Words and Pictures

Reviews of My Stories from Narrator Magazine

2011-12-03T20:58:00.001+11:00

I received an unexpected email from the staff at Narrator Magazine on Thursday night. It was part apology and part notification. The email went like this.

Good afternoon,

Just a quick email to let you know we haven’t forgotten about you! Congratulations on your piece winning a prize in our Spring edition! We’ve had a busy week, so we’ve not had a chance to send your certificates and magazines through the post, but not to worry, we will have them in the mail for you first thing tomorrow morning.

Kind Regards

Leah

Hey, I was happy enough that both of the stories I submitted to the magazine were accepted for publication. I didn’t really expect to win any of the prizes.

Needless to say, I jumped onto the website to see which one of my stories won, and which prize it was. I certainly didn’t expect what I found.

Both of my stories placed in the judge’s choice prize. “Always the Children” placed second and “The Dancing Suit” placed third. I was blown totally away.

Today, we had our Writers’ Group meeting and one of the group members congratulated me on the great review of my stories in the latest edition of the magazine.

I’ll add another needless to say here. I came home from the meeting and fired up the computer to check out the reviews for myself.

“Always the Children”

-         A moving, heartfelt story. The life of an ambulance officer is sympathetically drawn and the unimaginable grief of dealing with the loss of a child is beautifully evoked.

“The Dancing Suit”

-         The characters of Robert and Beckett are strongly detailed to create a rich descriptive air of the period. A seemingly innocent and charming anti-hero soon becomes the readers worst nightmare in a surprising twist in the tail story.

They were a little off the mark with the first review as it was the life of a police officer but still, I don’t think I could have asked for a better review.

As an added bonus, I discovered that the prize not only consisted of a certificate but there was a monetary component as well. So this makes these two stories my first official payed literary endeavours. I don’t think I’m anywhere near ‘in profit’ yet, but when the editor loves my new novel once I finish editing it, I may just be on my way.

If you want to check out the review visit:   http://www.narratormagazine.com.au/index.php

You can also read the stories online at the same site. Just click on the "Central Tablelands – Spring Edition" icon or the "Best of the Best 2011" anthology. The stories are in both. Let me know what you think.

Bathurst Arts Trail Launch

2011-10-27T19:47:00.003+11:00

BATHURST ARTS TRAIL
READY TO LAUNCH:

(Back row) Rachel Ellis, Karin Smith,

Colin Fenn, David Lake, Cathie Hale,

Anne Glendenning Walton,(front row)

Mary Cuppaidge, Merilyn Rice, Louise

Ranshaw, Marjo Carter are part of the

Bathurst Arts Trial.

BATHURST has A wealth of talented artists and their works are coming to life with a new

Arts Trails initiative. The Arts Trail will operate on the first weekend of each month

starting on November 5-6 and operating once a month until May next year.

The idea behind the trail is the opportunity for local residents and visitors to engage with

the artists, speaking with them about their inspirations and work processes and seeing

their work in their own surroundings.

Arts Trail chair Louise Ranshaw said in the light of promoting Bathurst as a desirable

Evocity, it is important to demonstrate to potential residents that there is a cultural heart

to this city, which we residents live with all through the year.

Thirty-one local and surrounding artists have taken the idea and will link in with

winery cellar openings to give people a greater variety when discovering Bathurst and the

local area.

The launch was held on October 25 in preparation for their first trail on November 5th.

“We had more than 50 people attend the launch,” Ms Ranshaw said.

“Everyone was excited to have arrived at this stage and were able to examine a proof

of the brochure/map which will be placed at the Bathurst Visitor Information Centre

and various cafes and public spaces in and around Bathurst.”

Brochures will be developed and Bathurst Arts Trail website website will launch in the
coming weeks.

Keep an eye out for the flags and signs. Drop in and say hello to an artist.

What I've Been Reading # 8

2011-10-11T23:52:00.000+11:00

Hal Junior - The Secret Signal
By
Simon Haynes
Bowman Press 2011
ISBN978-1-877034-07-7

Hal Junior – The Secret Signal is the first children's book from WA author Simon Haynes. The book is a prequel to the humorous adult Sci-fi, Hal Spacejock series. Older Hal is good natured, confident in his abilities but an utterly clueless trouble magnet. It was interesting to glean a little insight into Hal’s formative years.

Hal Junior is good natured, confident in his own abilities, an utterly clueless trouble magnet, but he is a well meaning and likable dreamer. The story opens with Hal dangling upside down in a garbage chute by his elastic shoelaces trying to retrieve the only homework he has actually bothered to do. The antics continue from when his mother, the head of station research, gives him a secret signal for help, right to the climax where his earlier misadventures give an idea that might just save the day – or destroy the entire station…

This is a brilliant easy to read but exciting and funny story, perfect for reluctant boy readers. The humour is not as sophisticated and obscure as Simon’s adult series but I still caught myself chuckling out loud while reading the book. I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

What I've Been Reading # 7

2011-10-11T23:19:00.001+11:00

Fireheadby
Venero Armanno

She used to sell her kisses for caramels; her lips went for long licks of licorice and her touch for tangarines and tutti frutti ...Gabriella moves in next door to 14-year-old Sam and his life changes forever. There are dark secrets within Gabriella's family.

The story is set in Brisbane during the mid 1970's and delves into love and corruption. Firehead is poetic, dark and beautiful but makes you uncomfortable to read parts of it.
The story is told in parts, the first dealing with Sam's turmoil at the arrival of the fiery redheaded Gabriella into the house next door. It explores their relationship up to the discovery of her secret and her disappearance. The story skips ahead to when a grown up Sam finally discovers what became of Gabriella.

Armanno is a brilliant storyteller.

Two Stories Published in Narrator Magazine

2011-09-08T02:18:00.000+10:00

Two of my Short Stories were Published in Narrator Magazine Spring Central Tablelands Issue.

Last month I submitted two stories, “Always the Children” and “The Dancing Suit” to the Narrator Magazine hoping that the editors might select one of them for their Spring edition of the magazine. I was very pleased to discover that both stories were picked up for publication in the magazine.

Narrator Magazine is quarterly magazine based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney and publishes essays, short stories, poetry and artwork, mainly from writers and artists from the Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands areas.

I usually write children’s fiction, but the magazine was asking for submissions for an adult audience. The first story, “Always the Children” is based on personal experiences during my time as a police officer. The second story, “The Dancing Suit” is a subtle horror story about a tuxedo, possessed by the essence of a very nasty man.

The first story is difficult to read and was even more difficult to write. Sometimes I still see that broken little girls face at night when I close my eyes. I had much more fun writing the second story.

If you are interested in reading the stories, the magazine can be read on-line at http://www.narratormagazine.com/

If you like the stories, take a few seconds to vote for your favourite in the “Peoples Choice Prize”

I hope you enjoy the stories. Back to writing for kids now…

Exploring My Heritage Through Art

2011-07-31T23:37:00.002+10:00

I found it a little sad when my father was blocked by some of the older great uncles while he was researching our family tree. Grim faced, they warned him off, told him not to stick his nose where it didn’t belong. There was no dark secret, no skeleton in the closet, no mass murdering psychopath to discover.

The ‘big secret’ was, my great grandmother was aboriginal. I think those great uncles would have preferred the mass murderer. That is the saddest part.

Personally, I’m proud to acknowledge my aboriginal heritage. Frankly, it wasn’t that much of a surprise. You only have to look at great grandma’s photograph. (I’ll have to get a copy from my mother) The other unfortunate thing about the ‘big secret’ is that we missed out learning about a whole part of our culture.

My family are experiencing that learning now in our own separate ways. My brother is attending an aboriginal studies course; my mother and sister are getting involved through my niece’s school, while I am exploring my heritage through art.

The idea came after being asked to design and help the children at the local primary school paint an aboriginal style mural. I like traditional aboriginal style paintings but I also love painting in my own ‘fine art’ style. So, I decided to try incorporating both styles together – the same subject matter in both styles.

The first painting in this ‘Cross-Culture’ series is titled “Turtle Tides.”

And I’m planning on doing a goanna next as the goanna is the totem of the Wiradjuri people, to which I belong.

Other subjects I’d like to paint are the kookaburra, koala, magpie and frog. I’m looking for traditional stories relating to each of the animals I paint to help me better understand my heritage.

What I've Been Reading - # 6

2011-07-26T21:50:00.000+10:00

Golden Bat
by
Sandy Fussell

Golden Bat is the 6th instalment of Sandy's Samurai Kids series and I have to admit I have been hanging out to read this one but forgot all about the launch date and only discovered this week that it has been out for ages.

I love Sandy's writing. As a self-confessed very non-visual person, Sandy can still paint vivid images in the readers mind with a few - seemingly - casually placed words.

She makes me so jealous...

What can I say, this is another winner. The characters in the Samurai Kids books are so likable, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. They are like old friends you get to drop in and visit from time to time - with each new installment. It is amazing how Sandy can write about a group of children in ancient asia and still keep the issues they face relevant to children today.

One of the year 6 students where I work was asking me if I knew of any good series to read. He'd finished the Ranger's Apprentice, the Artemis Fowl, Skulduggery Pleasant, Harry - of course and all of Terry Pratchett's books so I loaned him White Crane.

He is hooked. He stops me almost every day to tell me about some part of the series he loved. There is no better praise than that.

Come on India! I can't wait.

Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival

2011-07-07T00:19:00.000+10:00

Author Duncan Ball

As always, the trip from Bathurst into Sydney for the Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival was well worth it.

It was a beautiful sunny break from wintery Bathurst weather. Added to this, I got to meet some of my favourite children's authors and had lunch on the lawn with Lisa Berryman from HarperCollins. The festival is always such a relaxed and welcoming place to hang out.

The only slight disappointment of the day was that New Frontier's editor, Sophia Whitfield was unable to attend the festival. I was hoping to meet Sophia, mainly because she has my book Paper Magic under consideration at the moment. It would have been nice if she could have matched up my face with the name on the manuscript.

There were some very interesting and informative panels during the day, and I picked up a couple of leads I will be following up on as soon as possible.

One of my favourite children's authors, Kate Forsyth

What I've Been Reading # 5

2011-07-06T23:11:00.001+10:00

Forever Fifteen
by
Kimberly Steele

I know that there are a kazillion vampire books glutting the bookshops at the moment. And yes, I'm sick of them too but this one is a little different.

I first came across this story as a free audio book from www.podiobooks.com (this was several years ago before I was sick to undeath of them) It is one of the few really good audio books I have listened to several times.

The book reads just as well as the audio version. Although I have to admit I missed the haunting soundtrack Kimberly's alter ego, Queenie provided for the audio tracks. I like the way Lucy's character is developed through flashbacks to her pre and post vampiric beginnings.

I found the book to have a calm feel to it, even though it takes the reader through the height of the Black Death, to ripping the life from a child murderer and finally to the bloody betrayal of friendship. Strange...

This is a similar subject matter to Stephanie Myer's books, but I believe Forever Fifteen is a much better story than Twilight

6th Annual Children's and Young Adult Literary Festival

2011-06-20T01:01:00.000+10:00

This Saturday, the 25th of June 2011 is the date frf the 6th Annual Children's and Young Adult Literary Festival at the NSW Writers' Centre.

This years festival has been given the title New Work, New Directions, New Opportunities. With all the doom-saying about the future of the book industry, a major part of this years festival is being dedicated to opportunities for writers in the digital age. The digital age comes with enormous opportunities for new work and new directions. The blurb for the festival proudly declares "But when a door closes, a window opens."

One of this years panels will address;
Independent Publishing
Independent publishers talk about print books, e-publishing, apps, digital publishing and opportunities now and for the future. With Boomerang Books blogger Joel Blacklock, publisher Debbie Higgs, author Karen Robertson (Treasure Kai series) and Sophia Whitfield from New Frontier Publishing.

A second panel will address;
Beyond the Page
Taking your work to the world through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, websites and video-conferencing. In conversation with Jeni Mawter from Literature Live!, and author and blogger William Kostakis.

I'm looking forward to both.

This will be my third festival and I am hoping to catch up with some of my writing friends. I am also looking forward to meeting some of my favourite authors for the first time and introducing myself to some of the editors who are attending. I particularly want to meet Sophia Whitfield from New Frontier Publishing. She currently has my Junior Novel 'Paper Magic' under consideration. I'd like to give her a face to go along with the name on my manuscript. I'm sure that has to help in some small way.

If there are any children's writers out there who haven't been to one of the festivals, please do yourself a favour and come along. It is a great day out and you might just catch that break you've been hoping for.

Festival Link

What I've Been Reading # 4

2011-05-29T01:29:00.002+10:00

Cyclone Tracy by Alan Tucker

This is on of Scholastic's My Australian Story series. I have to admit, it is not a book I would have picked myself to read. I'm not really into disaster stories - but this isn't a disaster story.

One of the year 6 students I work with is a reluctant reader and I loaned him a book last week that I thought he might enjoy. The next day, he handed me this book telling me he thought I might enjoy it too. I started to read it in the afternoon after work and couldd not put it down. I finished it in one sitting.

This book is not really about Cyclone Tracy. It is the story of Ryan, son of the "Big T" the very pedantic and stern deputy Principal of the school. More often than not, the two are at each other's throats. The events leading up to and following Tracy bring Ryan and his father.
The book is written in the form of Ryan's diary. The only disappointing thing I found with this book was that it finished when it did. I wanted to know where the young hippy girl Soo and her family ended up.

The characters in this story are well drawn and make you care what happens to them. What more can you ask of a writer? I am thankful that my young friend gave me this book to read. It was definitely worth it.

What I've Been Reading # 3

2011-05-29T00:36:00.000+10:00

Plum Puddings and Paper Moons

By Glenda Millard

I've been looking forward to reading this installment of Millard's Kingdom of Silk series of books. Since starting to read the books, I have thought that the Rainbow Girls have had a bit of a raw deal.
Now it seems Scarlet, the oldest of the girls is getting her day in the spotlight.

"Plum Puddings and Paper Moons" explores issues dealing with refugees. It also shows that these very big issues aren't too big for ordinary people to get involved. Big wishes and small acts of kindness can build up and make changes in the way people think and act. If every one does just a little bit, the world could be a better place.

As always, Glenda's writing has it's own magic. Her descriptive passages lend vivid colour to the reader's imagination.

What I Have Read # 2 - "Boofheads" by Mo Johnson

2011-03-29T00:17:00.000+11:00

MATES
FOOTY
CHICKS
PARTIES

Life is pretty sweet for Tommo, Casey and Ed. But things are changing - and fast. Has it all come to an end for the boofheads.'Boofheads' is the story of three boys who have been friends since starting school but as they go into Year 11, the dynamics of their friendship and lives begin to change.

The premise of this book brings back all the memories from my final years in high school. I rarely see any of my old school friends but thanks to Facebook, I'm slowly getting back in touch.

After reading the book, I’ve come to the conclusion that Mo Johnson must have been a teenage boy in a previous life. She has captured the mind-set of all three of the main male protagonists brilliantly. I have also come to the conclusion that if she based the character of Mrs. McKenzie on herself, she has a delightful self-deprecating humour. The Bagpipe Bitch indeed?

Watching the three boys slowly drift apart in the book was quite poignant, especially as Tommo is the only one who really sees it coming. The opening lines of the book set the tone and encapsulate the essence of the story.

Change tiptoed into our lives with her eyes down, like a shy chick coming late to class. We checked her out, as you do, and found nothing there worth bothering about… but we ignored her and that was our biggest mistake.

I knew a Tommo, a Casey and several Ed’s in the last few years of my own high school life. Part of me was secretly pleased for the whole thing to be over with and I certainly don’t miss some of my old school friends but a part of me was sad too, on that final day.

If the characters weren’t so engaging and the story wasn’t so thoughtful written, Boofheads would still be worth reading just for the memories it will evoke in anyone who ever went to school.

Scrivener for Windows

2011-02-24T13:41:00.000+11:00

Last night I was listening to some episodes of Mur Lafferty’s ‘I Should Be Writing’ podcast and heard a very brief mention, in ISBW #176, about Scrivener for Window. That pricked up my ears. I like PC computers, I prefer them to Mac’s but there is one thing I have been jealous of writers who use Mac’s. They had access to the Scrivener program.

Scrivener is basically an organizational and editing tool especially designed for writers. You can use it as a word processor but it is much more than that. It keeps all the information you have on a writing project in the one place. There are character and place templates, places to store research notes and images that are in the program but separate from the actual writing. This makes compiling the finished project easy. There is a cork board function that creates note cards for each section, chapter, scene, location, or character so you can see at a glance what you have and where it is. Because the whole thing is connected, you can plot and outline using the cards, re-ordering them to suit the story and the changes are carried out across the project.

The program makes editing less daunting because of the snapshot function. You can take a snapshot of a page, section or the whole project if you like. When you finish the edit and realize you liked the original better, you can revert to the original with a click of the mouse.

Another fun part of the program, and one that is useful for me and all the other writers who have problems finding the right name for a character, is the random name generator. It is handy for when those pesky, unexpected new characters turn up in your story and you can’t keep on writing until you decide what to call them. Often, by the time you work it out, the train of the story is lost. How easy is it to click on the name generator and find something that at least temporarily appeals?

Although the program is not being released until later in the year, the delightful folks at Literature and Latte have released a free Beta version of the program. There are still a few bugs they are fixing as the Beta testing phase progresses but most of those are minor glitches that don’t adversely affect the functioning of the program.

Check out the Scrivener for Windows page here.

Canada Bound

2011-02-16T21:38:00.000+11:00

My last five blog posts have been writing related so I decided I needed to do a post relating to my artwork. I have been busy over a last few weeks organising things for my first art sale at the local markets. I know, the markets aren’t the best venue for selling fine art, but I had a contingency plan for that. As well as my original art, I put together a series of limited edition prints of my favourite paintings for people who just can’t afford the price of an original.

The second part of my plan was to produce some small and inexpensive original paintings. Framing plays a major part in raising the cost of a painting so I racked my brain for a cost and time effective solution. I came up with clear acrylic key rings, the type you place photographs of your kids in. And that is how “Paintings For Your Pocket” came into being. The paintings are all original oil paintings on silver birch leaves. Depending on the complexity of the subject matter, I can complete most in well under than an hour painting time. (I need to allow the background and blocked-in elements of the painting to dry before adding the final detail though).

So on Sunday, armed with my paintings, prints and “Paintings For Your Pocket” key rings, I set up my stall. I decided as a method of attracting customers to my stall, I would set up my easel and paints to work on some of my current painting projects. Over the morning, I had quite a few people stop to chat and watch me paint.

Although I didn’t sell a great deal of stock on the day, I did sell two of the pieces I was working on. A “Painting For Your Pocket” leaf called “Moon Called.” It is scene of a wolf sitting below a tree, looking up and howling at the full moon. The second was one of my larger gum leaf paintings of a giraffe that I was just starting to work the detail in.

The other thing that made the day successful was the fact a lovely lady liked my work so much she commissioned me to paint a series of sixteen painting for her. She will be taking them to Canada with her later in the year as a unique gift for her friends and family. Hopefully I can one day boast that I am big in Canada. I already have one painting living there.

I’m going to be a busy boy. I received a separate commission yesterday for three paintings.

My next sale will be at the Sofala Show on Sunday the 27th of February. If you are close by, come along and take a look.

I Should Be Writing

2011-02-09T21:05:00.000+11:00

Sometimes following links around the internet just for the fun of it can take you to some unexpected and life changing places. One night several years ago I was net hopping and stumbled across a site called Escape Pod. At the time, I was supposed to be writing my book but I was procrastinating as usual, doing anything except write. Anyway, Escape Pod hosts a large collection of short audio stories. I listened to one or two stories that were listenable but only average. As I was about to jump to another site, a story title caught my eye. ‘Stuck In An Elevator With Mandy Patinkin’ by Kitty Myres. I like Mandy Patinkin so I listened. The story was fun but the most striking thing about it for me was the reader. Mur Lafferty.

Mur has a vocal quality and really pleasing accent that made me want to find out more about her. I jumped across to Google, opened some more links and eventually landed in the Murverse.

Vist ISBW site HERE

When the screen cleared from the down jump transition – Sci-fi talk there – I flushed a little guiltily. Mur’s podcast site is called “I Should Be Writing.” I felt even worse when I finally went to bed, very late that night. I had still done no writing, but had listened to about dozen episodes of Mur’s Podcast.

By the time I woke the next morning, I had made a decision. If I was going to write, there would be no more pretending, no more “I’ll write my book tomorrow.” I would be serious and professional about writing, or not bother writing at all.

Yes, “I Should Be Writing” changed my attitude toward writing, pulling it from a hobby to “I’m really going to do this. Mur’s ISBW podcasts follow her own writing journey and includes tips and pitfalls she has learned along the way, plus interviews from other writers, podcasters, editors and new media personalities. All pass on their own experiences and writing insights. Mur’s site also links to many writing resources and other writerly sites of interest.

I can recommend “I Should Be Writing.” It is one of the most professional podcasts I have listened to. It is sure to have something of interest for anyone with an interest in the writing industry.

Thanks to PASS IT ON Newsletter

2011-02-02T01:03:00.000+11:00

My thanks have to go out to Jackie Hosking from the PASS IT ON newsletter. In the opportunities section of issue 321, back in December2010, Jackie listed a new on-line children's magazine 'Literature For Kids' was seeking stories, poems and reviews. The magazine has themed issues and although I had no stories that matched the current theme, I contacted the editor and offered to submit a cover illustration for consideration.

Happily, the cover was accepted for the February Issue of the magazine with the theme of Love and Friendship. You can see a copy of the cover art in my Illustration gallery or visit the magazine ste at; http://www.literature4kids.com/

I recommend to all the writers out there, if you don't already subscribe to the PASS IT ON newsletter, it should be the next thing on you To-Do list.

What I've Read - 'All the Colours of Paradise' by Glenda Millard

2011-01-26T01:02:00.000+11:00

This is the 4th instalment from the Kingdom of Silk.

Perry Angel is the newest Silk. 'He arrived on the ten-thirty express with a small and shabby suitcase embossed with five golden letters. It had taken him almost seven years to find the Kingdom of Silk.'

Perry loves drawing but something happens and he may never draw again. Perry may need all the colours of paradise to draw again.

Glenda Millard's books are sensitive and seriously beautiful. Stephen Michael Kings pen and ink washes are delightful but Glenda's writing paints the best pictures. Her words are vibrant and full of colour.

After reading 'All The Colours of Paradise' I still have to say that the first book in the series, ' The Namong of Tishkin Silk' is still my favourite just for the raw emotions it evoked. But this installment has all the hallmarks of Glenda's writing; simple, evocative and full of colour. It makes me want to move to Cameron' Creek. I'm glad that some of the Rainbow Girls have stepped out of the background in this book.

I have a confession, part of the reason I like this book as much as I do is that I can relate to this one personally through the character of Mr. Jenkins. Not because I tidy the local cemetery - although I do quite like cemeteries. Like Mr. Jenkins, I work at the school with children who need help to adjust and to understand. Being a School Learning Support Officer (Teacher's Aide) is my all-time favourite job that I have held. I have been blessed to work with some wonderful and challenging children.

Another brilliant part of 'All the Colours of Paradise' is that we get to see things through Perry Angels eyes. Even ordinary things become fresh and full of innocence. Did you know, laughter is the colour of watermelons and love is like chocolate melting in the quiet dark? Well you do now.

'All the Colours of Paradise' is a book that young girls will devour. I know a few boys who would enjoy the book, although they probably wouldn't admit it to their footy mates.

Highly recomended.

Paintings For Your Pocket

2011-01-12T17:38:00.009+11:00

I have found that one of the first reactions I get from people looking at my leaf paintings is;

“How can you paint them so small?”

I didn’t think the paintings were all that small, not really. I was sure I could paint smaller.

Plus most people don’t have the wall space to display really large paintings, especially after they have them mounted and framed. This is one reason why many people buy paintings on the wrap-around canvases.

Next month, I’m going to set up a stall at the local Sunday Markets to sell my traditional and leaf art. I realise that not everyone can afford to buy original art. I started to think about how I could offer lower price alternatives to make the market stall more profitable. Obviously, prints of my work were the first thing to come to mind along with bookmarks displaying prints of my work. I can produce both quite cost effectively and sell them at a reasonable price that even kids with some pocket money can afford.

The next thought that came to mind was to shrink some of my paintings down to a size small enough to fit into those clear acrylic key-rings, the ones you can place photographs in.

I’m still thinking on that one, and I may do some to see how they go, but I last week I had an even better idea. I decided to put my money where my mouth is and prove I can paint even small than the gum leaf pictures.

I bought a box of key-rings and discovered that the smaller leaves from my two silver birch trees in the front yard are the perfect size to fit inside the key-ring. I’m talking a 35mm x 24mm space. I have decided to call them “Paintings For Your Pocket.” The main thing I wanted to do was make sure the paintings were still as realistic and detailed as my other work.

I started work on them last night and finished adding the details and highlights on the first four this morning. I’m having some serious fun painting these pictures and trying out new techniques.

If any of you would like a “Painting For Your Pocket”, or want to challenge me to paint something particular, just drop me a line.

I’ve decided to price the paintings at an even $10.00 each.

Workshops at the NSW Writers' Centre

2010-12-30T13:12:00.001+11:00

Someone once told me that many people don’t realise that people actually live west of the Blue Mountains. He was mainly talking about the publishing industry at the time. Granted, he was a little jaded and being flippant but he isn’t entirely wrong. It is harder for writers living outside the capitol cities. Not because of publishers but mainly that we don’t have regular access to all the facilities of our city cousins.

Take the NSW Writers’ Centre.

If I didn’t live three hours away, I’d be at the Centre every week. I’d join one of their numerous writers’ groups and I would go to a lot more of their wonderful workshops. As it is, I try to attend two workshops each year, plus the annual Festival of Children’s Literature.

Early this month, I attended the “Advanced Picture Book Workshop” with Libby Gleeson. I had high expectations and happily, I wasn’t disappointed. Libby is such a lovely person. She made everyone feel at ease and filled our hungry little minds with insightful and practical information. She also left us with some useful questions to ask ourselves when writing.

Some of these include;

.....• What is it that sets your character apart from other picture book characters?

.....• Why did you explain what the story is about?

.....• Is the orientation too long and complicated?

.....• Is there enough dramatic tension in the middle? (Rule of three)

These questions are just as valid for chapter books and novels.

Libby also left us with some interesting quotes.

.....• “Try and find that perfect – beautiful image.”

.....• “If you are going to do a rhyming text, it MUST be VERY, VERY good.”

.....• “If it doesn’t ADD, it SUBTRACTS.” (My personal favourite).

The best thing I took away from the day was the realisation that I’m actually on the right track with my picture book texts. And I’m confident that with persistence and a little luck, I am going to crack this publishing thing.

What a lovely setting for a workshop.

A Literary Christmas

2010-12-26T00:12:00.000+11:00

It is now late on Christmas day and the house is finally quiet. It has been a busy day - if you don't count the short nana-nap this afternoon - so I haven't had much of an opportunity to enjoy my gifts yet.

BUT…

It is going to be a very literary Christmas.

Santa has been good to my this year, not only did she leave me a new camera, there was a whole swathe of new books as well. Lara Morgan’s first Rosie Black Chronicles – ‘Genesis’, Suzanne Collins – ‘Hunger Games’, Simon Green’s - ‘The Man With the Golden Torc’, two of Joseph Delaney’s - ‘Spooks’ books, Bernard Cornwell’s - ‘The Burning Land’, Cornelia Funke’s newest book – ‘Reckless’, a gift voucher from my local book shop and last but certainly not least, ‘Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot’ by Anna Branford with brilliantly delightful illustrations by Sara Davis.

Although, like I said earlier, it has been a busy day. The first thing I did after the exchange of gifts – and a nice coffee – was to sit down in the quietest corner of the house I could find and devour ‘Violet Mackerel’ Not only is it a lovely story with enchanting characters, nearly every page has a little of Sarah’s magic. She never ceases to amaze me with her illustrative talents. One day I hope to be as good.

I walked around today and kept finding myself looking for my own small things.

I’m going to buy a second copy of ‘Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot’ to donate to my school library. I’m working in just the right class next year (Year 4). I know some kids who are going to love this book as much as I do.

Congratulations Anna and Sarah. You made my Christmas special. And thank you to the team at Walker Books – you know your job.

Accidental Art

2010-11-24T02:25:00.006+11:00

How do you have accidental art?

A couple of years ago while holidaying on Moreton Island in Queensland, I found some lovely large flat leaves in the garden. I painted some scenes on them and eventually consigned them to my art folder.

Last year, I was working with a student during lunch time and a few of the Year 5 girls were looking through my art folder and came across the leaf paintings. I was busy and distracted at the time and subsequently wasn’t really listening when one of the girls asked me a question.

My answer was “Yes, I’m sure that would be fine.” And I waved them away. About five minutes later, I had leaves landing in front of me on the table and instructions for what the children wanted painted on their leaves.

Their question had been, “If we find some leaves, would you paint a picture on them for us.” I ended up painting about a dozen leaves for the children.

The moral of this story could be – Always listen to children before answering them!

But my moral for this has turned out to be – Sometimes happy accidents happen!

I enjoyed painting on the leaves and I improved my technique with each one I did. Now that I have my studio set up, I have continued to paint on gum leaves and liquid amber leaves.

Now here is where the second part of the happy accident happened.

The little one teacher school at Rockley, where my children started their schooling had their 150th Anniversary on the 6th of November. One of my friends from Rockley was organising the event and asked me if I would like to set up a market stall.

I framed up the leaves I had on hand and made some postcard prints and bookmarks of the artwork. I only sold one painting on the day but received two commissions for specific subjects. (A frog similar to the one I sold earlier in the day – frogs are in, I could have sold that leaf three times on the day – and a scene from the Tarana Valley, as a gift for a Canadian teacher who has been on a work exchange.)

Since that weekend, I have sold two more of the leaf paintings and have commissions for six more at $55.00 each.

I think I may have set the price too low!

3-E Poetry

2010-11-24T01:36:00.004+11:00

I have been working, for the second half of the year, helping out in one of the Year 3 classes. There are some wonderful kids in "3-E", some real characters. The kids have been learning poetry in term four, much to the distress of the boys.

"But poetry is gay, Mr. Doherty"

I've heard that statement more than once this term.

Week one was Limericks. One of the boys insisted that if he was writing a poem it would be about something cool! Theropods. Finding rhyming words for that is not an easy task. I thought I would set a good example and write a limerick of my own. It is about young Nicholas and his theropods.

....Young Nicholas loves dinosaurs
.....Even though they have very sharp claws
....He can name them all for us
.....Like the Tyrannosaurus
....With short arms but terrible jaws.

This week's style of poetry was Diamond Poems. Seven lined poems shaped like a diamond about a linked subject. The poem switches between the subjects in the middle of the 4th line. The 2nd and 6th line have 2 descriptive words. The 3rd and 5th line have three verbs, ending in -ing

....................Egg
.............Oval, white
..Moving, cracking, hatching,
Helpless, hungry, high nest
..Growing, learning, flying
..........Black, feathers
...................Bird
..................................by Oden.

All the words were his, with only a little prompting.

I love working with the Year 3 students. I'm definitely going to miss them over the Christmas holiday break.

Painting #2

2010-08-26T00:50:00.005+10:00

Kookaburra Sits In The Silver Birch. Oils on slate

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It's half past midnight and I have just come inside from my studio. I have installed the gallery hanging system, hung some of my paintings and emerged with another finished painting under my belt.
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This one, I'm really happy with - my first ever oil painting. In the past I have shied away from oils. They take too long to dry, you need turpentine or thinners to clean up, it is smelly and just seemed like too much of a hassle.
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Now, I have discovered that I love oils!
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I like trying different things with my paintings. Rectangular canvases can get a little monotonous. That is one of the reasons I have experimented with painting on leaves in the past. I found a nice, oddly shaped piece of slate half buried in the backyard. After digging it up and brushing the dirt away, there seemed to be an image trying to break out of the stone. I sketched about on the surface for a while and found the kookaburra hiding inside.
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What do kookaburra's usually sit in? Old Gum Trees. That's why I sat this kookaburra in a silver birch. What can I say, I like being different.

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A Space to Write - A Space to Paint

2010-08-23T22:58:00.011+10:00

My Studio.

After years of being stuck in a corner, I finally have some space of my own. No longer do I have to listen to what my son assures me IS actually music, while I try to concentrate on writing. Music is a mood setter and I have discovered heavy metal doesn’t enhance the mood in a book about a sensitive young girl trying to bring a

little magic to her world.
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No longer do I have to take half an hour to set up my easel and all my paints only to have to pack them away again half way through the painting so there is room in my

corner to do the other things I need to do. That is the fastest way to lose inspiration.

Now, I can write to my own soundtrack and leave my current painting works out and still have

room to move. It’s like heaven!

The studio still has a few touches to go before it is completely finished;

· I have to install the gallery hanging system to display my paintings.

· I still need to add book shelves on the wall above the work bench for my resource texts and favourite books.

· I also need to rebuild and update my old desktop computer for writing.

· And I have to find a bigger rug for the floor and curtains.

But it is workable already and I opened my studio for business over the weekend. It has most of what I need. A wet area to paint, working bench space to sketch and paint watercolours, a desk to write, a light box to help transfer sketches onto canvas or watercolour paper, storage cupboards, a heater, a stereo, a coffee machine and privacy.

What more could you ask for?

I have even been productive over the last three days. I have finished the first painting from the studio and have two more partially completed.

My first painting is titled;

Opals, a watercolour on watercolour canvas.

My two partially finished works are seen below.

Pickets by the Lake - Oils on canvas & Kookaburra Sits in the Silver Birch - Oils on slate

Tuesday Chooseday

2010-07-12T23:39:00.009+10:00

Choose-day is where I choose what book I am going to read next. At the moment, I’m reading Derek Landy’s ‘Skulduggery Pleasant – Playing With Fire’ It is the second book in the set and so far, just as good as the first. Skulduggery is such a brilliant concept for a character. I’m jealous.
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But, the next book on my to read list is Mo Johnson’s, ‘Boofheads’
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‘Boofheads is a story about three seventeen year-old mates who have been friends since pre-school but whose friendship begins to change when they go into Year Eleven. Eventually they have to make a decision whether to accept the changes and reassess the nature of friendship, or cut their losses and run.’
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Excerpt from the author’s website:- http://www.mojohnson.com.au/boofheads.html

Boofheads
Walker Books Australia Pty. Ltd
First Ed. 2008
ISBN: 978 1 921150 67 8 (pbk.).
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Now I have looked at this book a few times in the bookshop and thought ‘I’ll have to buy that next time to read.’ I finally did buy a copy of the book last weekend at the Children’s and Young Adult Literary Festival in Sydney. It was a wonderful day and ‘Boofheads’ came out on the top of my new To-Read list.
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I also had the pleasure of meeting Mo Johnson and hearing her speak about her books. Mo is the type of person who makes you smile. She is a very funny lady and if that humour shines through in her book, then I’m in for a real treat.

Mo at the launch of Boofheads

It was clear from hearing Mo speak that she – like me – has a soft spot for the kids who are a little bit naughty. Tommo, Casey and Ed seem like my kind of kids. I can point out the new generations of ‘Boofheads’ coming through the school system. And I think that’s a good thing.
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What would the world be like without a few ’Boofheads’?
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How I Illustrate

2010-06-02T23:31:00.011+10:00

I call this blog Words and Pictures, so I thought it was time to let you into the artistic part of my brain.

When I sketch and paint traditionally (pencils and paints), I usually start with plain white paper but this is a digital painting and I usually do those a little differently. I usually start with a coloured background, chosen depending on the mood I want to express.

Subject: Groat.

Groat is a character I have been developing for a possible graphic novel project.

(I have always liked the classic TV show 'Land of the Giants' and thought it would be pretty cool to on day write a story with tiny people living unknown along-side us).

But, I didn't want to write about fairies or pixies. I wanted something different. I created the Scarrow. The scarrow are about 6cm tall and basically humanoid, tribal and have no knowledge of metal or humans.

Back to Groat. He is a very large, scarred and often aggressive lizard that wanders the countryside near the Scarrow's Territory.

Preliminary sketch.

I wanted to highlight Groat's massive size compared to the Scarrow so I decided not to sketch him completely. I thought if he crept up on one of the Scarrow and they turned in surprise, what would they see?

A big mouth and a big eye.

Detailed Sketch

After I have sketched in the basic shape, I add some detail to the sketch to give Groat some character. I wanted him to look old and gnarly so I added lots of bumpy scales, especially around the eye.

Basic Colour Block

Next I blocked in the basic colour scheme as a guide and to sort out the tonal values of the picture. (Ratio of dark to light)

A lot of people tell me they cant draw to save themselves. I believe they just stop before they add the detail.

Adding the Detail

The focal point of the picture is the eye, so that's where I started to add the detail. I sketched over the scales to darken and texture them. Added in some hot red and yellow tones to draw the viewer's eye to meet Groat's.

More Detail

Basically, I continued to fiddle in the detail out toward the nose and mouth, adding some highlights to the darker scales.

This is the most time consuming part of the painting.

The more detail you want to add, the longer it takes.

Final Painting

I continued to darken and texture the picture to give it a solidity. Finally, I added in a dark background with just a hint of stems and foliage

This digital painting was created on my A3 size Wacom graphics tablet and stylus and took about five hours of sketching and painting tme to complete.

A little embarrassing - But Definitely Flattering

2010-05-04T22:25:00.003+10:00

Following on from my last post...

One of my Year 6 test readers, read part of my book 'Paper Magic' out loud to his little sister in Year 2. Then he gave it back before she found out how it ended.

Over the last week or so, Mr Peter's Year 2 class has been doing writing. He reads sections from classic children's literature then as a class have disected the writing to help the children improve their own writing and comprehension skills.

While Mr. Peter's was reading from the Hobbit, the above mentioned student commented, "You should read Mr. Doherty's book. It's better than this!" She then continued to bother him enough that he finally asked me if I would read my book to his class.

So I spent the afternoon talking about writing, and rewriting and how when you finally have a book you are happy with, how you go about trying to get it published. That's when the fun started. I read the first half of the book, did some magic along the way and helped the kids make paper frogs.

I have been booked for a return engagement tomorrow afternoon to finish the story. The first part of the story went down really well. Even some of the wriggly boys sat listening for a good forty-five minutes. I was impressed. I have a little bit of magic tucked up my sleeve for tomorrows reading. (When I finally get published, school visits are going to be my favourite part of the job).

I was a little embarrassed about being held up above Tolkien (certainly not my claim - but it made my day all the same).

I thought, to make my book just a little bit more like a 'proper' book, I'd throw together a sample book cover. It definitely needs work - doesn't capture the tone of the story yet - but here it is.

PAPER MAGIC - Test Readers

2010-04-01T00:04:00.005+11:00

It has been a long process writing Paper Magic.

That might seem strange for an 8000 word children’s chapter book, but Paper Magic started life as a picture book text called Marina Mack and the Magic Paper. Granted, it was a commercially unviable-long picture book text. After fourteen drafts I could only hone it down to 1600 words. That is where it sat, filed away for a couple of years while I worked on other projects.
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Last year, I redrafted Marina from a picture book text into a short story version for the Charlotte Duncan Award. Surprisingly to me - as some of my favourite children’s authors had also entered - the story was shortlisted.
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When Sandy Fussell suggested turning Paper Magic into a chapter book and offered to help with the editing process I couldn’t believe it. She is such a brilliant writer and generous person. Her help with the rewriting process has been invaluable. Each chapter of Paper Magic has gone through at least four new drafts. The last few chapters still have some minor polishing to complete them but I thought it was time to find some test readers to get a little audience feedback.
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Most of the children from the Year Six class I work with knew I was almost finished writing a children’s book. Five of them asked me almost every day, ‘Have you finished your book yet?’ or ‘Can I read your book when it’s finished?’ So I printed off a copy each for them to read.

Thank you Hannah, Bethany, Jess, Lucas and Kyle from 6J. The verbal feedback so far has been very positive. Lucas’ mother told me he got home from school, sat down and didn’t move or speak until he had finished reading the book. It has now been read by her and her younger son Noah.
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The surprising thing has been a number of other children from the class, ones I wouldn’t have expected, have asked for copies to read. Again, thanks to Tom H. Maree, Mekaela and Kaitlin. One of the girls complained today that she had only read two chapters because her mum had stolen the book and won’t give it back until she has finished reading it herself.
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I know you can’t really judge a manuscript from the feedback of children that know you personally. Their comments are skewed in your favour because they do know you. Still, I’m more than happy with the test reader results. All the readers are all going to give me their –hopefully - honest opinions of Paper Magic after the holidays.

I can't wait.

Colour For A Cure!

2010-03-04T01:01:00.004+11:00

I'm taking part in the Leukaemia Foundations Worlds Greatest Shave 2010. Please sponsor me!

The funds we raise will help the Leukaemia Foundation to provide practical care and support to patients and families living with leukaemias, lymphomas, myeloma and related blood disorders.

On Tuesday, a couple of year six girls from Eglinton Public School where I work, asked me (as a joke) if I would ever get my hair dyed. It was their little commentary on my grey hair.

I told them if they raise at least $500 for the Leukaemia Foundations Worlds Greatest Shave 2010 I would shave or colour my hair - their choice which. They thought 'Hot Pink' would be just my colour. I think they were a little shocked when I agreed.
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The picture above is my photoshopped version of what I expect to look like by the end of the month.

I'm going to do it properly too! Not spray colouring or a wash - I'm going to get it bright, pink and permanent colour so it will stay with me for at least a few weeks.
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So here is the challenge to all the kids and staff at Eglinton Public School.

What is it worth to see me with Hot Candy Pink hair?

My sons thought this was too good an opportunity to pass up so they have already thrown in some money for the cause.

I really have to learn to keep my mouth shut!

So, if any of my on-line friends wan't to help out and donate. You can do so through my profile page at the Worlds Greatest Shave site.

http://my.imisfriendraising.com.au/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=340426

Getting Back To Basics

2010-02-19T23:40:00.005+11:00

I’m currently in the middle of rewriting and editing a chapter book. The editing process has always been a daunting task for me. I never knew if I was making things better or worse. That has changed recently. I’ve been getting some invaluable advice and feedback from Sandy Fussell, a children’s author I greatly respect.
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Now I find that I actually enjoy the editing process. And the editing has been going well until I reached a hurdle I couldn’t work out how to get over. In the story, the main character, Marina makes origami creations with magic paper. These creations become real if she wishes hard enough. There is a distinct pattern in the story which sees Marina make one of her paper creations in each chapter. That is until chapter six.
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When I started editing chapter six, I realised Marina had made a boat, then immediately made a captain’s hat for one of her new friends to wear. When one of the other children falls into the water and they discover she can’t swim, Marina turns the captain’s hat into a life jacket to rescue the girl. That is technically three origami creations in one chapter. It ruined the pattern of the book.
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I’ve spent a week now trying to figure out a way to fix the flow of the story without detracting from the story itself. Finally, I decided to get back to basics.
First, I listed everything that happened in the chapter in point form.

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· Children looking at their basketball floating in the middle of the pond.
· Amelia saying ‘If only we had a boat.’
· The hardest wish, Marina makes a boat.
· All aboard.
· Sam wants to be captain.
· Marina makes a captain’s hat.
· Sail to the ball.
· Amelia slips and falls in trying to save the ball.
· Boat is sailing away and Amelia can’t swim.
· Marina turns the Captain’s hat into a life jacket and throws it to Amelia.
· Amelia dries off, back on the boat.
· Home time.

Then I put myself into the heads of the kids to work out exactly what I know about them and how they would react to the events. The first three points stayed the same but I realised their reaction in the story to seeing a sailing boat materialise before their eyes was under done.

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Shocked expressions, a ‘No way!’ And a ‘How did you do that?’ weren’t sufficient. I also wondered if an 11 year old boy, two ten year old girls and a 7 year old boy would actually know how to sail.

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This was the point that opened up storyline to change. The changes have also led to greater character development of the secondary characters. Toby has shown himself to be a little bossy and dismissive of his younger cousin, Sam. When Sam wants to be captain, Toby tells him he’s too small. But Sam proves himself when they get into trouble.
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This is how the plotting developed.
· Children looking at their basketball floating in the middle of the pond.
· Amelia saying ‘If only we had a boat.’
· The hardest wish, Marina makes a boat.
· Reaction to the magic.
· All aboard.
· Sam wants to be Captain. Toby says he too small.
· Casting off, but no one knows how to sail.
· Wrong way Toby – chasing ducks.
· Working out how to steer.
· Against the wind - Stuck on the wrong side of the pond.
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Chapter six ends with the boat drifting closer to a strand of tangled reeds, with razor sharp leaves.
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Chapter seven starts as Sam takes over the steering and sails the boat to safety. That is when Marina makes his captain’s hat for him. The rest of the chapter stays close to the original plan and the pattern of the book is back on track.
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So the moral of this is. When you are stuck;
· Break it down. Not just into scenes – Go smaller, to the individual plot points of each scene.
· Look inside the minds of your characters. If you know them the answers will come.
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What I'm Reading Now! - #1

2010-02-13T17:28:00.004+11:00

Jaguar Warrior – Sandy Fussell

Walker Books Australia
ISBN: 978 1 921529 29 0 (pbk)

I find myself very lucky this week to be reading an advance copy of Sandy Fussell’s newest book ‘Jaguar Warrior’. I am a big fan of Sandy’s writing. She writes historical fiction for children and her books have taken her readers on journeys through 13th Century Alaska (Polar Boy), 15th Century Japan and China (Samurai Kids Series) and now to the height of the Aztec world. .
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To date, Sandy’s CBCA 2009 shortlisted book Polar Boy has been my favourite of her books but Jaguar Warrior is shaping up to take the top position.
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POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT
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The story is set during the clash of the Aztec civilization and their Spanish conquerors. These huge events are seen through the eyes of Atl, a young temple slave boy who is set free on the eve of being sacrificed to the Serpent-Sun God to spread warning of the betrayal of the pale lords. To make things a little more interesting, the Captain of the Temple guard believes the only way to defeat the Spanish is to complete Atl’s sacrifice. He has sworn an oath to capture Atl and complete the ritual. Atl has to decide to run to freedom or throw himself into the path of danger and complete the task given him by the man who was about to cut out his heart. And only help he has is from Lali, the most annoying girl in all Mexica.
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LINKS:
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/
www.sandyfussell.com

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Speculative Fiction Workshop

2010-02-10T00:43:00.005+11:00

BLOOD, BOGGARTS AND BATTLESTARS: AN INTRODUCTION TO SPECULATIVE FICTION

With Margo Lanagan - at the NSW Writers' Centre.
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I find myself looking forward to Margo Lanagan’s speculative fiction workshop in March. Plenty of hands on exercises.
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As a reader, I have always been a fan of fantasy. (I do use always in a relatively loose fashion. I was a late starter as a reader finishing my first ever novel in Year 11 at school). Tolkien, Steven Donaldson, David Eddings, Susan Cooper, Anne McCaffrey and Raymond E Feist were all favourites once I caught the bug.
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I am also a huge fan of Science Fiction and horror movies but couldn’t really find as much passion for Sci-fi and horror books back then. I have since discovered some brilliant science fiction authors, particularly Elizabeth Moon. And Simon Haynes is great for sci-fi humour.
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I find that I still don’t like horror stories that rely on gratuitous violence and gore to be scary. (Scott Sigler could be the exception to that rule). That goes for books and movies. It just isn’t scary. The stories that give me delicious shivers are the subtle ones that sneak up on you. The ones that could almost be possible. Dean Koontz is the standout there.
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Now as a writer, I find myself drawn to the speculative end of the scale. I’m not really happy unless there is at least a hint of magic in my stories.
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Fantasy and Horror are huge in publishing at present, particularly in young adult and children’s fiction. This is thanks to the Harry Potter and Twilight phenomena. It’s hard to keep up with the new vampire titles. (Thank goodness they are on the way out). On the other hand, Science fiction seems to be dead in the water.

So knowing that, why did I pick a science fiction story to write during last years NaNoWriMo. Seriously, I’m asking – I have no idea. Now I have the story in the form of a very rough first draft. But what do I do with it now? Are publishers even looking at science fiction? They don’t seem to be. Is it even worth the effort in re-writing and polishing my draft? Or do I write something more commercially viable?
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I’m hoping Margo’s workshop will answer some of my questions.

Tissue Duty

2010-01-29T23:54:00.003+11:00

Monday is the big day for all the new kindergarten kids - Their first day of school.

This can be a very traumatic time for children and I have been given tissue duty for when the parents go home and leave their babies behind. This is a pretty serious task because first impressions are important. A bad first day at school can taint their schooling experience for a long, long time.

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Most of the kids will probably be fine but I’m sure there will be some tears. I thought the best thing I could do was enlist the help of one of my friends, Fergus. He has a wonderful way with children and best of all, he works cheep.

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In my former life as a specialist police youth officer, Fergus used to help me out when I was visiting infants and pre-school kids. He was good at breaking the ice and made the scary uniform a bit less daunting. I’m sure the kids feeling upset, will be just a little bit better after meeting him.
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Australia Day

2010-01-26T23:44:00.003+11:00

Last year, 2009 - I spent a relatively un-Australian Day of celebration. Just like the adverts, I spent the day on the lounge, but we were watching a Project Runway marathon. No barbeque, no flag waving and nothing really patriotic. This probably had a lot to do with my state of mind at that time. It wasn’t a particularly good time of my life.

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This year however, I was determined to be a little more productive.

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2010 Australia Day for me.

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First thing this morning, I took a trip to the local hardware store and bought a trailer load of concrete, brackets and bolts then spent most of the day in the sweltering heat mixing concrete with a shovel and pouring piers for a deck. Not the most patriotic thing either, - (that part came later in the evening) - but next year we will have somewhere to hold a decent barbecue.
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It has become a Bathurst tradition for families to gather in Peace Park, on the lush green bank of the Macquarie River, to celebrate Australia Day. This was our first time and it turned out to be great evening. Awards were presented to deserving individuals; for sporting, charitable and environmental achievements. There were fire jugglers, young musical talent, fireworks followed by the outdoor screening of a family movie (Night at the Museum 2) on a huge inflatable movie screen.

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All in all it was a productive and very enjoyable day. Flags were waved and I’m proud to be Australian!

A Place Of My Own

2010-01-18T23:09:00.002+11:00

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For the last few years, my own little place in the house has been the back corner of our sun-room. It is four metres long but less than two metres wide, separated from the rest of the room by a couple of bookcases. My “office” is actually a step up from what I used to have so I can’t really complain.
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Sometimes it is hard to concentrate on my writing because the other three quarters of the room is taken up with my wife’s sewing table and the kid’s electronic corner. This techno-marvel contains the stereo, the latest in games machines including Rock Band for the Play Station - complete with guitars and drums and the kid’ computer. It is a rare occasion when I am in the room by myself. I’ve also come to the conclusion that there isn’t a single activity my boys enjoy that does not involve lots of noise.
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The other problem with my current work space is that there is not enough room to set up my painting equipment and leave it out until the project is completed. Packing every thing up at the end of a session is a pain in the creative process.
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Now for the good news. The council have approved the development application for my new studio. We ordered it today and it should be ready in four to five weeks. I can hide up the back yard in my studio to write in peace and set up my paints with a table to cut matt-boards and for my light-box. I’ll even have enough room to run some small art workshops and to set up an evening writer’s group.
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Life is good. A place of my own!
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Generosity

2010-01-07T11:34:00.005+11:00

It amazes me sometimes how generous people can be. I was searching Youtube the other night and stumbled across an amazing band from Orangeburg South Carolina in the US, called I Nine. I listened to a few of their songs on Youtube.

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The band has a delightful acoustic sound. The lead singer Carmen Keigans, looks and sounds a little like Jewel with a hint of Avril Lavigne every now and then but her sound is haunting and unique.

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The following day, I went to my local music store and was disappointed that they were unable to locate the bands album to order in for me. I started a search on the web for somewhere to buy the album and found Carmen’s web site.

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Not only does Carmen have a beautiful voice, she is a wonderfully generous person as well. When she found out I couldn’t get the album here in Australia, she e-mailed all the songs and a couple of bonus tracks to me.

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I was blown away by Carmen’s generosity.

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If you haven’t heard I Nine perform check out this link to the Youtube video of their song ‘Change Nothing’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZhT89-5ilY

Another of their songs you should look out for is ‘Seven Days of Lonely’

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Thank you Carmen, you are brilliant.

Adopting a Koala

2009-12-28T12:36:00.006+11:00

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My family and I recently returned from our annual holiday. This years trek was to Port Macquarie on the North Coast of New South Wales. One of the brochures at the resort where we stayed had information about the Koala Preservation Society of NSW and the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie.

We decided to visit the Koala Hospital and take their free tour. The Koala Hospital is run by volunteers and they get very little funding to carry out their work. The hospital has koala admissions of between 200 – 300 sick and injured koalas each year. Most that recover are nursed back to health and released into their home range. However some, like Seaview Farida, a juvenile female koala will probably need to remain at the hospital or a similarly protected area for the rest of her life.
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Farida’s story.

Farida was brought into the hospital in August 2009. She was found on the ground in Seaview Avenue, Port Macquarie, with a wound to her right wrist and forearm. Little Seaview Farida had suffered a rather gruesome dog attack that left her with extensive damage to her right hand, part of which needed to be amputated.

By mid-September, Farida’s wounds were healing well and she was healthy enough to be moved to one of the outside yards. Although she survived her ordeal beyond all expectation, it is unlikely Farida can ever be released. She can use her injured hand to help with manoeuvring in her tree, but it is useless for climbing. Without the ability to travel easily and quickly between trees and to climb high to seek food and shelter, Farida would likely become the victim of another predator.

So Seaview Farida is now a permanent resident at the Hospital.

The Koala Hospital has an adoption scheme to help raise the money needed to look after the permanent residents and to continue their great work. We were so touched by Farida’s story and those of the many other koala’s in their care that we decided to become part of the adoption scheme.

It is amazing how good it feels, just doing this small thing to help one of Australia’s iconic animals and the people who look after them.
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For more information about the Koala Hospital, you can visit them at the Macquarie Nature Reserve, Lord Street, Port Macquarie. (Definitely worth a visit.)

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Check out their web site - http://www.koalahospital.org.au/

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Updates to Web Site

2009-12-20T00:22:00.004+11:00

I have just spent some quality time updating my personal website.

http://jefferyedoherty.googlepages.com/

The site is a place where I can showcase some of my work. It is split into two sections, WORDS and PICTURES.

WORDS is where my children's writer persona lives and PICTURES is where I keep my art gallery pages.

It is easy to display my art on the internet but much harder to do so with my writing. Posting stories on the net is technically self-publishing in an electronic format. This could cause major problems when trying to negotiate sales of those stories to publishers. I have however added some short excerpts from several of my writing projects.

I have also added some new paintings to my galleries.

Drop by and take a look.
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NaNoWriMo - Winner

2009-12-03T00:26:00.003+11:00

50,349 words!

I was actually doubtful that I was going to make the challenge this year. I kept up there with the daily word quota but I was hoping for a couple of 3000 or even 4000 word days to get me over the family holiday and 21st Wedding Anniversary that also fell in November. I had to take the laptop on holidays with us but I did scrape home with a win.
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The most surprising thing this year, I was planning to work on three junior novels in a series, planning for about 24,000 words each. I was hoping there was enough story in each book to reach that length. After 50,000 words, I found I still have about 5000-6000 words more to do to complete the storyline for the first book. (It will be shorter than that once edited).
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The other cool thing is that I came up with a surprise ending, much better than the one I planned. The characters just led me there. Now, it's time to put the story away for a month or two and finish editing my Chapter Book - 'Paper Magic'
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Next year, I'm booking our holiday in some other month. November is not for lounging by the pool. It's for writing. 9Actually, every month is for writing but November especially.

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NaNoWriMo - Week One

2009-11-08T23:02:00.007+11:00

NaNoWriMo Week One

Ok. Week one of (NaNoWriMo) National Novel Writing Month is over and I am sitting at this moment on a respectable 12699 words. This is despite the fact I have just come back from a wonderful 21st wedding anniversary weekend away with my wife.

Now it’s time to get back to writing. In 2007 and 2008, by this time into the challenge, my stories were starting to take strange, unplanned turns.

I found out about NaNoWriMo toward the end of October, 2007 and entered the challenge with the simple image of the main character returning home from the cemetery where he had put flowers on his dead girlfriends grave. She had been killed a month earlier when a drunk classmate ran her down in a car. On the way home, he meets his girlfriend who begs him to help her save the boy who killed her. I had no other ideas about the story and basically explored what happened next to explain her appearance. The seat-of-the-pants method was quite fun but the final product, though it had some interesting concepts, was a complete confused mess.

I planned a little more in 2008 and did much better. Thanks a lot to the book cover art I created as an inspiration to keep writing. I still use it as my desktop graphic. It’s also the main reason I want to try and break into the book cover design industry. 2008’s effort was much more cohesive, but still ran off on several tangents that took me away from the story I envisioned.

This year, not only am I on track with my word count, I am on track with the story too, without the problem of losing the freshness of the story by over planning. There have been a couple of surprises for my with the story, some interesting new characters who have turned up out-of-the-blue and two of my bit part characters seems to have pushed their way to the front of the stage. But the main storyline is still true to the plan.

The above picture is of Clang, one of the bit part characters. He was an AI computer program placed inside a robot cat. Clang decides he likes being a cat a little too much and conveniently loses his vocal programming and now only obeys the commands he wants to obey.

This year I didn’t set out every scene in the outline, I picked the major plot points of the story and made signposts to use as a guide. I know I have to get the main character from where he is to the next signpost and I work out what events would believable get him to that point. It seems to be working and I have come up with some interesting events I couldn’t really have planned in advance.

Interesting times, but enough of this for now, I’m going back to my writing. I’ll post another update next week.

NaNoWriMo Preparations

2009-10-15T23:44:00.003+11:00

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I like to have a good image in my head of the characters I'm developing for my stories and books. This years NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) effort is a young adult Science Fiction / Mystery / Adventure titled 'Strangeway's Mind Ship'. I decided to introduce two Alien races to the story. This is an integral part of the novel because the main character, Horatio Hornblower Strangeway (a human) is a part of the first Space Service Academy class to accept alien and modified human cadets to the Officer Corp. The growing Purity Faction is opposed to this decision.
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So in a round-a-bout way, the novel will deal with issues of prejudice, intolerance and fear, but the main theme is about the choices we make and the consequences of those choices.

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I’ve never designed an alien before but I thought it would be cool to have a race, evolved from a creature similar to Earth foxes. I wanted the Vorpal to be bi-pedal and more humanoid than vulpine but still have a distinct Fox-like appearance.
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I thought the best way to get the image in my head was to draw a picture of Vix Sorrell, one of my main characters, and a Vorpal character to boot. They do say, ‘a picture’s worth a thousand words’. I had a heap of fun painting her. She is not at all like I first imagined her but I think I like her better now.
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These aren’t my only preparations for this years NaNoWriMo. I have been plotting out the major events in the story. This is my Sign Post Method of plotting. In the past, I’ve tried winging it and writing the story to see what happens – NOT really a success for me. I end up getting sidetracked and lost and giving up on the idea. And I’ve also tried doing detailed outlines of every scene but found the story lost it’s freshness as I tried to colour between the lines.
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For this novel, I’m trying something in the middle of those two extremes. I have started to map out the major plot points along the way. These will be my Sign Posts to keep me on track – or at least help me find my way back to the path – but I will still have the creative freedom to tag along behind my characters and write about the things they get up to along the way.

Great Books Week - Friday

2009-10-09T23:52:00.004+11:00

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Friday:

When I want to give someone a special gift, I give them [name of book] because…
So here goes…

OK. This is another one of those difficult questions to answer.

It really depends on the person.

My wife is three quarters of the way to becoming the Mad Cat Lady so if I buy her a book, she gets a CAT book. In fact, the last three books I bought her were; 'Dewey - The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched The World' by Vici Myron, 'What My Cat Has Taught Me About Life' by Niki Anderson, and 'Cats' by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

My oldest son is a mad Star Wars Fan, so when I buy books for him, they are the latest titles in the many Star Wars sagas.

But, I think this question is about, if you had to pick just one book to give as a gift - what would it be.

So if I have to choose, it has to be Jay Asher's 'Thirteen Reasons Why'

I blogged about this book earlier in the year. About why I think it is such an important book and why I believe it should be mandatory for all high school students to read.

I would hate to be in Jay Asher's shoes. For a debut novel, it is definitely going to be hard to top.

The novel deals with teen suicide and taking responsibility for your actions. Clay Jensen, a high school student receives a mysterious package containing seven audio tapes from Hannah Baker. Only Hannah committed suicide two weeks earlier. The tapes contain her recorded message to the thirteen people responsible for the thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is devastated to discover he is one of those reasons.

The book is a transcript of those tapes and Clay's reactions to them but it is written as a mystery for the reader to work out along side Clay.
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Great Books Week - Thursday

2009-10-09T00:42:00.004+11:00

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Thursday:

I hated … when I had to read it in high school, but when I read it on my own later, I loved it because….

Sorry, but this is not a question I can answer. There were plenty of books we were forced to ... read ... while in high school that certainly fit the category. However, I have never even contemplated revisiting any of them to check if I still hate them.

It might be an interesting experiment though. If I had to choose one book, the one I hated the most, it would have to be Wuthering Heights.

Usually, I liked books that had movies based on them. Armed with a little skimming and the video fresh in my mind, I found I could cobble together a more than passable book report - as long as was careful not to mention any of the actors names in the report. Once bitten...

Wuthering Heights was the exception to the method. I loathed the movie even more than the book. I made it fifteen minutes in before I turned it off.

Visit the original Great Books Blog Tour blog post located on the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) web site.

http://news.naiwe.com/2009/10/03/great-books-week-blog-tour-october-4-10-2009/
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Great Books Week - Wednesday

2009-10-07T22:49:00.006+11:00

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Wednesday:
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I’d write my autobiography, but I don’t need to, because my story has already been told in…

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The only book I could come up with that resembled my story is Peter Maas's, Serpico.
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Not because I worked Vice or Homicide in my cop days and not because I discovered rife corruption in the force or had fellow cops wanting me dead...
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I do however feel a strong affinity with Frank Serpico - morally and ethically. My integrity ended up being my downfall in the Force.
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I joined the police to help people and it was a career I thought I would spend my entire working life. I strongly believe I did help people along the way and there were many positive things to come out of my 21 years as a Police Officer.
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But there were bad things too. Lots of bad things.
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I don't sleep well most nights. There are things inside my head I don't want to see again but when they are on the inside, you can't close your eyes.
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In the end, my bosses - through their petty minded interference and politics - made my life so miserable when I refused to compromise my integrity and tow their version of the line. A line, that did not include helping the people that needed help the most.
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However, on a brighter note, I'm doing much better now. Those little angel figurines with no faces don't freak me anymore - well not completely. And I have nights now when I don't dream...
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Great Books Week - Blog Tour - Tuesday

2009-10-06T23:40:00.003+11:00

TUESDAY:

When I was a child, my favorite book was… because….

This is actually a very hard question for me. When I was a child, I found it difficult to read especially aloud in class. This was partially because I did find it hard to pick up reading, partially because I was a shy child and partially because the things they made us read in school were so damned awful.

I would have to say, my favourite book as a child was "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" by Beatrix Potter.

I had a set of Beatrix Potter books and I liked them all. The text was simple and poetic, but the illustrations were a marvel to me. These books sparked my interest in art. I was determined to one day paint as well as Beatrix. Sadly, I haven't got there yet.

I'm still trying though.
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Great Books Week - Blog Tour

2009-10-06T01:01:00.013+11:00

.....Great Books Week

In honor of Great Books Week, a holiday that is celebrated annually the first full week in October, NAIWE is hosting a Blog Tour with a specific daily topic Monday through Friday. The Association is a major sponsor of this event, and we fully support its goals.
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If you’d like to participate, write a post on your own blog on the appropriate topic each day, then visit the appropriate post (linked below) on the NAIWE blog to leave your post title and link in the comment section so that others can enjoy what you’ve written. Be sure to share your posts in Facebook, Twitter, and other social media!
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The original post is located on the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE) web site.
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http://news.naiwe.com/2009/10/03/great-books-week-blog-tour-october-4-10-2009/
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Here’s the schedule of topics:

Monday: If I were stranded alone on a deserted island with only seven books to read over the next few years, I would like to have…

Tuesday: When I was a child, my favorite book was… because….

Wednesday: I’d write my autobiography, but I don’t need to, because my story has already been told in… [what classic book?]

Thursday: I hated … when I had to read it in high school, but when I read it on my own later, I loved it because….

Friday: When I want to give someone a special gift, I give them [name of book] because…
So here goes…

MONDAY:

If I were stranded alone on a desert island with only seven books to read they would have to be:

Book 1: SAS Survival Guide

(How to survive in the wild, in any climate, on land or at sea)
For purely practical reasons.

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Book 2: Robinson Crusoe by William Defoe
So I didn’t feel like the only sap to get stranded on a desert island.

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Book 3: Legend by David Gemmell
His first but still his best book. It is all about heroes and holding on despite the odds. It was also one of the first fantasy books I read where the author was realistic and actually killed off some of his main characters.
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Book 4: The Edge of Light by Joan Wolf
I don’t know why but it a book I keep going back to read and I enjoy it as much or more each time. It’s a novel based on the life of Alfred the Great.

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Book 5: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
It was probably the first novel I actually read, in my teen “I loath reading days.” Oh what I missed during those years.

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Book 6: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Because it is the best book I have ever read. It made me laugh and cry and it made me so angry I wanted to punch something. It is the only book to effect me so strongly.

Book 7: A very thick blank journal.
So I could still write my own stories.

First Leaves of October

2009-10-01T23:56:00.006+10:00

It is the first day of October and the second last day of term. These two leaves were painted for two of the Year 4 girls, both named Mekaela. They were desperate to get their leaves before the end of term.
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"Otherwise we have to wait a whole 'nother two weeks!"
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I didn't want to disappoint so I set up this afternoon to finish off both paintings.
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The first Mekaela wanted a white kitten with a pink bow. Since I had already painted one kitten for Sophie, I decided to do something a little different this time. I painted the kitten sitting up among the toys on the toy shelf.
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The other Mekaela asked for a koala. That seemed quite appropriate, painting a koala and some gum leaves on a gum leaf.
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It also seemed appropriate because my family and I are off on holidays in November to Port Macquarie and we are planning visits to the native animal sanctuary and the koala hospital during the trip.

Three More Leaves

2009-09-24T00:17:00.007+10:00

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Here are the latest three leaves in my Leaf Art project.

The most interesting - not surprising - thing I have learned doing these leaves is how the tastes of the kids differ. It is easy to see which of these paintings was for a boy and which were for girls.

The leaf on the right was for Adam, a Year 5 student who spent most of his math lessons drawing super cool guitars in his note book. His request for me to paint the coolest guitar ever was no surprise at all.

The only real choice was Gene Simmons Axe guitar, although the model playing it is not Gene. It is the girl they used in the Guitar Hero promotional ads.

Sh...Don't tell Adam.

The leaf below was painted for Lilly. She is the first Stage 1 student (Year 1) I have done a leaf for. Her request was for a dolphin swimming under the water. To make the painting more interesting, I decided to do a split picture showing both above and below the waterline.

Lilly loved the painting.

Sky is a Year 4 student who was desperate for a painting of a puppy. Her only stipulation was that it had a blue bow.

I'm sure her choice was made from her even more desperate desire for a real puppy.

On a very positive note. I have had a commission from a visitor to my blog for a leaf painting of a seascape with a lighthouse, for her mother's birthday.

If there is anyone else interested in a unique gift for someone. Just drop me a line.

I am only too happy to oblige.

Life On Mars

2009-09-23T23:58:00.003+10:00

Only joking!

Although after seeing this scene of the Sydney Harbour Bridge this morning you couldn't be blamed for thinking this was a scene from some science fiction movie. As I watched the morning news, about the bigest dust storm to ever hit the country, I could hear the sound track from War of the Worlds playing in my mind. I pictured everything covered in the Martian red weed. It was a very spooky feeling.

When I went to bed last night, my car was white. When I woke up it had become a powdery rust-red. When I picked my son up from work tonight, there was still a line up at the car wash. I think they are the only ones who appreciated the dust storm.

Andy Griffiths - Robot Riot Tour

2009-09-19T22:03:00.006+10:00

Author Visit.

Any children's authors who want to do author visits of schools would be well served by following along with Australia's #1 children's author, Andy Griffiths and taking notes.

Andy is an amazingly funny writer who takes mundane situations and twists them to levels of absurdity that kids can’t help laughing at. With book titles like; ‘The Day My Bum Went Psycho’ from the BUM series, ‘Just Disgusting’ from the JUST series and ‘The Pencil Of Doom’ from the SCHOOLING AROUND series, you can imagine how popular Andy’s books are with those reluctant boy readers.

Children can be hard critics at the best of times. And if they are not interested in what you have to say, they will let you know. From the moment he took the stage, Andy had a large audience of somewhat unruly upper primary kids eating out of his hands. His stories and extremely bad jokes left them in hysterics.

Andy talked about where he found his ideas. A lot of them involved exploring own fears, like his dread of escalators. He had the kids revealing their own secrets and fears with him. One boy’s fear of having his head peed on by possums ended up being a whole story on its own. (I wouldn’t be surprised to see that in one of Andy’s books some day.)

One of the main reasons for Andy’s visit to Bathurst was to promote his latest book in the SCHOOLING AROUND series, ‘Robot Riot’ in which - Henry discovers that the new student at the school, Roberta Flywheel is actually a robot bent on destroying everyone in the school. All he has to do now is convince his friends of the truth.

By the number of copies of the book I saw being carried out of the hall, I think the talk was very successful.

I haven’t read ‘Robot Riot’ yet but it is definitely next on my to read list.

Thanks Andy for a very entertaining visit.

I Don't Get John Marsden

2009-09-08T19:43:00.006+10:00

Today, I found myself in the position of reading John Marsden's picture book 'Home and Away' to a small group of Year 5 students. I have to admit, before I go any further with this post that I have never been a huge fan of Mr. Marsden's writing. I applaud him because he tackles difficult subjects in his writing, and looking at his sales figures and multitude of loyal fans, he must be doing something right. But I honestly just don't get him.

Home and Away deals with the issue of refugees by placing the reader in the position of thinking, 'What if there was a war in Australia and we had to flee and leave ourselves to the mercy of authorities in a neighbouring country.'

I can see where he was going with the premise but to me, it seemed overdone. More importantly, the kids didn't get it! And I had to explain to them what the story was about. The book didn't spark questions from the kids about how we treat the refugees coming to Australia and it didn't leave me feeling outraged at our treatment of refugees. It just left me feeling dark. Sure, the kids said how bad it would be if we had a war and had to flee from Australia but they didn't connect with the issue.

If the aim of the books is to enlighten children to the plight of refugees, I think the shock value of the story actually detracted from those issues.

Last year, I read Gabiann Marin's picture book, 'A True Person' which also deals with the plight of refugees fleeing a war torn country to find a new life somewhere safe. Like 'Home and Away' it is written from the perspective of a child refugee and deals with hardships, fear and questions why Zallah and her family were forced into a detention centre. But that is where the similarities end.
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I found I had a much greater emotional connection to 'A True Person' It was written with hope and compassion. It left me with a much greater empathy toward the circumstances of refugees than 'Home and Away'
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I know comparing the two books it is a lot like comparing apples to oranges. But for me, sorry John, I'll take the oranges.
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Painting Workshop

2009-09-04T23:41:00.007+10:00

So far, my leaf painting project at the local primary has been an unbridled success. The students involved have been more than happy with the process and the results.

The process being, those children selected to participate search for a leaf they want painted and then request a picture - usually their very favourite thing in the world. That is where my part in the process starts.

I trace the leaf shape onto paper and sketch my interpretation of their request for their approval. Once I get the go-ahead I paint the design onto the leaf.

Of the six leaves I have painted so far I have only had one request for changes at the design stage. And all the children have been delighted with their finished leaves.

The only problem I have encountered is that at this stage, I can only commit to doing eight paintings for each of the Stage groups. So four female students and four male students each from Stage 1 (Kindy, years 1 & 2), Stage 2 (years 3 & 4) and Stage 3 (years 5 & 6) have been selected for my project. This has left a lot of kids disappointed at being left out.

The best solution I could come up with was to run some workshops to teach the students to do their own leaf paintings.

Last week, I held the first of the workshops with the two Year 6 classes at the school. As they were in the middle of their Aboriginal studies, it was decided to combine the two by designing and painting the leaves inspired Aboriginal art.

I started the workshop by explaining how I did my paintings and giving them examples of my design sketches and finished works to look at. My biggest piece of advice to the class was to keep their design simple because without a lot of practice, trial and error, complicated paintings rarely turn out as well as you imagine them. Where simple designs usually turn out at least presentable even for people who insist they don't have an artistic bone in their bodies.

The kids then picked their leaves and went to work.

Due to time constraints we had to paint the background colours on the leaves before doing the designs, to allow the leaves to dry enough to complete their paintings.

The kids worked brilliantly and had heaps of fun during the workshop. As did I.

You can see for yourself the results of their efforts.

I’m planning a second workshop with Year 5 in the last week of term. The only change I think I will make is trying to source some better quality paint for the kids to use. The acrylic poster paint we used for the first workshop was serviceable but not exactly ideal.

Here are a few samples of the students work.

Life is a Jungle (well more like a Savannah)

2009-09-01T21:57:00.007+10:00

Book Fairs are such wonderful things.

Seeing how excited the children from my local primary school were at the book sale in the library today, made it an even greater pleasure.

We hear so much about how books are on the same path as the dinosaurs. How video games and technology are killing children's love for books.

I did not see any sign of this today. And, if the look of delight on the faces of the kids as they picked out the books they were going to buy is anything to go by, books are going to be with us for a long, long time.

Book Safari was this years book week theme and the children and parents of Eglinton Public School did themselves proud today. The Book Week costume parade offered up an amazing variety of African animals, safari guides, witch doctors, Zulu warriors and traditionally dressed African girls. There were also a couple of young tigers, obviously on holidays from India, a wookie, a ninja turtle and even Herbie the Love Bug made an appearence to make the parade a true spectacle.

Today was a good day!

How to Judge Your Children's Book Idea

2009-08-28T01:02:00.009+10:00

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I was just checking out the new content at the Children's Book Insider (cbiclubhouse.com) and there was an interesting topic. "How To Judge Your Children's Book Idea" The article list five questions to ask yourself to test how strong your story idea actually is.

The Children's Book Insider is a wonderful resource for children's writers and well worth the few dollars a month membership to gain full access to the site. The site is American but it still has enough great content relevant to non US writers to make the cost worthwhile.

This is a timely article because at the moment, I am in the position of editing a completed manuscript and having a number of ideas simmering in my mind for my next work in progress. I'm not certain which one of the three candidates to concentrate on.

I have a Science Fiction story "Strangeway's Mind Ship" where the main character, Horatio Hornblower Strangeway is forced into the position of standing up for a group of alien and modified human cadets even though he knows it will tear apart his relationship with his best friend and make his life at the Liberty Space Service Academy miserable. To make matters worse, a terrible personal discovery about his namesake, leaves his father so ashamed he can no longer look Horatio in the eye.

I have a YA speculative thriller, "The Zoo" about Mira Sheridan, a fifteen year old a foster child just trying to blend in and be unnoticeable because she know just how different she is to other teens. On the first day at her new school she makes an enemy of the most popular girl in school. When a prank against her goes wrong during a field trip to the local zoo, Mira comes under the notice of an unscrupulous man from her past who believed she had died as a baby. He is determined to get her back or make her disappear to protect his secrets.

I also have an idea for a junior novel - possible series, "Witcher's Way - Red Ranger Gold." Ben Witcher is small, timid, afraid of the dark and clostrophobic. His class go on a camping trip to 'Bushranger Caves Adventure Camp' The kids are excited to learn about a real treasure rumoured to be hidden in the area but frightened by stories of the caves being haunted. When Ben's pet rat escapes inside the cave, Ben must find the courage to face his fears to find him. Ben discovers there are more dangerous things than ghosts when he stumbles across a family of serious treasure hunters who will stop at nothing to find the gold.

The questions the article put forward were:

1) Does the story excite you?

You will be working on the story for months are you excited enough about the idea to stay passionate about it.

2) Why do you want to write about this idea?

Is it something you want to write or are you writing it because you think it will appeal to publishers and reader? You need to write for yourself.

3) Is this the first idea to pop into your head?

Have you taken the time to let the idea develop? Have you expanded it with 'What if' questions?

4) Are you qualified to write about this idea?

Are you an expert in the subject or are you prepared to do the research necessary to do justice to the idea?

5) Are you writing a story or trying to send a message?

Having a message is fine but if you don't concentrate on story first, it can become condescending and preachy.

So, now I am going the run through the questions for each of these ideas and see which one comes out on top.

What is Tersa? Competition

2009-08-20T22:45:00.004+10:00

What is Tersa?

That is the question. Personally, I thought it was quite obvious and I'm actually a little worried about some of the opinions I have heard. It made me wonder if it was literally time to go back to the drawing board.

The sketch was done as an illustration of one of the characters in my YA novel manuscript ‘Eyes In The Dark’ and I was very pleased with the result. The picture was one that I showed at my ‘Bless the Beasts and the Children’ exhibition. During the evening, I overheard several people discussing the picture and they all had differing opinions as to what exactly Tersa is.

Frankly, it doesn’t leave an artist with a great feeling when people can’t figure out what the subject of their picture is. It’s not such a problem if you are an abstract artist but in art I like cows to look like cows and trees to look like trees and Tersa to look like … well Tersa.

So I have decided to run a little competition to get a consensus of what people think Tersa actually is.

The Prize
A signed, limited edition print of the picture with certificate of authenticity.

I will select two correct entries at random. The winners will be announced on the 1st of September and both will receive a prize.

So please, leave a comment and let me know what you think.

MONKEY FIST BLOG TOUR DAY TEN

2009-08-09T23:33:00.007+10:00

Being fairly new to the blogging scene, I was quite surprised when I was asked to host children’s author, Sandy Fussell on the final leg of her blog tour. The tour is celebrating the release of her fifth book, Monkey Fist, the fourth instalment in the Samurai Kids series.

Sandy assures me she has absolutely no artistic talents but it amazes me how she can paint such vivid images on the pages of her books with just a few simple words. I flicked open Monkey Fist to a random page and this is one of the gems I found.

Edging away, the man frays into the fringe of the crowd. It folds around and over him. One moment he was there. And now he is gone.

Sandy’s books are rich with imagery and as a very visual reader, they are a dream to read. Being an illustrated novel makes it doubly so. That relationship between the writing of her books and the illustrations used in them is what I will be talking to Sandy about today.

Q1. Every author is different in their approach to the writing process. What comes first for you, plot or character?

I begin with setting but that’s a result of the fact that I have given myself a thematic project - writing around the world in different countries at different times, following where my interest in ancient times takes me. Once I have chosen the setting, it is definitely character before plot. My characters talk to me and when I find out who they are I can imagine what sort of situations they would have got themselves in to and how they would have handled them. They create their own plot with just a little help from me.

Q2. The Samurai Kids books are in essence, historical novels. How have you kept the stories relevant to children today?

The time and place is historical but the stories are universal – about overcoming difficulty, meeting challenges, confronting villains and bullies and believing in yourself. Samurai and Ninja is a variation on the ever popular Cowboys and Indians, Cops and Robbers, Good Guys and Bad Guys - although in Samurai Kids some of the ninja are good. Everyone secretly wants to barrack for a ninja.

I have purposely combined eastern and modern expressions to create a sense of the recognisable but exotic. The two words of the series title are an example of this. I also take familiar idioms and sayings, giving them a Japanese twist like “flatter than a rice pancake.”

Q3. Your first novel, White Crane was released in 2008. We are only just over half way into 2009 and you have released Owl Ninja, Shaolin Tiger and now Monkey Fist in the Samurai Kids series, as well as your CBCA shortlisted book Polar Boy. I also have it on good authority there are also a number of other titles coming in the near future. This makes you a fairly prolific writer by any standards. How do you manage your writing schedule? In other words, can you run us through a day in the writing life of Sandy Fussell?

I am a very disciplined person and I work best with a schedule and a deadline. I think this comes from my professional training as a project manager. I’m also realistic about the time available to me. I am a wife and mother. I have a day job although I generally work from home. If I want to write I have to use those hours at the end of the day when everyone else is in bed (although I have learned not to use them to sound my Japanese gong when brainstorming onomatopoeias). My writing day begins at 10pm and ends at 1pm. I have set word count that I always write (calculated form the deadlines for the project I am working on) or a set number of pages to edit. I may not keep the work the next morning but I like to produce something on a daily basis. I shut my laptop down at the end of the Japanese hour of the Rat. It has an appropriate feel as not only was I born in the year of the Rat, but apparently rats make good writers. I hope so!

Q4. When you started to write the Samurai Kids books, did you have it in mind from the beginning that they would be illustrated novels or was that a decision originating from the publisher?

It was the publisher’s decision but I was very excited about it because… (see question 7)

Q5. Do you think the illustrations help young readers visualise the characters and action in the books?

I do. And I also feel with a historical novel it helps provide a more accurate picture in their mind. Not that the accuracy is important in itself but sometimes in not getting the right picture, some of the story loses its impact. When kids flick the pages of one of my books and see the illustrations, their faces light up. So younger readers themselves definitely feel illustrations enhance the reading process.

Q6. Rhian Nest-James is the illustrator for the books. What is the process of choosing an illustrator for a book?

In my experience, the author is not involved in the process. Children often ask me if Rhian and I worked on the book together as they usually think the words and pictures were created at the same time. While I have input regarding the historical accuracy of images, I am glad I don’t make the more artistic decisions. I am not a visual person and when the first folio of illustrations was complete I was pressed to admit which picture I didn’t like. Not only did it go on to prove a firm favourite with all the readers (I collect opinions at school visits and hardly anyone ever agrees with me), the illustration inspired two whole pages of text in the subsequent book, Owl Ninja! I have total trust in the team at Walker Books and in Rhian. I’m happy to leave the illustrations in their safe, capable hands and get on with what I do best –words.

Q7. When I write, I have a very clear image of my characters in my mind. How close has Rhian come to capturing your image of the Samurai Kids and Ky-Yaga?

I am often asked this question and the answer always surprises people. I had no mental pictures. I am not a visual person and part of my excitement about having the series illustrated, was being able to see what my characters looked like.

I see in words. I had heard musicians say they saw in sound but never an author say anything similar. Then one day I was in the crowd listening to Ursula Dubosarsky speak – and she said she didn’t see in pictures! I admire her work immensely and was thrilled at the thought we shared a similar perspective.

I do think though, I would have instinctively known if one of the pictures was not right.

Q8. How important do you believe the cover art is to the success of a book?

Very important. Initially I thought Samurai Kids would suit a manga style cover but Walker Books’ vision for the series had a more traditional and historic tone – while keeping the look and feel very modern. The cover is also very age independent – it appeals to both younger and older readers. This has proven to be a wise approach as many of the fans who write to me are boys in Year 7 and 8 and I know from my experience as a parent, this age group are very conscious of book covers.

Q.9 The covers of your Samurai Kids books have a very distinctive style. What was your reaction when you first saw Rhian’s covers?

I love them. They are a truly visually stunning package. I probably shouldn’t admit to a favourite but I like the cover of Shaolin Tiger best. Burnt orange is the perfect colour for a story set in a Shaolin monastery (where the monks where orange robes) and the figure with the sword between his teeth is very striking. But then again purple is my favourite colour and when I was a kid I always wanted to be a ninja, so I like the Owl Ninja cover a lot too.

Q.10 I understand with children’s picture books, many illustrators dislike authors passing on their ideas or directions when it comes to the illustrations for the book. In your experience is it similar for illustrated novels or is there more interaction between the author and illustrator?

I don’t want to contribute illustration ideas. I know where my skills lie and they don’t extend to anything graphical. I can’t even colour co-ordinate furniture. Or my wardrobe. I enjoy seeing the pictures as a finished product. It’s like getting a special present. I do however happily provide input on how a sword is held, city defence layouts or hairstyles. History is my comfort zone. I have a strong trust in my editor and my illustrator’s feel for the story. Rhian Nest-James does a wonderful job of bringing my words to life. I never feel excluded from the process and have been consulted about possible choices of pictures for chapter and headings. But I gladly leave the artwork decisions to those who know best.

Q11. How important is the relationship between the author and the illustrator in the success of the book?

I don’t think the two roles need to work physically close together. The collaboration could be successful even if the two parties were on either sides of the world. I think what is more important is how the illustrator relates to the text. Can they take the story and bring it to life in a meaningful way? Rhian does exactly this with Samurai Kids. I love the authentic traditional Japanese ink element of her drawings. The illustrations are readily accessible to the wide reading age of the series’ readers – seen as neither too young or too old.

Rhian and I keep in email contact. She is not only a talented illustrator but a wonderful person with a quirky sense of humour. There is an interview with her on the Samurai Kids website.

Q12. Finally, if there is one piece of advice you wish someone had given you when you first started writing. What would it be?

I think I was fortunate to have excellent advice from the very beginning. I am indebted to my mentor Di Bates, who guided me through so many decisions. One of the key elements of her advice was to be active in the writing community. She told me: if you want to write, be professional about it from the start. So I went to seminars, assessments, conferences, workshops and I wrote every day. I am a prolific writer and can always be found playing with words.

After I had been writing for a year, Di sent me an email that said: it is time to stop writing anything and everything and decide what it is you want to be known for when you look back in ten years. And that’s how I came to write historical fiction. I still have that email taped up in front of the desk where I write. It continues to give me direction and never fails to inspire me.

Thank you Sandy, it was a pleasure to be part of your tour.

Now, if you have been following Sandy's blog tour or just reading this interview and are still wondering if you should go out and buy a copy of Monkey Fist? Do yourself a favour, buy the entire Samurai Kids series.

Sandy Fussell's Monkey Fist Blog Tour

2009-08-04T23:32:00.004+10:00

It is now day four of Sandy's blog tour celebrating the release of 'Monkey Fist' her fourth book in the Saumrai Kids series.

I have been following the tour each day and have discovered a great deal about how Sandy writes, her inspiration for the series, her research methodology and some intriguing insights into the characters she has created for the series, especially the narrator character Niya who dropped by on Monday for an interview with poet and children’s author, Dale Harcombe.

I am looking forward to hosting Sandy on Monday the 10th when I will talk to her about the wonderful artwork in the books and working with an illustrator.

The remainder of the tour links are listed below.

Wednesday 5/8/09
Tales I Tell – Storyteller and author Mabel Kaplan interviews me about how my interest in Japanese and Chinese history has influenced the series. Mabel uncovers the meaning of Monkey Fist.

Thursday 6/8/09
Sally Murphy’s Writing For Children Blog – I will be visiting Sally Murphy (author of many books for children including the verse novel, Pearl Verses the World) to talk about book promotion and how to harness cyber resources.

Friday 7/8/09
Writing Children’s Book with Robyn Opie – I will be visiting Robyn Opie, author of more than 75 books including "How to Write a Great Children's Book" and the novel “Black Baron”. I will be discussing Zen and the Art of Writing for Children – my view on why the series has been so successful.

Saturday 8/8/09
Alphabet Soup – Magazine editor Rebecca Newman will be interviewing me about my research techniques and asking questions to discover whether all that historical research is really any fun

Sunday 9/8/09
The Book Chook – Writer, reviewer and children’s literature advocate Sue Stephenson will be interviewing me about how my children’s reading experiences have influenced my writing

Monday 10/08/09
Words and Pictures – Writer and artist Jefferey E Doherty will be interviewing me about writing illustrated novels – the artwork, graphics and working with an illustrator.

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Butterflies, Mermaids and Cats

2009-07-28T21:25:00.014+10:00

Here are three more leaves for the collection.

The butterfly was actually the first leaf painting I completed for the kids at the school. The Butterfly was a request from Amy. She wasn't particular about what type or colour. She just wanted a butterfly.

The cat was painted for one of the Sophie's. I took her a couple of sketches and she liked the kitten in the teacup more than the one in a basket wearing a straw hat.

The other Sophie's brief was, a brown haired mermaid with a blue tail swimming under water. She needed to have a starfish in her hair and a shell bikini top.

...... ......

All three girls were delighted with their leaves.

Preliminary sketches.

I only have one more leaf to do now from the original group of students who brought me leaves and asked for paintings. That is a surfboard with a tiki on it and a palm tree for Roan, the only boy in the group.

I think there is a bit of a theme going on here. Butterflies, kittens, fairies, and mermaids for the girls and a surfboard for the boy. I might have to extend the project and ask a few more of the male students to request a painting. Just to see how the trend of what boys like compared to what girls like, progresses.

What could be better than pudding? A Magic Pudding

2009-07-25T20:22:00.019+10:00

I can't tell you how many times I have driven past the turn off to the Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum in Faulconbridge and vowed to stop and take a look one day. I met Norman's adopted daughter, Margaret some years ago and had the chance to look at some of her father's original painting she had at her house.

On Thursday, my wife and I stopped in at the gallery on our way to Sydney.

The first thing you see, as you walk up the path to the gallery is the Magic Pudding himself standing on the verandah. Lindsay's 1918 children's book creation, The Magic Pudding, is one of Australia's most loved children's stories despite the fact it is a rather violent and politically incorrect tale.

Promotional statues made for the animated film of The Magic Pudding, and watercolour illustration.

Norman Lindsay (1879-1969), was an artist, cartoonist, and writer. He was prolific in pen and ink drawing, etching, woodcuts, paintings and sculpture. Lindsay left home when he was sixteen to live with his brother in Melbourne. In 1901 he moved north to make his permanent home in the Blue Mountains, working for the Bulletin in an association that lasted almost to his death. His work was often deemed blasphemous but his works are still widely admired and collected.

The gallery itself is full of examples of Lindsay's artwork, from his quirky cat drawings to huge oil paintings, model boats to ethereal watercolours and the multitude of etchings and sketches he created for the Bulletin.

One of the most interesting aspects of the gallery is the garden and grounds of the property and the amazing concrete sculptures he created.

I was left with one overwhelming impression after my visit to the gallery. Norman Lindsay, if he were a child today, would certainly be classified as hyperactive. He would have to have been to complete such a wide and extensive collection of creative works.

The sculpture above stands outside of Lindsay's painting studio.

So, if you find yourself in the Blue Mountain's, take the time to drop in and experience the world of Norman Lindsay.

Norman Lindsay Gallery & Museum
14 Norman Lindsay Crescent
Faulconbridge New South Wales 2776
Australia

Email: info@normanlindsay.com.au
Tel: (+61 2) 4751 1067

http://www.normanlindsay.com.au/index.php

2nd Leaf - Fairies

2009-07-06T21:50:00.008+10:00

I have just finished the second of the five leaves for the Year 5 students. I won’t repeat the full brief for this painting here; it is listed in the last blog post. Basically, Alanna wanted three fairies in a garden on her leaf.

The only part of the brief I couldn’t manage was the baskets full of picked flowers they were supposed to be carrying. The baskets would have ended up about 1mm tall. She did however approve the preliminary sketches.

Preliminary fairy sketches

Design sketch on leaf shape.

So, this is the final product and I'm fairly certain she is going to like the result.

Time now to start on the Mermaid and the Cat. Actually, for a project that started as an accident - me not paying attention to the kids speaking to me - this is turning out to be quite a lot of fun. Plus it has opened an oportunity for me to design an art for kids workshop and may even turn into a book proposal if I can find the right spin on the idea. There is not quite enough there yet but my brain is working overtime looking for that unique bit of magic.

Leaf Art

2009-07-03T10:01:00.012+10:00

Turning fallen leaves into works of art.

Some of the Year 5 children at my local primary school were looking through my artwork portfolio and become incredibly excited about three paintings I did while on holidays a few years ago. I had run out of watercolour paper so the paintings were done in acrylic directly onto dead leaves picked out of the resort's garden. There were two simple little seascapes and a silhouette of a Whistling Kite on a sunset background.

One of the girls asked, "If I find a leaf, can you paint a pictur for me?"

I was a little distracted at that moment and without really thinking about it said, "Yeah, I probably could."

A few minutes later five of the kids had returned with leaves for me to paint.

Now, I have orders for a butterfly, a mermaid, a cat, a surfboard with a tikki on it, and a fairy - actually three pretty fairies in a garden, one with blond hair and a purple dress, one with brown hair and a pink dress and one with black hair and a blue dress, all holding wands in one hand and a basket of cut picked flowers in the other. (It's nice to know exactly what you want) Mind you this is all to be painted onto a gum leaf less than 20cm long so the fairies will end up being about 15mm tall.

I had to call a halt to it there or half the school would have turned up with leaves for me to paint. As it was, there were quite a few disappointed kids. One commented that she wished she could do leaf paintings herself.

Not a bad idea.

The technique is simple enough for children to pick up and you don't need a wealth of artistic tallent to do them. Some very simple designs can be very effective. I started to put together a step-by-step tutorial on leaf art, gearing up to run a workshop for the children interested in learning how to do the paintings themselves.

I soon discovered, it wouldn't take too much more effort to expand the tutorial into a fully fledged how-to ebook. Along with the basic techniques, I'm going to document the process of painting the leaves for my Year 5 kids - from brief, to design, to finished painting - as part of the book.

I have completed the first commissioned leaf, the butterfly and its new owner was ecstatic with the result. Her mum is getting it framed for her so it won't get damaged.

I will post a link to the tutorial, one it is complete.

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Lucky Socks and Author Snoopy

2009-06-18T14:22:00.003+10:00

When I was playing rugby league in the under 12's, I scored my first try. That was the day I wore my new socks. Obviously the socks were lucky. I wore them every time we played. The luck worked, not all the time but often enough to make me keep those socks until they were two sizes too small with holes that let my big toes poke through.

Socks - not those socks exactly - were lucky for me again when my first ever piece of writing was published in a very obscure and small print run anthology called 'Infinite Anythings and Lost Left Socks' There was no payment involved and I am sure very few people ever read the piece - that in itself is lucky because the writing was awful.

About the same time, McDonalds had a toy offer running with little Snoopy's engaged in different professions. When Author Snoopy came out, I brought one and he has sat beside my computer ever since. I don't know if he is lucky for me or not but when I start writing and he is there, I at least know not to start my stories with 'It was a dark and stormy night...' or other clichéd beginnings.

I have decided the luck comes more with hard work and constantly trying to improve my writing skills than from Snoopy.

Imagine the blisters I would have avoided if I realised this when I was still playing rugby league.

The Bizarreness of Teen Minds

2009-06-06T19:27:00.003+10:00

My middle son (18) asked me to take him into town today to buy a gift for a school friend - Something to cheer her up a little after her father died. I thought, 'What a nice sentiment.’

I dropped him in town on my way to the library for the meeting of my writers’ group. He was going to meet me there after he found a gift.

This is what he brought.

He was completely at a loss to my horror in his choice.

‘But Nightmare Before Christmas is her favourite show,’ he said. ‘What’s wrong with buying her this?’

What answer should I choose? There were so many. I finally decided on. ‘Her father just died and you are giving her a solar powered bobble headed skeleton to cheer her up! Nice.’

I know he means well, but the bizarreness of how the teenage mind works completely eludes me at times. This is not a good sign for someone trying to write YA fiction.

Kids and Young Adult Literature Festival

2009-06-02T10:28:00.015+10:00

Decisions, decisions!

The 2009 Kids and Young Adult Literature Festival is on at the NSW Writers' Centre over two days in July. Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th. Unfortunately I can only make it to one day. I'm already in Sydney on Saturday night (taking my son to the wrestling) so it looks like it's going to be Saturday. That's not a problem but the Sunday sessions look a little more personal and, I'd love to hear Libby Gleeson's 'Create Your Picture Book' presentation.

Perhaps, another time.

Now the only problem is picking which Saturday sessions to attend.

Session 1:

Publishers and their authors

How do you get published?

Two of Australia’s most successful authors, James Roy and Deborah Abela, and their award-winning publishers discuss the nitty-gritty of publishing.

Deborah Abela & Zoe Walton, James Roy & Leonie Tyle

Chair: Susan Hayes

or

Publishers reveal the inside story

Publishers from Penguin, New Frontier and Margaret Hamilton Books discuss what they are looking for and the real process towards publication.

Margaret Hamilton, Sophia Whitfield, Laura Harris

Chair: Laurine Croasdale

Session 2

Taking stories into scripts, film and web

Plays, scripts, blogs, novels, animation: open the doors to the power of writing in today’s forms.

Caleb Lewis, William Kostakis, W “Chewie” Chan, Melina Marchetta
Chair: Susanne Gervay

or

How writers can write for awards,
entertainment, education and sales

Three leading crime, romance and history authors reveal their markets, strategies and successes.
Laurine Croasdale, Gabrielle Lord, Chris Cheng Chair: Maire Sheehan

Session 3

X-factor rules for children's writing

Discover the X-factors that get books loved and published – from new idea to inspiring a publisher.

Cathie Tasker, Ursula Dubosarsky, Leonie Tyle, Deborah Abela
Chair: Val Noake

or

Fantasy: creating new worlds to explore our own

Australian fantasy authors expose how they create their stories and capture the imagination of the world.
Garth Nix, Kate Forsyth, Richard Harland, Jenny Hale Chair: Angie Schiavone

Session 4

Stars of picture books reveal their secrets

The inside story to writing and understanding picture books by some of the world’s best.

Tohby Riddle, Ursula Dubosarsky, Libby Gleeson
Chair: Margaret Hamilton

or

Stars of youth literature reveal their secrets

You’re invited to hear the inside story of how some of the world’s best authors create kids and YA literature.

Garth Nix, Gabrielle Lord, James Roy
Chair: Mylee Joseph

(session details obtained from NSW Writer' Centre web site)
http://www.nswwriterscentre.org.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=643&nav_cat_id=335&nav_top_id=57

So far I'm leaning toward

Publishers reveal the inside story
Taking stories into scripts, film and web
X-factor rules for children's writing
Stars of picture books reveal their secrets

Those choices may all change on the day. Either way, it should be a great day.

Education Week

2009-05-30T18:49:00.003+10:00

Buy a book for your school library:

There are always things schools want that require funds. New computers, interactive whiteboards, teacher resources, sporting equipment, the list goes on. Often, the place that misses out is the library and the students are left with outdated and worn books to read.

In today's digital world, it is hard enough to entice children into reading for pleasure and it is harder still if the books you want them to read have been at the school longer than they have.

I don't know if all schools do this but my local Primary school, Eglinton Public has a tradition during Education Week where students can purchase a book to donate back to the school library.

I think this is a wonderful idea. Not only does the library have a regular supply of new books, they get topical books that the students actually want to read.

During open day on Thursday, the local book store set up a display in front of the library of new release books made up of the librarian's wish list of fiction and non-fiction titles. During the day, student would browse with their parents and select the books they want to read.

What's in it for the students? Their library ends up being one of the best school libraries in the area. Plus the student donating the book get to be the first to borrow it.
Some people would say that's not a lot of incentive BUT it seems to be enough to make the idea work. Books were flying off the display. I even got into the action and donated a couple of books myself.

I donated a copy of Sandy Fussell's 'Polar Boy' because I couldn't believe the library didn't already have a copy of this wonderful book. And I donated a copy of Sue Whiting's 'Freaky' because it is such a boy book, full of gross and creepy things.

Dusty the Driveway-Coloured Cat

2009-05-18T08:30:00.004+10:00

Just a quick piece today.

I was backing out of my driveway the other day and only just noticed my neighbour's Siamese cat, Herbie snoozing peacefully in the middle of my driveway. I actually had to get out of the car and shoo him away. Stupid cat.

Last night I had a brainstorm. When I recovered, I started writing my next picture book text, ‘Dusty the Driveway-coloured Cat.’ (Thought I’d change his name so he wouldn’t be too embarrassed.)

Don’t worry, I probably won’t run over him in the story, unless … he keeps doing his business in my yard.

I can see the illustrations really clearly in my head, so that is a good thing.

Teaser Tuesday # 6 - TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY

2009-05-05T23:16:00.007+10:00

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This weeks Teaser Tuesday is the New York Times Bestseller – ‘Thirteen Reasons Why’, the debut novel by Californian author Jay Asher. This novel is one I have been hanging out for since I read the reviews last month. It finally arrived today.

The novel deals with teen suicide and taking responsibility for your actions. I have to admit, this is not the most uplifting topic in the world but the premise of the book intrigued me enough to order it direct from the US even with the lousy exchange rate.

What was so intriguing? There are two main characters. Clay Jensen, a high school student who receives a mysterious package containing seven audio tapes recorded by the second main character, Hannah Baker. Only Hannah committed suicide two weeks earlier. The tapes contain her recorded message to the thirteen people responsible for the thirteen reasons why she killed herself. Clay is devastated to discover he is one of those reasons.

Excerpt:

Wait. Wait. I need to think.

I pick at a speck of dry orange paint on the workbench. Why am I listening to this? I mean, why put myself through this? Why not just pop the tape out of the stereo and throw the entire box of them in the trash?

I swallow hard. Tears sting at the corners of my eyes.
Because it's Hannah's voice. A voice I thought I'd never hear again.

I can't throw that away.

Now, that's a little more than the two sentence excerpt I was supposed to write but... Well no excuses, I cheated.

You Can't Judge A Book By It's Blurb

2009-05-03T23:38:00.003+10:00

There is an old saying, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover.’ Well, I have a new saying for you. ‘You can’t judge a book by its blurb.’

I know what you’re going to say. ‘Jeff found a book that didn’t live up to his expectations from reading the blurb.’ Wrong!

In fact it is the exact opposite.

I want you to play a little game: - Pretend you are an editor looking for a new science fiction novel for your book list. Now pretend an author bails you up in an elevator and you make the mistake of asking him what his manuscript is about.

First, let’s think about what makes for good science fiction.
· Action
· Space battles
· High tech. gadgets and weaponry
· Aliens
· Danger and conflict
· A vicious enemy to defeat.

Well, that’s a start.

Now slip back into your role as editor. What if the author told you the main character is a young man living on a company planet. His mother is killed in an accident and because he is not employed by the company he is forced to leave the planet.

An excellent start. (Spoilers imminent!)

The rest of the plot follows like this. The MC signs on to a merchant ship as a galley hand. He is accepted by the crew, treated fairly, makes friends and gets on well with everyone. He really enjoys his new life on board ship and the climax of the story is!

Get this!

He helps organise a market stall for his shipmates and himself to sell personal trade goods while they are stopped at the space stations along their trade route.

Where is the action? – well there isn’t a lot.
Where are the space battles? – obviously somewhere else in the vast universe.
Where are the high tech. gadgets? – Unless you consider a coffee urn high tech. then they are pretty thin on the deck.
Where are the aliens? – there are none.
Where is the danger and conflict? – none of that either.
Where is the vicious enemy? – obviously off in that somewhere else in the vast universe where the space battles are going on.

How fast would you scramble out of the elevator when the doors finally opened?

This is probably why Nathan Lowell’s book ‘Quarter Share’ is not available as a print book yet. It is available as a FREE audio book - along with his other titles in the ‘Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper’ series ‘Half Share’, ‘Full Share’, and ‘Double Share’ and their companion book, ‘South Coast’ the first in the ‘Shaman's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper’ series – from http://www.podiobooks.com/

I started listening to ‘Quarter Share’ with very few expectations, even though it was recommended as a good book. Unless Nathan is using some form of subliminal mind control, this is one of the most interesting and enthralling science fictions novels I have ever come across. Honestly, not a lot actually happens, there is not really any conflict to speak of and the climax sounds kind of lame. Still, I could not put the story down. I listened until my ears nearly bled – to the entire series – TWICE. My wife hates science fiction. She loved the series too.

I can't tell you why this is such a great series. I don't know - It just IS!

All we need now is an editor on crutches who can’t get out of that elevator.

Please, do yourself a favour and visit the Podiobooks site and have a listen to ‘Quarter Share’ It doesn’t cost anything. What’s it going to hurt?
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Nathan Lowell’s web site - http://solarclipper.com/

Happy listening.

Ironfest

2009-05-01T22:32:00.016+10:00

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Ironfest 2009 - Lithgow

The brainchild of artist/sculptor and present festival director, Macgregor Ross, Ironfest was first held in April of 2000 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the birth of steel in Australia, in Lithgow.Comprising of an exhibition of metal sculpture, paintings and drawings accompanied by blacksmith demonstrations by artist blacksmith Harry Piers, and metal music by local band, ‘The Mullpigs; around 25 artists participated and approximately 400 visitors attended.

This years event saw over 12,000 visitors attend during a weekend of unsettled weather and a constant biting cold wind. Imagine if the weather was pleasent.

http://www.ironfest.com.au/index.html

One of the highlights of the Ironfest weekend would have to be the jousting.

Jousting is a competition between two knights on horse-back, where each knight tries to knock the other off his mount or score point by breaking a lance on specified target areas on their opponent. Jousting was at the peak of its popularity in the 14th to 16th centuries. (From Ironfest website)

Jousting competetor, Phillip Oliver

Another of the Ironfest attractions is the Battle of Lithgow - Napoleonic battle re-enactment.

It is the biggest annual Napoleonic battle re-enactment to take place in Australia, involving participants from all around the World. The re-enactment takes visitors back in time to experience what it was like to be on a military campaign in the 19th century; the fighting, the thunder of cannons, smell the smell of gunpowder, the marching and the camping.

Other parts of the display include a 19th century field hospital, kitchen and smithy. The uniforms and equipment are all historically accurate.

Seen here are a mixed regiment of Brittish troups preparing for the battle with cannons thundering and some members of the 95th Rifle Regiment in their camp.

As a fan of the Bernard Cornwell 'Sharpe' books, the 95th Rifles were one of my personal favourite displays.

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Even with the inclement weather, the trip to Ironfest was well worth the effort. The events were spectacular and the displays were as authentic as you can get without stealing a time-machine. The participants happily gave their time to talk to visitor and answer questions.

Finally, me trying to work out how I could manage to walk out with this set of armour without being noticed.

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Teaser Tuesday # 5 In the Wake of the Mary Celeste

2009-04-29T00:52:00.005+10:00

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The Teaser Tuesdays meme is hosted by Should Be Reading. It's easy and fun. Open your current read at a random page and share two sentences from somewhere between lines 7 and 12. There's one important rule - no spoilers!

This weeks Teaser Tuesday tid-bit is 'In the Wake of the Mary Celeste' a picture book for older readers writen by Gary Crew (on of my all time favourite authors) and illustrated by Robert Ingpen.

This is an interesting picture book concept. It is written in the form of a letter to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from Arthur Briggs, the son of the Mary Celeste's captain.

Excerpt:

It is too cruel.

I see you pause in your reading to shake your head,

thinking that I protest too much. If that is so, let me

remind you of why I cannot forget. Why I still feel

pain. Why, even as an adult, I still grieve for my loved

ones, daily ...

Happy reading.

Teaser Tuesday #4 - Polar Boy

2009-04-22T22:39:00.004+10:00

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This weeks Teaser Tuesday offering (OK, I know it's Wednesday already, I'm running a little behind) is Sandy Fussell's Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Younger Reader Book of the Year 2009 shortlisted book, Polar Boy.

I'm reading Polar Boy for the second time and I'm enjoying it as much, if not more this time around. Sandy's writing is tight but rich with vivid imagery and the story is full of characters that touch the reader. The standard of books on this years shortlist is exceptional with some big name children's authors in the Younger Reader section: Morris Gleitzman, Glenda Millard and Emily Rodda to name a few. Although I'm a fan of all three, I think there is something special about Polar Boy that could see it take the honours.

Set in a 13th century polar community, a young boy's
destiny transforms him from a frightened child into a
courageous hero.

Iluak, a Too-lee boy, has been told by his grandmother
that it is his fate to save his people from a bear. But the
mere thought of a polar bear makes Iluak’s stomach
churn and he lives in fear of this destined encounter.
When Illuak summons the courage to rescue a Northman
(Viking) child from a polar bear he realises there is a far
greater challenge involved in the prophecy -- two very
different cultures are about to collide head-on.

Excerpt:

My grandmother is a powerful shaman - village healer, priestess and prophet - the queen of the ice. At night, when the village sleeps, Nana walks among the stars and talks to the souls of our ancestors.

Sometimes when she wakes in the morning, she looks like she has travelled a thousand miles. Her eyes are tired and her lips are swolen with the cold. So I make Nana a cup of hot tea. I like the way she slurps it down and doesn't care if it dribbles from her chin to her coat.

Good luck Sandy. Being shortlisted is a wonderful achievement, I hope Polar Boy wins the award.

JED's Author Insights # 1 Simon Haynes

2009-04-19T23:57:00.006+10:00

As a relatively new blog, Words and Pictures has initially been a little random but I am slowly working out the kinks and details. Teaser Tuesday was a good start, now I have come up with a new, hopefully regular segment for the blog.

JED’s (That’s me) Author Insights.

Luckily, I have become acquainted with a number of published authors since my decision to become more professional with my writing and try to make a serious career as a children’s author. Part of this process is asking questions, learning to avoid the pitfalls established writers have already stumbled on. I have learned a lot thanks to the generosity these busy people have shown me.

Simon Haynes
Western Australian based author of the SF/Humour 'Hal Spacejock' novels, published by Fremantle Press and distributed by Penguin Australia.

I interviewed Simon some time ago and posted the full interview HERE.

Please take the time to look at the interview and I urge you to read Simon’s books. It is amazing how many strange looks you get after bursting out in spontaneous laughter from the antics of the hapless Hal Spacejock – probably the most clueless freighter pilot in the known universe – and Clunk, his battered but brilliant android sidekick.

Simon and Freemantle Arts Centre Press have graciously offered the first book in the Hal Spacejock series as a FREE downloadable E-Book

Simon's books:

Making It Good Enough To Publish

2009-04-17T09:48:00.001+10:00

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It is often said that writing books is hard. In a way it is. On top of the necessary technical skills required, a writer needs commitment, determination and persistence to write a book. Many, probably most, books never see completion. Quite a few of my own attempts, especially the earlier ones, have died a natural death and never reached maturity. Many more books though completed by their writers, will never see publication – BECAUSE – they are just not good enough.

Writing the book is realistically the easy part.

I could probably build you a table and it would be suitable enough to eat off but because I don’t have the carpentry skills to finish it off, to sand and polish it to a professional standard, I could never hope to sell it in a furniture store.

Books are the same. The hard part of writing, well for me at least, is turning the metaphorical diamond-in-the-rough into a polished gem of a book that will dazzle editors and readers alike.

Knowing what to cut and how to polish, I am learning, is a complete skill set in itself. And one I am not entirely confident I possess – YET.

I have a number of completed manuscripts at present; several picture book texts, a couple of chapter books, a mid grade and a young adult novel. During the editing process of these, I am often overcome with the worry my rewriting is actually detracting from, rather than improving the work. As my confidence wains, so does my effectiveness as an editor.

So, this weekend I have enrolled in the “Making It Good Enough To Publish” workshop at the New South Wales Writers’ Centre with YA novelist Melaina Faranda. (Author of The Circle series and a further six books coming out this year).

The spiel about the workshop states;

Often it comes down to a few simple mistakes that mark out the amateur from the pro. Race through a dynamic, non-stop self-editing workout that gets results! Learn how to keep up pace and hurdle common literary pitfalls, as well as push-up pointers for creating three dimensional characters and enriching stories with sensory writing to achieve a personal best. Train yourself to recognise flaws in your writing and troubleshoot in order to win the trifecta – an addictive story with a great plot, pacing and characterisation. Strenuous self-editing exercises will enable you to dig beyond stereotypical story slush to find true gold.

Hopefully, the workshop will point me in the right direction and give me the confidence to finish editing the manuscripts I have mounting up beside me.

I’ll let you know after the workshop.
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Teaser Tuesday

2009-04-14T14:43:00.000+10:00

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This weeks Teaser Tuesday excerpt is from the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

Warning: Small spoiler.

Coraline and her parents move into a new apartment. Coraline's parents are always busy with their work and pay her little attention. Isolated, Coraline goes off to explore. She meets the other inhabitants of the house, Miss Miriam Forcible and Miss April Spink, two elderly women retired from the stage and an even older man named Mister Bobo, who trains mice to play music. She finds a locked door in the drawing room, though the entrance beyond is bricked up. The next day she takes the key to the door, opens it, and finds a dark corridor leading to an apartment identical to her own. This alternate world is inhabited by her Other Mother and Other Father, who are near-replicas of her real parents, except they have buttons for eyes. These Other parents at first seem more interesting, fun and caring than her real parents.

Excerpt:

Coraline also explored for animals. She found a hedgehog and a snake skin, but no snake and a rock that looked just like frog and a toad that looked just like a rock. There was also a haughty black cat who would sit on walls and tree stumps and watch her, but would slip away if ever she went over to try and play with it.

That was how she spent the first two weeks in the house, exploring the garden and the grounds.

A wonderful book, soon to be a movie.

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Australian's For Australian Books

2009-04-12T22:26:00.000+10:00

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Tara Moss, author of bestselling crime noves Fetish, Split, Covet and Hit, has made her feeling clear on the topic of territorial copyright by encouraging Australians involved in the writing and publishing industry to add their voice to the 270 + submissions to the Productivity Commission into Australian territorial copyright for books.

Tara Tweeted the details of a petition being compiled to let the Productivity Commission know how important this issue is. The details of the petition are located at http://www.ausbooks.com.au/petition.php

Apparently the Productivity Commission "has recommended that territorial copyright for books only last 12 months. And at the same time it admits there is no evidence territorial copyright makes books more expensive!

Limiting territorial copyright to 12 months would be very destructive. Again, it would destroy the investment security that allows Australian publishers to invest in and develop Australian authors, illustrators and editors, and it would export jobs – just what we need in a recession!"

This is not good enough. If you support territorial copyright - Please visit the site and spend the one minute it take to complete the petition.

The wording of the petition is displayed here

I support Australians for Australian Books. I want to
keep a strong Australian book industry developing
and supporting Australian authors, illustrators and
editors, providing a wide range of books at competitive
prices through a wide network of big and small book-
sellers. I strongly support retaining full Australian
territorial copyright for books.

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Going Potty

2009-04-09T23:12:00.000+10:00

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I'm going potty but not in the head this time - thankfully.

Potting actually. My wife and I have signed up for a two day pottery course over the Easter weekend. I have to say that we have both been looking forward to it. I've even been tempted to run off the video shop to grab a copy of Ghost.

I hope our pottery weekend is that much fun.

My wife tells everyone she has no creative talent at all and is fully expecting to create a Picaso-esk bowl (with both its eyes on one side of its nose). I'm confident it will turn out better than that.

I've dabbled with sculpting clay; the cast of 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' and half the Star Trek Federation fleet to top birthday cakes for my children. But this should be a different experience. Relaxing...

# Note to parents - plain birthday cakes with icing and candles are what you want to stick to. I did a fancy decoration for one birthday cake. Each one from then on needed to be bigger and better. The boys kept raising the bar of acceptability.

Making Marina

2009-04-09T14:18:00.000+10:00

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The Life Cycle of ‘Marina Mack and the Magic Paper’

I came home from work one day to find my son Josua skidding around the floor on his elbows, dragging his legs behind him. Odd, I thought to myself but all three of my boys have a bit of me in them so odd wasn’t unexpected. I didn’t even ask.

Some time later while I was visiting Josua’s school, I met the most amazing young girl. I won’t name her here but my first encounter with her went like this. She scooted across the classroom floor and pulled herself up into a wheelchair with incredible dexterity and shot off out of the room and down the steep path toward the canteen at break-neck speed. At the very last moment, she gripped the left wheel of the chair and skidded around the corner, leaning into the turn like Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha, and then off again.

At the school sports carnival, held at the local football oval, this young dynamo entered every event she possible could. Negotiating a wheelchair across a scruffy country town football oval is not an easy thing but it didn’t matter to her.

I needed to write a story capturing the indomitable spirit of this young girl with Spina Bifida and to so many other children who live with similar challenges in their lives.

There is another young girl named Abigail Branson – who I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting because she lives on the other side of the globe. But Abigail has posted a video of her accomplishments on youtube. I implore you to take a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqUDdxm-qSA

I made several attempts to write a story worthy of my muse but couldn’t even come close. A long time later, I was watching an episode of Play School (A long running Australian children’s television show) Don’t tell anyone but at the time I was watching it, all my children were at school. During story time, the host told a story using origami as a storytelling aid. He folded a paper captain’s hat and told of a ship captain going out to sea. He turned the hat over and it had become a sailing boat. In the tale, a storm brewed up and the boat struck a reef breaking off the prow and stern. He tore the front and back of the paper boat away then continued the story. The boat was sinking when a big gust of wind snapped the sail. He tore away the sail and opened the paper out. It had changed shape into a vest. “But it was alright,” he said. “They were all wearing their lifejackets.”

That origami story stayed in my head and one day I had a epiphany. I could combine the two stories. I started writing a picture book version of “Marina Mack and the Magic Paper” that very day. When I was finished, I had a magical picture book text that was only 1200 words too long. I tried cutting it back, paring it down to its essence but the result had lost its magic. I put it away until I had another brainstorm.

Recently I worked on the original version, planning to render it into a chapter book format. At the moment it is hovering somewhere in the middle but I have been given some wonderful advice (Thanks Sandy and Graham) and it is slowly taking shape as a bona fide chapter book with loads of potential. Even in its limbo format, the judges at the Charlotte Duncan Award saw something in it to add it to the shortlist.

So I hope through this story, I can do justice to amazing people like my young muse and Abigail.

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Teaser Tuesday

2009-04-06T21:51:00.000+10:00

I'm two hours early, but here goes.

The book I'm reading at present is written by one of my all time favourite authors. "Angel's Gate" by Gary Crew. It was the 1994 winner of The Children's Book Council of Australia - Book of the Year: For Older Readers. This is not a book I have just discovered. It is one I keep going back to.

Excerpt:

I heard another story one Sunday afternoon when Bobby and Julia stopped in at the Paradise for a malted. Bobby and Julia always had chocolate; my choice was lime, which I didn't especially like, since it was green and sickly, but it sounded adult when I ordered it.

Queenie took no notice of me and never once said 'Glory be to Peter,' which was a bad sign.

The book, like a lot of Gary's work has a dark edge to it but it also leaves you with the feeling something magical is about to happen.

Twitter

2009-04-06T09:32:00.000+10:00

It seems like the buzz word on the net is “Twitter” Everyone is talking about Twitter.

Up until today I wasn’t exactly sure what Twitter was. I knew it was a networking site on the net and that a lot of authors were singing its praises. People sing the praises of Face Book too, and many employers were banning the site because so many workers were spending their whole day on the site instead of working. I do have a Face Book account I rarely check and personally I can’t see the appeal. I also have a My Space presence that I visit now and then but I’ve never even looked at Twitter.

So here I go. I have just set up my account.

http://twitter.com/jefferyedoherty

And I have to say it was fairly user friendly. The site checked my email contacts and listed all of my contacts on Twitter giving me nearly twenty people to follow, basically before I had even started. In the time it has taken me to finish setting up my profile and type this, I have already collected four followers of my very own.

Correct me if I’m wrong but the site displays general messages of anyone I am currently following (like a friends list – even though it sounds a little stalkerish). I’m just wondering how many friends it takes to get really confusing. I’m sure it won’t take me too long to find out.

One thing I have found that is a little annoying. My profile seems to keep resetting back to the generic background and losing my picture. It’s probably just me. I’m sure I’ll work it out.

Jeff

Shortlisted For Charlotte Duncan Award

2009-03-27T00:08:00.000+11:00

I have just received some wonderful news.

I entered one of my children's stories, "Marina Mack and the Magic Paper" into the Charlotte Duncan Award. The shortlisted books were announced and I am honoured to say that Marina Mack made it onto the list.

Marina Mack is a young girl with Spinabiffida. She is shy and self-conscious but she gains the confidence to go out into the park after discovering the pad of paper her Nanna gave her was magic. Marina creates origami figures from the paper and uses the magic to help people and to make new friends. She discovers in the end, that it is not the magic her friends like. It is her.

The Celapene Press - Charlotte Duncan Award is for a short story for young readers aged 9-12 years and proceeds from the Awards are donated to the neo-natal unit at the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital.

http://www.celapenepress.com.au/

I have to say the news came as a complete surprise. The entry guidelines stated the winners would be announced on the 2nd of May so I wasn’t expecting any news about the Award for over a month. It wasn’t until I opened an e-mail from children’s author and founder of Buzz Words, Di Bates congratulating me on my nomination that the penny dropped. (Just a note: Buzz Words has to be one of the best writing resources I have found and if you are serious about writing for children and you haven’t subscribed, you are missing out).

http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com/

Talk about a buzz! I don’t think my feet have touched the ground all day.

I have to also thank Sandy Fussell, author of “Polar Boy” and the “Samurai Kids” series for pushing me to start entering competitions. Thanks for sending all the contest links too, they are much appreciated.

Check out Sandy’s web site here.
http://www.sandyfussell.com/

Teaser Tuesday

2009-03-25T23:35:00.000+11:00

I found this Teaser Tuesday on Sandy Fussell's "Stories are Light" Blog http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com/2009/03/teaser-tuesdays-is-meme-is-hosted-by.html
and though it would be fun to have a go. The original concept came from the "Should be Reading" Blog.
http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/teaser-tuesdays-march-24/

So here is goes.

Griffin stopped to listen to the small sounds of the afternoon that mostly got lost amongst the busy living noises of his large family. It was so quiet that he could almost hear his heart beating. He unbuttoned his shirt and put his hand on his chest, over his heart. He remembered when Mama had let him press his face against her big belly, to feel the beginnings of Tishkin.

This excerpt is from "The Naming of Tishkin Silk" written by Glenda Millard with illustrations by Caroline Magerl.

It is a touching and beautiful book. If I had to describe it in one word, it would have to be Dreamy...

Pictures and Growing Up

2009-03-24T00:54:00.000+11:00

Urban Decay

I have done a few writing blog posts but since the blog is called Words and Pictures, I thought I should do a post with some of my art.

The picture above is one of my favourite pieces. It is acrylic on board mixed in with some watercolour. I couldn’t get the pickets the way I wanted in acrylic so I painted each picket as a separate watercolour painting and layered them onto the picture.

The theme of the piece, growing up, childhood lost, is recurrent in my work, particularly my writing. I was inspired to paint this after standing at the front of my old childhood home. Strangely enough, it doesn’t have a picket fence but that doesn’t matter.

The Ghosts of Childhood's End

There is a place called Childhood's End.

A place where dreams begin, and end.

Where children no longer wish for youth

And belief becomes a need for proof

When we, who know how childhood dies

Look back, like ghosts with hungry eyes.

Oh! To be a child again

And not just dream of Childhood's End.

Ok, so I couldn't help throwing is a few words.

JED

Marketing Strategies for Fiction Writers

2009-03-21T23:20:00.000+11:00

June 2009 will see the major release of J.C. Hutchins’ new supernatural thriller, Personal Effects: Dark Art.

The series was created by Jordan Weisman. Produced by entertainment company Smith & Tinker and published by St. Martin’s Press, Dark Art combines the narrative experience of a traditional thriller novel with an Alternate Reality Game.

Clues in the novel — and items that come with the novel, such as ID cards and photos — will propel readers into an online experience where they become protagonists themselves. Readers will learn more about the novel’s story, and unearth plot twists that the book’s heroes may never see.

Set in a mental institution for hopeless dead-enders, Personal Effects: Dark Art chronicles the life of Zach Taylor, a young and optimistic art therapist. Gifted at his job, he uses his patients’ personal effects — the personal items catalogued during their admission to the hospital — to help decipher the secrets of their mental problems.

But Zach is soon obsessed and overwhelmed when a new patient is admitted to the facility: a man who is a suspected serial killer. But how can this man have killed a dozen people when he’s blind? And how does he know how Zach will behave … before Zach himself does?

Read Zach’s notes. Call the phone numbers. Explore the websites. Follow the clues…

It seems productions like this are becoming more popular. Rick Riordan did a similar thing with "The 39 Clues" series, encouraging readers to become involved in the story and even offering up $25,000 woth of prizes as a bonus.

J.C. Huthcins has built up quite a following in the world of podcasting and released his first three novels "The 7th Son" trilogy as a free audio books through podiobooks. The number of subscribers to those first books lead to St Martin's Press picking up "Personal Effects - Dark Art" for publication. I'm a big fan of J.C.'s work and look forward to the release.

One added thing J.C Hutchins and Jordan Wiseman have done leading up to the release of the book in June 2009, is open the doors to Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital - well sort of. The invitation is not to visit BUT to be committed!

By visiting http://jchutchins.net/site/the-brink/ As they put it;

Welcome to a first-ever in publishing called Commit Yourself To The Brink.

Here, you’ll find ways to inject yourself into the Personal Effects universe and become a patient of art therapist Zach Taylor. Create a patient profile (complete with backstory), receive your admittance papers, contribute artwork, video and more … and earn the horrifically cool privilege to appear on Brinkvale’s official website.

Get creative. Get crazy. Get committed.

I have already started my profile for the site. I might even see you there.

JED.

Write-A-Book-In-A-Day

2009-03-16T13:12:00.000+11:00

What an intriguing idea.

Write-a-Book-in-a-Day is a fundraising initiative of the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers Centre and Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation. Write-a-Book-in-a-Day is a one-day writing marathon where sponsored teams will write a children's book in a day, raising funds 40% for KSPWC and 60% for Children's Hospitals in each Australian State. Additionally a copy of each finished book will be donated to the hospital library.

That is the gist of the contest.

Actually it is only half a day. Entrants in the three categories; Primary Schools, Under 18's and Open teams are emailed the details of the story they are to write at 8.00am. They are given a random setting, two human characters, one non human character, an issue and five random words and using these parameters, must plan, write, illustrate, print and bind the book by 8.00pm.

Teams consist of five to ten participants who must work together to complete the challenge. Teams nominate which children’s hospital receives the funds raised by them during the competition. Funds consist of the entry fee ($300 per team – 60% to the hospital) and 100% of any sponsorship money raised by the team members goes to their nominated children’s hospital.

The Write-a-Book-in-a-Day contest has been running since 2003. I think this would be an interesting challenge to undertake so I’m going on the hunt to find a team.

Further details can be found at :- http://kspf.iinet.net.au/bookinaday/index.html

Role Models

2009-03-13T00:58:00.000+11:00

As a fiction writer for children, I have just discovered how careful you need to be when creating your characters. There are impressionable children out there. Children who tend to model their behaviour on favourite characters.

Case in point:

In the afternoons, I work as a School Crossing Supervisor at the local primary school. Last week, a young girl about three years old came to the crossing with her mother to collect her brother from school. When they reached the crossing, the girl refused to hold her mother’s hand as they crossed the road.

“Dora doesn’t hold hands,” she stated defiantly.
“She does when she’s crossing a busy road,” her mother replied.
“No she doesn’t! She’s an explorer.” The girl shouted and ran across the road.

Luckily, I had the traffic stopped.

The same thing happened the next day as well and mum was getting frustrated.

I’m not a huge Dora the Explorer fan myself and have no idea if she holds hands crossing the road or not, but this girl needs to or she’ll end up a statistic. That’s not going to happen at my crossing. The paperwork for that would be unbelievable!

So, I had an idea and this is what I came up with. I printed it up on a fridge magnet.

The following day I took the girl aside and explained the picture to her; how Dora was holding Boots’ hand to keep him safe and how she had to hold mum’s hand so mum could keep her safe crossing the road.

I gave her the magnet as a reminder.

Every day since, she has held mum’s hand at the crossing and she always says hello and has a smile for me.

So the moral is write characters who will have a positive influence on children.

Podiobooks

2009-03-02T12:13:00.000+11:00

Recently, I found the Podiobook web site. For those of you who are not aware of the site, it hosts a large quantity of serialised audio books.

I know what you are thinking, “So what. Audio books have been around for years.” Well that’s true, but Podiobooks differ from most other audio book sites in one spectacular way. All the content is FREE!

Is there a catch? Well not really. Possibly, the only catch is that the quality of some of the content is average. That could also be a matter of personal taste. However, there are print books out on the bookshop shelves that could only be described as average too.

Most of the authors are not widely known in traditional publishing circles but there are exceptions to that rule too. Fantasy author Mercedes Lackey, and New York Times bestselling author Tracy Hickman both have content on the site. The authors who utilise the site do so mainly as a vehicle to promote their work and gain an audience. The books range from straight reads, usually by the authors themselves, through to scored, full cast audio dramas. There is nothing like reading a good book but sometime you don’t get the time. Audio books are great for listening to in the car, while out walking, doing the shopping or housework.

There is a facility on the site to donate money to an author if you enjoy the work but it is not a requirement for using the site or listening to the books. So, how do the authors make a living?

Some probably don’t. I can’t tell you how many people donate to the authors but many of the books on the site have print versions that are available for purchase, usually through Amazon or similar companies or through the author’s own sites. Early on, there was a lot of speculation that giving the book away free in an audio format would kill any chance of selling a printed version. This seems to be incorrect. Not everyone who listens to a book is going to buy it but some do. Many of the popular authors on the site attract a subscribed listening audience in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. Even if only a small percentage actually buys the book, it still relates to larger sales than most self or small press published books can boast. I personally have purchased four print titles from authors I found on the site. This is taking into consideration, the books were purchased through Amazon from the USA with prohibitive exchange rates and high postage costs. I can get traditionally published books of bestselling authors from book stores at a much cheaper rate but I have still purchased the books even though I can listed to them again any time I like.

Another recent development is that publishers are starting to take note. In these times where guaranteed sales are a huge factor in deciding what books publishers produce, authors coming to the table with a following of over 100,000 fans is a big selling point. Authors like Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty, J.C Hutchins, Matthew Wayne Selznick, Tee Morris, Philippa Ballantine and Christiana Ellis have all recently been signed by publishing companies.

Another feature of the site for me is you can follow a link direct to the author’s personal web site. Unlike a lot of print book authors, the Podiobook authors encourage interaction from their audience and are happy to follow-up queries, respond to feedback and give advice. There are several Podiobook authors who I regularly maintain contact with.

My personal recommendations:

Playing for Keeps

by Mur Lafferty

Not so super, super heroes

Forever Fifteen

by Kimberly Steele

Ideal for fans of Stephanie Myres Twilight series

Brave Men Run

by Matthew Wayne Selznick

X-Men meets Breakfast Club

Billibub Baddings
and the Case of the Singing Sword

by Tee Morris

Classic detective novel meets Lord of the Rings

Quarter Share

by Nathan Lowell

(or any of Nathan's other books in the series)

Infected

by Scott Sigler

High action thriller (adult content and violence)

I've Got You Covered

2009-03-01T00:25:00.000+11:00

Computers are wonderful tools for writers. The internet is an invaluable medium for research and networking with other writers and industry professionals. BUT, both also offer a myriad of distractions for writers.

I can’t count the times I have sat down, with all good intentions, to write only to discover I have checked and replied to my emails, taken a (not so) quick look at some of my favourite writing sites and done any other number of things on the net. The outcome of this is not a lot of writing going on.

One method I have employed to remedy this and cut through the distractions is to create the cover art for my current project and set it as my computer desktop screen. This does two things. First, it gives me the inspiration to complete the story and fill the space between the cover with writing. The second thing it does is to guilt me into writing. Every time I turn the computer on, my book cover flashes up before my eyes. It makes me feel guilty if I am not writing. So far it seems to be working.

My current Young Adult work in progress is a speculative thriller titled “The Zoo” deals with secret scientific experiments, animal cruelty, government conspiracy and trying to fit in.

Fifteen year old Mira is different to other teens. She has just moved into a new foster home, in a new city and she has made an enemy of the most popular student in her new school.
After a class excursion to The Zoo, where a prank against her has unexpected results, Mira begins to suspect she is being followed. She gets caught up in the middle of a series of deadly events she doesn't understand. Mira is sure it has something to do with Katt Baxter, a young teacher she met during her first days at Haven High several weeks earlier and who is now working as an education officer at The Zoo.

Strange things begin to happen, people disappear and Mira and Katt find themselves drawn together into terrible danger. There are powerful people who will do anything to guard their secrets. Making a fifteen year old foster child and a first year teacher disappear seems like the easiest solution.

The other thing I have discovered is that I really enjoy creating book cover art. I recently had my first cover art commission for Queensland Author, Cheree Smith, for her forthcoming novel "Reaper".

Hopefully I will have more opportunities soon, to create more book covers.

JED