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.

The determination gene

Delighted to say that I've got a guest post up on the Writer's Workshop blog today, which tells of my long involvement with these fabulous folk who champion writers at whatever stage of their writing journey they're at. It also mentions the wonderful Cloudies...and quite a bit about how having determination and perseverance pays off in this strange old world of being an author.

You can read it by clicking THIS LINK.

Inky Inspirations

Sorry - not posted for a few days as I've been away!

To make up for it, here's me, guest-blogging, over on the lovely Jody Klaire's Inky Inspirations, talking about all things writing-y and a few bits and pieces on top.

Enjoy - oh, and normal service will resume on the Scribbles as soon as I can wrest the laptop from the kids...

Inspiration

Most authors will have several sources of inspiration.

I'm not talking about story inspiration here - the 'where do you get your ideas from' that pops up in every Q&A session I've ever experienced. I'm talking about people.

For me, there are other authors. For example; the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett; the more recently discovered Mark Lawrence; my friend, Jody Klaire. They're not inspiring simply because they write great books which I love reading. It's the people behind the books who inspire me, particularly their struggles against what life throws at them. They amaze me with their determination, their positive approach to life and their sheer joy in the creation of stories. And they are only three of many others I could've named...

Then there are the Cloudies. If you're a regular reader of the Scribbles, you'll know I'm a member of the Word Cloud, an on-line writers' community. Over the last few years, I have made many friends there. I looked back over some of my earlier blogs recently; one was written after the agent I had at the time let me go and I received a particularly harsh rejection for a manuscript, while at the same time several other cloudies were posting the fabulous news that they'd signed contracts. The cloudies were 'a cloud under my feet' at that time, lifting me up and helping me through the self-doubt and depression that inevitably followed, encouraging and cheering me on. They've also since celebrated good news with me, and many of them are more special to me than I can probably ever explain. It makes the Cloud community a unique place.

Last night, I got to personally thank someone else who'd inspired me.

Probably three years ago, while working as a learning support assistant at school, I was privileged to sit in on a visit by the author Andrew Cope. Now for those who don't know, he's the author of the 'Spy Dog' series, a happiness expert and is studying for a PhD at the university in Loughborough.

During that visit, I got chatting to him about my writing, and told him about the novel I'd written which hadn't been picked up by publishers. He told me not to give up - and in line with the talk he gave the children that day, I set myself some achievable goals.

Things didn't work out quite the way I'd hoped or planned on the writing front after that; I had some short stories published (for charity), the first novel was rejected by publishers, I wrote another, lost my agent, got despondent...

But then I stopped work, focused on writing. As a result Granny Rainbow was published, several other short stories were published (still pretty much free as the anthologies haven't sold in huge numbers, but hey, my name's out there!) I revisited StarMark and rewrote large portions of it, sent it to a publisher, published More Granny Rainbow...and then signed a contract for StarMark!

Things have been looking pretty good - but what's that really got to do with Andy?

Well, last night was the Awards Evening for my children's school and Andy was the guest speaker. Mr Squidge, J and I were invited as T had won an award.

After almost clapping my hands off for everyone who won something (T rocked the audience with Rock Club - they play a mean cover of Muse - and walked away with a musicianship award and one for outstanding contribution to the drama performance *proud mum*), Andy spoke about happiness.

Happiness is a lie. It's not a goal you reach - you won't finally grasp it when you get good grades, meet the perfect partner, get that dream job, etc etc. Instead, it lies within each of us and it's got a lot to do with gratitude. As Mr Squidge put it later, it's about finding the silver lining, however big the cloud. Smile at people, say hello, choose to be happy. As an aside, did you know that a hug only counts (ie has benefits to the hugger and huggee) if it lasts for seven seconds? Though Andy advised us not to count one elephant, two elephants etc as that can make it seem weird...

Anyway, at the end of the evening, I caught up with Andy. I explained I'd seen him a few years ago; he remembered talking about the novel and asked where I was up to with it. When I told him that StarMark was due to be published and that it was partly due to what I'd heard him say way back when, because that's when I decided to give up work and focus on the writing, he seemed super-chuffed.

It's not often you get to thank your inspirations personally, but I hope that, in a few years time, some of the students who listened to Andy last night can go back to him and tell him what he inspired them to achieve too.

Book covers - not as simple as you think

You know Granny Rainbow was published last year? And this year, More Granny Rainbow was published too? (You can read all about them here.)

Well, I think I've done something that isn't helping sales - and for anyone about to embark on publishing a second book on a similar theme, or a sequel, well, take note. It might help you to learn from my mistake.

Yesterday, I went to Mountfest, a school summer fair. Here's the stall I set up:

I took both books with me, as I know a lot of parents at the school had bought the first book and their children had loved it; I was hoping they'd buy number two. And of course there are always new folk to introduce Granny to... I also took a game with me, based on one of the new stories (Granny Rainbow and the Froggy Fiasco) as I find a game is a good way to get people to come over to your stall in the first place; then you can strike up a conversation if they eye up the books.

However, at this event, the first few folk who came over glanced at the books and said 'Oh, Granny Rainbow? We've got that one.' And walked away.

Now - I had a grand plan when I decided what the cover of More Granny (MGR) would look like. Like all the best series fiction in bookshops, it would be similar enough to the first book for folks to recognise it as 'belonging' to it whilst being subtly different and unique in its own right. That's why I kept the lovely rainbow striped background, central portrait idea and the typeface Imran used on the original.

However - put both books side by side on a table, AND THEY ARE TOO MUCH ALIKE! I had to start saying 'Oh, you've got the first book? This is a different one, with seven brand new stories!' Or 'Yes, I've written a second book about Granny and Old Tom.'





To me, the differences are obvious. The title and author/illustrator names have been switched, Granny's portraits are different, but the overall impression - that quick first glance - just registers 'Granny Rainbow', not 'More'.









So. If ever a third book's written (it's in the wings, but as sales of MGR are not that good compared to GR, it may never get published) I shall have to rethink the cover to get over that first-glance-itis; turn the rainbow by ninety degrees maybe, to make it really stand out.

If you're reading this and are at the point of designing your own book covers... Well, the best advice I can give you (on top of what's already out there as good practise!) is to have a look at some series fiction; analyse exactly what makes the book covers look like they belong to a set, whilst maintaining their own uniqueness.

Hope that helps - even if it is too late for my own books...

Moving in roughly the right direction...

A bit of an update on all things writing...

The 100 days of writing challenge.

I'm on 28 days of writing, 6 days missed. The ratio is improving all the time - I'm finding a natural pattern is emerging of 5 or 6 days writing, and one not. But as a technique, it's certainly helping to keep me focused on the WIP.

In terms of what do I record as 'writing', well, I'm still flitting between playing in my notebook and physically typing up the story. Either counts. I'm not really referring back to the notebook much though, which some might see as a bit of a waste of time and effort; why bother writing all that stuff in longhand if you're not going to use it?

But I AM using it. The process means I have images and phrases and scenes that are now quite firmly cemented in my head. So what if they don't come out on the computer ('proper') version word-for-word? In those 28 days I've managed to get four chapters pretty well drafted, though they are rough and will need editing of course.

Be interesting to see how I can continue to write this weekend, as we have family staying with us. I may have to sneak off for half an hour a day to get my WIP-fix...

StarMark. 

We are now officially in that 'author-must-be-patient-before-everything-happens-at-once' stage. I do know that there are discussions being had round about now on the subject of blurb and covers, so I hope to have some news to share with you soon.

It's all very exciting, but there's still a little bit of me that's thinking, 'is it really going to happen?' I know it is, of course, but it's a very different process to organising the publishing yourself, like I have with the two Granny Rainbow books. Speaking of which...

More Granny Rainbow.

Authors; don't let anyone tell you the second book is easier and will be a success because you did well with the first and got good feedback; sales of More Granny Rainbow are disappointingly slow at the moment.

Now I'm not one who relies on sales numbers to get a measure of any 'success' - but I had hoped that people who enjoyed the first book would be pleased to see the publication of a second. And then buy it. Either my publicity's not working so well, or there's just no interest in a second.

We shall see. Maybe this time sales are going to be slow and steady?

I'm not going to worry about it too much. I've plenty to do, especially trying to write the WIP while sitting on my hands waiting for StarMark! Onwards and upwards...

Authors for Nepal

I shouldn't think anyone could remain unmoved by the devastation of last week's earthquakes in Nepal. So many deaths, so many injuries, so much history destroyed.

There has since been an outpouring of generosity following the DEC's launch of an appeal to raise funds to help alleviate the suffering of the Nepalese people.

Now there's another way to raise funds.

I'm proud to have donated signed copies of Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow to the Authors for Nepal ebay auction. (You can read more about it here, at the Bookseller.) On the ebay site you will find literally hundreds of books and services donated by authors and editors from the UK. Some of the authors have written bestsellers... some (like me) are not so well known, but everyone who has donated is united by the desire to raise money for a good cause.

My books should be posted on-site soon - the posts are being added all the time and the auction goes live on the 5th May - but there are lots of goodies to look through already. And after my customised Red Nose Edition of Granny Rainbow raised a £30 top bid, I'm hopeful of raising a few quid.

So please, have a look at what's on offer and spread the word.

Thank you. xxx

Giveaway time!

To celebrate the publication of More Granny Rainbow, I'm giving away a copy on Goodreads. To stand a chance of winning it, all you have to do is click on the link...

Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

More Granny Rainbow

by Katherine Hetzel

Giveaway ends May 09, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to Win

A Froggy Fiasco at the Book Launch Party!

Today, I held the launch party for More Granny Rainbow.

It. Was. Brilliant!

There weren't as many people there as I hoped, but we had a great time regardless. Books were bought, cakes - and teeth - were eaten, and frogs were counted.

Like last time, I had a competition. You had to guess the number of frogs on the fabric to win. If you'd seen me, earlier this morning, with a jar of tiddlywinks, putting one tiddlywink on each frog  so I didn't lose count (any frog whose eyes I could see got counted!)...I'm amazed that someone actually guessed the EXACT number of frogs! But they did. Their prize is a limited edition copy of More Granny Rainbow which has a single coloured picture inside. There are only five copies like this - one was earmarked for Laura, who did such a fabulous job of illustrating for me again (Marmaduke's my absolute favourite in this book) and another three will be posted on Monday to the winners of the story idea competition I held last year.

...101, 102, 103...

I also had activities and props laid out on the tables for the children (and bigger children) to have a go at, which related to each of the seven stories.

Here's the post box I made for Granny Rainbow and the Poetic Postman. The cards could have a picture and/or words added and be 'posted' to Granny Rainbow. 

These are some of the posted results...My favourite? 'To Granny Rainbow. I like all your poshons.'

For Granny Rainbow and the Big Top Bother, you could dress up as a clown...

You could eat the teeth that the Tooth Fairy had forgotten to collect (Granny Rainbow and the Tired Tooth Fairy.) They were very fruity, and very chewy!

Marmaduke was getting up to no good in Granny Rainbow and Marmaduke's Mischief. (And yes, they are all socks I've knitted...)

Hubert the dragon flew in for a visit (Granny Rainbow and the Dragon Drama), though he didn't fancy trying any of Old Tom's blue honey (Granny Rainbow and the Blue Bees) - unlike some of the little people at the launch who seemed to like it quite a lot!

And there were lots and lots and lots of frogs! (Granny Rainbow and the Froggy Fiasco) These fabulous cake pops were made by Shell's Cup Cakes and Cake Pops - you can see more of her creations here. They were absolutely delicious.

An edible Froggy Fiasco!

Frogs featured quite a bit, as Froggy Fiasco is the shortest story in the book and the one I chose to read. 

The audience, listening intently!

And of course, I had books to sell. I took both Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow, because I knew there were folk coming who had not yet met Granny Rainbow; although you can read the stories in the second book without having read the first, I thought maybe some would prefer to buy the first to find out what Granny's all about. I set up a lovely display...then my son arrived and rearranged it all. With mathematical precision. Just look at the steps on that bottom pile...

And people bought books - hooray! I was asked to sign quite a few...

And that was that. An hour later, done and dusted. More Granny Rainbow had been officially launched!

The one photo I forgot to take was my addition to the Wall of Fame at Delice Deli. You might remember it from the previous launch?

The wall has got a fair few signatures on it now, but there was just enough space to add something along the lines of 'And back for the second book too'. 

In fact, if any Loughborough folk fancy a read of either of the books when they drop into Delice for a coffee, lunch, or to purchase some of the fabulous produce on sale, then there are reading copies on the shelf and - even better - you can purchase a copy of either from them (along with several other local history titles published by Panda Eyes). How fab is that? An outlet for my books, in my home town. *squee!*

(And if you can't get to Delice or live far away, details of ordering by post are on my website.)

Huge thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with me - Granny's got off to a good start thanks to you!

Almost launch time...again!

It's time to send More Granny Rainbow out into the world! The launch party is this Saturday; the cakes are ordered, the props are being gathered, the books are in their box...all we have to do is turn up on the day shout 'She''s here!' Well, that and paint some lily pads on a box, find out all my hand knitted socks and make some blue honey... Intrigued? All will become clear in the post-launch blog!

It feels a bit strange this time though.

There isn't the same sense of excitement as I had with the first book launch. Perhaps it's just because there's been a lot of other things to think about recently, and it's just one of many things I need to do? Perhaps it's because I've already done it once before, so it's not quite such unknown territory?

It's certainly not because I'm not proud of the book! I reckon fans of Granny Rainbow will have just as much fun reading and sharing these new stories as they did with the first book.

Perhaps it's because I'm scared? Yep - I'm a little bit scared. Shouldn't be, but I am.

Y'see a friend remarked when I expressed a little concern over how few people seemed to be able to come to the launch party, that they didn't think there'd be a problem because people now know me and are bound to turn up and buy the book.

As an author, as much as I would love to believe that, I really don't feel that I can take that for granted. Perhaps if my name was J. K. Rowling or Chris Riddell or that of any one of a host of other successful authors, I'd feel more secure. They are pretty much guaranteed sales - aren't they?

To date I've sold around 240 copies of Granny Rainbow in just over a year, which I've been told is pretty good for what is effectively a self-published book. (I shan't be living in luxury just yet.) However, not every single copy will have found a fan. And that's alright. Reading is a subjective matter - we all have different tastes and Granny will not suit some children at all. So not everyone who bought or received a copy of Granny Rainbow will want to buy More Granny Rainbow.

But I do know there are some young (and not-so-young) readers who love Granny Rainbow and will want to hear what she's been up to. If that translates into a handful of sales, I shall be happy. If it translates into ten, fifty, a hundred or more, I'll be even happier... But the best happiness of all is having just one person come up to me, having read the stories, to say how much they've enjoyed them.

That? Priceless.

So, I'll be launching Saturday, whether there are few or many present, and we will celebrate the world of Granny Rainbow again, not hoping for sales but for satisfied readers.

I trust they will let me know if I deliver.


(If you can't get to the launch but would like to order a copy of either of Granny Rainbow's books, head over to the website for details. I will send them out as soon as I can after the launch.)

A Rainbow Jumper

A while back, in a lovely little craft shop (Crafts Cornucopeia) where my sister lives in Belper, I bought myself some wool. Not just any old wool - this was rainbow wool. King Cole 'Riot' Double Knit, in the shade 'Fab', to be exact.

Such a gorgeous blend of colours

I'd got a lovely pattern in mind - a ballerina cross-over cardy-style jumper (so it didn't have that fiddly belt you used to have to thread through a hole in the seam) - but the sizing kept going wrong. Now I'm a loose knitter usually, but I could not get the tension right on the pattern I was trying. And unfortunately, this wool is a bit of a pig to pull back; it's got quite a smooth, shiny finish but the wool content means that it goes fluffy when you unravel wrong knitting.

So I found a new pattern. A short bolero jacket with cabled neckline. (As well as a wrapround cardy waistcoat and a circular waistcoat...when I see a pattern I like, I buy it!)

It's the strangest construction I've ever knitted before - but I like a challenge. I can't wait to see how it looks when it's finished...I don't think it'll be ready for the launch of More Granny Rainbow, but I'll do my best.

Haven't got lots of time for knitting, y'see.

I have the launch to organise of course...also a dining room to decorate (although finding a colour and the respective new curtains to go with is taking me longer than I'd hoped)...a couple of short stories to bash out so that my idea for an adult short story collection might bear fruit...Rurik to edit (picked him up recently and saw SO much I can do to improve that book)...and Ani to get to grips with (as she's causing me some headaches and I can't seem to push through them).

Oh - and life. All the normal, everyday stuff that has to be done to keep house and family ticking over...

Thank goodness I'm not knitting a sweater dress.

She's here!

More Granny Rainbow arrived this afternoon - all 300 of her! Even the cat was interested...

Roll on the 26th April and launch day!

Friday's the day!

This Friday, I'll be taking delivery of 300 copies of More Granny Rainbow! Hooray!

I ordered fewer copies this time - mainly because my spare room's not big enough to store another eight boxes of books on top of the three I've still got left of Granny Rainbow. Of course, for the self-pubber, that means a slight increase in price per copy; unfortunately it also means an increase in the price I charge the reader. BUT if you buy direct from me, you'll still be paying less than if you buy via a shop.

I will make sure there's a pre-order button (and offer!) up on the website by the end of this week, with copies posted to arrive at the beginning of May.

A Tentative Launch Date...

More Granny Rainbow is still at the printers at the moment... but I am hopeful the books will be ready by the end of the Easter holidays or soon after.

That being so, I've tentatively booked a launch date, the 25th April. Stick the date in your diaries, as there's going to be another party! I've asked Delice Deli to host it again, as although there are some accessibility issues (we use the upstairs room), the Delice team are so good and, I found out recently, going to stock Panda Eyes books!

This means that there is going to be a shop in Loughborough selling both Granny Rainbow and More Granny Rainbow! *squeee!* As well as lots of local history books, too - that's actually Panda Eyes' speciality... I'm a bit of oddity for them, really.

I'll be sending out invites once I've confirmed the books will be ready in time; if you fancy coming, do drop me a line. For those who can't get, I'll be posting a Paypal button over on the website soon, so you'll be able to pre-order books which I will mail out on the Monday/Tuesday after the launch. (Some special people will get theirs pre-launch...)

Exciting stuff!

Now all I need to do is sort out food, activities, helpers...

So much to tell you...

The last week or so has passed by in a bit of a blur. There's been so much happening!

Wednesday 4th March: Author visit to Holywell School.

I had a fantastic time with two Year 3 classes at Holywell, looking at the essential ingredients of a Granny Rainbow story and then helping the children to come up with their own ideas for a Granny story. We focused on the idea of something being lost; working out what it was, who'd lost it, why was it such a problem that it was lost, and most importantly, what was Granny going to do to help find it?

Getting to grips with the digital whiteboard...and the essentials
of a Granny Rainbow story

I don't know what had just been suggested, but I look pretty shocked at the thought!
And for some reason I can't seem to write straight...

My personal favourite was the lost tiara...which just happened to be stuck to the Lady Larabelle Loolilace's wig, so when she lost her wig - and the tiara - she couldn't go to the posh party she'd been invited to because actually, she was as bald as a coot in real life! Second favourite was the lost penguins - or was it the treasure chest? SO many ideas! In fact it was hard to stop the children from coming up with more and more ideas and actually settle down to writing the outline of the story they'd be penning...

It was a really special visit, because Holywell was my primary school...and here I was, forty odd years later, returning to spend time with a fresh generation of students.

Thursday 5th March: World Book Day.

A planned author visit had to unfortunately be cancelled, so instead I bagged up a copy of Granny Rainbow as a World Book Day gift and left it in a playground in Queen's Park. I've done something similar with the Lonely Bouquet - left a bunch of flowers for someone to find and take home, so I was hoping the same principle would work with a book.

I don't know whether anyone picked it up - when I passed back that way later in the morning, the book was still there and being studiously ignored by the parents present, in spite of the invitation inside the bag to 'Take me Home!' Hope someone's enjoying it...

Friday 6th March: Lords and Ladies at the Manor.

A group of Cloudies had booked a Manor House in Oxfordshire for the weekend, with the intention of writing, hearing other's work and getting to know some of the folk who are recognised only by an electric persona on the Word Cloud. 

We had a blast! Quite a few more Cloudies arrived on Saturday to spend the day with us (I ran a short writing exercise in the afternoon, there was a table tennis compeition, a bring-and-share lunch) and a few of the day visitors stopped overnight. We drank wine (and champagne for those who took part in The Great Fizz competition of reading work to an audience), ate very well, sang songs until the wee small hours, wore tiaras and top hats (as befits a Lord or Lady of the Manor) and made lots of new friends.

Lady Squidge of the Manor...complete with tiara.

The weirdest thing was reading a Granny Rainbow story to an audience of adults instead of to children...

I came home exhausted but happy on the Monday and started to thrash out some words and ideas on Ani's story.

Tuesday 10th March: Proof Pick-up!

I picked up the proof of More Granny Rainbow. There are some glitches with the cover, as I realised there is a fundamental design flaw (of my own making) which needs to be addressed. So I shan't be launching just yet... The inside pages are looking pretty flippin' good though - I didn't see any typos at all. I'll leave finding them up to the eagle-eyed reader...

Wednesday 11th March: Painting Text



I'm involved at the moment in a passionart project - eight town centre churches are creating a piece of artwork depicting a part of the Easter story, which will be displayed outside the churches from Palm Sunday through to Easter Monday. The one I'm involved with is the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross, on a 4 by 3 metre banner. I spent most of Weds (and Thursday and part of Friday) painting the text onto the speech bubbles...



Then we had a NIBS meeting - the Nanpantan Improving Body of Scribblers writing group. Four of us wrote off-the-cuff about what we wanted to see more of or less of in the world; combined three trinkets (chosen from a selection) into a piece of prose; and then considered what we would include in a time capsule to represent ourselves and our lives. There were some rather poignant pieces written, which brought a tear to my eye...

Thursday 12th March.  RIP Sir Terry Pratchett

I cried.

Sir Terry's Discworld books are my absolute favourite thing to read. I have a shelf filled almost entirely with Discworld...there are a few titles missing still, but in time I am determined to have the full set.

To know that I will never read about Vimes or Carrot again, hear the witches own particular brand of wisdom, or find out what C.M.O.T Dibbler's latest money-making scheme is, makes me unbearably sad.

And only Sir Terry could have written the end of his own story as he did, with Death coming to take him for a walk.

I hope Sir Terry finds what he was expecting in the black desert...

Illustration by the very talented Mat Sadler

Friday 13th March: Comic Relief

I was auctioning off a copy of Granny Rainbow for Red Nose Day; I'd drawn red noses on all the illustrations and the front cover. I am delighted to say that the top bid was £30 - £30! - and I decided to double that. Hence a whopping £60 will be winging its way to Comic Relief HQ and Red Nose Granny to Birmingham, to a very special librarian.

And I think that's us all caught up! Normal blogging service will be resumed...assuming I have something interesting to tell you!

Granny's gone to the printers - again!

I did it.

With trembling fingers and doubt in every bone, I pressed 'send'; the cover and text files for More Granny Rainbow are with the printer...

And you know what? It wasn't any easier second time round. I think the pressure has come because the first book was almost born out of a position of ignorance - this time, I know what I have to do to make it look even better.

I paid for an edit  because last time, I thought I'd done a good job of self-editing - and failed miserably! This time, I contacted Steph Roundsmith - she's really good - for a professional once-over. She picked up a few things I'd missed, but I was really pleased that she thought the copy I sent her was pretty clean to begin with.

Once the text had been sorted, it was on to layout...

I had laid the text out slightly different this time, because when I took Granny Rainbow to The Reading Shop, the lovely Lynne who owns the shop (a dedicated children's book shop - bliss!) advised me to centrally justify the text next time as it looked more professional. I also chose to make a bit more of the story titles; dropped them down a couple of lines and gave them a bit more space again before the story proper began.

However - the justification was an absolute PIG to get right. The template I use has the last line on the page very close to the page number, which I didn't like. So I would do a hard return and 'push' that last line of text onto the next page. For some reason, this made the new last line on that page unjustify itself, so I had a gap on the right hand side. Still not quite sure why it does that - or how I fixed it, to be honest - but I think there is one place left where I just could not get that last line to justify properly...

And of course, some of this was only noticed AFTER I'd saved the file as a pdf, so I had to go back a step to make the alterations and re-pdf-save it. (You can tell I'm really good with computers, can't you?).

I also found (thank goodness!) that I'd used an older version of one of the pictures Laura had drawn; Happy Harry didn't have his badge on!

So it was with fear and doubt I pressed the button. Now I have an anxious wait for the proof, to see if I can spot anything else I missed...

More Granny Rainbow - The Cover Reveal!

As I'm away on a writing weekend with some fabulous Cloudie friends from Friday and unlikely to be blogging until I get back, (when I'll tell you all about what we got up to while staying at The Manor; I'm going to be a Lady for the weekend!) I thought I'd share with you the cover of More Granny Rainbow:

I feel Publication Day approaching... *squeee!*