb4HfrFKLltmjz0byGFc1eGqyVwOHMVxN2A-ZW9Afh2ZJgRHVK258f1AwyniDPlV3o7g6_CDLLcuSgFw_kvp_1sVr-K9nPICy6RqRQOTj1vjY7k/s1600/opal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUhj21ENBujkb0VFLqygKmpfhAxOCBLb4HfrFKLltmjz0byGFc1eGqyVwOHMVxN2A-ZW9Afh2ZJgRHVK258f1AwyniDPlV3o7g6_CDLLcuSgFw_kvp_1sVr-K9nPICy6RqRQOTj1vjY7k/s200/opal.jpg" tea="true" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maudie's debut novel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Opal Moonbaby</em> has been turned into an audiobook and is read by Chris Barrie, star of <em>Red Dwarf</em> and <em>The Brittas Empire</em>.<br />
<br />
On her website, Maudie says: "It’s read by Chris Barrie who is very funny and has come up with great voices for all the characters. He certainly had me chuckling away, when I listened to it in the car."<br />
<br />
She told me: "Writing has always been part of what I am up to. I had dabbled with it over the years and acquired the odd rejection letter along the way."<br />
<br />
She did an MA in writing for young people at Bath Spa University, which she said was very good at teaching students about the business side of being a children's author.<br />
<br />
She subsequently found an agent, the brilliant Jo Unwin at Conville and Walsh, who was a friend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNnXoLCaork0jLO5Ue_T1R5_xszDxfmxDLGLBrxaPh0jGPl048tefMGuGdT_P7f2mUtB9Gp0Wc-vZKYahrR_hMarFi7CHVJ8HyrstrA3-akRkJDIaKguNhFAgIHK_4Khar_p1muZUFOg/s1600/opal2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTNnXoLCaork0jLO5Ue_T1R5_xszDxfmxDLGLBrxaPh0jGPl048tefMGuGdT_P7f2mUtB9Gp0Wc-vZKYahrR_hMarFi7CHVJ8HyrstrA3-akRkJDIaKguNhFAgIHK_4Khar_p1muZUFOg/s200/opal2.jpg" tea="true" width="131" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To be published February 2013</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Shortly afterwards she signed with Orion to publish Opal. They will also publish her first picture book, <em>Milly and the Mermaids</em> (illustrated by Antonia Woodward) in 2014.</div>
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Maudie is married to Gary Parker, who is a television scriptwriter, best known for writing for <em>Tracy Beaker, Dani's House</em> and actress Dani Harmer's other shows. </div>
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He started out as an actor and stand-up comedian.</div>
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Do the two of them support each other as writers? "We act as a sounding board for each other and talk about ideas, but that's it, really."</div>
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When she's working, she tries to have a vague synopsis and needs to know the timeframe for the story.</div>
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"I do find that if you overwork the treatment it can get in the way of the story. I enjoy the writing when it's going well, but it can be painful starting," she said.</div>
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She's currently working on an idea about witches, fuelled by books about witchcraft from her local library and a trip to Wookey Hole caves.<br />
<br />
And, excitingly, Maudie's next book and the next instalment about Opal will be published in February. It's called <em>About Zooming Time, Opal Moonbaby!</em><br />
<br />
It looks like Maudie's going to have to get used to standing up in front of enthusiastic readers for some time to come.<br />
<br />
* Many thanks to Maudie for speaking to Bookengine. Her brilliantly irreverent website is <a href="http://www.maudiesmith.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. Take a look at her agent Jo Unwin's page <a href="http://www.convilleandwalsh.com/index.php/authors/author/maudie-smith/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-36819306572430493702012-11-23T11:33:00.001+00:002012-11-23T11:33:32.539+00:00Interview #13: Steve Bicknell, Maverick BooksHere's another first for Bookengine. I'm shifting the emphasis temporarily away from writers to the people who make their dreams come true. The publishers.<br />
<br />
And I'm thrilled to tell you about my chat with one of the most exciting independent publishers around, Steve Bicknell, managing director of Maverick Books.<br />
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Boasting such classy picture book authors as Julie Fulton and Giles Paley-Phillips, Maverick is set to unveil further exciting talent in the near future.<br />
<br />
Steve is passionate to the point of being evangelical about books and publishing.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tU8HHYYreJSfe4Ky4NF1tBCo4G_MyZ-28sBqsNpKt-O8CU1awCqa5o28iEf0GTKEYsnYSH_wiSemJYlXov4bP5eclaOjnHiHcNm72s-E1VGN0J1vS7JkawLBDgdpZHN2B0NxURDVEfI/s1600/cover-Great-Grizzly-North.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tU8HHYYreJSfe4Ky4NF1tBCo4G_MyZ-28sBqsNpKt-O8CU1awCqa5o28iEf0GTKEYsnYSH_wiSemJYlXov4bP5eclaOjnHiHcNm72s-E1VGN0J1vS7JkawLBDgdpZHN2B0NxURDVEfI/s1600/cover-Great-Grizzly-North.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maverick title: Fin and Zoa's Dog Detectives</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"I can't imagine a child growing up and not having books. A children's 32-page picture book is still only £6.99. It isn't much past the price of a pint.<br />
<br />
"They make marvellous presents - you can put a lovely message in the front. A teenager later will pick that up and read it. That reaffirms that the family is important."<br />
<br />
I couldn't agree more.<br />
<br />
Yet publishing is a relatively recent venture for the energetic Mr Bicknell.<br />
<br />
He was a professional photographer for 28 years. He was very successful and for the last few years was doing global commissions working for very large companies, doing photographs for their annual reports.<br />
<br />
“But the warning signs were there that big commissions with an open cheque book were under pressure.<br />
<br />
“So I decided in 2004 to move into publishing. I formed Icarus and published photographic calendars. I was trying to get into the high street market."<br />
<br />
His breakthrough came when he published one featuring a waterskiing Westie dog. "It was an instant hit," he said.<br />
<br />
Other ideas were brewing. <br />
<br />
“I split the company and formed Maverick. I am a creative and visual person and I was drawn to children’s picture books, working with an illustrator.<br />
<br />
"Our first books were very visual but weak editorially.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7meKlXfE6SD_XEaW4G4OCtgNcI2PaEM5SIGiwvz0dMsf4UHrWbfRQHWs46DvKeuXngw6h1zCeyeelWs5CreajED70qTp7Gy0yA8P-f54jhHIibG-D-aEpqAmI0Mm9f9KETSV0AiHBaY/s1600/Grandmabendy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7meKlXfE6SD_XEaW4G4OCtgNcI2PaEM5SIGiwvz0dMsf4UHrWbfRQHWs46DvKeuXngw6h1zCeyeelWs5CreajED70qTp7Gy0yA8P-f54jhHIibG-D-aEpqAmI0Mm9f9KETSV0AiHBaY/s320/Grandmabendy.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maverick title: Izy Penguin's quirky Grandma Bendy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Three years ago I took on an editor Kimara Nye and with her we filled the list. She assesses all the submissions. She presents likely texts to me and my wife, Karen. It’s a very collaborative process.<br />
<br />
"We have 14 first-time authors now. This is the heart of Maverick, championing new talent. We would like to provide the next generation of children’s authors.<br />
<br />
"We live in a very fast-moving world and the basic family structure has been under pressure for some time. A lot of parents have to work so contact with their children is not as much as it once was. Bringing up children is not an easy process because of peer pressure and distractions. And the temptation is to plonk children in front of the television. I don’t blame parents but it isn’t a great thing. It’s not a positive thing to do. Children are influenced by their parents.<br />
<br />
<br />
"The process of reading a story to a child is fundamentally key in a child’s upbringing.<br />
<br />
"When we publish a book I have a mental picture of a mum or dad sitting on the side of the bed and the child propped up in bed listening to one of our books.<br />
<br />
"I love it when an adult says Sophie’s favourite book is so and so, and it's one of our books."<br />
<br />
Steve's ambition is to turn his authors into must-have children's authors.<br />
<br />
"I want them to collect our authors' books the way people collect Julia Donaldson. There are people who will buy every new book that she does. Oliver Jeffers is another one.<br />
<br />
"I feel Julie could eventually be that appreciated."<br />
<br />
He remembers how Julie Fulton was spotted by Kim.<br />
<br />
"Kim said, Steve there’s an interesting text for you to read, so I sat down and read it. It was so funny and I thought I think I can publish this. But I thought <em>Mrs MacCready</em> would leave people rather offended. And I didn’t want to be shot at so early in Maverick’s career.<br />
<br />
"But I believe in Julie so much. I think we can build up a series around Hamilton Shady (the town where Julie's stories are set)." (Check out my interview with Julie <a href="http://www.bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/interview-9-julie-fulton.html" target="_blank">here</a>.)<br />
<br />
Steve says it isn't easy competing with major, established publishing houses.<br />
<br />
“Children’s book publishing is so competitive these days. There is a huge legacy of classic children’s books stocked by major retailers. Books like <em>The Tiger Who Came To Tea</em>. Sales are all about shelf space.<br />
<br />
"Because there is such a lot of competition, we have to stand on our own two feet if we are to be as good as Walker Books, Random House and Macmillan."<br />
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One of the best ways to get the Maverick brand known is for the authors to get out and meet their readers.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioluY-cQxuy0yrCQKGVH5FheGMdAqQ6j9yGRjSIzqKfP_fWmNSoQNjNCuugmkulKcvnCpjamnLOgyKDeIMf95bRchPET7u8E1GUMc3qxVuHFDQQIsW7wzGxKPJHucIIGz6-zCF-uva3WI/s1600/Fearsome-beastie-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioluY-cQxuy0yrCQKGVH5FheGMdAqQ6j9yGRjSIzqKfP_fWmNSoQNjNCuugmkulKcvnCpjamnLOgyKDeIMf95bRchPET7u8E1GUMc3qxVuHFDQQIsW7wzGxKPJHucIIGz6-zCF-uva3WI/s1600/Fearsome-beastie-web.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giles Paley-Phillips' The Fearsome Beastie</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Steve says both Julie and Giles Paley-Phillips are great performers who bring their work to life. Maverick really looks after its writers - both Julie and Giles told me of the welcoming and encouraging culture there. And having spoken to Steve, it's clear that this ethos cascades down from him.<br />
<br />
"We prefer to give a good royalty to the writer. We find the illustrator and do a 'buy-out' of the artwork so that Maverick owns the illustrations. Kim draws up a shortlist of illustrators she feels would be suitable to the text and Karen and I choose two or three illustrators to do a test. They do the same double-page spread and you can see whether an illustrator has caught the flavour of the book."<br />
<br />
Steve is excited about the future. As well as new titles, the company has branched out into e-books on the Nook. And on the day we chatted on the phone, Steve had met with a television scriptwriter about a possible future project.<br />
<br />
One forthcoming title that interests me is Rachel Lyon's <em>The Cautionary Tale of the Childe of Hale</em>, which tells the true story of gentle giant John Middleton (1578-1623). <br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RVj3uG43YA7nAZpfWKpBy9oOT0mYG2TY0f5D2Rv21IbNXDzor77rUmSVPPk8oeRseeUyXIpMVWJOzEUJFhINZraalB6HCJja4DqyNtN7hRbtBUj6ZvguJftx_An9QwL_lbTi89VjBGI/s1600/rachel-at-the-cottage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0RVj3uG43YA7nAZpfWKpBy9oOT0mYG2TY0f5D2Rv21IbNXDzor77rUmSVPPk8oeRseeUyXIpMVWJOzEUJFhINZraalB6HCJja4DqyNtN7hRbtBUj6ZvguJftx_An9QwL_lbTi89VjBGI/s400/rachel-at-the-cottage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rachel Lyon at the cottage of the Childe of Hale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Middleton lived not far from where I live in Cheshire and his cottage still stands in the village of Hale. Steve says of Rachel's rhyming story about the giant: "It's going to be absolutely amazing. We want to give it an interesting old look without falling into cliches."<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt9ZzaLfJ7YwmjfB-9a5_PPtw80Nw1VxIIMVZkabF8THT-e57T0riS9yqNx5vRROcBASuox57NjZdfdgd0mWhSy8QYmH6O4RCwDYgPFdMsoglmXSCJHANOxdQnHKZFcyUZhzBC65cAGI/s1600/Dear-Fellows-of-Hale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt9ZzaLfJ7YwmjfB-9a5_PPtw80Nw1VxIIMVZkabF8THT-e57T0riS9yqNx5vRROcBASuox57NjZdfdgd0mWhSy8QYmH6O4RCwDYgPFdMsoglmXSCJHANOxdQnHKZFcyUZhzBC65cAGI/s400/Dear-Fellows-of-Hale.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A double page spread from The Childe of Hale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I thanked Steve, as we wrapped up our interview, and it struck me how approachable and welcoming he was. That's truly the hallmark of Maverick. <br />
<br />
* Thanks to Steve for chatting and to Maverick for helping to promote Bookengine.<br />
<br />
You can visit their website <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. Their blog is <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/blog/" target="_blank">here</a>. To take a look at Maverick's range of books and to buy them, click <a href="http://www.themaverickshop.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. A budding author? Click <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/submissions/" target="_blank">here</a> to find out how you can send your picture book ideas to Maverick. <br />
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<br />Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-59010783055779451152012-11-16T10:34:00.002+00:002012-11-16T11:13:00.556+00:00Kate Hanney and Wendy Storer: Applecore BooksI'm giving you two authors for the price of one this week, Bookengine followers!<br />
<br />
Wendy Storer and Kate Hanney are writers of exciting contemporary teen fiction with a social conscience.<br />
<br />
They are also publishing trailblazers.<br />
<br />
I interviewed them separately but they've made a special announcement which has led to this joint profile. It could have important implications for other authors in the future.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Drumroll, fanfare...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">They have decided to join forces to publish their work as e-books under the umbrella of Applecore Books.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Kate told me: "Applecore Books is an independent writers' co-operative that Wendy and I have set up to publish our books. It's still very much in its infancy, but we are hoping it will grow and that other authors might join us in the future."</span><br />
<br />
On their new website, <a href="http://www.applecorebooks.co.uk/">www.applecorebooks.co.uk</a>, Wendy and Kate say: "Created by the authors themselves, Applecore specialises in fiction for children and young adults that is based on real life. We don't do fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal or futuristic - instead, we believe there's enough emotion, action, excitement and adventure right here, right now, in the world we all live in."<br />
<br />
The first three books to be published, all available as e-books, are Kate's - <em>Watermelon</em>, <em>Someone Different</em> and <em>Safe</em>.<br />
<br />
Wendy's titles <em>Bring Me Sunshine</em>, <em>Where Bluebirds Fly</em> and <em>How To Be Lucky</em> will follow.<br />
So let's meet these two talented writers and entrepreneurs.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.katehanney.com/" target="_blank">Kate Hanney</a></strong><br />
<br />
Kate Hanney never dreamed of being a writer as a child.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was never a burning ambition. She never wrote in her spare time. The only writing she did were the</span> usual school exercises.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3J1Zhv7W2Xcgpc-8YccsnbMzJpq37fbPyEfRSEywM19O75kvieLW-WLwBDeOqDLoj5byGrg-UBVet0kPfoGsOhQefXtM1cnSGCMaXvTNDwoQxzYyAufeFloKB9XkSsHQFzek059dRS4/s1600/kate_hanney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" oea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3J1Zhv7W2Xcgpc-8YccsnbMzJpq37fbPyEfRSEywM19O75kvieLW-WLwBDeOqDLoj5byGrg-UBVet0kPfoGsOhQefXtM1cnSGCMaXvTNDwoQxzYyAufeFloKB9XkSsHQFzek059dRS4/s400/kate_hanney.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Hanney, an author with a social conscience</td></tr>
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But that changed when she became an English teacher working with disadvantaged young people in Barnsley.<br />
<br />
Troubled by what she saw and heard, she finally picked up a pen and started writing.<br />
<br />
She didn't know how you went about writing a book. She didn't know if she was breaking the rules because she didn't know what the rules were.<br />
<br />
She had to find her way through the story with nothing more than her intuition to guide her. Then her first daughter was born and the story was put on hold. <br />
<br />
But time passed and Kate finished her story.<br />
<br />
She called the book <em>Safe</em>.<br />
<br />
"It was never written with a publisher in mind. I was setting out to try to develop sympathy for a teenager," Kate told me, speaking from her home in Sheffield.<br />
<br />
<em>Safe</em> is the story of a teenager who steals a car, crashes it into another vehicle in which a young girl is killed. It is the story of what led to that horrific event and the consequences.<br />
<br />
"I have been teaching for 14 years now, in a very deprived area with low qualifications and poor GCSE results and I suppose that is where the idea started.<br />
<br />
"Until you get to know these kids you don't understand a lot about them. And in <em>Safe</em> this kid has done something awful, but this story is what led him to do it. It's not trying to justify it, but it is an explanation.<br />
<br />
"I see this a lot in my job, youngsters from very troubled backgrounds."<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15LXXD_fR12safmySep4S2eh23-h4HorLsvA7DTeD5HyCsE0IdwUHKs8A5KBFGACnl8snAT3oWpKKzjrB_jLFCfY8kH5PhLS7AHkMgPd3chYnF6zuzjlB0-vTRZUmQWwsPNPhMyy4lvI/s1600/safe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" oea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj15LXXD_fR12safmySep4S2eh23-h4HorLsvA7DTeD5HyCsE0IdwUHKs8A5KBFGACnl8snAT3oWpKKzjrB_jLFCfY8kH5PhLS7AHkMgPd3chYnF6zuzjlB0-vTRZUmQWwsPNPhMyy4lvI/s1600/safe.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Safe is hard-hitting</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<br /></div>
As she was writing the book, Kate read parts of it to her pupils. And they liked it. Boys who had never read much suddenly wanted to read her story.<br />
<br />
"The kids I showed it to loved it. It's full of colloquial language. It engaged a lot of reluctant readers."<br />
<br />
It never occurred to Kate to approach an agent or publisher. Instead, she self-published <em>Safe</em> through the YouWriteOn scheme, available as paperback and e-book with a striking front cover by her brother.<br />
<br />
"It would never have been picked up by a conventional publisher. I would have been encouraged to write a more optimistic ending," she said. Being true to the young people she writes about is crucial to Kate. She ponders the matter of how to end your novel in a brilliant blog post at Wendy Storer's wonderful website, <a href="http://wendystorer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/how-do-you-like-your-endings_15.html" target="_blank">Don't Tell Me The Moon's Shining</a>.<br />
<br />
Because Kate didn't know the 'rules', she began promoting the book herself. She persuaded 12 Waterstones stores to stock it, and got the book into Sheffield's libraries.<br />
<br />
Six or seven of the city's schools ordered class sets of the book, which was thrilling for Kate, to think her book was being studied by the young people she was writing about.<br />
<br />
She even got an email from a teacher in Canada inquiring about teaching resources related to the book.<br />
<br />
Spurred on by this success, Kate began writing more. She sent her next book, <em>Watermelon</em> to Cornerstones, the literary consultancy, through whom she met her agent.<br />
<br />
More and more revisions followed. "I enjoyed that process, I could feel the book was improving."<br />
<br />
<em>Watermelon</em> is the tale of 15-year-old Mikey, who lives in a kids' home and will do anything to belong, even if it means running for a local drug-dealer. Kate explores the dark themes of rival gang warfare as she pushes Mikey to the limits and presses him to see what risks and choices he will take.<br />
<br />
Kate has now completed another book, <em>Someone Different,</em> a story about a secret love between two young people from very different backgrounds and the pressures trying to pull them apart including drugs, abuse and youth crime.<br />
<br />
All three of her books are now available to buy for the Kindle through Amazon under the Applecore Books imprint.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.wendystorer.ws/" target="_blank">Wendy Storer</a></strong><br />
<br />
I'm delighted to introduce followers of Bookengine to Wendy Storer.<br />
<br />
Wendy is the brilliantly talented author of teen fiction such as <em>Bring Me Sunshine</em>. She lives in my home town of Kendal, in the Lake District.<br />
<br />
I first encountered her through her excellent blog <a href="http://wendystorer.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Don't Tell Me The Moon's Shining</a> which is a must-see repository of great advice for prospective writers. I recognised some of the photos on her site and made contact.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3PgBZJQn1rpcCdTL0fbdtmSM0vv6Weam7KzutAnqoQhvRsbnOeK7cPg3cHWBQFEC00zuFhh3yx_H5MQlpHQ9B1r08mPQA2F1Bd3hVXTLtDDzKL0IRhR7nCq5ADe29Uv5LKFbPg9jTKE/s1600/photo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX3PgBZJQn1rpcCdTL0fbdtmSM0vv6Weam7KzutAnqoQhvRsbnOeK7cPg3cHWBQFEC00zuFhh3yx_H5MQlpHQ9B1r08mPQA2F1Bd3hVXTLtDDzKL0IRhR7nCq5ADe29Uv5LKFbPg9jTKE/s320/photo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wendy Storer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It turned out she lived around the corner from where I grew up and where my parents still live.<br />
<br />
So we arranged to meet up for a chat. One wet Saturday morning in the summer I found myself walking with Wendy and her two labradoodles, Bodger and Bear, around Kendal castle (reputed and disputed as the birthplace of Henry VIII's sixth wife Katherine Parr).<br />
<br />
The old advice 'write what you know' is all well and good, but what if you don't know much?<br />
<br />
That's not a problem for Wendy, who has a wealth of experience to draw on.<br />
<br />
She has worked as a waitress, pill-packer, shop assistant, nanny, child minder, shelf-stacker, cook, clerk, cleaner, teacher and hypnotherapist.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRdwNGbipIuOv7BChkbu1qiLraviXAC2VsxmErYftiPhHChk-bsAWe7IbAdppZlSR7zH0QSxQNvha0a4BPpuANxirz4LQgFSioNiKXlnKnh8Cwc9MBlxXq5gMGbdpFSI2VvrAbwbY3Vc/s1600/bms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHRdwNGbipIuOv7BChkbu1qiLraviXAC2VsxmErYftiPhHChk-bsAWe7IbAdppZlSR7zH0QSxQNvha0a4BPpuANxirz4LQgFSioNiKXlnKnh8Cwc9MBlxXq5gMGbdpFSI2VvrAbwbY3Vc/s200/bms.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wendy's first book</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Wendy has been writing all her life, but she started writing longer stories in earnest when her daughter was diagnosed with diabetes a decade ago. When her job required her to divide her time between Barrow-in-Furness and Leeds she made a decision to quit and spend more time with her daughter. It also gave her the time she needed to write.<br />
She'd found her vocation and couldn't stop. It became a compulsion.<br />
<br />
She was drawn to writing about real life, real young people and their very real problems. Jacqueline Wilson was an influence.<br />
<br />
I have a soft spot for <em>Bring Me Sunshine</em> as it is set in Kendal so I recognise the places she mentions and the annual Torchlight Procession that snakes through the town's grey streets.<br />
<br />
It tells the story of Daisy who fears her life is falling apart. She worries about her Dad and her brother. Her friends think she's strange and she's given up playing the drums. Things start to look up when Dylan Bell moves back to town. Wendy says the book is about living in the moment and the power of now<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3E3Ln4iSnaRQbFQUa6vJNEr5FDq0aRal40v6kki9q40x7Nqdsc3YzikDkgaCKyhcr0Y9HPnh_VFh39KGiPbGF3zGRpU3DjcvMsoX5wJ53nk4Gez5fpOmc0f-X0AV_pZC_nFp1l4jMew/s1600/WBF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3E3Ln4iSnaRQbFQUa6vJNEr5FDq0aRal40v6kki9q40x7Nqdsc3YzikDkgaCKyhcr0Y9HPnh_VFh39KGiPbGF3zGRpU3DjcvMsoX5wJ53nk4Gez5fpOmc0f-X0AV_pZC_nFp1l4jMew/s200/WBF.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
She followed this with <em>Where Bluebirds Fly</em>, about 13-year-old Ruby who meets Pearl at a residential school for girls with emotional problems.<br />
<br />
Wendy's journey to Applecore has not been an easy one. She has acquired an agent and has been close to seeing her work published by major publishing houses. <br />
<br />
When I walked with her in Kendal in August she said she thought the controversial subject matter she wrote about might be too strong for mainstream publishers and might be putting them off. She took inspiration from Kate Hanney, who was writing about similar themes.<br />
<br />
The writer's journey, the highs, the lows, the excitement of creation, the disappointment of rejection, all is detailed with eloquence by Wendy on her blog. And she is so encouraging of others, too. She tirelessly cheers others on from the sidelines, posting enthusiastic comments on blogs such as this. Indeed I owe Wendy a big thank you for pushing Bookengine on Twitter earlier this year which led to a flurry of interviews with other authors.<br />
<br />
Wendy offers a manuscript appraisal service for children's authors, and urges other writers to use their craft to help solve problems in their lives. She calls this 'Writing Yourself Better'. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebWh1vRG33UdFS97qzVvQ3Tx7PqpVk5d2dzRHbK8EvMMpYKwpa52nLUGbTmW6EEt0EiLbkd6j3ki3Fc5nExFIatM1YoBZSmScxkgtOBziVWCJDy9D2Kt-eXWUbS7Bmlxy6SCIMmxNxLo/s1600/HTBL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgebWh1vRG33UdFS97qzVvQ3Tx7PqpVk5d2dzRHbK8EvMMpYKwpa52nLUGbTmW6EEt0EiLbkd6j3ki3Fc5nExFIatM1YoBZSmScxkgtOBziVWCJDy9D2Kt-eXWUbS7Bmlxy6SCIMmxNxLo/s200/HTBL.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
She says: "The beauty of writing is that you can do it at any time and any place to suit you. If you are upset or anxious, writing down your feelings and thoughts can help instantly; it is like having a friend to talk to. You can change your life for the better and you are not dependent on anyone else when you write. Plus, there is nothing to stop you from adding to your real life experiences, changing them on paper and developing your writing into a story or a poem or a play or a filmscript... there are no limits to what you can do."<br />
<br />
Now, at last, with Applecore, her books are about to reach the audience they so richly deserve. She couldn't be happier.<br />
<br />
She said: "Applecore is very exciting. It’s taken me a while to get my head around it, but I won a place at the Writers and Artists self publishing conference a couple of weeks ago and now I am totally up for it. (See my blog for reports on how that made me feel!)<br />
<br />
"My thoughts on Applecore – I am really thrilled to be making progress, moving on, being in control, getting published. Although my books aren’t yet ready to buy, I may add some publicity about them. <em>Bring Me Sunshine</em> was long listed for the Mslexia Children’s Fiction Prize and I am waiting to hear if I’ve made the shortlist, so I am very proud of that. My other two books are <em>Where Bluebirds Fly</em>, and <em>How to be Lucky</em>, and I would be hoping to publish all three on Kindle in the next few weeks.<br />
<br />
"Even though Kate and I have never met, we talk on the phone and email regularly and seem to think the same way about things. We have similar teaching backgrounds too. I think we make a great team!"<br />
<br />
<strong>Storer and Hanney - a dynamic duo!</strong><br />
<br />
Wendy and Kate say on their website: "Our name is a metaphor. It's the bit of the apple most people don't want, and yet it's the bit with all the seeds for new growth. We have both worked as teachers with some of the most disadvantaged children in society, and believe that as with apple cores, every single child has the seeds within them, to grow into the person they would really love to be."<br />
<br />
I wish them both the very best of luck.<br />
<br />
* Here are the links in one handy place:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.applecorebooks.co.uk/">www.applecorebooks.co.uk</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.katehanney.com/">www.katehanney.com</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wendystorer.ws/">www.wendystorer.ws</a><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #009933;"><a href="http://www.wendystorer.blogspot.com/">www.wendystorer.blogspot.com/</a></span><br />
<br />
Buy here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/WATERMELON-ebook/dp/B00A5W04C2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352722779&sr=8-4" target="_blank">Watermelon</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/SOMEONE-DIFFERENT-ebook/dp/B00A5W04BI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352722779&sr=8-3" target="_blank">Someone Different</a>Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-44482779028917562452012-11-07T11:01:00.000+00:002012-11-07T13:22:29.331+00:00Interview #12: Giles Paley-PhillipsGiles Paley-Phillips can pinpoint the moment he was set on course to becoming a children's author.<br />
<br />
One day, in his lunch hour, he popped into a charity shop where he stumbled across a copy of Shel Silverstein's sublime nonsense poems. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhX2SaBRVUAN2CkHeO_BWrZm6iQkUZPzKuOkZloitZScsfMvyLQq7HgjA2THmJwFAfY_477fKmRfI1BH2VT9dxWncteRsD9nh2fa9GeVDlAIdmbm6nGPj1vve1ow2IHjHqUtG9_o94DM/s1600/TPBP-04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhX2SaBRVUAN2CkHeO_BWrZm6iQkUZPzKuOkZloitZScsfMvyLQq7HgjA2THmJwFAfY_477fKmRfI1BH2VT9dxWncteRsD9nh2fa9GeVDlAIdmbm6nGPj1vve1ow2IHjHqUtG9_o94DM/s400/TPBP-04.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giles collecting his People's Book Prize trophy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"It was in mint condition. I read it and became besotted with it. It was a real eureka moment," Giles told me, speaking from his home in East Sussex.<br />
<br />
He paid a couple of quid for it and went back to work. Before his lunch break was done, he'd written his first children's rhyming story. <br />
<br />
"The manuscript was scrawled on lots of Post-It notes," he laughed.<br />
<br />
That was <em>The Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs</em> (it will be published by Gullane Books next August).<br />
<br />
It sparked an interest in poetry and writing in general, which had been totally unexpected.<br />
<br />
"I didn't read a lot as a child. My mum passed away when I was six and life was difficult at home. From when I was aged three, she was in and out of hospital. I didn't have that 'before-bedtime' storybook experience.<br />
<br />
"I am making up for that with my children. Now I am reading stuff to my boys and I am finding books I thought I knew, but actually I don't think I did read them. The covers must have been around at home.<br />
<br />
"Stuff like <em>Where The Wild Things Are</em> and <em>Not Now Bernard</em>.<br />
<br />
"I never intended becoming a writer. English was the only thing I was good at at school. When I left, I didn't finish college and I got into a band."<br />
<br />
Giles played guitar with Little Ten for a number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, recording some albums and even playing Glastonbury. <br />
<br />
"I also used to write quite a lot of the music and got into writing some of the lyrics. I was in a band from the age of 16 and music has always been a big passion.<br />
<br />
"I worked in dead-end jobs to make my way as a musician, but it was very difficult. We got to the point where we had had enough of it.<br />
<br />
"I got married and my first son was born. I decided I wanted to write something for him. I was trying to think of something to write and couldn't get inspired, so I wrote a book of poetry for adults. I self-published that."<br />
<br />
Proceeds from that book of poetry went to a leukaemia charity in memory of his mum.<br />
<br />
"The poems were a bit pretentious so after that I wanted to write something fun and was looking to be inspired." <br />
It was shortly afterwards that Giles's serendipitous encounter with the Shel Silverstein book happened, putting him on his true path to becoming an exciting author of picture books.<br />
<br />
The ideas began to flow from Giles's imagination and he was signed up by an agent, Annette Green.<br />
<br />
His collection of children's nonsense poems, <em>There's A Lion In My Bathroom</em>, illustrated by Matt Dawson, was published by the small publisher Rebel Books, and drew comparisons with one of his heroes, Spike Milligan.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVip7ZQ7Rs3k9tao9H_cv1VYpGgTV_jMJ2AEL_vn7O8kzajPkUVUOa1ndMa6OSLhFUCCXnfqLGUD-An-BTW6nUESU4moMRfCTUinYIzRI2e3uocrp3dYOMNjWS_Bbdm22u-NI4MxFkwe4/s1600/Fearsome-beastie-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVip7ZQ7Rs3k9tao9H_cv1VYpGgTV_jMJ2AEL_vn7O8kzajPkUVUOa1ndMa6OSLhFUCCXnfqLGUD-An-BTW6nUESU4moMRfCTUinYIzRI2e3uocrp3dYOMNjWS_Bbdm22u-NI4MxFkwe4/s400/Fearsome-beastie-web.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice and scary!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The brilliant Maverick Books have published Giles's two monster-themed stories, <em>The Fearsome Beastie</em> and <em>Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball</em>, which have marked him out as a writer unafraid of using dark themes and violence to entertain his young readers. Even if it sometimes unnerves the parents.<br />
<br />
"I guess they're wary of their children having night terrors," Giles said. I point out that many adults - parents and school librarians - were initially opposed to the books of Roald Dahl when they were first published. Dahl's darkness was seen as unsuitable, but he is now revered.<br />
<br />
I won't give away the story to the deliciously gruesome <em>The Fearsome Beastie</em>, but there are echoes of fairy tales like <em>Little Red Riding Hood</em>. <br />
<br />
Giles revealed that Dahl's <em>Revolting Rhymes</em> was an early favourite of his. He also loved the work of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton and the nightmarish fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm.<br />
<br />
<em>The Fearsome Beastie</em> earned great reviews in the <em>Telegraph</em> and from Julia Eccleshare in the <em>Guardian</em>. It also won the People's Book Prize.<br />
<br />
Next out of the blocks was <em>Tamara Small and the Monster's Ball</em>. This, like <em>The Fearsome Beastie</em>, was beautifully illustrated by Gabriele Antonini, and again it is a wonderful marriage of rhyme and pictures.<br />
<br />
Giles couldn't be happier working with Maverick. <br />
<br />
"They have got this lovely family ethos. They are like an old school, small publisher from the 1950s. The book launch was held at managing director Steve Bicknell's home and he provided the food - he's an excellent cook. And his son did the cocktails and other Maverick authors were there, including <a href="http://bookengine.blogspot.com/2012/09/interview-9-julie-fulton.html" target="_blank">Julie Fulton</a>."<br />
<br />
We spoke on Bonfire Night. The previous week, nicely coinciding with Halloween, Giles had been promoting <em>Tamara Small</em> at bookshops across the south of England.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiLz7AV3OL_3M0eZscBfjrr5GS5o1xqFzsGaMoPSZl8HeICid-xJWQMye2t0gar_jwi6QR-rUBr8eMI-SYHZXiZQxLBuu9S58IDjUFFkXOwDoPGevDU2Fj_U4P5ioS_gi-E23ipwqnF4/s1600/eastbourne-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiLz7AV3OL_3M0eZscBfjrr5GS5o1xqFzsGaMoPSZl8HeICid-xJWQMye2t0gar_jwi6QR-rUBr8eMI-SYHZXiZQxLBuu9S58IDjUFFkXOwDoPGevDU2Fj_U4P5ioS_gi-E23ipwqnF4/s640/eastbourne-.jpg" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giles has been doing readings and signings at Waterstones in the south of England...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
"Events are very important. For me it's a bit like doing a gig. I did about 40 events for <em>Fearsome Beastie</em> and by Christmas I will have done 30 events for <em>Tamara Small</em>.<br />
<br />
"I did a sold-out event in front of 40 children at the Discover Children's Story Centre in Stratford, London, opposite the Olympic village. It was very humbling. And I was very privileged to be asked as they'd recently had Oliver Jeffers and Shaun Tan there.<br />
<br />
"I love reading the books to the children and getting them to do noises and sound effects."<br />
<br />
Giles would like to write stories for older children, too. He has written the beginning of a story about a boy with two left feet who falls in love with a young girl at a dance studio. He's called it <em>Left-Footed Lance</em>. <br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHt9T6QSH0DcOKyU4oAM5Ans4KUSA2C4sbm-xkgtAtAAzYN_lGqA1EsXFvXmh2CD0lq4Mv6htCoynIBhynHYlq1_Px4owL4AfOZQ-XUpCUlawCCQBW061kJCdx_d3nYygSQn9OC-IUA8/s1600/Tamara_Small_cover_(1)_305_315_80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" rea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHt9T6QSH0DcOKyU4oAM5Ans4KUSA2C4sbm-xkgtAtAAzYN_lGqA1EsXFvXmh2CD0lq4Mv6htCoynIBhynHYlq1_Px4owL4AfOZQ-XUpCUlawCCQBW061kJCdx_d3nYygSQn9OC-IUA8/s200/Tamara_Small_cover_(1)_305_315_80.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giles's newly published book</td></tr>
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He would also like to write a novel in poetry, which sounds like a huge challenge. <br />
<br />
But he absolutely loves writing picture books and is delighted Maverick want to keep working with him. "I feel like I am still learning the ropes."<br />
<br />
So what's in the pipeline?<br />
<br />
"I've got another book, <em>Princess Stay Awake!</em>. It was inspired by my youngest son, who was going through a period of not staying in his bed. I switched the sex of the child in the book. But a series of characters - the king, a wizard, the jester and a knight - try to get her to sleep. It finishes with them having to bring in a super nanny."<br />
<br />
Remember the name Giles Paley-Phillips. He will soon be joining the ranks of Shel Silverstein, Julia Donaldson, Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl.<br />
<br />
* Many thanks to Giles for speaking to Bookengine. His website is <a href="http://www.gilespaleyphillips.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. Take a look at his blog <a href="http://www.gilespaleyphillips.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. And please visit Maverick Books' wonderful site <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-75564195195448072742012-10-30T16:48:00.000+00:002012-10-30T19:25:08.016+00:00Interview #11: Philip Reeve<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Reeve, at home on Dartmoor</td></tr>
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I'm very privileged to have Philip Reeve as the subject of my latest Bookengine interview.We spoke via Skype (a first for Bookengine!) - me in Cheshire, Philip at his home on Dartmoor.<br />
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Philip, of course, is the author of the thrilling <em>Mortal Engines</em> books. To those who have yet to savour them, they are set in a post-apocalyptic world following the 'Sixty Minute War'. Entire cities and towns have become huge, mobile vehicles - traction cities - driven by a 'survival of the fittest' system called Municipal Darwinism. This results in cities consuming one another in order to survive.</div>
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He won the Carnegie Medal for his retelling of the Arthur legend, <em>Here Lies Arthur</em>. His other work includes the <em>Larklight </em>trilogy and most recently his book <em>Goblins</em> was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize.<br />
<br />
Originally from Brighton, he trained as an illustrator, then worked in a bookshop for a while before becoming a freelance artist providing illustrations for the <em>Horrible Histories</em> series among others.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The book that started it all for Philip</td></tr>
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His artistic training clearly influenced his writing style. <em>Mortal Engines</em> is a feast for the mind's eye, allowing the reader to see clearly the world Philip has created. </div>
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I was keen to ask him how he created the <em>Mortal Engines</em> world, with its logic, rich history, cleverly woven storylines and interconnected characters.<br />
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Surely he began with an overarching masterplan? <br />
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"I don't deal in plans. <em>Mortal Engines</em> came about a long time ago. About 20 years ago. I was wanting to write some big adventure. I kicked various ideas about before I hit on the notion of a city on wheels. Once I got that image I started writing. I started on page one. And it went on and on. I threw many, many versions away. But I came up with key scenes, which I salvaged. And after 10 years I had a book."<br />
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There must have been an incredible amount of editing involved? <br />
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Philip said: "You work in the way you work. I can write 50- or 60,000 words and keep 10,000. I'm not an efficient writer!</div>
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"As I say, I never do a plan. I have books here I have plotted and I've never written them because I've got it all out. I don't see the point. So instead I just write and I suddenly find I've written half a book.<br />
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"I find it quite easy writing in a visual way. It took lots of work, of course. I can usually see things pretty easily. I just have to write it down then."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">... and a wonderful place it is, too!</td></tr>
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I'd imagined Philip had planned <em>Mortal Engines</em> as a sequence of novels from the start. </div>
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Not so, he told me.<br />
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"At the end of the first book I thought I had tied up all the loose ends. So I picked away at it. And I noticed there were one or two things to be expanded on."<br />
<br />
Some have described his work as steampunk.<br />
<br />
He said: "I've always loved contraptions and strange Victoriana. I loved Oliver Postgate, <em>The Clangers</em>, <em>Chitty Chitty Bang Bang</em>. Stuff like that. A sense of the past as a playful place.<br />
<br />
"I was a <em>Lord of the Rings</em> fan as a boy. I didn't really like sci-fi growing up. I didn't like <em>Doctor Who</em>, I found it too scary. I loved fantasy, Tolkien and Alan Garner. I tried to write my own version of those books.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T1R48lP2TfaREt7ZMywQ2SbKKywb7IfuC1OfIMyDumZUU2MeX7m8vLFYUIHUXZEvQH9DRmI3wrN9iT_7mf5_Wle7L0vF_i1SwRnz_oLtd4xVsSiJuALniiRvZBTDNudEW8cc_XfGiKY/s1600/fever%2520crumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9T1R48lP2TfaREt7ZMywQ2SbKKywb7IfuC1OfIMyDumZUU2MeX7m8vLFYUIHUXZEvQH9DRmI3wrN9iT_7mf5_Wle7L0vF_i1SwRnz_oLtd4xVsSiJuALniiRvZBTDNudEW8cc_XfGiKY/s200/fever%2520crumb.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first Mortal Engines prequel</td></tr>
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"I liked building worlds, mapping them and creating names. <em>Mortal Engines</em> developed straight out of that.</div>
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"<em>Star Wars</em> introduced me to sci-fi and showed me it could be rusty and dusty and could draw on history.</div>
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"I've written three prequels to <em>Mortal Engines</em>. There's to be a fourth prequel. But it's going to be a year or two before I do that."<br />
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I loved Philip's wit and playfulness in the books, the play on words - Tunbridge Wheels is a favourite!<br />
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"Well, I think of myself as a comic writer. <em>Goblins</em> is humorous. It's a story like the others, though it does have lots of jokes along the way."<br />
<br />
<em>Goblins</em> has garnered interest from filmmakers and there are plans for a movie by the team that made <em>Coraline</em> and the recent <em>ParaNorman</em>. It is a rollicking comic fantasy, sparked after Philip read Tolkien to son Sam at bedtime. He began writing his own, humorous story and shared instalments with Sam each night.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZpk3yNyN2WKJ-xUlsiP3avGm04jz_WYOdDcLALZdYIc_cdQ_btMvaxRfBTzDu2GuCaXmQJT7g1FRNjpMLiKsnGQXQzh20sNdV7ueYIzhdntKQjq35P9tNbz5l3bBT01U__MoTXr6qzI/s1600/goblins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgZpk3yNyN2WKJ-xUlsiP3avGm04jz_WYOdDcLALZdYIc_cdQ_btMvaxRfBTzDu2GuCaXmQJT7g1FRNjpMLiKsnGQXQzh20sNdV7ueYIzhdntKQjq35P9tNbz5l3bBT01U__MoTXr6qzI/s320/goblins.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A film of Goblins is planned</td></tr>
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"I have done a second one and it would be nice to do it as a trilogy, but it depends whether my publisher wants one," he said.<br />
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He has lived on Dartmoor for around 15 years. I was interested to know whether his home influenced <em>Here Lies Arthur,</em> which shows the dark side of Camelot.<br />
"I did a lot of walking around Dartmoor. I do a lot of walking anyway, and sketching.<br />
<br />
"I tried to make it feel very earthy. These people are living in nature, but not in a nice way. It's hard and it's cold. The changing of the seasons are important to them."<br />
<br />
Recently, Philip has collaborated with illustrator Sarah McIntyre (<a href="http://bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/interview-8-sarah-mcintyre.html" target="_blank">interviewed for Bookengine in September</a>). He's written two stories under the umbrella title Seawigs. Sarah is working on illustrations for the first, <em>Oliver and the Seawigs</em>.<br />
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"It's a sea adventure with mermaids. The second is set in space. It's not a series, they are standalones.<br />
<br />
"It's out of my hands now and on Sarah's drawing board. Her illustrations look phenomenal."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_Uj-kA8Zu8LXvKhGMoADYYgk9Sr7gqhV1r3izkVQ38phsHWXr6f7LDnBdq2P0xdcrZlDUSNcDYdnAGY8htx_bWitDRaVpDzJQ_D7qBLVc3bCci94WM8Vjo5bZS8vlqmm3BgBo_jf3pc/s1600/biogimg3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" qea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb_Uj-kA8Zu8LXvKhGMoADYYgk9Sr7gqhV1r3izkVQ38phsHWXr6f7LDnBdq2P0xdcrZlDUSNcDYdnAGY8htx_bWitDRaVpDzJQ_D7qBLVc3bCci94WM8Vjo5bZS8vlqmm3BgBo_jf3pc/s1600/biogimg3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting his fans</td></tr>
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Did he never want to illustrate his own work?<br />
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"I would have loved to have been a painter, a landscape painter. <br />
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"But I don't have the ability, so I write them instead."<br />
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* Many, many thanks to Philip for taking the time to speak to me (by Skype!) from his Dartmoor home. His <a href="http://www.philip-reeve.com/" target="_blank">website</a> is packed with great stuff. And make sure you visit his <a href="http://philipreeve.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">blog</a> too.<br />
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Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-78091499953008058542012-10-09T13:23:00.002+01:002012-10-09T13:23:43.767+01:00Interview #10: Kate Maryon "The key to writing is to find your voice. And often you find your voice when you look to what was the most difficult part of your life."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate Maryon</td></tr>
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Kate Maryon offered me this brilliant piece of advice right at the end of our interview when she asked me whether I was a writer. I told her I had long been a writer but felt I hadn't yet found my voice. I thought a lot about what she said after I put the phone down and I realised she was absolutely right. Writers should face up to awkward, painful events and tell the truth.</div>
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If ever there was a writer who followed her own advice, then Kate Maryon is that writer.<br />
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Her books explore themes such as isolation, loneliness and separation. She may not describe it as such, but writing could be a form of therapy for her.</div>
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"I always knew from when I was young that I could write. I used to write, with a pencil and pad, pages and pages of scribbles.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Kate</td></tr>
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"I had a traumatic childhood and I think I was trying to express that somehow."<br />
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Kate's father was violent and cruel towards her and her siblings and mum. He'd had a troubled childhood of his own.<br />
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"When he met my mum and she got pregnant with me his anger erupted. He burned everything and threw everything out of the house. He would take a puppy or a kitten out and shoot it if it did a wee in the house."<br />
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One of Kate's strengths as a writer is her understanding of what makes people tick. And she can see why her father behaved the way he did.<br />
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"My father was born after my grandparents lost a three-year-old. He was born into an atmosphere of grief and panic. He was a wild little boy, obsessed with nature and animals. When he was 15 he went into hospital with tuberculosis and didn't come out until he was 20.<br />
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"He was full of rage."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her first published novel</td></tr>
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Witnessing that rage ultimately led Kate to a realisation: "I became aware of the continuum of life and he was part of it. But he was not to blame."<br />
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Speaking to Kate and looking at her books and the themes they explore, one is struck by her compassion for others and a sense that she is somehow trying to heal those around her.<br />
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So it is no surprise to learn that she is a homeopath. Since 1996 when she first qualified, she has worked with thousands of people. "My particular talent is supporting clients in unravelling the emotional and psychological patterns that are keeping them from living the deeper, truer expression of themselves," she says on her <a href="http://www.katemaryon.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
<br />
She was married young and had her two children when she was 24 and 25. Her writing was put on hold, but she read lots with them. She became a writer once more years later when she had an epiphany driving through Frome, Somerset, where she lives.<br />
<br />
She joined a creative writing class.<br />
<br />
"It became evident that I could write after a week and the class was very supportive - we read and shared things. As the weeks went on I stopped doing the class homework and started writing a novel. It didn't occur to me it was a children's novel."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtsXRr1LyPFe5N5pfoT1gaEXzlKcp6xonpM1__Xa8XcBc7Sf1FvirNpHzsifo-czEd_m8JVkfpNw2oFMQoCuL5sdPoW5F35CWkqYgaAF30_7TVqJQgYWGXB69cjnlX9hbtivII9Hecek/s1600/glitter_135x197_over.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtsXRr1LyPFe5N5pfoT1gaEXzlKcp6xonpM1__Xa8XcBc7Sf1FvirNpHzsifo-czEd_m8JVkfpNw2oFMQoCuL5sdPoW5F35CWkqYgaAF30_7TVqJQgYWGXB69cjnlX9hbtivII9Hecek/s1600/glitter_135x197_over.png" /></a></div>
She sent the book out to the world and after the usual rejection she was signed up by agent Eve White and publishers HarperCollins. <br />
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She relished the editorial process of working with her editor and <em>Shine</em> was her first book to be published, in 2009, although it wasn't her first written book. Three more novels, <em>Glitter</em>, <em>A Million Angels</em> and <em>A Sea of Stars</em> followed in quick succession.<br />
<br />
"I learned something new with each book. My weak spot is plotting. I am very good at emotional content and understanding characters."<br />
<br />
On her author <a href="http://katemaryon.co.uk/my-books/" target="_blank">website</a>, she explains: "My books are about ordinary girls, like you, who find themselves faced with an extraordinary real life situation. I’d like my characters to take you on a journey, a kind of exploration so you get curious about life, so you end up thinking… How would I feel if this thing happened to me?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The novel Kate sent to my daughter</td></tr>
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"What would it be like if my mum suddenly got sent off to prison? How would I cope if my dad lost his business and we had no money left? How far would I go to bring my dad back home? What would it be like if my family adopted a child?"<br />
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She begins writing when a character "leaps" into her imagination. "I ask them lots of questions about themselves. They will reveal what is going on for them. There's a point where the character starts writing their own story."<br />
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She's working on a novel at the moment about a girl living on the streets of Manchester. To help with research, she has been talking to Andy McCullough of homeless charity the Railway Children. "When he was 11 he packed a bag and a teddy and lived on the streets." She said she doesn't want to romanticise homelessness and Andy has busted a few myths for her, such as the idea that homeless people eat out of bins - he told her they don't, they still have pride.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEsALA8eERZRWYPLjRPv4IOzdIdxZ3RY665Rbscp7ZppH8ShuF2mrNMKWyVqxJu0DEd_CqReu6j44YUFjsGo0SVq_0r4HhSH_a7EnMp-A_i6J2JIAcs_-RsVgkdBBaRAi8L5xAK_erAM/s1600/stars_175x255_over.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEsALA8eERZRWYPLjRPv4IOzdIdxZ3RY665Rbscp7ZppH8ShuF2mrNMKWyVqxJu0DEd_CqReu6j44YUFjsGo0SVq_0r4HhSH_a7EnMp-A_i6J2JIAcs_-RsVgkdBBaRAi8L5xAK_erAM/s1600/stars_175x255_over.png" /></a></div>
Meeting her young readers on school visits is important to Kate. She will talk to the youngsters about her experiences and leads them through workshops, encouraging their own writing and self-confidence.<br />
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"I do have a mission," she told me. "My mission is to bring about an awareness of how we relate and particularly how parents relate to their kids."<br />
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Kate worked in diverse fields before she was a homeopath and author. She's been a nanny and a waitress. She was also a dresser for a West End theatre and at the BBC, where she worked on <em>EastEnders</em>, Breakfast TV and <em>Grange Hill</em>. Perhaps she might find herself back in the world of television with her books, I suggested.<br />
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"CBBC looked at <em>Shine</em> for a while. There's that slot around Christmas that Jacqueline Wilson seems to snaffle," she said. Not that she holds a grudge against the Tracy Beaker author. Wilson and Cathy Cassidy are authors she looks up to. If a film or TV series were made of one of her books, she would love to see director Ken Loach behind the camera.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGSSI1h6FKYIVtR17-p836KyMGpx5XJHNcbu3FEcbHPcxfqgHMjptlcURMzKzx_2kyFpmBc_uajxuWYzx5AoboIUXJod30lOQW3DmI7q7tmAM6ufSr7W079wETzd6d6LOrDoMnlMN9Ws/s1600/kateagain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" nea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGSSI1h6FKYIVtR17-p836KyMGpx5XJHNcbu3FEcbHPcxfqgHMjptlcURMzKzx_2kyFpmBc_uajxuWYzx5AoboIUXJod30lOQW3DmI7q7tmAM6ufSr7W079wETzd6d6LOrDoMnlMN9Ws/s320/kateagain.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kate is happy and fulfilled, despite her traumatic childhood</td></tr>
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As we brought the interview to a close, Kate asked if my nine-year-old daughter had read any of her books. I said she hadn't but explained that she had read several Jacqueline Wilsons.<br />
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A couple of days later a parcel arrived for my daughter. Inside was a copy of <em>A Million Angels</em> with a lovely personal inscription from Kate. My daughter was thrilled.<br />
<br />
Kate Maryon truly knows how to touch people.<br />
<br />
* My thanks to Kate for speaking to me. Her author website is <a href="http://www.katemaryon.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. There's loads to read and do there, including joining her fan club. If you are interested in her work as a homeopath, go <a href="http://www.katemaryon.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
Her page on her agent's website is <a href="http://www.evewhite.co.uk/new/component/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,41/page,shop.browse/category_id,35/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41&page=shop.browse&category_id=35&vmcchk=1" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
<br />
If you want to find out more about homeless charity Railway Children and the inspiring work of Andy McCullough, you should click through <a href="http://railwaychildren.org.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-83777561327858345302012-10-04T11:03:00.000+01:002012-10-04T11:14:11.013+01:00Bookengine guest #1: Miriam Halahmy<em>Welcome to the inaugural Bookengine guest blog.</em><br />
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<em>I'm very privileged to welcome Miriam Halahmy, the Carnegie Medal-nominated author of three powerful YA novels, Hidden, Illegal and Stuffed. Her work has garnered rave reviews from the likes of Wendy Cooling and Nicolette Jones. </em><br />
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<em>My thanks to her for taking the time to pen this post. Her website is </em><a href="http://www.miriamhalahmy.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><em><a href="http://www.miriamhalahmy.com/">www.miriamhalahmy.com</a></em></span></a><br />
<em>Her</em> <em>publisher is Meadowside Books, whose website is </em><a href="http://www.meadowsidebooks.com/"><em>www.meadowsidebooks.com</em></a><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJja7iwa1m5OvF78M5vq2dg8NQEfg-jFH281i1WSsoOcpM9HRifWJ7Dl0lL0xT5AqizWQHAthx1n5brbm6N8TYr9cUdqXS2KXCOEcleI_c9zMcJBvPAwhpJ8YZ5ooyfuOUkFeU0ByS6Xo/s1600/miriam1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJja7iwa1m5OvF78M5vq2dg8NQEfg-jFH281i1WSsoOcpM9HRifWJ7Dl0lL0xT5AqizWQHAthx1n5brbm6N8TYr9cUdqXS2KXCOEcleI_c9zMcJBvPAwhpJ8YZ5ooyfuOUkFeU0ByS6Xo/s320/miriam1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miriam Halahmy and some of her teen readers</td></tr>
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<br />
<strong>Tips on writing gritty teen fiction without giving a lecture.</strong><br />
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<br />
My books cover some of the most controversial issues of our times including human rights, immigration, racist bullying, dysfunctional families, crime, self harming and mental health issues. I have been interested in social and political issues from childhood. It is inevitable therefore that my fiction will reflect my interests and passions. So how can we weave gritty issues into a novel without sounding like a Humanities teacher reading from a text book?<br />
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<strong>Here are my top ten tips :-</strong><br />
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<strong>1.</strong> All writing revolves around the characters. You can’t have a plot on an empty stage.<br />
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<strong>2.</strong> Don’t let your research bog down the text. No-one wants to read social work reports. Keep your information in the background.<br />
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<strong>3.</strong> Controversial Y.A. fiction doesn’t work as a soap box – it works the way all good fiction works with characters that stand up and stand out on the page.<br />
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<strong>4.</strong> Well written fiction can be far more effective than a classroom lesson or a history book. My novel <em>Hidden</em> has themes of immigration, racism and human rights. I have a gang calling an Iraqi boy ‘paki’ and ‘terrorist’ but then I deconstruct this awful language in the story. The impact on teens can be quite profound. A twelve year old girl wrote to me saying, “I didn’t know we had immigrants in England." <br />
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<strong>5.</strong> It is not the issues which will keep your readers page-turning. It is the characters and their journey. Make sure your characters are layered, with strong back stories and everyday problems to deal will while they confront the big issues.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8oAyd8fZYTQ9ttqTBLp4017vKGkRZiVAXIYyL0ZOkADo3KZ22aLhYh_WW3_fWYRKBh5rRW_VCXfE6FCEftE8SBpddgsaXPGa4ljhU6lNr1sGX2bsI0YNtw-VS1vmwVl3ApJ65OS5gcY/s1600/miriam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8oAyd8fZYTQ9ttqTBLp4017vKGkRZiVAXIYyL0ZOkADo3KZ22aLhYh_WW3_fWYRKBh5rRW_VCXfE6FCEftE8SBpddgsaXPGa4ljhU6lNr1sGX2bsI0YNtw-VS1vmwVl3ApJ65OS5gcY/s320/miriam2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing in a Costa coffee shop</td></tr>
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<strong>6.</strong> Equally, don’t shy away from controversial issues because of a fear that young readers aren’t ready. Controversial fiction helps young people to form independent opinions. One thirteen year old told me after reading Illegal, “I like reading about lives which are so different to mine.”<br />
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<strong>7.</strong> Don’t forget humour. It can be one of the best ways to tackle serious issues. One of my favourite novels, <em>Two weeks with the Queen</em> by Morris Gleitzman, deals with leukaemia, death, aids and gay love. But it is laugh-out-loud like all of Gleitzman’s books. Humour is a very powerful tool for dealing with gritty issues.<br />
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8. Keep it clean please! The three sss – slang, swearing and sex, often become stumbling blocks for writers wanting to deal with gritty themes. My two novels keep slang to the minimum, avoid swearing and only allude to one sexual episode. The decision on how much of the three sss to use is for the individual writer to decide, but it would be wrong to feel that you must use them to write gritty fiction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQEjdMsajaLBvaydGxp33wPjPO3sWHeyFHqbiIyezujZVH5nSr0RXCyDe-9tG4ZeioYVIEGUP5SDaET9bd09vN67ZrrqLl16osixNWG8ScED4F0JbjoVQb3snoWoZNstEzuwKdN1FoMw/s1600/MiriamHalahmy_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglQEjdMsajaLBvaydGxp33wPjPO3sWHeyFHqbiIyezujZVH5nSr0RXCyDe-9tG4ZeioYVIEGUP5SDaET9bd09vN67ZrrqLl16osixNWG8ScED4F0JbjoVQb3snoWoZNstEzuwKdN1FoMw/s320/MiriamHalahmy_poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The poster says it all</td></tr>
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<strong>9.</strong> Is there anything you can’t write about? According to the teenagers; no. I have asked them directly and they all say, Write about anything you want. Ultimately, the writer has to decide where the boundaries lie for them and yes, we do have to be aware that some gate-keepers might not be happy but the decision is all yours.<br />
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<strong>10.</strong> Write the book you want to write whatever genre, that’s the only way you will be remotely happy as a writer.<br />
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Y.A. fiction is at the cutting edge of contemporary fiction in the UK today. Our job is to write the best books we can but let’s keep the narrative alive and engaging. No-one wants to be lectured to when they settle down for a good read.<br />
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<strong>Miriam Halahmy</strong><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.miriamhalahmy.com/">www.miriamhalahmy.com</a><br />
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<br />Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-62540075741517480132012-09-28T00:06:00.000+01:002012-09-28T10:51:50.813+01:00Interview #9: Julie FultonJulie Fulton has Mersey Sound poet Brian Patten to thank for setting her on the path to becoming a published author.<br />
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In 1974 when she was ten he chose a poem she'd written for inclusion in a small anthology of children's poems for the Little Missenden Festival, in Buckinghamshire, where she lived.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kPw6lDrCoWcf5AM1BxLISjXokdVi8XeMoW7SMsFfPbey1qXFLERPzwU9P0lIe04MWeb82C7hSPl1Nxs34c1Vg-VydP8Y2h2TcLGlXl0UK_W9gH3EuM-Rp6fph8dnGMEm_9sYSATpIrQ/s1600/julie+fulton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kPw6lDrCoWcf5AM1BxLISjXokdVi8XeMoW7SMsFfPbey1qXFLERPzwU9P0lIe04MWeb82C7hSPl1Nxs34c1Vg-VydP8Y2h2TcLGlXl0UK_W9gH3EuM-Rp6fph8dnGMEm_9sYSATpIrQ/s320/julie+fulton.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie Fulton with a protective arm around her first <br />
book, Mrs MacCready Was Ever So Greedy</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
"It was called <em>I Like...</em> and I got to read it out at a big presentation and meet the famous Mr Patten himself. I have had a love of poetry ever since and still tinker with the odd ode to this day."</div>
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These days, Julie is the recently published author of rhyming picture book <em>Mrs MacCready Was Ever So Greedy. </em>Her publishers, Maverick Books, are so pleased with her work they've asked her to create a series of 'Ever So' books, all set in the fictional village of Hamilton Shady. <em>Tabitha Posy Was Ever So Nosy</em> is the next one, due to be published on January 28 next year. Julie hopes she will write one a year.<br />
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Although she is these days known to the world as a writer, Julie's background is in music and teaching.<br />
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She studied music at university, became a school teacher and eventually became a self-employed music teacher.<br />
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She had always loved writing and stories, and took great pleasure in reading to the children in her class when she was a school teacher.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSHJSeYmtfQdUXuQw7K5P3x-IzdYNX6Obc6G6tZfJFwU65rUOy5v9eFKNziq_7kGxzk0aMkOmc9tsu6e8xKRqGQ7Get3CqVBnjwdaWTrMpPG9sMzWlVmEqOTjdUMQCmMn_8cRkXgd08Q/s1600/MrsMac-cover-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSHJSeYmtfQdUXuQw7K5P3x-IzdYNX6Obc6G6tZfJFwU65rUOy5v9eFKNziq_7kGxzk0aMkOmc9tsu6e8xKRqGQ7Get3CqVBnjwdaWTrMpPG9sMzWlVmEqOTjdUMQCmMn_8cRkXgd08Q/s200/MrsMac-cover-web.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie's first book</td></tr>
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Once you realise this it's easy to see why she's drawn to rhymes and rhythms. Her influences are timeless rhymesters Edward Lear, Dr Seuss, Ogden Nash, Hilaire Belloc and Spike Milligan.<br />
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"I've been told my stories are like Belloc's - they have a subtle, underlying moral. I always loved rhymes and poetry and I've always written rhyming poetry. I really enjoy rhythm."<br />
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Of <em>Mrs MacCready</em> and her breakthrough as a published author, she said: "I thought it was just a nonsense poem. I wrote it for a writers' group homework. I don't know where it came from, it all tumbled out in an hour. But someone said it's a picture book."<br />
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She decided to send it to publishers and was picked up by the second one on her list - Maverick Books.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCt5yXI9xYF0_IGSRRVLlyss-mRMJWv3WEc6P66SkfHAFsUFtjOAQgGOD1NUltT6wQm02pz31N7b6ufpgQJJoW3MTxjxdhPPvIJ9BAQUNPBVPhI6ZWusHTuF7zPQeWRBhRTIGqI3HsIzo/s1600/tabitha-web-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCt5yXI9xYF0_IGSRRVLlyss-mRMJWv3WEc6P66SkfHAFsUFtjOAQgGOD1NUltT6wQm02pz31N7b6ufpgQJJoW3MTxjxdhPPvIJ9BAQUNPBVPhI6ZWusHTuF7zPQeWRBhRTIGqI3HsIzo/s200/tabitha-web-cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and the second in her 'Ever So' series, which will be available next January</td></tr>
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The publisher commissioned Jona Jung, a Polish artist, to do the illustrations. It has proved a remarkable collaboration as Jona does not speak English. "She uses Google Translator when she emails me, which makes for some interesting emails! I don't know whether she translates my stories the same way or not. But her illustrations are wonderful and she adds something extra of her own, too."<br />
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The book is aimed at children aged four-plus. It's the tale of Mrs MacCready, of Hamilton Shady, who likes to eat. And eat. And eat. Until, eventually, she... well that would be giving the end away. But it's certainly unexpected.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julie entertains her young fans</td></tr>
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One of the things Julie loves more than anything is going into schools to give readings to children and help them to do their own writing. She has a ready-made audience, too, at her local village primary school where she frequently pops in to 'road-test' works in progress.<br />
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"It's really useful to be able to do that," she told me. "I always try to put a long word in. In Mrs MacCready it was 'succulent'. The editor wanted to take it out, but I put my foot down."<br />
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And so the word remains in the text...<br />
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<em>Mrs MacCready was ever so greedy </em><br />
<em>she did nothing else but eat. </em><br />
<em>Fish fingers and chips, apples with pips, </em><br />
<em>plates full of succulent meat. </em><br />
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Julie has narrated <em>Mrs MacCready</em> for the Nook, an e-book reader for the North American market. "I absolutely loved doing it!"<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrDTlyZ7LMbfBvJ6ve_FHrWXPH6JvjT6jxjc5O15_5IJPjq-as2dnKFr4jNcAOwc5vkWo6NQ74hf47o2Ur6R_C8DSZzwe6mQA_HemuUdGPbJ2C2h-w8asvyBIMwFBUEHvVkZ0G93XPuE/s1600/rhymes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" kea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrDTlyZ7LMbfBvJ6ve_FHrWXPH6JvjT6jxjc5O15_5IJPjq-as2dnKFr4jNcAOwc5vkWo6NQ74hf47o2Ur6R_C8DSZzwe6mQA_HemuUdGPbJ2C2h-w8asvyBIMwFBUEHvVkZ0G93XPuE/s400/rhymes.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A page spread from <em>Tabitha Posy</em></td></tr>
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I asked Julie if she wanted to write novels for children and, sure enough, she told me she was currently editing a book for children aged eight and over. It's set during the Second World War and is the tale of an 11-year-old evacuee named Susan. Julie has not been able to place it with a publisher yet and she's even considering self-publishing.<br />
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Whatever direction Julie Fulton's writing takes in the future I'm sure it will succeed as she's 'Ever So' talented.<br />
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* Many thanks to Julie for talking to Bookengine about her work. Her website is <a href="http://www.juliefulton.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Visit the website of her publisher, Maverick Books, <a href="http://www.maverickbooks.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
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Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-88717056565066749082012-09-24T22:29:00.000+01:002012-09-25T11:01:02.095+01:00Interview #8: Sarah McIntyre<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrzlvcW53STR9TeoHbJ6pymt5sc5ITGnhMqvhXgJ8hABsuk0yS3EBjZLVkpo-9U3m9VAW1rEiY2mf7VMHiEq1bB5jUBt86o-v1E4Nih6kIhI2mMI_nq9fjiVlyBgghx8dEY0tPBLomo4/s1600/sarah-mcintyre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTrzlvcW53STR9TeoHbJ6pymt5sc5ITGnhMqvhXgJ8hABsuk0yS3EBjZLVkpo-9U3m9VAW1rEiY2mf7VMHiEq1bB5jUBt86o-v1E4Nih6kIhI2mMI_nq9fjiVlyBgghx8dEY0tPBLomo4/s400/sarah-mcintyre.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah McIntyre</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Growing up in Seattle, Sarah McIntyre was obsessed with Egyptian tomb paintings and wanted to be an archaeologist. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">"I chose my university because it had a good archaeology programme. But at the first lecture I went to, we spent an hour and a half discussing some fireplace lintel, and I thought, hmm, I'm not sure this is what I want to do for a living. It's not exactly Indiana Jones."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span>Finding herself at a crossroads, Sarah decided she wanted to travel instead and signed up for a degree in Russian.</div>
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It would prove a momentous decision for someone for whom serendipity has played a major part in her life and career path.</div>
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Today Sarah is one of the most exciting picture book illustrators, comic strip artists and authors around. She has collaborated with the likes of Giles Andreae and Philip Reeve (more of which later) and is the creator of the brilliant <em>Vern and Lettuce</em> strip cartoon in <em>DFC</em>, now <em>Phoenix,</em> comic. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah's collaboration with Giles Andreae</td></tr>
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I was hugely excited when she agreed to speak to me, following my interview with Gillian Rogerson, one of Sarah's collaborators.</div>
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So how did throwing down her archaeology trowel in favour of a plane ticket to Russia lead to such an illustrious career?</div>
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She spent a year living in Russia as part of her course and stayed for a further year afterwards. It was here that she met her British husband, who was working at the British Embassy. </div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After her studies she worked on a newspaper as a copy editor, writing headlines and captions.</span> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpeRl2Bv7TZxAnPQ0OyOlPgcTW-1URInGQN10QVWMN5X84Zsb2naqAnOnEq41twZhZhDqKPgvJ4SSMX8L5EojjFDrtbjRG1NQfO7Mgfr0yEg5Zxnnk0aP6JrKcSSz31LYpCEBpLu4wjs/s1600/princess_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpeRl2Bv7TZxAnPQ0OyOlPgcTW-1URInGQN10QVWMN5X84Zsb2naqAnOnEq41twZhZhDqKPgvJ4SSMX8L5EojjFDrtbjRG1NQfO7Mgfr0yEg5Zxnnk0aP6JrKcSSz31LYpCEBpLu4wjs/s200/princess_cover.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sarah provided the illustrations for </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Gillian Rogerson's brilliant </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Princess Spaghetti books</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But while she loved the newsroom buzz, she was put off by the way the editor would shame people in front of their colleagues, once making someone cry, and when she tried her hand at journalism, one of her first articles divided the expatriate community, filled the editor's inbox with letters of complaint, and a banker sent a courier around to the office with threats of a lawsuit. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"I thought, I don't want to do the sort of job that just makes people angry with me." </span></span></div>
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She and her husband decided to move to the UK, London to be precise. "I always thought it would be cool to live in London." </div>
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Here she and some friends ran an art gallery for six years. Again, Sarah didn't feel she fitted in. </div>
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"I didn't find fine artists to be terribly friendly people, and I was always feeling back-footed, not having enough grasp of art theory. And then I just got bored by fashionable people being obsessed with their image, and minimalism, all this fuss over exhibitions where there was almost nothing to look at. </div>
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"Children's books was such a welcoming harbour. People who make picture books are genuinely nice people, and I think it's just as complicated making something that's understandable to both children and adult, and far more fun."</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfPw98rAoMtvU0joXEzVW_LWmPktdCUfnAMfbo-mPxkvp045oFNm8Q2VKzZXdSEoseC33Jedr1sWHi-7ItbNmq2D4LAqyunJkbqutbpS_n_Gg57bZbMlC7uFT3caOUEqsLvweWgwRccc/s1600/vernlettuce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsfPw98rAoMtvU0joXEzVW_LWmPktdCUfnAMfbo-mPxkvp045oFNm8Q2VKzZXdSEoseC33Jedr1sWHi-7ItbNmq2D4LAqyunJkbqutbpS_n_Gg57bZbMlC7uFT3caOUEqsLvweWgwRccc/s320/vernlettuce.jpg" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Her Vern and Lettuce comic <br />
strips are now a book</td></tr>
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She took evening illustration classes with children's book illustrator Elizabeth Harbour. "Her teaching was so, so good, and even after the classes ended, a bunch of us would still meet up to talk about and critique each other's work. I felt THIS is what I should be doing." </div>
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Drawing and painting had always been a passion, but she never considered it as a possible career, always believing she would get a 'proper' job.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">At an early career low point, she interviewed to become a rigger on the Cutty Sark, although the contract was for 12 years and if she quit before then, she'd have to pay back all the training fee. Perhaps fortunately for children's books, Sarah didn't get the job, but the Cutty Sark hired her instead to work as Ship's Illustrator. </span></div>
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Her true path was beginning to open up for her. She went back to art college and did a part-time MA over two years studying under Janet Woolley. </div>
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"I guess it was round that time I finally figured out what I wanted to do."</div>
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With a few US-published children's picture books under her belt, Sarah took a fateful step when she went with her portfolio to see children's publishing supremo David Fickling, whom she'd heard was looking for comic strips. She was signed on the spot to do a weekly strip cartoon for the <em>David Fickling Comic</em> (now recast as the <em>Phoenix).</em> "They said, while you're here, would you like to illustrate a picture book for us?"</div>
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The strip cartoon became <em>Vern and Lettuce</em> about animals living together in a tower block. The picture book was <em>Morris the Mankiest Monster</em> by Giles Andreae.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrpyFrBK2SdtD5rkTaRp3_Omdfmp9YFBnQn4wUgJmBPd5yF4-2KCFUm3IfwgmSen3wyeg0SIoMLln8Ok9Y6da4cu7A_bG7m7YUJPfyCA_EQlFeJBDAhZKeOhpnKw2xZaNXUuI7matiDs/s1600/seawigs_pens_1_zps50477128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmrpyFrBK2SdtD5rkTaRp3_Omdfmp9YFBnQn4wUgJmBPd5yF4-2KCFUm3IfwgmSen3wyeg0SIoMLln8Ok9Y6da4cu7A_bG7m7YUJPfyCA_EQlFeJBDAhZKeOhpnKw2xZaNXUuI7matiDs/s320/seawigs_pens_1_zps50477128.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A peek behind the scenes!</td></tr>
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Her dual career in children's picture books and comics was well and truly under way.</div>
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She has also illustrated books by Anne Cottinger and the <em>Princess Spaghetti</em> books by the wonderful Gillian Rogerson (see my Bookengine interview with her <a href="http://bookengine.blogspot.com/2012/09/interview-6-gillian-rogerson.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">"W</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">orking with Gillian Rogerson on the <em>Princess Spaghetti</em> books has been great fun. She's rather quiet as a person, but then she's bursting with this rollicking sense of humour."</span></div>
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These days Sarah makes comics and picture books in a former police station in Deptford, sharing the studio with three other artists. "It still has the police cells and is haunted," she laughed.</div>
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On the day I spoke to her, Sarah was working on illustrations for a really exciting new project - collaborating with <em>Mortal Engines</em> author Philip Reeve.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuGLQEq2GmFWK9mNVwq_UGuWm9Y9VNxSHDjsLeRJd_BcyklcrRxI2WXxDz9DZgz5mZLAeD1x6uAr05nHhV64jyQhzGkHixcTdcWpSid61eW6N6rcjh7xlgm76N7haLZcj-wgcK6lCTio/s1600/seawigs_ch1_3d_zps4363f14f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuGLQEq2GmFWK9mNVwq_UGuWm9Y9VNxSHDjsLeRJd_BcyklcrRxI2WXxDz9DZgz5mZLAeD1x6uAr05nHhV64jyQhzGkHixcTdcWpSid61eW6N6rcjh7xlgm76N7haLZcj-wgcK6lCTio/s200/seawigs_ch1_3d_zps4363f14f.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An early rough for <em>Oliver and the Seawigs</em>, <br />
a collaboration with Philip Reeve</td></tr>
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They met at the Edinburgh Festival where they chatted about drawing (Philip studied art before he became a writer and earned a living initially doing illustrations for Terry Deary's <em>Horrible Histories</em> books).</div>
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They kept in touch, encouraging each other to post a daily picture on their respective blogs - Philip of Dartmoor where he lives, Sarah of Greenwich Park. They became good friends and, being creative people, naturally were drawn to collaborate with one another.</div>
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Sarah has illustrated a four-page story for Philip's website and a short story of his, <em>In the Bleak Midwinter</em>. </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But it was when they had an idea for a sea adventure story that they landed a four-book deal with Oxford University Press. <em>Oliver and the Seawigs</em> will come out next autumn. They've allowed themselves room for more play, as each book will be a completely different story with its own set of characters, but collected together as a sort of McIntyre-Reeve library. </span></div>
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I asked Sarah if she harboured ambitions to work in film or television. But she said she was keen to continue creating beautifully crafted books.</div>
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"I like to leave the future open. I love printmaking and like to see where it takes me. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHVA0BJ24C_3GO6oCmea5gA-WQx1AykXE19Idj_18sMLjowbmuzFCVN8vI_HqVJDbqmnyng-EKj4eRBc16YiyIaBbllLkCGP_h0ROsTFOg7LTH7pPh3vZsWAoLLALIwhxyUwoFJiA6cg/s1600/seawigs_rough_ch1_3c_zpsa80a3cc0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHVA0BJ24C_3GO6oCmea5gA-WQx1AykXE19Idj_18sMLjowbmuzFCVN8vI_HqVJDbqmnyng-EKj4eRBc16YiyIaBbllLkCGP_h0ROsTFOg7LTH7pPh3vZsWAoLLALIwhxyUwoFJiA6cg/s200/seawigs_rough_ch1_3c_zpsa80a3cc0.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
A more worked-up version of the </div>
scene from <em>Oliver and the Seawigs</em></td></tr>
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"I am excited about e-books. They're something different. I think they will be awesome in the future. These are early days. Some of the apps for e-books are not well developed yet. But whatever e-books are, they are different from books.</div>
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"Having said that. If you drop a Kindle in the bath... well, that's not a problem with a traditional book!</div>
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"I'm not sure how children's picture books will adapt as e-books. Picture books are like a theatre opening up in front of a child. They are a world of wonder that a parent can share with a child."</div>
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So what is next for Sarah?</div>
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"I've illustrated <em>Superkid</em> by Claire Freedman, author of the <em>Aliens Love Underpants</em> books. It's about a kid who's a superhero. That's done and is being printed.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nOJITZqZlM6YqRNvhxnInzGPjacvyg8vQQJmKdFtIuS4UPGe2LzflZ6Mls1RCOFZMKbABJp3RWfNjGs59vbH0cf6_wHsP4lSmMPO8xK2vUOkiAsTZ_sr9WCnq9edSRFAt2vwXkdq_jc/s1600/seawigs_ink_ch1_9peek_zps438b3e9c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1nOJITZqZlM6YqRNvhxnInzGPjacvyg8vQQJmKdFtIuS4UPGe2LzflZ6Mls1RCOFZMKbABJp3RWfNjGs59vbH0cf6_wHsP4lSmMPO8xK2vUOkiAsTZ_sr9WCnq9edSRFAt2vwXkdq_jc/s200/seawigs_ink_ch1_9peek_zps438b3e9c.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An inked up illustration from <br />
<em>Oliver and the Seawigs</em></td></tr>
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"I also have other contracts with David Fickling for books I've written myself and ones written by my friend David O'Connell."
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Although she professes not to want to get too busy, she may have to get used to having a very full diary as demand for her work intensifies.</div>
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* Many thanks to Sarah for chatting to me. Her fabulous website, Jabberworks, is <a href="http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>. Her equally wonderful blog is <a href="http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. If you are interested in drawing, illustration, comics and good old artistic craftsmanship, scratchy metal nibs and jet-black ink, then both these sites are veritable gold mines. Once you've visited them, you'll be there for hours! Enjoy.</div>
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Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-43233376825939300362012-09-24T00:07:00.001+01:002012-09-24T00:07:16.630+01:00Do you plot or are you seat-of-the-pants?<br />
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Please take a look at my guest post at The Edge, the blog of the brilliant collective of writers of the same name who write cutting edge teen fiction.<br />
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Thanks to Bryony Pearce and Dave Cousins who invited me to write a contribution. It just goes to show what a welcoming and encouraging bunch children's authors are!<br />
<br />
Click <a href="http://www.edgeauthors.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a> to read the blog.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-60717186827316732272012-09-14T11:35:00.002+01:002012-09-17T09:25:56.929+01:00Interview #7: Kim DonovanIt seems the world of mainstream publishing is in a panic over the advent of e-books and the power of social media to reach readers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqUnAQLXwyGDevRFx8QFZDLS1iGIBS1TeQcaEjzUgp5p87QvT_vMIYxb0AuiPLH5FQYpeMmggrsj0Nx-AnC8E2RgsZWK9B3HD5SX2pXCdHn8uAK-fXxtzeUKx6QYJCRWG0Ep9FI3bKgE/s1600/kim+donovan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqUnAQLXwyGDevRFx8QFZDLS1iGIBS1TeQcaEjzUgp5p87QvT_vMIYxb0AuiPLH5FQYpeMmggrsj0Nx-AnC8E2RgsZWK9B3HD5SX2pXCdHn8uAK-fXxtzeUKx6QYJCRWG0Ep9FI3bKgE/s320/kim+donovan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Author Kim Donovan, publishing pioneer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Many publishers and literary agents are worried their days are numbered, fearing a similar fate to record label bosses who are now shaking their heads wondering how on earth they allowed the music business to slip through their fingers.<br />
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Writers now have a golden opportunity to go it alone. And to make it big in a way that was not previously possible. No longer is there a gatekeeper barring their entry to the world of publishing.<br />
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We’ve heard about Amanda Hocking, John Locke, Kerry Wilkinson and, most famously, E L James’ <em>Fifty Shades</em> series, and their go-it-alone gold rush stories.<br />
<br />
Well, let me tell you a story about another publishing pioneer. Someone who is bravely hacking her way through the jungle of children’s book publishing and whose path may well be the one in which others follow in the future.<br />
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Let me introduce Kim Donovan, author of <em>St Viper’s School for Super Villains</em> and one of the creative minds behind the independent publishing collective Electrik Inc.<br />
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She told me: "I’m one of the co-founders. We’re a collective of children’s writers who have joined forces to publish our own books to a professional standard. We all have MAs in creative writing from Bath Spa University.<br />
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"Author co-operatives are brand new in self-publishing and as far as we know there is no other group like our one specialising in children’s fiction in the UK."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA-cInYvdeAdkMPdSOMGLfG95r3YWagJN5ZkJ_QfnViAI4uKUQKA50IM73vKCkYR3pMPWVNh7C6q3Wm2Xwv93k3r0WZKLZGMkYyb-UBS7Iea1FofIEswPNMKNtQd4d2E5TqRnBuAm6hc/s1600/electrikinctm1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA-cInYvdeAdkMPdSOMGLfG95r3YWagJN5ZkJ_QfnViAI4uKUQKA50IM73vKCkYR3pMPWVNh7C6q3Wm2Xwv93k3r0WZKLZGMkYyb-UBS7Iea1FofIEswPNMKNtQd4d2E5TqRnBuAm6hc/s200/electrikinctm1.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brave new publishing <br />
collective Electrik Inc <br />
(note the switched <br />
'k' and 'c' in the spelling...<br />
now that's neat!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><em>St Viper’s</em> is the first book to be published with an Electrik Inc logo. It is aimed at seven- to nine-year-olds.<br />
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"One of the reasons I wrote <em>St Viper’s</em> was that I couldn’t find enough good books at the right level for my son when he was between seven and eight years old.<br />
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"It’s a hot topic at the moment."<br />
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She quotes from the latest issue of <em>mslexia</em>, which says teachers in three quarters of the UK’s schools worry about boys’ reading. Apparently, last year 60,000 boys failed to reach the expected reading level at age 11. The National Literacy Trust’s Boys’ Reading Commission found 62 per cent of boys would rather watch TV than read, compared with 45 per cent of girls. And nearly a third of boys said they couldn’t find books that interested them.<br />
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Mmm, worrying indeed.<br />
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Kim's son Christopher was an advanced reader when he was seven or eight. He soon found <em>Horrid Henry</em>, <em>Astrosaurs</em> and Jeremy Strong's books too easy, but the Michael Morpurgo books his friends were reading to bridge the gap proved too sad for him. Kim wasn't keen on formulaic, team-written books like <em>BeastQuest</em>. If they helped reluctant readers to pick up a book, then fine, but she found other parents agreed with her that booksellers could fill their shelves with much better stories.<br />
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It was this insight that led her to write the first <em>St Viper's</em> book, inspired by her son's love of super heroes, which she turned on its head to come up a school for super villains.<br />
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The book has had a great response from children, parents, teachers and booksellers who all shared her misgivings that this crucial age group was poorly served. Kim thinks the market has improved since she first wrote <em>St Viper's</em>. <br />
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Kim’s journey to become a crusading children’s author and publishing maverick is an interesting one.<br />
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Her background is in the health service. She has worked as a midwife, a nurse and as a hospital manager, where part of her time involved writing health strategies.<br />
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Although she always wanted to be a writer, this wasn’t quite what she had in mind. She signed up for an MA in creative writing for young people at Bath Spa University. She also did work at publishers Chicken House, reading the manuscripts from the slush pile. During her studies she was encouraged to write realistic teen fiction and she was signed by an agent at PFD on the strength of her MA work. Sadly, she never saw any of her work published. Her hopes and dreams were dashed when PFD closed its children’s list.<br />
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Many people would have been crushed. Not Kim. She began to consider doing things herself.<br />
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Meeting like-minded writers Janine Amos, Jenny Landor and Kay Leitch led eventually to Electrik Inc.<br />
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"We are not self-publishing, here," she told me. <span style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">"We edit in-house - no one ever edits their own book - and we pay for illustrators, graphic designers, ebook formatting and printing ourselves.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>St Viper's School for Super Villains</em> by Kim Donovan</td></tr>
</tbody></table> "We then do the publicity and distribution ourselves. It’s hard work, but it’s exhilarating because we keep 100 per cent control."<br />
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They plan to publish their books both as print versions and e-books.<br />
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Kim believes Electrik Inc is a taste of the future for writers. She doesn’t think mainstream traditional publishing houses will disappear altogether as their distribution power will always be needed. But she thinks authors will be expected to do most of their own publicity via social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook.<br />
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I wish Kim and Electrik Inc the very best of luck. I think children’s authors of the future will one day look back and thank them.<br />
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And I can confirm <em>St Viper’s</em> is a great read and a beautifully produced book. I look forward to reading more in the series.<br />
<br />
* Thanks to Kim and Electrik Inc for speaking to me and sending me a review copy of <em>St Viper’s</em>. Please visit their <a href="http://electrikinc.wordpress.com/tag/electrik-inc/" target="_blank">website</a>, which is absolutely jam-packed with information about their venture. There are some great blog posts about the trials and tribulations of setting up and running an independent publishing collective.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-40051266584325301442012-09-13T17:00:00.000+01:002012-09-13T17:00:06.973+01:00Congratulations to Bryony Pearce!Congratulations to Bryony Pearce - her second novel, <em>The Weight of Souls</em>, is to be published by Strange Chemistry in October next year.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBx4kO29FtoLiMoOartfAWQhGgX16rnDJDDcooJxOYo9ndsAp3OJmxyQuslnTVxh75-vss1dYp3xZcr6VeaHTsGSxVpDnZ-MTJc78yD0OgPgU15_XosmWNKzAbcju3lqG_V7lXuVN7zQ/s1600/bryony+pearce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpBx4kO29FtoLiMoOartfAWQhGgX16rnDJDDcooJxOYo9ndsAp3OJmxyQuslnTVxh75-vss1dYp3xZcr6VeaHTsGSxVpDnZ-MTJc78yD0OgPgU15_XosmWNKzAbcju3lqG_V7lXuVN7zQ/s200/bryony+pearce.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>Bryony very kindly gave an <a href="http://www.bookengine.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2012-07-24T21:21:00%2B01:00&max-results=7" target="_blank">interview</a> to Bookengine in July and has generously promoted my humble postings ever since.<br />
<br />
Rather than me rabbiting on, I'll simply direct you to Bryony's own announcement at her blog, <a href="http://bryonypearce.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/big-news/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-73071419740693800162012-09-11T00:08:00.004+01:002012-09-11T00:14:57.690+01:00Interview #6: Gillian Rogerson <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnjXQZaTUxCWMokp7zhbv42Hrgiq8jblj0f3zA7GOBF5jUsiSxtltDNS3-Xsfx57T6AKFyjb1_MouNoawQM7roydSG7WguHYQhdm8SwhPj0Lk1ri_qdl9epdzi8R06Pt4wUoJyHQn5kc/s1600/gillian_rogerson_200h.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHnjXQZaTUxCWMokp7zhbv42Hrgiq8jblj0f3zA7GOBF5jUsiSxtltDNS3-Xsfx57T6AKFyjb1_MouNoawQM7roydSG7WguHYQhdm8SwhPj0Lk1ri_qdl9epdzi8R06Pt4wUoJyHQn5kc/s320/gillian_rogerson_200h.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gillian Rogerson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Gillian Rogerson loves being a writer. Her passion is infectious and inspiring. She's also extremely modest.<br />
<br />
While she might not shout from the rooftops about her achievements, let me do so on her behalf. <br />
<br />
She has published three picture books in the past seven years, <a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/books?page=shop.product_details&category_id=17&flypage=flypage_AD001a.tpl&product_id=27%20alt=" target="_self" title="Happy Birthday Santa"><em><span style="color: #ca430a;">Happy Birthday Santa</span></em></a>, <a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/books?page=shop.product_details&category_id=17&flypage=flypage_AD001a.tpl&product_id=28%20alt=" target="_self" title="The Teddy Bear Scare"><em><span style="color: #ca430a;">The Teddy Bear Scare</span></em></a> and <a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/books?page=shop.product_details&category_id=17&flypage=flypage_AD001a.tpl&product_id=29%20alt=" target="_self" title="The Smallest Hero"><em><span style="color: #ca430a;">The Smallest Hero</span></em></a>, a non-fiction title, <em>Children's History of Leeds</em>, and two titles in a series of Scholastic children's books about Princess Spaghetti, <a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/books?page=shop.product_details&category_id=17&flypage=flypage_AD001a.tpl&product_id=30%20alt=" target="_self" title="You Can't Eat a Princess"><em><span style="color: #ca430a;">You Can't Eat a Princess</span></em></a> and <em><a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/signed-books/you-can-t-scare-a-princess/" target="_blank">You Can't Scare A Princess</a></em>. <br />
TV and film people are circling Princess Spaghetti, perhaps sensing the next big thing. The character is already a runaway success with young readers.<br />
<br />
She always wanted to be a writer - Enid Blyton's <em>Faraway Tree</em> books were her favourite as a child.<br />
<br />
Yet it took Gillian a long time to believe she could be a writer. She thought it was something other people did.<br />
<br />
Her attitude began to change after a chance encounter.<br />
<br />
Gillian, who works as a teaching assistant and lives in Leeds with teenage daughters Rosie and Eve, said: <span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">"I once saw Terry Pratchett from afar in a Leeds bookshop about 20 years ago and I thought, he looks just like an ordinary person. If he can write a book, then so can I.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6YgCCTmLOoQK05cHmwqNQVCF9rYMdDT8xliKjD4IiarUECMLh7Eq9k8k1J4hPwCr7oc1qbUtoX-4FggQJ_7eUKahngReejl2KP8NWEqZMYH0chen2aJVxqCHveQe2vksmoA06R0K2YI/s1600/Happy_Birthday_S_4cd7c0a0901e4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6YgCCTmLOoQK05cHmwqNQVCF9rYMdDT8xliKjD4IiarUECMLh7Eq9k8k1J4hPwCr7oc1qbUtoX-4FggQJ_7eUKahngReejl2KP8NWEqZMYH0chen2aJVxqCHveQe2vksmoA06R0K2YI/s320/Happy_Birthday_S_4cd7c0a0901e4.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So, when IS Santa's birthday?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">"I'd always imagined famous authors to be superhuman and ten feet tall."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">She always wanted to write, but because she believed it was an "impossible dream" she didn't pursue it. She forgot about it and went to work in insurance and sold children's shoes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">It was only when she became a mother that she began to think that, yes, she could try to write a book. This was 15 years ago, when her elder daughter was two and she loved sharing picture books with her.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">She had a go herself and found that she absolutely loved it. She found she had a gift for storytelling. Her mind proved adept at sparking idea after idea, triggered by the famous writing provocation - 'what if?'.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Over the next five years she wrote and sent off picture book ideas to publishers, without success.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">But she was learning her craft and wrote more than 200 in the process. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">She would take a simple thought like 'when is Santa's birthday?' and explore it logically until she had fleshed out the idea into a picture book. That particular one became <em>Happy Birthday, Santa!</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">Her other method of working (and which she still uses) was to deploy a 'story bag'. She would pull out a random character type - a princess, say - along with a random setting - outer space - and put the two together to, hopefully, come up with something fresh. That particular combination resulted in the first Princess Spaghetti book.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">"I met Curtis Jobling at a Leeds comic festival last year. And he told me that he uses story dice. Each face of the dice has a different word, like 'volcano', to help you come up with ideas for your story," she said.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's hope Princess Spaghetti is soon a major TV series</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;">After toiling hard at her craft, Gillian was signed up for two picture books by G</span>ullane Books. "Like buses, you wait for one for ages then two come along at once!" she laughed. <br />
It was on the strength of this that Gillian was taken on by agent Eve White. <br />
<br />
"It was the same time that Eve was considering signing up Andy Stanton, author of the <em>Mr Gum</em> books. Lucky that she decided to go ahead, isn't it?" she laughed.<br />
<br />
Gillian can't speak highly enough of the support Eve has shown her. Indeed, she is thrilled with all her collaborators in the publishing industry. She's been lucky enough to have her picture books illustrated by such great artists as Sarah McIntyre and Ingela Peterson.<br />
<br />
She harbours ambitions to illustrate her own work. Indeed, she has turned some of her rejected picture book ideas into Kindle e-books, accompanied by her own drawings. <br />
<br />
So, with so much going on at the moment, does Gillian have any other writing ambitions?<br />
<br />
"I'd love to write a murder mystery. Not a gory one, something more like Agatha Christie," she confides.<br />
<br />
I suspect that whatever Gillian Rogerson turns her hand to will be a success.<br />
<br />
* Thanks to Gillian for being such a lovely interviewee (and fellow Laurel and Hardy fan, too - it's always great to meet a kindred spirit).<br />
<br />
Her website is <a href="http://gillianrogerson.net/" target="_blank">here</a>. Her page on Eve White's website is <a href="http://www.evewhite.co.uk/authors/gillian_rogerson/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-77269349873384306332012-09-02T21:05:00.000+01:002012-09-02T21:05:17.515+01:00Once Upon A Wartime<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE6YnSHKO1F6sKzQOxzPEnWBOgfdfehw-Zvb1Uumj8XmteYGJ03kDfWDi-xqcmas11dPYPPQe11CH8q4mumhyoBs-_tENQDEIx25coHazMEVqOhAS0PZawQPXZNzGyAnlQJZwIlfc0ndg/s1600/August-September+2012+037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE6YnSHKO1F6sKzQOxzPEnWBOgfdfehw-Zvb1Uumj8XmteYGJ03kDfWDi-xqcmas11dPYPPQe11CH8q4mumhyoBs-_tENQDEIx25coHazMEVqOhAS0PZawQPXZNzGyAnlQJZwIlfc0ndg/s400/August-September+2012+037.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way into Imperial War Museum North</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
It's a bit after the fact now, but I'd like to say what a fabulous exhibition <em>Once Upon A Wartime</em> was at the <a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-north" target="_blank">Imperial War Museum North</a> at Salford Quays.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-OJY_FgiiCK_Bcs3W8RsZPhXSi3SgUouFCVkvCvUvwfOnAP2Ve5WXHdpzftlXnQNZpzgiKLoScJ5Z2A-sxnVcNHDrAQcBE53O9H8kjHlMrk3OzZhMwz6F6GPMXxkntmJX2shNGZ7l9A/s1600/August-September+2012+038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-OJY_FgiiCK_Bcs3W8RsZPhXSi3SgUouFCVkvCvUvwfOnAP2Ve5WXHdpzftlXnQNZpzgiKLoScJ5Z2A-sxnVcNHDrAQcBE53O9H8kjHlMrk3OzZhMwz6F6GPMXxkntmJX2shNGZ7l9A/s200/August-September+2012+038.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fabulous exhibition</td></tr>
</tbody></table> It's been on since February and finished on September 2, so I'm a bit late to the party. I took my family on the penultimate day and we were all completely swept up by it all.<br />
<br />
It was an exhibition about war as explored by children's literature, using five different books to examine a different face of the subject.<br />
<br />
Different rooms looked at a book at a time, with recreations of scenes, complemented by personal effects of the associated writers.<br />
<br />
I'd read four of the five books - Michael Morpurgo's <em>War Horse</em>, Nina Bawden's <em>Carrie's War</em>, Robert Westall's <em>The Machine Gunners</em> and Ian Serraillier's <em>The Silver Sword</em>, but was not familiar with the final book, Bernard Ashley's <em>Little Soldier</em>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PKesUztiwCpsLBppHWJpVztP6HB45EP8ZVnrT3ZkPnCdadGcP1R-gRVg7VdICfF5IIoFPO4gItvMDURQNCpTGq3URlPuWYMyy18fLIAlNrzWCnDD5rXRpItR8JS5jKlGojxtTFQRcqc/s1600/August-September+2012+042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5PKesUztiwCpsLBppHWJpVztP6HB45EP8ZVnrT3ZkPnCdadGcP1R-gRVg7VdICfF5IIoFPO4gItvMDURQNCpTGq3URlPuWYMyy18fLIAlNrzWCnDD5rXRpItR8JS5jKlGojxtTFQRcqc/s200/August-September+2012+042.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a great picture - the original <br />
handwritten opening of Michael Morpurgo's<br />
<em>War Horse</em> and first page of the typescript</td></tr>
</tbody></table> The show covered the First World War (<em>War Horse</em>), Second World War (<em>Carrie's War</em>, <em>The Machine Gunners</em> and <em>The Silver Sword</em>) and a fictional African war of the 1990s (<em>Little Soldier</em>). The themes represented were 'loyalty', 'separation', 'excitement', 'survival' and 'identity'.<br />
<br />
Fabulous to be able to see first-hand the original manuscript pages of the opening to <em>War Horse</em>, notes scrawled by Serraillier on the backs of envelopes, Ashley's chapter notes and a paperweight belonging to Bawden. <br />
<br />
There was the original painting of a horse called Topthorn that inspired Morpurgo to create the character of the same name which is Joey's closest friend in <em>War Horse</em>.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RXvkphnuZA1z_qTGAzNfx-gMAUbVLy8Kd8eQxndl8vl1NAXkbT0IOLIohKz0iW8fWp0sGdbatkDZ5GJTKFTzTFV8ubvIGxGw-BLV0A29rG2A83mhkV2_BY9pBzJdGaNMqkYGAEd2IA0/s1600/August-September+2012+055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RXvkphnuZA1z_qTGAzNfx-gMAUbVLy8Kd8eQxndl8vl1NAXkbT0IOLIohKz0iW8fWp0sGdbatkDZ5GJTKFTzTFV8ubvIGxGw-BLV0A29rG2A83mhkV2_BY9pBzJdGaNMqkYGAEd2IA0/s200/August-September+2012+055.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">School exercise book in which Westall wrote <em>The Machine Gunners</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table> Of particular interest to me was the school exercise book in which Westall wrote <em>The Machine Gunners</em> for his son, Christopher. Westall wrote on the inside cover '£1 reward for anyone returning this book to Westall, 20, Winnington Lane, Northwich'. Also fascinating to see his typewriter and his first Carnegie Medal, for <em>The Machine Gunners</em>.<br />
<br />
Coincidentally, the day before our visit I'd spent the day in Northwich with work and took a picture of 20 Winnington Lane, the house where Westall wrote <em>The Machine Gunners</em>. (Surely worthy of a plaque, eh?)<br />
<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQk1UH324kWYekohsWERlu3CQloli8mQ-VDTEfNWv_z0ShXsJrYyRhloKl6MeX_I13_xghGmdxeRLIMP5JFpAjvLyVmfjFaViOZho0r_7LQ7ZrrnH0frbpYFoC5HTkBeCy3r_yHJ_Xg-0/s1600/August-September+2012+058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQk1UH324kWYekohsWERlu3CQloli8mQ-VDTEfNWv_z0ShXsJrYyRhloKl6MeX_I13_xghGmdxeRLIMP5JFpAjvLyVmfjFaViOZho0r_7LQ7ZrrnH0frbpYFoC5HTkBeCy3r_yHJ_Xg-0/s200/August-September+2012+058.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Westall's typewriter with picture on top of him and <br />
a cat at home in Lymm, Cheshire</td></tr>
</tbody></table> What was particularly great about the exhibition was that children could really get involved. For <em>The Machine Gunners</em>, they'd recreated an Anderson shelter and decked it out as Chas and his pals did in the book. My daughter and son loved crawling through a tunnel to get to the shelter.<br />
<br />
<em>Once Upon A Wartime</em> was on at the Imperial War Museum in London in 2011 prior to its relocation to Salford. Not sure that it's going on anywhere else now, which is a pity.<br />
<br />
If you are passing, it's definitely worth popping into the Imperial War Museum North - they have an excellent shop stocked with all the children's books from the exhibition.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCNFiah_JNiAFXt0KGTM0EKoyhI7kP1oyqRVz6zolle3SYwqe6RxRQM7llLjKGThGEmCiI7TdRuPBJmE16kQr8NSrNiEpP5MiL6WjLX08k9NA41iEudiAjp3JbAyJo2QMOUumOYGzSsw/s1600/August-September+2012+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCNFiah_JNiAFXt0KGTM0EKoyhI7kP1oyqRVz6zolle3SYwqe6RxRQM7llLjKGThGEmCiI7TdRuPBJmE16kQr8NSrNiEpP5MiL6WjLX08k9NA41iEudiAjp3JbAyJo2QMOUumOYGzSsw/s320/August-September+2012+057.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert Westall's first Carnegie Medal, for <em>The Machine Gunners</em>, 1975</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI3IsYfWji5GPmRDtBdl81sUm-PRRkMZ4pLiVdRDHFIuSNiKQKm6UhFfG9mtUd82JFzJhp5JI0LYe7cvJ3VEPJkeuXXAC9AOPNKCoOtkjRxyTlmp0SEEfzgVz_uMaD0rg_S5F1MV_KK0/s1600/August-September+2012+041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI3IsYfWji5GPmRDtBdl81sUm-PRRkMZ4pLiVdRDHFIuSNiKQKm6UhFfG9mtUd82JFzJhp5JI0LYe7cvJ3VEPJkeuXXAC9AOPNKCoOtkjRxyTlmp0SEEfzgVz_uMaD0rg_S5F1MV_KK0/s320/August-September+2012+041.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original painting of Topthorn, which usually hangs in Michael Morpurgo's kitchen</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdF3if9lZy1e_7qbBD4J2lyQdpYz8YIMo2rTrSWdwmgvMa5zap0-8lbm4Y5aDR01Egi3RsMZnEH8lmWFhUXslPlI-rJOuK6RlgEhTtrA0J0XuIcJ5MkOQgZc2G1XhyGuCAAogSjTI-API/s1600/August-September+2012+045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdF3if9lZy1e_7qbBD4J2lyQdpYz8YIMo2rTrSWdwmgvMa5zap0-8lbm4Y5aDR01Egi3RsMZnEH8lmWFhUXslPlI-rJOuK6RlgEhTtrA0J0XuIcJ5MkOQgZc2G1XhyGuCAAogSjTI-API/s320/August-September+2012+045.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nina Bawden's teddy bear</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmI1fxz7-yQoVjCgX_rSwKd6vdVagYNraWcW2PwZ91sq_4O85dB6Agqd3Dwh1e1Wydwpy99xtYT3cCOIJG3BmLtE65_U_sOwsNvnHwVIc5MuDL4kL5wJFmU1le6KoIwchZ8d1ifD-OIco/s1600/Robert+Westall+20+Winnington+Lane+Northwich+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" fea="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmI1fxz7-yQoVjCgX_rSwKd6vdVagYNraWcW2PwZ91sq_4O85dB6Agqd3Dwh1e1Wydwpy99xtYT3cCOIJG3BmLtE65_U_sOwsNvnHwVIc5MuDL4kL5wJFmU1le6KoIwchZ8d1ifD-OIco/s400/Robert+Westall+20+Winnington+Lane+Northwich+002.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20 Winnington Lane, Northwich, the house where Robert Westall wrote <em>The Machine Gunners</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-86230111225056179052012-08-24T22:41:00.001+01:002012-08-24T22:42:52.771+01:00Goodbye Nina Bawden<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi-b-Vj6RSPVH43Y-T78LF3DMPHpW5nYftdgjcvGa446dhIxBjxvzH7o9QduFq5n1mOqOeJ_wr7DUo6YtaJy1ymRE6-2EOaSh6nrrSXNJypHXJG-vL2pWweOOX7dRp-mQogYl2NsdEMo/s1600/Nina-Bawden-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbi-b-Vj6RSPVH43Y-T78LF3DMPHpW5nYftdgjcvGa446dhIxBjxvzH7o9QduFq5n1mOqOeJ_wr7DUo6YtaJy1ymRE6-2EOaSh6nrrSXNJypHXJG-vL2pWweOOX7dRp-mQogYl2NsdEMo/s400/Nina-Bawden-001.jpg" width="400" yda="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nina Bawden... author of Carrie's War</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Nina Bawden, who died this week aged 87, was a remarkable woman.<br />
<br />
A gifted writer who could bewitch readers with magical stories for adults and children alike, she will be best remembered for her classic children's novel <em>Carrie's War</em>. Set during the Second World War and the tale of two children evacuated to Wales, the book was twice adapted for British television. I remember watching the BBC's version in the 1970s and being utterly hooked. <br />
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<em>Carrie's War</em> and the writing of Nina Bawden, along with that of fellow authors Michael Morpurgo, Robert Westall and Ian Serraillier, is celebrated at an exhibition, <em>Once Upon A Wartime</em>, at the Imperial War Museum North at Salford, until September 2 (I plan to visit, so check back soon to see my verdict).<br />
<br />
Her life was not short on drama. Her husband Austen Kark was killed in the 2002 Potters Bar rail crash, which also left her seriously injured. A writer through and through, she wrote a moving memoir in her husband's memory, <em>Dear Austen</em>.<br />
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If you've never read Nina Bawden, you must seek out <em>Carrie's War</em> - it's a modern classic. Sad to see her passing.<br />
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Excellent obituaries at the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/22/nina-bawden?intcmp=239" target="_blank">Guardian</a>, <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/nina-bawden-author-who-drew-deeply-on-her-own-experience-in-her-novels-for-adults-and-children-8076913.html" target="_blank">Independent</a> and <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/9492900/Nina-Bawden.html" target="_blank">Telegraph's</a> websites.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3603871212881961806.post-18120530898029882532012-08-21T18:31:00.006+01:002012-08-31T08:03:52.880+01:00Interview #5: Kara Lebihan<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTEhtb4-7_TnAr3zafZnFELfYl77WlAsR1BofGz44XI4PnLa3JfgozaDcgepTj3n5IT932zPnRsZCULOR6w-3hoqe2euVF0jcR7jiQFZJjTFBsJaBh2js-L5Ns7PYVU_gahwpwgdCS8U/s1600/Mrs+Vickers+race.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTEhtb4-7_TnAr3zafZnFELfYl77WlAsR1BofGz44XI4PnLa3JfgozaDcgepTj3n5IT932zPnRsZCULOR6w-3hoqe2euVF0jcR7jiQFZJjTFBsJaBh2js-L5Ns7PYVU_gahwpwgdCS8U/s400/Mrs+Vickers+race.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kara Lebihan's Mrs Vickers' Knickers helping a sailing boat win first place. Thanks to Deborah Allwright for allowing us this early peek at one of her illustrations from the forthcoming book</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
If there was an award for dedication to a writing dream and never giving up, then Kara Lebihan would walk it.<br />
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Success has been a long time coming, but it’s nearly here.<br />
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Her first book, <em>Mrs Vickers' Knickers</em> will be published next year by the mighty Egmont. The picture book for young children is fewer than 200 words, but a lifetime of striving and working hard at her craft is woven into every sentence.<br />
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The illustrations have been done by the brilliant Deborah Allwright, best known for The Night Pirates.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w-dIE-UIqBYdpXskPFkljSHjHqz6BGcdN0_vTTx8jwL8gyWPhyphenhyphenA5PiSlOixQGO69x0D6tyPIB2Yu5JdAHk1ooaT1Hy7G3N0xhshvO-WmC9n6xZvlv3xKtHbteSVgT-vfgdRvBSj3ek8/s1600/kara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w-dIE-UIqBYdpXskPFkljSHjHqz6BGcdN0_vTTx8jwL8gyWPhyphenhyphenA5PiSlOixQGO69x0D6tyPIB2Yu5JdAHk1ooaT1Hy7G3N0xhshvO-WmC9n6xZvlv3xKtHbteSVgT-vfgdRvBSj3ek8/s320/kara.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kara Lebihan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Kara spoke to me on the phone from her parents’ home in the north east during her first visit to the UK since she, her husband and seven-year-old son Hugh moved to China a year ago.<br />
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She is the deputy head teacher of the <a href="http://www.nordanglia.com/beijing/popup/551-kara-lebihan.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=550&width=700&caption=Our+Staff" target="_blank">British School in Beijing</a>. They moved, she says, because they were looking for adventure.<br />
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They love living out there.<br />
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Writing has always been a part of Kara’s life.<br />
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“It’s that cliché – I remember saying as a child ‘I want to be a writer’.<br />
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“I’ve got some novels I wrote as a child in storage in Manchester (where they were living before they moved east).<br />
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“After that I went to secondary school and the writing went dead, but it was still in my mind. I went to university in Newcastle and then trained to be a teacher and in 1994 I started to take it a bit more seriously.”<br />
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She and her husband lived in the Far East for a number of years. She remembers sitting on a bus in Singapore writing some notes for a story on the back of her ticket.<br />
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She got the idea for a picture book – <em>Jumper for Zak</em> – about a grandmother knitting themed jumpers for members of the family, such as the librarian mum and gardener dad, but not having an idea of what to knit for Zak, before finding the solution and knitting all through the night.<br />
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Kara paid an Australian editor to read a variety of her work.<br />
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“She basically tore it apart but liked <em>Zak</em>. She suggested I work up a portfolio of three or four picture book ideas to send out to publishers.<br />
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A long, arduous road of creativity and disappointment now lay before Kara for the next few years.<br />
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She sent ideas to every agent in the Writers and Artists Handbook and every one came back rejected.<br />
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Kara persisted, buying each new W&A Handbook as it was published annually. One year there was a new agent’s name in the list: <a href="http://evewhite.co.uk/new/" target="_blank">Eve White</a>.<br />
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Kara sent her work to Eve. And waited.<br />
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Eventually, among all the rejections came a call from Eve who phoned to say she liked an idea of Kara’s called <em>Mrs Butler's Frog</em> about a family who can hear a frog croaking in their house and hunt high and low for it.<br />
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“Eve said if I changed the ending she would have a think about it. I did, but she didn’t think the new ending was funny enough.”<br />
<br />
She eventually came up with a conclusion that satisfied Eve.<br />
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Many people assume that once an agent takes you on, publication, fame and fortune will naturally follow. Not so, says Kara.<br />
<br />
Kara was taken on by Eve in 2006 and her first picture book – <em>Mrs Vickers' Knickers</em> - should be published next year. That's a long time to wait for your dream to come true. But persistence is the hallmark of success.<br />
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Inspiration for the book came when she was pushing Hugh in his pram around Hale, near Altrincham, where they were living. She spotted a sock lying on the pavement and wondered why it was that stray pieces of people's clothing were often to be found lying in the street or in a tree or draped over a gate or railing.<br />
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Agent Eve told her it was good to be rude, so Kara changed the sock into a pair of knickers - Mrs Vickers' to be precise.<br />
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Once she'd had that spark of an idea, Kara tried to imagine the journey the knickers had been on. She pictured all kinds of crazy scenarios before the knickers wound up coming back to their owner.<br />
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"Apparently rude is in these days," laughed Kara, though she should hardly be surprised given that Roald Dahl, the master of bad taste, was the biggest influence on her as a child.<br />
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In an exclusive for Bookengine, the picture at the top of this blogpost is Deborah Allwright's gorgeous interpretation of Mrs Vickers' knickers winning a boat race.<br />
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"The knickers are taking the boat into first place in place of a sail," said Kara.<br />
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Kara Lebihan now deserves to sail into the forefront of picture book authors.<br />
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* My thanks to Kara for speaking to Bookengine. Thanks also to Deborah Allwright and Egmont for allowing me to reproduce the illustration from <em>Mrs Vickers' Knickers</em>.<br />
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You can visit Kara's author's page at Eve White's website <a href="http://www.evewhite.co.uk/new/component/page,shop.browse/category_id,23/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,41/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=23&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41&vmcchk=1" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
Visit Deborah Allwright's website <a href="http://www.deborahallwright.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. And Egmont's website is <a href="http://www.egmont.co.uk/" target="_blank">here</a>.Jeremy Craddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09197556915184428643noreply@blogger.com1