Pitch Perfect

Tweet ready for a physical pitching competition

I love a good pitch. I am actually pretty good at pitching too. To clarify - I’m obviously talking about pitching books NOT singing acapella. Believe me- no one wants to hear me sing, my husband (who is a trained musician and used to be a professional singing teacher) has told me; I quote … [I] ‘can’t carry a tune in a bag!’

My badge for winning the  short pitch comp at the 2013 SCBWI Winchester Conference

 

I can pitch a novel though. I tend to write high concept, commercial stories with a literary edge which I’m passionate about – and this luckily tends to makes it easy to talk about and make sound exciting.

I also am in the habit of starting my new projects with a pitch. Usually an elevator pitch which is the essence of the book. In addition I write the synopsis (hole ridden though it may be) of where I see the story going and including key elements. I use this as a rough map whilst penning the first draft. Of course writing and creativity often take you to unexpected places (this is one of my favourite parts of a new project) so when I’m writing I tweak the pitch and synopsis. So all three, the manuscript, synopsis and pitch are constantly evolving.

 

I often enter pitching competitions, especially twitter ones, not because I expect anyone to request to see my work, (as I always think my tweets get lost in a sea of pitches) but to force me to work and improve my pitch. With Twitter pitching events you have to keep your pitch tight, distilled down to bare essence of the story, PLUS leave room for hashtags that communicate the genre, sub-genres and age group of your novel. Also many twitter pitching events allow you to pitch the same novel multiple times as long as the pitch is different. This is great for forcing me to be creative and experiment until I have an array of pitches for each project. Also the feedback of comments and re-tweets (and if I’m lucky a ‘like’ from an industry professional) help me gauge which of these pitches works the best. This can also help to reassure me which pitch to use on submissions letters.

Pitching at the 2019 Golden Egg Academy Big Honk Competition 

 

So I tend to do a lot of pitching events and I have more often than not had at least one ‘like’ from an industry professional, opening up an opportunity which after I’ve researched them, and I am ready, can be seized.

I have also had some luck with other pitching competitions, at SCBWI and Gold Egg Academy events, some of which have resulted in requests to see manuscript , which has been great - always a little confidence boost if nothing else!

With my prize for winning ten word pitching comp at the 2019 SCBWI Winchester conference.

 

Here some of my tips for penning pitches…

• Think of what the TAG LINE would be if your book was adapted into a movie.
• Write it longer and edit if down. It doesn’t matter if it’s a paragraph, or even a full page. Get everything written down and then keep halving it until it is only a sentence. This will make you really think of what you can delate but still communicate what the main elements and ISP (Individual Selling Point) of your story.
• If you are gifted at grammar, grammatize the hell out of it, so it can be longer but still a sentence. For an example of a master of this read ‘Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh’ by Robert C. O'Brien – this is actually taught in universities to illustrate this exact point!
• If you can add a good comparison quote do. Compare your project to things people know, don’t go for obscure compassions. Also don’t be afraid to use movies or popular TV shows if it fits better, for example…

for my mammoth book…

Ice Age vs Doctor Dolittle with a dash of Jurassic Park

• Keep a Pitch Document with all your pitches ready to copy and paste. In here you can have multiple versions of twitter pitches, elevator pitches, compassion pitches, or longer blurb type pitches.
• Lastly, take your time. Do it over a week. Do some then leave it and come the next day with a fresh set of eyes and do some more edits.

Happy pitching everyone!

And Good Luck!

Surviving Lockdown - What Fresh new Procrastination is This?

So everyone’s facing the third week of compulsory Lockdown, and the signs of personal or family meltdowns are probably starting to show.

Unlike my husband and children who still have their structure – still working and schooling just from home, all my structure has gone. As my structure was all based around the school runs and getting the children to various after school clubs -  and fitting my writing and business work around them -has disappeared. So it's me who's getting the cabin fever.

I’m lucky, we are all healthy and my kids are older and more independent, and they don’t need me to home-educate and entertain them, and we’re also very fortunate to have space that we are not in each other’s faces the whole time. But I still have no structure and being at home all apart from one hour of exercise a day is a lot of time to fill.

I have been writing, but we have the issue of not enough computers to go around, my husband has his work laptop, my daughter on her school laptop- it has left my son working on the family PC, so writing all hours is tricky. I do write long hand and try and type it up when my son is on is lunch break, but isn’t exactly perfect.

So in short; long days + little structure + limited access to a computer has resulted in me getting cabin fever.

The one thing that has really helped me combat cabin fever and keep me sane, is the one thing that is usually the enemy of any creatives that work from home: Procrastination. And of course following lots of kid lit folks on social media have meant there has been lot of fresh new procrastination projects to keep me busy and stop my mind for spiralling into dark palaces.

So far I spent a few hours rearranging and photographing my book shelves for fellow Gold Egg, Becky Hamilton’s call out for ‘SHELFIES’ for an exhibition she’s organising for the Bath Fringe festival.

As a family we spent an afternoon, packing up the Easter Craft stuff that my son has brought to do fundraising for his expedition (now cancelled sue to corona virus), in to packages, and then randomly delivering them to neighbours houses that have children to help entertain during the lockdown. 

I spent a good twenty minutes taking photographs of the art that’s displayed around the house for Chitra Soundar’s #ARTonWalls over on twitter. 

A whole morning has been spent finding suitable reading material and photographing our sizeable menagerie after Paula Harrison nominated me to participate in Gareth P Jones #PetsGetReading . 

We are also taking part in the #NationalBearHunt, setting up changing scenes of teddies in our front window for the local children to spot when they are on their hours exercise. 

I know all these things may sound mundane, and daft, but taking part in these ever more creative Procrastination Projects, has really helped me combat cabin fever and stay sane, by breaking up the monotony of long structure-less days.


So thanks to everyone's inspires fresh new procrastination projects for they have really been keeping me sane!

Blogging – Musings & Thank You

I love my blog. It’s a record of my sometimes turbulent but most joyful writing journey. Sharing my experiences, in the hope that they may help others stay positive in a world full of ‘No’s’, and celebrating the positivity of the writing community, makes me feel like I’m giving something back.

I’m always amazed that people take the time to stop and read my posts, (as after all I’m not published) and it’s gives me so much validation when I’ve lucky enough to be included in Nick Cross’s ‘SCBWI’ ‘Words and Pictures’ ‘Blog Break’, each time temporarily alleviating my feeling of Imposter Syndrome.

Sometimes I don’t blog for months, other times I have a flurry of posts as inspiration hits. But I write many more blog articles than I actually post. I only post the ones that I think maybe of interest or use to others. Whereas I write lots if post that are too personal, but they help me. These posts help keep me grounded and passionate about my writing. They help me to straighten out the mangled threads of thoughts in my head, de-tangling them and organising them. Helping me to make decisions about what concepts to work on, which first draft to start editing, or when and how to submit a project. 

For me blogging is an integral part of my writing journey, it’s a log. A way to keep in touch with the wider writer community. Plus it's a therapeutic way to keep my brain uncluttered and keep me positive. 

So, if you are struggling with the journey to publication and don’t blog, I encourage you to pen some blog posts. You don’t need to share them; they are just a good way of staying positive and working through complex thought processes. 

Also, I’d like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who has supported my blog over the years (8 so far), by reading, commenting, contributing and sharing. Thank you for helping me say focused and positive.

Writing; the lonely Art – Part Two – a Solution of Sorts

Back in November I wrote a post, Writing; the lonely Art, about how writing: unlike all the other artistic disciplines, isn’t one that can be displayed, exhibited, or performed for quick and easy consumption, and therefore how it can be difficult for the non-writery folks in your life, to comprehend how you’re doing or see your progress. 

Obviously this is why having writer friends around you that help support you and vice versa is so imperative, but sometimes you still want to show/explain to a non-writery friends or relatives when they’re interested.

So after a lot of thinking I came up with a solution of sorts. A way of visually displaying and recording my writer’s journey in a way that can be easily shared. Making the most of the pre-Christmas photo printing website sales, I designed a photobook of my writing journey from 2010 until 2019.

In the book I’ve put photos of competition long-listings, short-listing’s, honorary mentions and wins, either certificates, web-site announcements, screen shots from twitter, to show my small achievements. I’ve also put in photos’ of my volunteering for SCBWI, work in Book Shops and time with Book Bound and The Golden Egg Academy. Along with photos of the many friends I’ve made along the way. 

It’s not quite a ‘record of achievement’ nor is it a ‘portfolio’, it is more of a record of my journey to share with people who are interested and for me to look through in those times where rejections are coming in thick and fast and I start to doubt my ability and progress. A small thing to reminding me how far I’ve come, and that although I may not be published, that I have had small successes and that I have gained a wealth of writery friends.

A Decade Out of the Writing Cupboard

The decade coming to close, kind of slipped my notice, as I’m too busy preparing for Christmas, editing one of my WIP’s and visiting Sixth Form Colleges with my eldest spawn. So I was a tad bemused when on twitter I saw a loads people posting photos of them from 2009 and now 2019 – saying where they were in their lives a decade ago compared to now. This got me thinking that this is a good time to reflect on my writing journey.

2009

The first thing is that finding a photo of me from 2009 was difficult, it was pre smart phones and so all photos were taken with either our digital compact or DSLR, with me behind the lens, so the only photo I have is an out-of-focus one taken my by then 4YO Daughter! 

In 2009 I was living in dilapidated post war bungalow that desperately needed a new roof (and walls and floors etc.) My kids were small, one at pre-school the other in Foundation class, and I was in pain. The pain was due to shallow deformed hip joints, and hyper flexibility causing me to wear the hip joints out at an accelerated rate. In the summer 2009, I went under the knife– the first of two planned hip reconstructions. However, they had to abort the surgery but not before cutting and de-strengthening all the soft tissue – making me worse. This meant I could hardly walk, and as I was on morphine for the pain so I couldn't drive either.

I was however writing, feverishly and excitably. But I was in the writers closet – sort of! I would talk at length about my WIP to family, who smiled and listened through gritted teeth, but I had no writer friends and I felt isolated, like I was the only one on the planet writing a kids book!

2009 statistics

Books completed: 0 

Competition Submissions: 0

Competition Wins/ Long-listings /short-listings: 0 

Submissions to agents and Editors: 0 

Requests for full Manuscripts: 0 

Yeses: 0 

Publications: 0 

2019

We are firmly in the age of Smart Phones, and I have teens, so there is a wealth of photo’s to choose from, of course I HATE them all!

2019 is drawing to a close, and since 2009, as a family we’ve built a house, moved 5 times, done up three houses and we’re currently living in a post-war house that desperately needs a new roof! My kids are teens, one in year 9 the other in the scary ultimate GCSE year. I’ve successfully limped away from hip surgery for the last ten years, I have however chipped off a chuck of my hip bone, (emptying a bin), and dislocated my hip (standing still!) BUT I’m no longer on opiates and I can both walk (on level flat terrain) and drive.

I am writing, and editing, and honing my craft and submitting desperately trying to get my work in print. But I’m definitely out of the writing closest, and no longer bore my non-writer friends and family (as much) with my excitable writing chatter.

In 2010 I joined my first Writers Critique Group, Abingdon Writers. This changed my life. It was a gateway – or maybe rabbit hole to a completely new world. I met my first writer buddies, Jo and Nicki – together we joined SCBWI and submitted to UV2012 – in which Jo won, and I was honorary mentioned. This was quickly followed by Nicki and I being long listed for The Times Chicken House 2013 –which Nicki went on to win in 2016! We all became part of the SCBWI Oxford Critique group, and when I moved to bucks I volunteered for SCBWI on the conference and Professional Series. Now I’m a member of SCBWI, and the Golden Egg Academy and have started a new critique group locally Green Penn with the lovely Trudie and Jessica. I blog and review books, and over the last 10 years I’ve volunteered and worked in book shops.

2019 statistics

Books completed: 4 Novels, 1 novella, 12 Picture Books, (numerous unfinished projects) 

Competition Submissions: 49 

Competition Wins/ Long-listings /short-listings: 1 Win,   2 short-listings,   2 Long-listings,    2 Honorary Mentions 

Submissions to agents and Editors: to embarrassed to say upwards of 100 

Requests for full Manuscripts: 8 

Yes: 2 

Publications: 0 

Looking at the statistics made me feel like I’ve not actually done that much, but combine that with all the life stuff, and starting up a business - and then thinking of the amount of research and re-writes and edits of each project it amounts to hundreds and hundreds of hours.

So all in all, 2019 is much more positive than 2009 – I feel more settled in my ramshackle house, and I’m in less pain. But best of all I am really fortunate to have so many writer friends and so much support, that I no longer feel isolated. Now I know that I’m not the only one writing kid’s books on the planet – in fact quite the opposite. There lots of us, and I’m happy to part of this massive friendly Kid Lit Tribe!

Accepting Achievements and Celebrating the Small Things.

Lately there have been a lot of discussions about looking after yourself as a writer. From Kate Mallinder's SCBWI-BI’s Words and Pictures series on resilience, to The Golden Egg Academy’s Mental Health Month, (accessible to non-egg’s via twitter) it seems like everyone is talking about how keep yourself well… sane.


I like most writers find aspects of the process difficult. The bundles of ‘No’s’ when on submission is hard. But the thing that really knocks me is the nagging notion that I’m not progressing. I am hard on myself and looking at it objectively I know I’m getting ‘progress’ confused with ‘published.’

With the rest of the Short Pitchers at the Golden Egg Big Honk

Progress can be small and therefore can go easily unnoticed.


In my last crit group meeting, one of my writer friends showed me a scrapbook she is compiling, where she prints off all the feedback she gets, sticks it in and highlights all the positive remarks so she can read it when she need a boost. This got me thinking. I have every submission I’ve ever made logged in a spreadsheet, (I can produce statistics or graphs if I desired) and I have virtual copies of feedback, BUT nothing in hard copy. Nothing easy to access. Nothing that is a log of achievements, successes and progress.

Finishing a new WIP in the first time ins forever!

I remembered that I did once celebrate the small successes and see them as progression. I’d celebrate that long listing. Raise a glass of wine to a request for a full manuscript, maybe even mention it on my blog. I’d even be over the moon at feedback, even rejections as it were an endorsement that I was living the dream – that I was pursuing publication. But somewhere along the way I stopped.

My Treasured prize for winning the SCBWI Conference 10 Word Pitch! 

Maybe I was embarrassed that after almost a decade I’m still not in print. Maybe it was because I was paranoid I’d be perceived as being a bit boasty. But mostly it was because I’d forgotten the importance of accepting the small achievements as progress and cause for celebration

Special Mention in the Slushpile Challenge - Thanks to Rachel Mann for liking Snowballs!

So here are a few little things I have to celebrate for this year… so far…

• I won the 10 word pitch at the SCBWI conference in November.
• I was one of the runner-up'ers in the Golden Egg Academy Big Honk Sentence Pitch competition in January.
• I completed my first new manuscript (in a very long time) this year.
• I started writing out of my comfort zone, breaking out into Middle Grade.
• I was one of the twenty short listed authors for the David Higham Open Day.
• I’m on active submission for the first time in a long long time.
• I got a special mention for my new book, ‘Snowballs from Hell’ in the SCBWI Words and Pictures April Slushpile Challenge judged my Rachel Mann, Agent at Jo Unwin Literary Agency
• I’ve entered eight writing competitions already this year
• I’m writing a new Middle Grade novel.

All little things, but put together it instantly makes me feel more confident about my writing.



So please remember. As a writer don’t forget to accept small achievements as progress and don’t be embarrassed to celebrate the small things, because without the small successes they’ll never be big successes.

Starting a new WIP

Writing is better with Friends

Some things are better together. Coffee and cake. Cheese and wine. Laurel and Hardy. Ball gowns with baseball boots. Writing is definitely better with friends.I love writing, but it can be a lonely endeavour. When I started, it was a dirty little secret with hours sat by myself with my computer or notepad and pen. When I came ‘out’ of the writing closet, I was so excited by my WIP I’d talk about my book at length to anyone too polite to stop me, but no one really shared my enthusiasm. Then I joined a local critique group. 

 The Crit group led to me meeting other writers as passionate about their projects as I was about mine, and took me down the rabbit hole to discover the world of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book writer and illustrators) and a wider community of writing pals. All of this helping to make my journey less daunting as I rode the highs and lows; celebrating the good times and helping one another through the not so good times.

Celebrating the launch of Nicki's Last Chance Hotel with Nick Cross and Amy Butler Greenfield

However it is easy to inadvertently find yourself back in the closet with the door firmly shut. Over the last few years, for a whole host of reasons (mostly resulting from us relocating) I found myself inching back towards the writing closet. At the same time, I experienced a drop in my confidence and creativity. So when I was writing my news years resolutions for 2018 and accidentally stumbled on my nearly identical resolutions for 2014, I decided I needed an attitude change. So I made the decision to re-prioritise my writing and get back in to the writing community. 

At Candy Gourlay's Launch of 'Is it a Mermaid' - Picture thanks to Candy.

I started the year attending the Big Honk (part of Golden Egg), making new friends and discovering many of my older writer friends were also eggs.

At The Big Honk with Addy Farmer and Philippa Francis

 I continued through the year attending friend’s books launches, and other writer events. And finally, for the first time since leaving my position on the SCBWI Conference committee back in 2014, I attended the SCBWI Winchester conference. 

WIth SCBWI Oxford Pal's Teri Terry and Paula Harrison  - Thanks to Paula for photo.

What I discovered by doing more of the social events and being surrounded by other writers, old friends and new ones, was that my creativity started flowing gain, and my confidence grew. Then at one social in Bath over the summer, sat around talking to half a dozen other writers I discovered that two of the other writers live within two miles of me. This was a break through as we started a new critique group, meeting monthly to critique a few chapter of each other’s WIP, and encouraging each other.

After watching Chitra Soundar's fabulous event at The Henley Literary Festival

After a decade of writing, I signed up to a writing course at the Oxford University Department for Further Learning, headed up by manuscript wrangler extraordinaire Nicky Browne; meeting more budding authors along with meeting in person folks I know from the Internet. 

Meeting face to face friends from the web - with Nina Oaken 

What I have discovered in my year of re-immersing myself in the writing community is that creativity is contagious, beginning surrounded by creative people really does make you more creative and productive, plus making it more FUN. All this cumulated in one great thing, for the first time in a long time I not only tinkered with editing an existing WIP but I wrote something new. I wrote it and FINISHED IT! And, with help from one of my best and closest writer friends, edited it and subbed it.

Making new friends with K L Kettle & Annaliese Avery 

So all in all, my message is this; WRITING IS BETTER WITH FRIENDS - so if you new to writing, go out now, and find you writery buddies! 

With Writery best buddies, Jo Wyton & Nicki Thornton at Nicki' book launch.

Writing Process Blog Tour; Work in Progress, Springbatts and Spreadsheets!

Last week the lovely Chitra Soundar tagged me in on her blog post, to be part of the Writing Process Blog Tour. She equated herself to a mosquito and gave a charming and funny insight into her current WIP’s and writing processes, so please check out her post by pressing here.

Firstly thanks to Chitra for tagging me in, and second, just to answer a question posed to me by Chitra last week; A Springbatt is what you get if you bread a Basset Hound with a Springer Spaniel, it’s a very short, hyperactive manically depressive bi-polar dog, that look rather like this…

What am I working on?

This is ALWAYS a difficult question, as it’s never just one project! I'm currently editing my YA science Fiction Novel Journey to the Bone Factory (which was longlisted for this years The Times / Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition), trying to get it ready for submission.

I'm also researching for a new novel which is in the midst of forming into a plot in my mind, which (hopefully) will be a YA Urban Fantasy Romance, about Eros/Cupid’s lesser known brother Anteros the god of mutual and unrequited love.

But the main project is a yet to be named YA Near Future Tale, that I'm penning about a group of kids and teens strive to care for the surviving animals in a city zoo, after an epidemic which has wiped out all adults. They have to face problems on how to feed the large carnivores, how to keep reptiles warm, and the perilous task of protecting the animals and themselves from the hungry marauding savages that see them as easy meat.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I believe this will be different as although it could be described as dystopian as it’s set in a world where infrastructure and government has broken down, but it’s not about a struggle against oppressors, but a group of children who work together to overcome obstacles for a united cause of looking after the incarcerated creatures that would otherwise perish. It’s study of nature and survival, which also brings animals in to YA.

It always amazes me that whenever you go into a bookshop or library the shelves are stuffed full of book featuring animals for children but stop abruptly when it gets to YA. Do teens suddenly stop caring about animals? I don’t think so, not if you think of how many teenagers want to be Vets, or veterinary nurses, or work with animals in some other capacity. So I’m writing this book for all the teen (who like I was as a teen) who still like to read about animals.

Why do I write what I do?

I write the stories that come to me. They gradually seep into my mind and take form refusing to leave until I write them down. Most the concepts evolve in my brain for months before I put pen to paper, but the ones I do write are the ones that scream the loudest, the one that want to be told. I believe that if the stories are so passionate and ignite my imagination, that other people will enjoy them too.

With the Zoo book, I believe that I've had the upbringing to write this book, as when I was a child, we as a family, bread and hand-reared parrots, kept lizards, fish, pigeons, goats and even a stickleback. This gives me a wealth of knowledge about animal husbandry which is a great platform to start research from. 

How does your writing process work?

Well writing is a craft and my writing process is constantly evolving and I like to think improving. Each project that has had a different process of getting it down on paper, but the world building, character development and plotting process is pretty much the same. Every project starts with a an idea that lodges itself in my brain and won’t stop nagging until I do something with it. First, I write the first scene that I've imagined, capturing the voice and I note down any plot points, and character notes that have come to be, at which point I file it until I have time to devote to writing the story properly. 

When I do have the time to devote to the story, I’ll dig out the files, and think, walk, and research anything that I think will help, whist brain storming the plot and profiling characters. When I’m ready I do a brief plot plan, separating the plot into acts, and chapters and planning what I think should happen when, before writing. 

The writing is fuelled by caffeine, and the ideas by walking (so much so I brought the aforementioned Springbatt's, so when I talk the dialogue to myself that people will think I'm talking to the dogs!) or driving and I write on both my PC, and pen and paper. This happens pretty quickly and the story and character evolve and strengthen along the way, bring surprises which is always a reassuring sign that the story is alive.

I tend to use spreadsheets for plotting and editing, to make sure that i don't drop any threads. I find that to make a real convincing world, that I need to be able to visualize and even taste and feel the world. So I will spend time and draw, and collect objects to help build up the images in my mind. In Journey to the Bone Factory one character can turn gold to lead, so I ALWAYS had a piece of gold and lead on my desk.

When the first draft is done I start editing, and when it’s ready my lovely critique group read it and give me honest constructive feedback, which after I've processes I use to improve the manuscript in further edits.


Finally my long suffering husband translates my manuscript into my bespoke dyslexic form of English into actual English!

So now I hand over the baton to my two tagged authors…

Gabby Aquilina who I met at my first ever critique group, Abingdon Writers. I now hand over to Gabby to introduce herself…

I've lived in four different countries in my life and finally decided England is the place for me (although never say never. I'll probably get itchy feet again one day!). I have a degree in Publishing from Oxford Brookes University. co-founded the very successful writer's group, Abingdon Writers, and am in the fingernail-biting stage of waiting for responses from agent submissions! I'm doing a lot of baking (and running to offset the cake-eating) whilst trying my hardest not to constantly refresh my emails... 

Check out Gabby’s blog next Monday the 24th March on http://gabrielleaquilina.blogspot.co.uk/

Dawn Finch a fellow SCBWI folk who I met in the wonderful web world…

Dawn Finch spent over a quarter of a century working in libraries, with over a decade of that specialising in children's libraries and children's literature. She was thrilled to discover that children's books come with children attached, and has carved out a career working with children and their development as readers and writers.

After many years of trying she managed to get her own book for young people published and in 2013 her first novel - Brotherhood of Shades - was published to great reviews. She is currently working on the sequel as well as a YA novel about a fifteen year old serial killer.

You can find out more about Dawn at her website; www.dawnfinch.com or follow her on Twitter @dawnafinch

To read Dawn’s post next Monday check out her blog at www.deefinch.wordpress.com

An Slightly Late Celebration of Tell A Fairy Tale Day (which was yesterday)…

Usually I’d be shouting from the roof tops on Tell A Fairy Tale Day, last year I posted a video blog of me telling a self-penned fairy tale [press here to view] but yesterday I was somewhat pre-occupied. However today is a bright sunny new day, and I shall mark the great Tell A Fairy Tale Day, a tad late with this small post of  how, on the Tell a Fairy Tale day, 26th of February 2014, Fairy tales are featuring in my family.

My small people got Kindle’s for Christmas and were reading Grimm’s Fairy tales, the original darker less edited versions and when I spotted them stumbling into some of the grimmest tales, I thought I should possibly encourage them toward more age suited tales. Enter Michael Buckley’s Sisters Grimm series, the middle grade adventures of Daphne and Sabrina, the fairy tale detectives who discover their descendants of the famous Wilhelm and Jacob, and must save their parents from a fairy-tale villain in the town of Ferryport Landing, which is populated entirely by fairy tale characters called Everafters. I ordered the first book for my daughter (aged nine), who read it in hours, and then continued on to book two, and is now nagging for me to purchase book three. Then my son (aged seven) a more reluctant reader liked the sound of the books so much he’s how reading the first book too.

I’m currently reading Jasper Fforde's fantastic first Nursery Rhymes Division book, The Big Over Easy, which is a hilarious detective yarn, following DI Jack Spratt (who has a nasty reputation for killing giants) as he and DS Mary Mary, try to crack the murder of Humpty Stuyvesant Van Dumpty’. I’m immensely enjoying watching the detectives as they try and work out who done it, with an escalating pile of corpses, and growing list of suspects, from Humpty’s lover Rapunzel, small time crook Thom Thumb, to crime king-pin Giorgio Porgia. It’s a cleaver, witty and  quirky read, that takes fairy-tales to a genre which is unique to Jasper Fforde.

My husband, and me and well everyone who comes around to visit are dipping into the remarkable and humorous, ‘Tigger on The Couch’ by Laura James. This coffee table book was published back in 2007, and is incredibly hard to come by, but is worth the search. Tigger on The Couch, diagnoses the ‘Neuroses, psychoses, disorders and maladies of favourite childhood characters’. Of course Fairy Tale characters feature heavily, for example; Snow White’s Stepmother who has ‘ Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) which manifests with her experiencing severe problems with personal relationships and in controlling her obsessive impulse. It’s an entertaining read from Cinderella’s trouble with Approval Addiction, to the more serious Bluebeards Psychopathy which results in callous disregard for others and serial murder.

Finally, my son is practicing every waking moment for his upcoming concert, which is a musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s version of Jack and the Beanstalk. So as you can see on Tell A Fairy Tale day 2014, my family is indeed focused on fairy tales!

If that wasn't enough, I'm off to the fantastic book launch this evening of fellow SCBWI member and Undiscovered Voice 2012 Honorary Mention Liz De Jager's fairytale YA Novel Banished! 

My First Author Talk to ADULTS!

My First Author Talk to ADULTS!

Back in January 2012, I went on BBC radio Oxford Jo Thoenoes’s afternoon program with my writer buddy Jo Wyton to talk about Undiscovered Voices and the advantages of being in Writers Groups (to read about it press here). Shortly afterwards I was invited by ‘The University of The 3^rd Age’ to speak at one of their weekly meetings about my writing. So on Monday that’s exactly what I did…

I’ve done talks about fairy tales to primary school children before, but usually just classes of up to 30 pupils, and they have all been rather small, with me sat in front of them with laptop presentation and props, and having lots of interaction. This however was very different. I turned up to hall and was quickly set up with a microphone, my USB stick was whisked away, and they set me up ready for the talk. I was also given a remote to move the slides on, that had a laser pointer! I sat on the stage and watched whilst 130 adults gradually arrived and filled the sea of empty chairs, trying not to chock on my nerves.

I decided to structure the talk as my writing journey. I began speaking about my love for storytelling and making books as a small child, going through my troubles with dyslexia, and discussing my art work at University, where I rekindled my passion for fairy tales. I talked about how ‘Through Mortal Eyes’ came about, the personal circumstances which inspired me to write, and the aims of the book. All the while, I had bouts of laugher, sighs in all the right places, all of which helped me relax and settle into the rhythm of the presentation.

One of my first books, penned age 6

The next section was about the research of the novel, the reading of fairy tales, explaining why I used certain tales, and briefly telling tales that I thought audience would not be familiar with; like, ‘The Three Snake Leaves’ by The Brothers Grimm (too much squirming from the audience!).

 It was very interesting to see how my talk was challenging older people’s perceptions of fairy tales, and how similar this was to the reaction I get from children. I found this part of the talk very liberating, being able to talk about the darker side of fairy tales instead of having to sensor to be age appropriate for my usual younger audience.  Making the most of the opportunity, I spoke about the Siberian tale that has been a huge influence on the story about Dog-Headed People, and about the very real fifteenth century Hungarian Countess, Elizabeth Báthory, who tortured and murdered young women to bathe in their blood.  I talked about how local legends and places feature in the book sparking a healthy debate in the audience and even laughter – especially when we questioned why Disney had not adapted any of the fairy tales I spoken about!

I began to close by talking about writing, editing, submitting and the importance of having writer friends, the likes of SCBWI and Abingdon Writers, to help you whip a manuscript and submission package into shape, but also to help you stay sane!

Image of Elizabeth Bathory from Wikipedia Public Domain

I finished with hope. The Chicken House Long listing, the importance of celebrating small victories in a world of so much rejection, and then finally I read an extract from ‘Through Mortal Eyes’ finishing to applause.

With the lights now on, I could see that everyone was indeed both awake and attentive (and still mostly smiling) and so the Q&A section began. I had lot of questions; about fairy tales, writing, dyslexia, YA literature, all of which sparked further discussions. When the Q&A was over I had many people come to speak to me and ask even more questions, which was very encouraging.

All in all I was very pleased and relieved about how the event went. The University of the 3^rd Age, were very welcoming and made me feel at ease. I have some work to do to improve certain bits, but on the whole I’m pleased that, like my art work, my writing style was a good catalyst for discussion; and that is exactly how I like it. 

So I'd like to say a big Thank You to the, U3A Abingdon, for inviting me and making me so welcome!