A Book Festival, an Author Visit, and Super Stories Published!

This is likely to be a long post - I've been rather busy of late, so grab a cuppa and settle yourself down for a long overdue update. 

First, I went to my first ever book festival!

I've never been to one before, but as it was the Newark Book Festival, and relatively close to home - plus I'd had the offer to share a stall in the Festival Literature Village with a fellow SoA author, Marilyn Pemberton - I decided to give it a shot. 

I made a few investments especially for this event...I bought a repurposed standing banner which had been painted in blackboard paint, and spent a pleasant afternoon setting out the lettering to list my name and all my books. 

The lettering is in different coloured chalks, but it
doesn't show up too well on the photo

I bought a SumUp contactless card reader, because I wasn't sure how comfortable people would be dealing with cash in these covid times. (As it happened, the card reader paid for itself over the weekend, and most of my sales were card, not cash) 

The final thing I did was get some postcards printed - I managed to mess it up several times, but with the help of the lovely staff at the Printroom in town, I got sorted.

Newark itself is a lovely place, and we (Marilyn and I) were on a stall in the marketplace for both days. We were really proud of how the stall looked, and received several compliments about it. 

The banner certainly showed up in situ!

Our shared first day stall

My side of it!

Day 2 stall - different spot in the marketplace

The weirdest thing was being able to talk to so many people, after steering clear of busy places for so long. And yet it was lovely to chat to fellow authors, to readers, to passers-by who were just having a mooch, and then to boogie along to the music provided by The Business. (Lots of 80's covers - I was in my element!)

These kind of events aren't solely about sales though - yes, I sold some books, but it was the conversations and contacts made that are almost more important. On the Sunday, our stall backed onto that of a lovely lady,  Shagufta Khan, who was selling the most exquisite book of poetry. We had quite a chat about life and writing, and she went away from the day feeling inspired after a time of writer's block.

So after two days standing on a market stall, you'd think I was ready for a rest...nope.

The day after, I was in Walsall, at the Joseph Leckie Academy, where I'd been invited to give a workshop to a class of Year 7's. I was nervous, mainly because there were a lot of covid cases in schools at that time, but with mask at the ready and a safe distance between moi and pupils, it didn't feel too bad when I was there. And here's a laugh for you; a lot of schools now have an electronic signing-in system, which takes your photo on the day. Now, I'm not tall - you know that. But when this is your third attempt, even standing on tiptoe...!

I took along my paint chips and what's in the bottle story activities, and the students worked really hard at coming up with story ideas. There were some corkers... 

In the bottle were: butterfly wings (who would be so cruel?!), dragon's breath, captured as fire that fell from the sky; shadows of people that travelled through time; phoenix tears; an amulat that held the heart of both fae and human worlds; a magic flower, which, when someone sang its song, it glowed and healed whoever touched it.

Had a bit of trouble getting out of the school at the end of the session though, because I didn't realise that the staff were used to double parking, so I'd been blocked in. Felt awful having to drag a member of staff out of her lesson - I did apologise profusely!

To finish off the visit, I met up with an old university friend, who lives in Walsall, and we had lunch together. In a pub! With no masks! Again, it felt very strange after being used to taking so many precautions, but it was lovely to spend a couple of hours catching up and setting the world to rights.

I was cream-crackered on Tuesday after three busy days, a fact my body made me all too aware of by landing me with a migraine as soon as I woke up. Spent most of the day in bed...Ugh.

And then, Squidge's Guide to Super Stories was published on the Wednesday! Woo-hoo! So if you know any budding young author who'd like a fun yet informative read which will help them with their own writing, do point them in my direction.

I've also been working hard on Tilda #4, trying to twist that one into shape. What's interesting is that for a long time I was really struggling to make headway with it, because I'd written myself - and Tilda - into a corner and couldn't see a way out of it. After lots of thinking and working out, I'm glad to say I not only have a much better direction for Tilda #4, I also have a strong outline for Tilda #5 which gives - I hope - an absolutely amazing twist to the Chronicles of Issraya series and finishes it off rather well. I'll keep you posted on that front - #5 is having to sit and stew while I polish up #4.

I'm also going to be involved in the Middleway Words - The Midlands Book Festival, an online festival taking place the first full week of September, which is going to showcase authors from the Midlands, and will include sessions for writers and readers. There will be interviews with authors and videos of authors introducing themselves and their books. There's such a wealth of talent in the Midlands, so if you want to get involved or attend the festival, keep an eye on their facebook page.

How to Launch a Book - Digitally

I've started to think about how I mark the publication of Tilda and the Mines of Pergatt.

An actual launch is, most likely, going to be out of the question. Heck, I don't even know if the physical book is going to be available initially, or if it will start off as an ebook only. So Tilda 2 isn't going to be getting the kind of launch party I threw for Granny Rainbow...

But it's always good to celebrate publication, and some people are doing it virtually in this time of social distancing and restrictions.

My dilemma is related to my target audience. My novels are aimed at middle grade readers - 9+ years - and for certainly the lower end of that scale, you wouldn't expect the kids to have access to some forms of social media. An interactive chatroom kind of launch is therefore pretty much out of the question. Of course, I realise that a lot of my readers are a bit older and potentially could do chat rooms etc, but I want to be as inclusive as possible to ALL readers.

So what could I do instead? Here are a few thoughts

1. Ask for questions in advance, and answer them as part of a recorded Q&A that goes up on youtube.

2. Record myself reading the first chapter of the book.

3. A competition - perhaps I could do some illustrations in a print copy (assuming they are available) and you win that if you send me a pic of you, with the book (digital versions would be allowed!) as your entry? I did it for Tilda of Merjan. (read about it here.)

4. I can't remember the name for it, but a campaign to share across social media something about Tilda 2 - photo, snippet of text, a link to wherever the book is being sold - on a specific date and time.

5. Some kind of homemade book trailer...

Would you even bother tuning in to a virtual launch, or simply buy the book to read?

Hmmm... It would be good to know what you think, as I'm relying on you, Reader of the Scribbles, for support!

When crafting goes crazy...

Not had a chance to blog recently. My dad had a - thankfully - minor stroke a week ago. Can I just say how wonderful and amazing and caring our NHS was? And how grateful I am that Dad's stroke has left him with barely any issues at all...apart from forgetting his PIN number when he next went to the bank!

Even without that, life has been rather busy.

Mr Squidge and I went to see Squidgeling J at Bristol for the day - gosh, but there are some BIG hills down that way! Had a late lunch in Clifton, saw THE bridge and some very posh houses on the other side of the river, and left a little earlier than planned because J was recovering from a nasty virus, so we didn't get to visit the Bag O' Nails, a pub with cats. Seriously. The landlord owns 15 cats which have the run of the bar. But you have to buy a drink if you want to stroke any of them...

I also had an evening author talk - to a group of 15 church ladies, who all threw themselves into the writing exercises and bought a fair few books between them. So much so, I am having Granny Rainbow reprinted!!

It's also been half term, so routine goes out of the window.

But to get to the real reason for writing this blog... Crafting.

I love making things. I know that if I go too long without making something - whether it's something floral, stitching, knitting, writing - I get grumpy. Problem is, I often see something and go 'yeah, I'll have a go at that!' and something comes up, I get distracted, and I end up finding a half-finished something months later.

Which is where I'm at.

Project 1: I started a granny square blanket for the garden room, to cover the cushions on the rocking chair that's down there. I've got about half a dozen more rows to add around the border, and it's taking ages. Lots of sideways growth, but not much depth. Hence I get bored working on it for long periods, because there's not a lot to show for my efforts. (And the eagle eyed among you will see that I was so eager to crack on with it, I didn't even bother to sew all the central squares together properly before I began adding the border...)

Project 2: I loved this little jackety cardy, and started knitting it in the summer. I have two sleeves and half a collar to add. But...

Project 3: The dark nights are drawing in, which is normally a signal for me to get sock knitting. I knit my own socks because proper woollen ones seem to keep my feet a lot warmer than nylon, and I treat myself to a new colour combo every year, then make odds-and-sods socks from what's left over. I've even used socks as a tool to help my writing in the past... I'm about at the toe of the first sock. If I get organised, I can probably knit the other in a little over a day, but there are other distractions to be found...

Project 4: Big quilt. I bought the jelly roll back in April of last year, because the colours in the fabrics are the colours I have in my bedroom. And, if I'm honest, I'm finding that my rainbow quilt keeps me toasty warm in bed even without a winter weight duvet, so adding another toasty warm layer to the bed can't be a bad thing, can it? So far, I have stitched the strips together, but have no idea how I'm going to edge it to make it big enough to fit my bed.

And then, Project 5: Wonder what I could possibly need all of these for...?

Yup, another rainbow quilt. A random one this time. Well, more random than I'm used to. I started thinking about it back in April and started piecing it together in the summer, when I wanted a break from the kitchen refit (which is, can you believe, still not finished yet?). I'm now hand quilting in the coloured squares, picking up the curved petal-shapes which appear on the patterned strips. I have to say I'm really pleased with it so far. It's only going to be a lap-quilt though - much smaller than the original rainbow quilt.

Working my way round the outside squares 

Picking up the petal detail in each square

So five projects. Now, bear in mind these are all projects I've begun. Don't even get me started on the Christmas tree mat thing I bought last year but haven't done anything with yet. Or the pack of squares I have which I want to make into something quilted - but no idea what. Or for who. Or my mum's fabric that she must've bought over a year ago that we were going to make into a quilt... Or the wool and patchwork kit I was bought for my birthday...

If only I didn't have anything else to do except craft!

My author path

This Wednesday, I'm giving a lunchtime talk as part of the Nanpantan Festival.

I've called it Wordy Wednesday, and it'll be a chance for me to tell something of the journey I've been on over the last ten years.

It's been interesting to look back over that time and see that in fact, 2013 was the turning point, when I broke with the agent. I think at that point, I had begun to find out who I was as a writer - to be (fairly) fearless in what I wrote and how I was writing it. To not listen to what others were telling me I should be doing, but to beat my own path to publication.

And then, in 2014, I had my validation through publication; only a few short stories in some very good anthologies - novels were a way off still - but my writing was at last of a standard to be chosen for others to read.

So if you fancy hearing about my author path, the ups and downs of writing and what I get up to as an author, do come up to St. Mary in Charnwood Church for midday if you'd like lunch beforehand (£5 for a Ploughman's, cake and tea, I believe) or at 1pm for the talk, which is FREE.

I'll have my books there - £1 from every copy sold will be donated to a church project I'm supporting, the extension and refurbishment of the Rainbow Home in Pudukottai where I visited last year.

There will also be some unique cards designed by Laura Buckland, Granny Rainbow's illustrator.

Rainbow coloured wings for the Rainbow Home

Squirrel! Which is what I was called before it was shortened to Squidge...

There's also a beautiful peacock - a nod to India's national bird - and a couple of huggy hedgehogs, with all designs available as cards printed on elephant poo recycled paper, or as prints. In addition, there will bracelets made by a partially sighted member of our congregation, Georgina, with profits from all sales given to the Rainbow Home fundraising.

I look forward to seeing a few folks and sharing my own personal story with them, as well as maybe raising a few quid for a good cause, too.

News and musing

News item, the first.

Remember, back in 2013, I had a story accepted and published in Stories for Homes, the best-selling anthology which has raised over £3,000 to date for the housing and homelessness charity Shelter?

This year, the SfH community began to stir again. Was it time for a sequel, they wondered? A new batch of stories, a new anthology, another opportunity to fund raise for Shelter?

Yes. It was.

256 submissions were received for SfH2. 55 pieces were selected for the book, and another 29 for the website. Mine was one of the latter, so sometime between now and September, you'll be able to read Potato Soup online, in the company of some other flash fiction, short stories, poetry and real life stories about housing and homelessness.

I'll keep dropping links on my facebook page as the project progresses...


News item, the second.

I don't usually enter competitions, because they can be pricey. But the inaugural Leicester Writes Short Story Prize caught my eye - not least because I got a discount for living in Leicestershire!

This week I was delighted to discover - by chance, when the shortlist came out - that one of my stories, The Pink Feather Boa Incident, was longlisted for the prize! That means publication later in the year in the prize anthology...

Unfortunately I didn't make it onto the shortlist, but good luck to everyone who did.


News item, the third.

In an attempt to get a few reviews onto Goodreads in advance of publication of Kingstone, I offered a pdf ARC to a few folk I knew had read StarMark, in exchange for an honest review.

Within 24 hours I had the first one back. (You can read it in full here)

In summary; 'All in all, a highly recommended page-turner suitable for pre-teens upwards.'

*One happy Squidge*


News item, the fourth.

Effie Purse, the new story which has pushed Crystal Keeper's Daughter to the sidelines, is flowing well. I'm hoping to finish the first s***y handwritten draft (I've already used up two biros!) by the end of June, and first type by the autumn. 


Musing.

For the SfH2 publication I needed to update my bio, so I looked to see what I'd written for SfH1. Back in 2013, I was apparently still fine tuning The Ring Seekers (shelved for the time being, having gone through many, many incarnations and edits but never quite making the grade...), had only just started writing these Scribbles, and had only just seen the publication of Granny Rainbow and the Black Shadow in a charity anthology.

It made me realise that most of the 'success' I've had so far in writing has been in the four years since then. In fact, there's so much that I can't really list it all in a bio - and if I did, it would sound like I'm bragging! Probably more accurate to say that most of the advancement in my writing has occurred since then.

This time round, I can include the publication of two Granny Rainbow books, StarMark and (by the time the bio goes live) Kingstone. I can also include the several short stories published in various anthologies (I think there were twelve or so when I added them up) and the visits I've been making to schools to run creative writing sessions. 

It seems almost unreal to think that all of that and more has happened in the last four years. It made me realise it's good to sit back and take stock sometimes, to give yourself a pat on the back for what you've achieved, and then determine to do more of the same. 

So today, I'd encourage each and every one of you to take a minute or two to see what you've achieved in the same time. Don't focus on what's not happened - life can be a pig sometimes and get in the way of our dreams and desires. Instead, look for where you've made progress - even if it seems like it's only baby steps forward - and if you'd like to, share it in the comments below. 

Let's celebrate progress!

Breaking even

Granny Rainbow - although published under the name of Panda Eyes - was essentially a self-published book; I paid for everything except the ISBN number.

Which is fine.

I was willing to invest the money, see where it took me and my little book. I knew it would be a long time until I sold enough copies to break even. Assuming, of course, I could even sell enough to break even.

And then came More Granny Rainbow. Published in the same way, with my own spondoolies, but less attractive it seemed to the reader as sales of this book didn't go as well as the first. Add the two sets of costs together and it would take me even longer to break even...

The other day I was doing my 'author accounts', ready to see how much I'd earned from author talks and the like to disclose to the tax man.

And - incredibly - I discovered that I have sold enough copies of both Granny Rainbow books to cover all their costs. It's taken three years, but I have finally broken even. Hooray!

Having said that, it was never about the money...I published Granny Rainbow simply to see whether my stories would be enjoyed by young readers, and they are. Making a little bit of money on them is nice, but it wasn't why I decided to write.

Reading is important. If I can, through my books, encourage even one reluctant reader to discover the joy of burying themselves in a book - be it fiction or non-fiction - then I consider myself to be one of the richest authors alive.

So hooray! for breaking even, but hooray times ten! if my writing opened a door that would've remained closed otherwise.

A Tale of Two Schools

In my last post, I blogged about the first three days I'd spent at Wolsey Hall Primary School in Leicester.

Last week was definitely a tale of two schools because I spent another three days at Wolsey, followed by an afternoon at Stamford High School in Lincolnshire.

First, Wolsey. The children were beginning to recognise me and greeted me with smiles and waves when they saw me. I had a gift brought to me on Monday - a pencil with a handmade topper - by three of the older girls, and then I had another young lady read me a couple of stories she'd written in her notebook.

As we worked our way down the years, the sessions changed and I used simpler ideas to stimulate the creative writing. Mind you, once again it proved that I'm not a teacher; despite my best intentions to make the activities suitable for all abilities, there are still improvements to be made. I take my hat off to teachers everywhere who do their utmost to engage children of widely different abilities within the same class. Having said that, where activities didn't quite go according to plan for some of the children, the teachers were generous with their suggestions as to how I could create the necessary structure to help the pupils - suggestions which I've taken on board for next time.

On Wednesday, my last day, I'd been allowed to take the two Granny Rainbow books in to sell to anyone who wanted them. The queue blocked the foyer at breaktime...I had a steady stream at lunchtime...and after school, the line wiggled its way from the activity area up to the foyer. It took half an hour to clear it! And even then, one child came back because her mum'd forgotten to bring any money. (I left a box behind at school for anyone who had forgotten their money, and there have been a few more sales since!) Talk about writer's cramp, nearly one hundred books later!

I've had some smashing feedback from staff and pupils, which indicates that in spite of a few minor problems, the children were enthused and inspired and encouraged in their reading and writing. And I've been invited to go back at some point in the future, which is wonderful.

A thank you from Wolsey

 And so to Stamford.

I woke Thursday morning with a bad head (probably due to not eating and drinking properly the day before because of all the book signing!). Fortunately it had cleared sufficiently by 10am, when I packed tens of copies of StarMark and a few Granny Rainbows into a suitcase, organised my sheets and directions to the school.

The journey out was...interesting. A major diversion on the way out added on quite a few miles and about twenty minutes to it, but I got there. Once I'd found the school reception I dropped my suitcase off and went in search of lunch. Stamford is a lovely town, all honey-coloured brick and church spires. It's also got a lot of arty designer and antique shops, so I was relieved to find a Pizza Express which did takeaway nestled among them.

Lunch was eaten in the cemetery of St Michael's Church(the one in the forefront of the photo above), with the late Mr or Mrs Stokes for company.

Then it was back to the school to meet the Stamford High School Book Club in the library.

Huge thanks to the girls, who'd brought flapjack and cookies and sweets to share over a pot of tea. I was quizzed with some really good questions before they headed off to the studio to meet up with the rest of Year 7. Did I mention their  library is in the roof space of a fabulous old building? It's light, airy, and there are brilliant displays by Miss S, the Learning Resource Manager. It was a really lovely place.

The welcome banner the girls had made

The talk to Y7 - all 70 of them - was a brief account of my author journey so far, and then we got stuck into writing.

Remember my paint samples with wonderful titles? We started with those - and the ideas were amazing. Here's a small selection...

Puddle Jumper: every puddle you jump into transports you to a new place or time

Fire Within: a dragon, whose lost her fire

Luck be a Lady: a girl called Luck, who does NOT want to be a lady

Ginger Kitten: a poor kitten who someone tried first to drown, which then got run over (!) and eventually the kitten turns nasty (not surprised!) and attacks people...

Moonlit Pebble: something that looks like a pebble but is in fact a dragon's egg - and it needs moonlight to hatch.

Eye of Horace: an old man (Horace) has had a watch (the eye) all his life, and the watch tells Horace's life story.

Then we used the antique glass bottle story, where more fabulous plans and openings to stories emerged, although I can't remember them! Wish I could... I'm hoping the girls will be able to finish them off at some point in the future - I'd love to read some when they do.

At the end, the girls had an opportunity to buy books - I sold a few StarMarks and a smattering of Grannys and realised I could've taken a considerably smaller suitcase... (On the bright side, at least I have some copies to take to whatever I do in future).

Then it was home again - another eventful journey when I got mixed up between the A606 and A6006 which led to another diversion via Oakham to Melton Mowbray, with a stop off in a Sainsbury's carpark to work out where the Asfordby Road was when I couldn't see any signs for it...

One thing that came out of both school visits is that I need to put my prices up. I've tried to keep them reasonable up to now, as although I'm a full member of the SoA and they recommend what to charge for author visits, I haven't felt that, as a relatively unknown author, I could justify charging hundreds of pounds each visit. But the feedback is coming through loud and clear that what I'm delivering, I should be charging more for. So there's an increase in booking fees on the cards as a result.

But until I get another booking, I'd best do some writing and practise what I preach! Catch you later, Scribblers!

Writing with Wolsey House

The last three days, I've been visiting Wolsey House Primary School in Leicester, working with Years 4, 5 & 6 to deliver some creative writing days.

It has been great. Each day, around 60 pupils in each year group have gathered round tables in the 'big' hall and we have had so much fun describing settings, making up characters, listening to Granny Rainbow stories and then - of course - writing stories.

I'm sure I've said before that children's imaginations never cease to amaze me, and I'll say it again, now! The children have worked so hard and been so enthusiastic, it's a real privilege to be with them.

Looks a bit formal, but it was the best way so everyone
could see and hear me at the front

Half of just one day's enthusiastic scribblers!

And the rest...

The staff at Wolsey made me feel very welcome and have helped me enormously with their feedback so far. Y'see, one thing I will have to crack in these sessions, especially when working with groups of this size, is how to get the children started on their stories. Not being a teacher, I'm not very good at providing the structure that some of the children need to get going. A framework, if you will, rather than expecting everyone to be able to free-write once the ideas have come. Some children CAN cope with it - taking ideas and putting them straight into a story - but others need a story opener or an outline to provide direction. Was also told I needed to use my 'teacher voice' as it was a bit hard to hear me at the back...

See - I keep on learning, and hopefully, improving!

The weirdest thing about Wolsey House was the physical building; I had a strong sense of deja vu, because a lot of the older parts of the school are based on an open plan, honeycomb design. Exactly the same as my own primary school, Holywell, when I was there! (The original floor plan of Holywell had to be rethought after a fire destroyed most of the classrooms. The current design maintains the overall honeycomb shape, but the rooms are now closed off and the open 'activity areas' I remember so well are broken down into smaller ones.)

I struggled a bit with the early starts - 6am alarm for a 7.15am pick up (The lovely Mrs D, a friend from my Guiding days, is giving me a lift each day). It's a long time since I worked more than one full time day at a time - almost eighteen years - so it's a bit of a shock to the system. I was glad of the lie-in this morning! It's probably a good job I have the weekend to break up the six day block.

Yes, six days. Didn't I say? I'm back there next week to work with Years 1, 2 & 3! Can't wait...

Rainbow cake and VIP-ing

Remember my blog about the Loogabarooga Festival?

One of the schools I visited was Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy, where I worked with Years 5 and 6. A few weeks ago, I went back for a morning, voluntarily, to help the children to edit the stories they had started on the day of my visit. (Brilliant morning - I used a genuine Granny Rainbow story written by a child and we worked our way through it looking for how it could have been improved before applying the lessons learnt to the Sacred Heart children's stories).

What I didn't expect after that, was an invitation to Year 5's class assembly, all about what they had learnt from the author visits they'd attended as part of Loogabarooga. (They were lucky enough to have spent the morning listening to Philip Reeve - of Mortal Engines - and Sarah MacIntyre - Oliver and the Seawigs - and then have little old me in the afternoon).

I was honoured - but wasn't sure quite what to expect...

The parents filed into the hall and I followed. Year 5 were all sitting at the front with their English books, and on the stage behind them was a rainbow house and other rainbowy items - one of which was a rainbow layer cake, made by a Y5 child's mum! Someone spotted me, yelled "Katherine Hetzel!" and everyone started shouting and waving.

I now know how celebrities feel!

All the parents turned to look, no doubt wondering who the heck had just walked in (one dad did remark he thought it might've been a visit from the Queen), so I sat myself in the middle of the back row, out of the way - only to be told by Mrs D that the children were going to invite me to say a few words at the end of the assembly... So I stepped on toes and brushed past knees to get to the end of the row while the rest of the school came in.

The assembly was brilliant!

The children began by explaining what they'd learnt with the different authors, and followed it with a demonstration of how to write a story - BY WRITING A BRAND NEW GRANNY RAINBOW STORY AS A CLASS, which they acted on stage during the reading AND supplemented that with identifying the different writing techniques used on boards, which were held up at the relevant time. (I learned what a fronted adverbial was!)

Awesome.

And yes, I said a few words afterwards. About reading lots and keeping on writing and keeping on learning. And how bowled over I was at how much work Y5 had done by writing yet another Granny Rainbow story. (It was about Dr Lettergo and his potion-enhanced, first-letter-stealing cake, in case you were wondering...) I felt so proud of the children, and honoured to have been invited to such a special celebration of their learning.

After the assembly, I was invited back to the classroom for a slice of rainbow cake, (DELICIOUS!) and Mrs D told me that she has seen a big improvement in some of her class's writing - particularly for some of the boys - since my visits. The work I did on editing seems to have boosted confidence and enthused even the most reluctant writer, because I demonstrated practically how we can always make our writing better.

THAT is what makes these author visits so worthwhile; in a small way, I can make a big difference.

Perhaps I ought to extend my strapline? Katherine Hetzel, the short author who tells tall tales and makes a big difference...

Loogabarooga Festival 2016

'Incredible Illustrations, Brilliant Books...'

The second Loogabarooga Festival did not disappoint. Over six days, there were theatre shows, talks, creative sessions, exhibitions, workshops, readings, films, book signings... Famous authors and illustrators flocked to Loughborough - like Michael Rosen, Julian Clary, David Roberts, Philip Reeve, Sarah McIntyre, Daisy Hirst, Andrew Everitt-Stewart, Emma Yarleti... I've probably missed a few. We even had Roald Dahl's BFG in the town centre!

And then there was me.

I offered to visit schools in the area, to talk about writing or hold a creative writing session. The Loogabarooga Festival team said 'yes please' (hooray!) and so I found myself last Monday ready to present three different sessions at two very different schools.

Limehurst Academy asked me to give an assembly-type talk and Q&A session to 120 Year 7's, followed by a creative writing session for one lucky class from the same year group.

At first the 120 pairs of eyes staring up at me was a bit daunting, but I recognised a few ex-Mountfields pupils among them as well as at least one member of staff who went to school with me in my own Limehurst Girls High School (as it was back in the 1970's) days, so I soon relaxed. In fact, I took a photo of me in my school uniform to show the current students...

I gave a short talk about how I got into writing and the long journey that StarMark had made before leading on to questions. Someone asked whether any of my books had been made into films - which was the perfect opportunity to show the book trailer for StarMark on the big screen... It looks even better sized up!

We finished with the three objects challenge - each of the six classes had a representative to choose three things from my story bag and I challenged them to go away and write up a short story including the items. We had some great mixes; it almost makes me want to have a go at another 'Challenge me' on the Scribbles... Here's what came out of the bag - if you're a writer yourself, why not pick one and have a go? You have 500 words...

For the workshop, I used my current favourite story starter - 'The antique glass bottle contained...' The students came up with (among other things) swords, lungs, bullets of mutating agent, secrets, and blue dragon smoke. We used huge sheets of brown sugar paper and lots of coloured pens to map out the stories and by the end of the session, everyone had at least made a start on writing their stories.

Feedback from the workshop was good, highlighting again how much the students enjoy actually being able to write a story, instead of learning about the individual component parts and never having an opportunity to put all that learning together. Interestingly, there were several comments about how inspiring and encouraging I was, which is somewhat humbling because I never set out with that in mind.

In the afternoon, I visited the Year 5's and 6's at Sacred Heart Catholic Voluntary Academy. These children had attended another Loogabarooga event in the morning with Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre - I was a little worried that after such literary celebrity, my own offering would fall a bit short.

We focused this time on Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow, as the children had been introduced to the stories and I planned that they should write their own versions. Because Granny Rainbow is good at solving problems, the children came up with new characters, gave them a problem and decided how Granny Rainbow would solve it. At the end of the session the children had drawn their characters AND had the beginnings of their stories.

One young man deserves special mention for his story. I got the impression he doesn't always focus on the work in hand, but for some reason this task caught his imagination. He did everything that was asked of him and ended up having written a whole story where (I don't want to spoil his story, so forgive me if I'm a little vague here!) the character wanted to be different; Granny Rainbow made the change but - and this is the first time it's ever occurred to anyone to do this within the Granny Rainbow 'formula', including me - the character wasn't happy with the situation, decided they were happier before and asked Granny Rainbow to change them back! He was so proud of his work...and I felt a glow of pride for being the tool, if you like, that made it happen.

The younger children also had some very interesting questions. Like:

How much money do you get for each book? (Varies, but the kids were shocked it might only be 10% of cover price...)

How does it make you feel when you sell a book? (Good, but not as good as when someone tells me afterwards that they've loved the stories! That's payment beyond measure.)

Was there ever a time you thought you couldn't write for children? (Yes. I didn't write for a whole year. Then I came back fighting - and look where it's got me.)

What football team do you support? (Cue horrified gasps when I said I didn't. Not even Leicester City, our nearest team.)

I have agreed to revisit Sacred Heart in a couple of weeks' time to follow up and help the children with editing their stories. Can't wait to see them!

At the end of the afternoon, I was shattered, but happy-shattered from a rewarding day. Things to note for these kind of events in the future are probably to allow a bit more time between school changes, as I had no time for lunch (snatched a cereal bar in the car park) and was feeling a little jaded by half way through this afternoon session. Oh - and although high heels are great to make me feel a bit better when standing next to the Year 7's (I got a couple of 'Nice shoes, Miss!') they don't half kill your feet and ankles after a whole day wearing them!

If I'm honest, I think I prefer the interactive workshops over talks, but I can see how advantageous it is to do a presentation to larger groups and spread the experience of having an author come to visit the school. But at least I've proved to myself - and others - that I am capable of doing larger presentations, so who knows where it'll take me from here?

Loogabarooga 2017? I can but hope...

You know you've 'arrived' when you've been plagiarised!

Earlier this week, someone posted a prologue to a children's story on a writing forum. Nothing unusual in that, you might think, except that when I read it, I realised it was similar - VERY similar - to Granny Rainbow and the Black Shadow, which was first published back in 2013 in Reading is Magic.

There were enough differences to make it not the same, but there were enough similarities to know that this was essentially the beginning of my story, adapted.

I'll be honest - my first reaction was "Flippin' heck!" (Except not quite so polite) "Someone's nicked my story!" I felt sick and could not believe what I was reading.

Then, I looked again. The writer appeared to be pretty inexperienced - there were lots of newbie mistakes in the writing that indicated the author was a fair way off being published. And different authors do sometimes have similar ideas - it depends on how you write the story that makes it 'yours'. So it IS feasible that someone else has had the idea of a baddie who leaches colour from the world...

I gave the author the benefit of the doubt; I responded by noting the similarities to the original story and offered some advice to improving their writing.

That night happened to be NIBS night. I told a couple of friends there what had happened and one remarked "You know you've arrived when you've been plagiarized!"

Plagiarism is a serious matter. I haven't lost money or sleep over it - unlike some authors whose work is shamefully pirated to the extent that they lose income, or others who see their own complete novels plagiarised by rogue authors. A little bit of me thinks that if a novice author thinks my ideas good enough to use as their starting point, I'm flattered.

Providing they don't make a habit of it or take something so similar to publication.

And anyway, how can I complain when, as an author visiting schools, the teaching staff and I have encouraged children (up to Y6) to use the framework of Granny Rainbow stories to create their own tales? For some children, rewriting the original story in their own words and with as few original elements as possible is as much as they can manage, yet still presents a huge leap forward in how much writing they can do. In a literal sense I suppose that's plagiarism too, except that in this case, Granny Rainbow is a tool in the classroom and no-one is trying to pass it off as their own. For all I know, the author of the plagiarised piece could have been a child - though I would not expect children to be present on the writing forum. Teenagers, maybe, although I don't use Granny Rainbow when I'm working with that age group.

So. There you have it. The first case of plagiarism of my work. We'll see what happens from here on in...

Ask the Laureate (or - The Day I met Chris Riddell!)

Up front - this is a long blog post! Make yourself comfy while you read it!

Sometimes in life, you're lucky enough to meet the very people whose work you have enjoyed and loved for a long time and who inspire you in your own efforts.

Yesterday, I met one of those someones, because yesterday - as part of Leicester City's 'Everybody's Reading' Festival - I went with Laura Buckland (Granny Rainbow illustrator) to an Ask the Laureate event.

Which meant I met Chris Riddell.

*pause while I run round the room, squeeeing with excitement. Again. Afraid I did a lot of that yesterday*

In case you don't know, Chris is the current Waterstones Children's Laureate and he is the most amazing illustrator, storyteller and all round lovely person. (He's also apparently the Children's Laundrette, according to a friend of his who is German and got her words a little confused when she congratulated him on his appointment!)

I first saw Chris's drawings in The Edge Chronicles, a series created by him and Paul Stewart, when I used to go the library a lot more with the Squidgelings. While they found their books in the children's library, I used to find mine - in the same place. As soon as I saw The Edge Chronicles I loved the detail in Chris's pictures, the imagination he had, his masterful characterisation and how perfectly he seemed to capture the world of The Edge Chronicles in the 'simple' strokes of a pencil.

I was hooked. A quiet fan.

(As an aside - Squidgeling T also likes Chris's style; three years ago he used Chris for a school art project about an author study.)

When I wrote Granny Rainbow, Chris's style of characterisation became the inspiration for the pictures I asked Laura to create for the book - which we told Chris yesterday. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the story...

From Sunflower Saturday in a copy of Granny Rainbow I
added red noses to for a charity sale at the last Red Nose Day

Over the years, I've bought books like Goth Girl (a beautiful thing - I blogged about it here) and The Graveyard Book, and I began following Chris on facebook because he posts sketches on there from his personal notebooks as well as his Laureate Log. Never a day goes by without one of his sneaky train passenger portraits...or someone famous he's met...or something inspired by poetry or music or current affairs. I love it!

The first verse of a poem by Neil Gaiman that Chris drew on the way to Leicester.
You can see the other verses he illustrated on the way home on his
facebook page in the album 'Witch Work'.

Anyway, whilst browsing the old Book of Face a couple of weeks ago, I found out - purely by chance - that the Everybody's Reading Festival was hosting an Ask the Laureate event.

I knew I had to go.

Laura came with me. We submitted our questions for the Laureate and sat together (to start with - I gave up my seat for some little girls who I thought might see better, before discovering they'd moved elsewhere and I daren't move again, so we ended up sitting apart!) in the beautiful Y Theatre near Leicester Station, initially watching Chris sharpen his pencils. I have never seen anyone sharpen their leads SO long before without them snapping...

Then we watched while he flicked through the pages of one of those amazing sketchbooks and drew Emperor Smackbotty the Third AND a couple of audience portraits...

Emperor Smackbotty III (with Kraisie Mouse and nappy rash) from Alienography.

So funny, watching the mum and daughter trying to work this out,
then suddenly realising 'it's US!'

Lumberjack in The Sketchbook...

(Apologies for the quality of the photos - some are mine, some Laura's - but the necessary subdued lighting made things a bit difficult.)

The audience was very mixed; parents with children, fans of Chris's work (like us) and students of illustration. There wasn't a bad seat in the house, so everyone got to see what Chris was drawing.

Train passenger - not the man i the audience...

The question was 'When were you born?' and Chris added where
(South Africa) and that he was probably dreaming of wine gums even then...

I can't explain how amazing it was, to see drawings come to life on the big screen as answers to questions. There was an enormous wodge of postcards and Chris managed to answer a fair few; the lucky questioners got to keep either what Chris had drawn or - if it was a question he'd already answered - 'one he'd prepared earlier'.

We learnt about his earliest inspiration...his love of wine gums (a man after my own heart - but I wonder if I'd have to fight him for the black and red ones?)...how he was tutored by Raymond Briggs...and how his first story to be published (Mr Underbed) was written in a single evening in pure panic because when the publisher (with the extremely bushy eyebrows) who told him he could draw asked 'Where are your stories?', Chris lied and said 'I've got one, but I left it at home.' They told him to return with it the following day...

We learned what Chris would do if he was told he could never pick up a pencil again. He didn't know what he could have done to deserve this cruel punishment, but his answer was:

We also got to see how passionately he feels about reading and school libraries and the issue of grammar schools. I'm not sure if every Laureate has a campaign as such, but allowing children access to books is certainly something Chris feels very strongly about and champions at every opportunity.

He's also keen on the power of encouragement, something evident in the way he answered a couple of questions from the illustrators in the audience. He advised drawing every day - what you want to, not what you think you ought to - and researching the publishers where you think you might fit. And don't wait for things to happen. Sometimes you just have to be brave and take the next step.

We discovered the inspiration behind Lord Goth - Lord Byron - who is 'Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Gnomes' because he (Lord Goth, not Chris) rides around his estate on a Regency bicycle, carrying a blunderbuss. Then, when inspiration for his poetry strikes, he proceeds to blow the head off a gnome statue. Loved that tale...and kudos to the publisher who said 'yes, go ahead Chris!' without flinching when he took the proposal for Lord Goth to them.

The talk ended all too soon, (about an hour) and then we joined the signing queue. I'd taken Goth Girl and bought a copy of The Sleeper and the Spindle on the day (word of caution - the beautiful dust jacket will warp if you get it too near a heat source, as I discovered to my disappointment when I got it home). It took us three quarters of an hour to get to the front of the queue, simply because Chris was an absolute star, signing every book anyone put under his nose (some of the children looked to have bought their entire Riddell collection!) and he had a word to share with everyone. He came across as genuinely liking people - always good when you meet your fans! - and he was interested to hear what you had to say.

I really DID meet him! Still can't quite believe it...

I thanked him for everything he does for school libraries because I am, after all, a volunteer school librarian - and was astounded when he thanked me for doing that job! I told him I wouldn't be able to if he and others like him didn't write such fab stories for children to enjoy.

When it was Laura's turn he asked about her illustration degree and she told him about collaborating with me on Granny Rainbow; he wished her good luck in her future projects.

Laura getting her book signed...and the rest of the queue, still waiting patiently.

Oh - and if there are any Blue Peter fans reading this, Chris was wearing his GOLD BLUE PETER BADGE! He doesn't like to wear his Laureate's medal when he goes on tour - keeps it in a box on the mantelpiece - but he has been known to wear it whilst emptying the dishwasher because he is an Important Person.

One of the question postcards and my two signed books...

It was an awesome afternoon. I didn't get my question answered (I asked where is your favourite holiday destination - and do you take holiday snaps or draw holiday sketches?) but I had such a great time without that, I wasn't bothered!

Meeting Chris in person, watching him work, exchanging a few words with him AND getting my books signed...I think I almost floated home. 

And my most favourite thing that Chris said? 

"As creative people, keep creating."

I think that's just become my new mantra.