Planning a book launch

It's not easy planning a launch. I looked it up on the web, trying to find out what other folk had done so I could scrounge some ideas.

Most of what I found was good advice:
1. Plan it well - a bit like a wedding reception but without the angst over the seating plan. Having said that, consider whether you want it to be an invite only or drop-in event; both have their advantages and disadvantages.
2. Find a venue - the local bookshop? A swish bar in the centre of town? Or somewhere more appropriate to the theme of your book? (Fellow cloudies SP Moss and Vanessa Wester launched their respective novels at an aeroplane museum and on Gibraltar!)
3. Include refreshments - something a bit special that fits your book's theme or simple bowls of nibbley bits: it'll all get eaten or drunk.
4. Staff your launch - ensure you have enough willing helpers so it's not just yourself trying to juggle selling books and topping up the crisps with signing copies of the book and posing for selfies to prove it's all really happening.
5. Have books to sell at the launch - sounds obvious, but I have read some horror stories where books were late arriving or didn't turn up...
6. Make sure the press have the details well in advance.

I found lots of other useful tips - like having post-it notes for guests to write names on for dedications (no embarrassing mistakes), a good pen (or two) and having something free to give to your guests, like a bookmark, for example.

I've taken it all on board, and have come up with The Plan.

So far, I've booked the rather super upstairs room in Delice Deli, a lovely French inspired deli-cum-restaurant in town, who support many local companies, for my venue. (See, there's that local thing popping up again!) I've also designed the invites, prepared the press release, made a list of props, come up with a couple of activities for the kids to keep them occupied, bought material to make bunting and decided on the food. I've also devised a rather cunning way to decide which Granny Rainbow story to read...

I'm not going to tell you any details at the moment - I want it to be a surprise for the folk who come! But it won't be too hard to guess the general theme...and there WILL be a blog post afterwards to let you know what I did and how it turned out.

Oh - and the date? Saturday, 15th March. Can't wait.

An uphill struggle

In the last 24 hours, I have been on an emotional roller coaster.

Remember yesterday, when I said I'd finished formatting Granny Rainbow? Hmm. I was so far off the mark, you wouldn't believe...

A friend offered to cast an eye over the text before I pdf-ed it. 'Fine', says I. 'I think I've got 99% of stuff, but I'd appreciate someone else looking at it. Thanks!'

When I received the list of mistakes, there were rather more alterations still to be made than I'd thought.

Most of them stemmed from my general ignorance, like the fact that I didn't know the difference between a hyphen and an em-dash, (or was it en-dash?) and where to use them. I do now. Or the fact that my computer was doing start-curly-apostrophes rather than end-curly-apostrophes when I dropped some 'aitches' in a character's dialogue; every single one had to be hunted down and changed. OR the fact that at one point, the computer had decided to use straight speechmarks rather than curly ones, for no apparent reason other than it could. (All I know is, I kept hitting the single apostrophe button for single speechmarks...there is no curly/straight option on the keyboard as far as I'm aware.)

It wasn't easy to make said changes, because although I'd received notes from said friend, (to whom I owe a very large drink when I see them at York) pinpointing exactly where I had to make the changes, the page numbers had all gone squiffy on her machine, so I had to make an informed guess as to where the changes should be made on my copy! Even when she made some of the changes for me, the spacing went doo-lally and I had to go through her notes with my original master copy.

Finally, Mr Squidge and I tried to save the final cover as a pdf...and discovered that none of our computer equipment has the facility to do this. Which meant chasing my long-suffering cover designer to send through an emergency pdf file.

As if all that wasn't enough, Bob, our windmill, stopped working, so Mr Squidge had to go to site with his netbook (the only bit of computer equipment that will convert my text file to pdf) before I'd made the absolute, final, definitely-the-last tweaks.

So I can't do the conversion of .doc to .pdf and send the stuff to the printers 'til he gets back. Aaargh!!

I have lots of grey hair already; the past 24 hours have added at least a few hundred more.

On the plus side, I'll know what to watch for in future when I'm editing. And how bloomin' difficult it is to get something print-ready. And to definitely avoid trying try to get stuff to the printer in a panic before leaving the country for a week.

I'm not sure now whether there'll be a proof copy before I go away...but I do know I need the holiday to get over preparing Granny for print!

The Ivy House gig

I did it! My first ever event as an author! In London! On a stage! It was an amazing experience...

I didn't feel nervous to start with - too busy taking money on the door and catching up with folks I'd met before and introducing myself to those I knew only through digital channels. Bought myself a pint of Rosie's Pig cloudy cider, and determined not to drink too much before my slot...

L to R: Debi Alper, Sophie Wellstood, Sally Swingewood, Helen Hardy
and Andrew James at the SfH table

 Folk started rolling in...the music began at 8, and we were off.

Dan Maitland (3rd from left) and the band, jazzing things up.

As 9.30 got closer, I could feel myself zoning out, focusing on the book I was gripping.

Up on stage, I'd asked for a stool, because I always feel happiest reading to kids when I'm sat in a chair; I figured that even though my audience was a bit older than what I'm used to, I may as well make myself comfortable.

So I started reading...

My heart tried to jump out of my chest, which tightened in response. Part of me was wondering whether there'd be any implications for the hole in my heart (discovered a couple of years back) whilst still focussing on the words. At one point, the room started swimming and I had to slide my foot to the floor to anchor myself. I tried to remember everything I'd been told about reading in public; Go slower than you think you ought to. Add emphasis. Really speak the dialogue. Look up ocassionally to make contact with the listeners.



I think it went OK. I have dim recollections of a sea of half-lit faces and the sound of my voice...followed by a smattering of applause.

Bit blurry - but me, doing the eye contact thing.

Only when I got back to my seat did the shakes start. That's when I decided it was definitely time for Rosie's Pig.

I look as relieved as I felt...

There are other things which made the event so memorable for me...and I'm not just talking about the Words and Music.

* Sally, who put me up on her sofabed with lots of lovely handmade quilts to keep me toasty warm, and her cat, who came in to see me about 6.30am to demand breakfast!
* Spike, my cameraman for the evening.
* the sense of belonging and commitment to this wonderful project, and doing it all on the day after the SfH community had been recognised as Heroes by Shelter.
* seeing the London city skyline lit up in white and red lights when I arrived at Nunhead, and sitting over the River Thames on Blackfriar's Bridge.
* how quiet London is at night.

Would I do it all again? In a heartbeat - even in several very thumpy ones! I feel a lot more like a 'real' author now...

Dear Santa...

Dear Santa,

I've been very, very good this year. Please can you bring me a couple of books to get stuck into in the New Year?

1. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett.

I'm a big Discworld fan. My ultimate aim is to have all the Discworld novels on my shelf at some point; I think there's only a couple of the Tiffany Aching stories and Eric and I'm there. I am in awe of Sir Terry's ability to create such a believable world. I've learnt a lot about characterisation and economy of words through reading Mr. Pratchett.

2. That Close by Suggs.

I don't usually go for autobiographies. I've often been disappointed by the content when I have picked one up, and I'm not really into 'celeb' culture. But every now and again, I will have another go with someone I admire. Such is the case with Suggs.

I grew up with Madness. Heck, I still buy their CD's now (and damn good they are too!). Suggs as a person looks to be a fascinating character, and a sneaky peek into the book when I popped into Waterstones last week indicated that the book is filled not only with his story but with his unique poetical lyrics and pictures drawn by the man himself.

They're a bit too big to fit in my stocking, Santa, but if you can slip them under the tree, that'd be just as good...

Thanks,

Katherine   x

Go on then - what books are you going to ask Santa for this year?

The morning after the day before...

Just to say a huge, Squidgey, rainbowy

THANK YOU 

to everyone who shared in the Book Blast for Stories for Homes yesterday. I think it's fair to say that we had a noticeable web presence - and as a result, we saw the paperback shoot up the Amazon charts for most gifted AND anthologies. If you don't believe me, google it; Stories for Homes pretty much dominates the first two pages, even this morning!

Virtual hugs to all of you for helping to make a difference!

(And if you missed it, you can still get a flavour of it here or drop into the Bookseller Crow on the Hill (London) for the first launch event TOMORROW, 6pm onwards.)

Plans are afoot for a Nottingham event - keep your eyes peeled...

Book blast - Stories for Homes

Nearly 85,000 children will be homeless in Britain this Christmas. 

Eighty-five thousand. That's more children than the entire population of my home town.

It's not their fault if mortgages or rent can't be paid through illness, separation or redundancy, so their home is repossessed.

It's not their fault if councils won't lend the support their parents need.

It's not their fault if they're forced into temporary or low rent accommodation whilst their parents wait for social housing to become available.

It's not their fault that they are subjected to poor living conditions which affect their health and emotional well-being.

It's NOT their fault.

But these kids will still be homeless at Christmas.

exists so that no-one has to fight bad housing or homelessness on their own.

To do that, they need funds.

Stories for Homes is a book of short stories, written and produced with the sole intention of making a difference. The dedication inside reads 'To everyone who knows what it is to struggle and to those who work to make a difference.' The 63 authors involved - and a good many other folk besides - gave of their hearts and time to make the anthology a reality and in a small way, make a difference.

Today, in advance of the first launch event for the paperback at The Bookseller - Crow on the Hill (London) - on the 13th December, we are SHOUTING about this book all over the net.

Every penny of profit goes to Shelter to make a difference to someone who no longer has somewhere they can call home. Please, share Stories for Homes. Share this post on Facebook, Twitter it, link and like. Watch the video. Buy a copy if you haven't already. Pop into the launch in London on Friday evening, or visit Andover library at 2pm on the 18th December to hear some of it read.

Above all, make a difference - and let's find those 85,000 kids (and their families) somewhere they can call home.

Katherine x

Hooking your reader

After the difference that Les Edgerton's book 'Finding your voice' made to me, I recently bought his book 'Hooked' to peruse as well.

Having received several more rejections of Rurik - in which the sentence 'it didn't really grab me' featured yet again - it's starting to become very clear that I have to do something different to what I am doing in order to catch an agent's attention. I think the opening is probably part of it.

Les talks in Hooked about lots of things you can improve to make your opening the best it can be, but the one I learnt most from was about identifying the 'inciting incident' - the thing that happens in the story that is the REAL reason the main character embarks on the journey that I, as the writer, take them on. He offers some useful examples which made me realise I had not identified the correct 'inciting incident' in Rurik...assuming I've understood this right!

Rurik's story opens with him waking up and cursing the fact he's not 13. He ponders for a while about the death of his father, which has meant the poor kid can't become an apprentice cobbler as planned. There is no money left to buy a new apprenticeship and Rurik's mother must remarry within 12 months to keep her home. So, over breakfast, Rurik's uncle offers to take the boy on as his apprentice instead - only Rurik has no idea what his uncle's job entails.

If Les is reading this, he's probably face-palming right now, because I've just listed at least three of the pet hates of editors and agents about openings; waking up, internal dialogue, eating breakfast...and I didn't even mention the backstory. Sorry, Les.

Laying all that aside, there's actually a bigger problem for me here; I'm struggling to decide what the inciting incident is - is it the death of Rurik's father, which sets off the whole train of events? Or is it actually the moment at which Rurik finds out about the plan for his new apprenticeship?

Gut feeling tells me it could well be the latter, in which case, I have also found my 'story-worthy problem' - the finding of a new apprenticeship. Not, as I'd originally thought, Rurik's adventure to find an object which is lost.

If that's the case, then I need to start my story later. Not much later, granted; but it definitely needs to start at the point where Rurik finds out about the apprenticeship. I feel a rewrite coming on...

If, like me, you're struggling with grabbing your reader from the start, it might be worth looking at Hooked. It might just make the all the difference.

Make Christmas cards. Tick.

December.

Like me, do you have a humungous list of things to do?

There's something about the deadline imposed by 'Christmas' that seems to eat away at me, because I HAVE to get the cards written, HAVE to buy pressies, HAVE to wrap them, HAVE to sort a tree, HAVE to buy enough food to feed an army...on and on it goes. Add to that church and family commitments, school stuff, visitors, illness - I feel like December is one long list of things that need to be ticked off.

This morning, I managed to shorten the list; I made my Christmas cards. Well, strictly speaking I'd already done a bit on them, but they needed all the fiddly hand-finishing. So while the wind has done its best to blow the house, fence and neighbour's scaffolding down, I finished the cards.

Here they are;

From left to right...

My favourite. The star aperture is backed with gold mirror card and then I added

 a gorgeous handwritten sentiment I found on the internet. I love playing with fonts...

The cracker aperture is backed with red mirror card and 

then I added a joke slip from a pre-printed sheet.

Silver mirror card behind the crown aperture, and a text stamp I designed a few years ago. 

The stars are highlighted with a clear glitter Sakura pen to give a bit of sparkle. 

 Green mirror card behind the tree-hole, with a short length of 

'Merry Christmas' ribbon underneath and a hand-drawn red star to finish.

So all I need to do now, is write my Christmas letter to be posted with them, go to the Post Office for stamps, write the envelopes...

Writing - and illness...

Over the last few days, I've been feeling somewhat under the weather; my son kindly passed on his cold. So I've been a bit lethargic, to say the least.

It's meant a couple of days off from housework. Feeling very guilty about that. Honest.

Instead, I've just been sitting on the sofa with the laptop.

Which has meant that Ani's story has grown by about 3500 words and has finally hit the 10K mark. I know, I know - nothing compared to NaNoWriMo, but it's all going in the write (ha! pun intended) direction.

I've also finalised the website design, if I can pluck up enough courage to publish it...

I didn't wait to be ill to write, of course! It just seems strange that a mentally productive time can come when the body is physically unable. You'd expect your brain to want to shut down a bit too, but perhaps that depends on exactly what you're suffering from?

Several of my writer friends have experienced - are still experiencing, in some cases - debilitating illness. Yet in spite of the limitations this places on their lifestyles, they continue to produce prolific and interesting work that stands out from the crowd, writing from the heart.

After just a couple of days feeling crook myself, with a few thousand words to show for it, I take my hat off to these inspirational folk.

Love and respect, guys.

When you can't get a book out of your head...

As a bit of fun, I had a look at this link to the 2003 BBC Big Read survey, where over three quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. It's ten years out of date, sure - and there are many more novels that could feature if you redid the survey tomorrow - but I was surprised at scoring only 39 out of 100, in spite of being a well-recognised bookworm.

It made me think about some of the books which had the biggest impact and stayed with me in my life.

I first read King of the Copper Mountains by Paul Beigel when I was at junior school. It seemed a hefty tome - I must've read it two or three times. It's a story of stories, beautifully illustrated throughout and it stayed in my head for many, many years. Just a couple of years ago, I rediscovered it - one of the children I was helping with their reading had a new version, complete with illustrations. I think I actually snatched it out of his hands in my eagerness to check that it really was the book I remembered...and the same day, I ordered a copy. It was a much shorter book than I remembered, but the magic in the pages was still there...

I got into horror when I was a teenager - James Herbert's The Rats frightened me silly. I can't remember much about the story, except that it made my stomach clench every time the rats attacked...and that the sequel was even worse. There's one scene I remember, set in the underground in London - but I really wish I could forget it. (I read Terry Pratchett's Amazing Maurice novel as an adult; the rat king made all the memories and fear come flooding back...)

I wasn't into horror very long.

In the sixth form, I found a book with my name on it - literally! Katherine, by Anya Seton. The only reason I picked it up was because my spelling of Katherine was somewhat unusual among my peers (I knew lots of girls with the same name, but they were always spelt with a 'K' and an 'a' or a 'C' and and 'e'...not a 'K' and an 'e'.) Fortunately, I loved the story as well.

Discworld - I didn't discover Discworld novels until I was married. I don't think there's a bad one among them. Nuff said.

And the last one that stays with me is Peepo, by the Ahlbergs. 'Here's a little baby, one, two, three...' If I read that book once, I read it a million times to my children. It has lovely detailed pictures, beautiful rhythm, and always made me feel like I was singing the words rather than reading them. We had to buy it as a board version because the paperback got so tatty.

I'm sure there are others I could have picked, but these are the ones that jumped out at me this morning.

Is there a novel you read that impacted on you? Why? Drop it in the comments - you never know, it might be one we've shared.

More about Pixar - and how it can help your writing

A while ago, I blogged about Julie Cohen's session at the York Festival of Writing about using Pixar films to help story structure.

Today, on Facebook, a friend shared this link to more Pixar wisdom on storytelling.

The 'rules' are well worth looking at. As anyone who's watched Wall-E, Up, Cars, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, knows (I could go on, there are loads more) they are brilliant visual stories, full of action, (Cars?) get you all emotional (the opening of Up?) and get us rooting for the characters (Wall-E and Eeee-Va).

Everything our writing should have in fact... It's worked for Pixar - will it work for me and you?

Don't know - but I'm off to memorize them all!

Granny Rainbow's ISBN Number

Omiflippingosh!

Granny has an ISBN number! A real, live, kosher ISBN number! Yesterday, I added it to the formatted document that is my master copy of Granny. It's there, in black and white - a unique number that will be linked to the publisher and me and Granny for ever...

Then I had a bit of a moment; somehow, that 13 digit number made it even more real that I am actually doing this - publishing a book full of my writing and Laura's pictures.

And of course after that, the doubts started creeping in. What the heck am I doing? Are the stories really good enough? What if Granny falls flat on her face and I'm left with 499 copies of a book I can't sell? (I'm ordering 500...I'll let you know if that was a rash decision later).

I'm sure lots of writers - including the big names in the business - experience the same wobbles when it gets close to publication. I know that if I give in to the wobble, it'll eat away at my confidence, take away the joy when I write and make me lose sight of the real reason I got into writing; to give children something they enjoy reading.

 I can't afford to let that happen.

I have to have faith in this book - and in myself. There are too many amazing people who've been on this writing journey with me so far; I'd feel I was letting all of them down if I didn't keep trying to make a go of this writing lark. And of course I'd be letting myself down by quitting.

Those who think they can't - are often right.

So I'm going to take that ISBN number and run with it - see where it takes me. I could end up a mile along the road or I might only be a few fumbling footsteps from where I started - but I'm not going to be going backwards.

Which can't be anything but good.

A shortage of stories

I'm part of the short stories group run by Vanessa Wester, which produces collections of short stories on a variety of themes in aid of charity. There have been four so far (have a look here for details of the three I'm in) and the most popular one to date is, I believe, Reading is Magic, written for children.

We'd like to produce another collection for children; our current theme is 'past, present and future', so there's plenty of opportunity for time travellers and historical figures, ghosts of the past and robots of the future...

Only problem is - we don't have enough stories.

We currently have four - we reckon we need at least eight to make it a viable project. Last time, we had a baker's dozen...

So do you write for children? Could you offer a story to support a good cause? If you are interested, please consider joining us. We can provide some limited help with editing - though we are not professionals - and all we expect in return (if your story is chosen for publication) is that you help to promote both the finished book and the charity it supports. Please note that not all the stories we are offered will be suitable for inclusion, but we do try to use as many as we are able. It's a good way to get your name and work in print - and helps others as a bonus.

If you want to find out more, please take a look at the short story group page and if you have a story (or two) you'd like to offer, mail Vanessa directly.

Alternatively, drop me a line via the comments here if you have questions that aren't answered on the site.

Thank you,

Katherine x

When a book is a beautiful thing...

Yesterday, I bought a book.

Woop-de-doo, you say. So what?

It wasn't even Raising Steam, the latest offering from Discworld and Sir Terry Pratchett, even though yesterday was publication day; it was Goth Girl, by Chris Riddell.

(If you are a regular reader, you will know I love Chris's illustrations - indeed, he was the influence behind Granny Rainbow's pictures.)

I've got a problem with this book though - I daren't open it! It's, quite simply, too beautiful.

You wuss, Katherine! I can hear you yelling at me. Get the book open - read the flippin' story! Stop being daft!

Just let me describe this book, and see if you can understand why I can't...

The cover is midnight black, royal purple, silver (actual silver foil!) and white. It's a hardback - weighty and solid. The edges of the pages are coloured metallic royal purple. You open the cover, and the inside leaf is all silver and black skulls...

See the light, glinting on the silver?!

Then you get to the story itself. On the first page - even before the words appear - is a full page illustration. Thereafter, pictures are dotted through the book, the text wrapped round them like a hug. (In fact, as I flicked through, there were very few double spreads that didn't have artwork... think I only spotted one.) The story ends on the last page with a full page picture again, then there are more silver skulls - and a mini-book in it's own little holder inside the back cover; an exquisitely drawn comic-cum-poem about one of the characters.

It feels like handling not just a book - but a work of art.

I have read the first few pages - very carefully, so I didn't leave a mark on them - but have decided I must read it only when I'm alone. Mainly because I can't help laughing, or reading bits out loud and sharing the pictures with my bemused family.

Mr Riddell, sir - I take my hat off to you. This book is an object of great beauty, and you might have just become my second favourite author of all time.

Calling all self-published authors! What size was your initial print run?

I'm at the point in self-publishing Granny Rainbow where I need to decide how many copies I ask the printer to run off initially.

Depending on the print method and quantity, the price per book varies significantly (as you might expect). At the moment, I have a price for 100, 250 and 500 units.

Initially, I looked at 100 units. But I got twitchy because it meant I had to bump the cover price up to make sure I had enough for the shopkeeper's cut. (I'm already working on a couple of contacts in the 'shop' department) There's something psychologically awful about breaking into a tenner and asking £6 for what is essentially a small book of seven short stories.

If I go for 500 units, I am going quite a bit over the budget I set myself for outlay but the cost per book is significantly reduced. A very attractive proposition, but I am struggling to get my head around exactly how much space 500 books of 100 pages each will take up; the WHOLE of my spare bedroom? Just a corner of the dining room? Every available surface throughout the house for years - until I sell them all or have a ginormous bonfire 'cos I can't stand the sight of them any longer?

Am I being completely unrealistic, expecting to sell 500 copies?! I know it'll depend on the type of book, it's audience and probably a million other factors too, but...

If you self-published printed material, how many did you plump for in that first print run?

100th blog post: Another reason to delay decorating...

So, we're still trying to fit the underfloor insulation.

I'm pleased to say that what we've already done under our dining room and hall HAS made a difference - the dining room used to have the radiator on max and still felt cold; not so now! In fact, the thermostat for the central heating has had to be tweaked up a little, 'cos the hall is so much warmer, the heating clicks off too soon to warm the bedrooms!

BUT.

Whilst under the floor, Mr Squidge was alarmed to find what he thinks is damp in some of the floor joists. Fortunately, it's not a huge problem - and he's worked out how to address it. Phew.

However, having borrowed a damp meter from a friend to check the joists, he has since gone round the entire house, checking above the skirting boards.

Guess what?

We have a damp problem.

It's very localised, but it's bad and it needs sorting. Now, the last time we had the damp-proofing done was when we bought our house: twenty-one years ago. (Sods Law states that the guarantee was for twenty years, doesn't it?) Fortunately, as first-time buyers still living in our respective parents' houses, we weren't living there at the time - but I seem to remember being warned against staying in the house for a while to let the 'stuff' do its work. Then there was the replastering...waiting for the plaster to dry...redecorating...

The same problem areas, mid treatment 1992

Now we've got to go through it all again. With two kids, a cat, and a houseful of possessions. *sigh*

As often happens, one job leads to another. In this case, I can't get my hall, stairs and landing redecorated next year - as we'd hoped - until the damp is treated. But we can use the opportunity to apply insulating plasterboard to the low walls either side of the front door (where the damp problem is) and perhaps double-glaze the stained glass panels above...

See - I'm trying to put a positive spin on it. But it still feels like another step back in the plans to get our house sorted.

If my smile looks a little strained over the next few months, you know why.

Blog Challenge - finished!

Well, I've done it. Finished the month, having missed only the day I was in hospital with my son. I consider that, near-as-dammit, 'challenge completed'.

Thirty posts in thirty-one days.

This time round, it's been exhausting! I'm not sure whether it's because the first challenge I did was in the holidays, so I had more time to write? This month, I've been so busy with stories and preparing Granny Rainbow for publication, the challenge became a chore rather than a joy.

Don't get me wrong - it has been fantastic to be a part of the facebook community and I've logged onto blogs I never would've found otherwise, meeting some really lovely bloggers on the way! I hope to keep visiting some of those which really tickled my fancy...

But the amount of creative energy it has drained is enormous, in spite of the fact that - I'll admit - I cheated a bit by posting flash fiction I'd written over the past year or so. In reality, I've probably only written 15 new posts during the month.

It's also made me question why I'm blogging.

I know that: a) I like writing b) I'm slowly putting myself 'out there' as an author without (I hope) beating everyone over the head and screaming 'Lookit! I write stories! Read them! Buy them!' and c) I'm sharing what goes on in my life and my writing. (Look here if you do want to buy books with my stories in though!)

For me, blogging's not a business. I want it to be, primarily, a shared conversation between me and you - like a quick chat over coffee, a chance to catch up.

As of tomorrow, it's back to just 2/3 posts a week so I can get back to writing my stories, but don't worry - I'll let you know what's happening.

I'm still looking forward to our next chat, but for now... catch you later!

Katherine x

The big reveal - Granny Rainbow's cover!

Well, here it is!

The cover of Granny Rainbow, illustrated by Laura Buckland and designed by Imran Siddiq!
(Huge, HUGE thanks to them for their artistic input - I am indebted to them both!)

We went through a few ideas before settling on this as a final design - we started with shelves of coloured powder bottles, (too busy), then Granny in silhouette against a lovely swirly tree background. Although fabulous in concept, that particular image was felt to contrast too much with the content and intended age range of the book.

Then we looked at using Granny's portrait, partly because when a book is illustrated, 9 times out of 10 it uses an image by the same illustrator on the cover - presumably because it gives you a flavour of what's inside. As all the illustrations are portraits of the various characters in the stories, this one felt right. There had to be a rainbow (of course!) and we've got the all important powder bottles.

Even looks good in thumbnail size!

So - what do you think? Would it catch your eye in a bookshop? Would you be tempted to suss it out for the little people in your life? (And I don't mean folk who are vertically challenged like me!)

When Squidge went skiing...

Yesterday, I had my first ever skiing lesson.

To understand just how momentous an event this was, you have to know something important;

1. I hate being cold.

2. I can't roller skate or ice skate.

3. Skiing has never, at any point in my life, appealed to me. 

So why the lesson?

Mr Squidge has been skiing - once. Years ago, when he was young and fit and a student; the memories of that time have lived on. (Even though he smashed his hip on a rock - because falling over was an easier way to stop than the method taught - and he still has a dint in his thigh as a result, twenty-five years later)

My daughter went skiing earlier this year with school, after a series of lessons at the Tamworth SnowDome. She loved it. 

My son...wants to go skiing.

We have also recently bought, via a charity auction, a week in a friend's flat in Aschau...which has a skiing resort.

Result; they've ganged up on me.

Now, assuming that we can actually book a holiday when there's snow on the ground and which fits in with school term times (like looking for a needle in a haystack, unless we pay extortionate prices for flights and ski passes because the tour operators have got school holidays marked in dark red 'this is where we make the money' ink)  I did say that I was prepared to skiing. 

Once. To try it. 

So the lesson, Katherine, I hear you ask - did you enjoy it? Did you have fun?

Erm... they are not the words I would use to describe the two hours I spent at the SnowDome in Tamworth. I didn't HATE it, but it wouldn't be what I would call fun. I did spend a lot of time laughing - at myself. I am not a natural skiier, and would probably be best repeating the whole of lesson one because I didn't feel comfortable and confident with what I was doing today. I could have done with longer to master the basics

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a video on YouTube somewhere; me going down the ski slope backwards, on hands and skis with bum in the air, doing about 55 miles an hour before crashing into the barrier at the bottom...

Will I go back? Probably. Will I get better? Maybe. Will I ever enjoy it? That remains to be seen. 

But my favourite choice for a holiday is still sun, sea and sand.

Granny Rainbow takes a trip to the printers: Part 1.

When I first thought of self-publishing Granny Rainbow, I knew I didn't want to go via Amazon. Not sure why, exactly, as most of my stories to date have been published using Createspace.

Anyway - yesterday, I went to a local printer, (Dovecote Press), who works with a local publisher I've helped with some editing (Panda Eyes). I took with me a mock-up of formatted text, (based on a 5" x 8" page size) some of the illustrations and the cover design.

I don't know what I was expecting to find at the printers - long gone are the days where huge printing presses clatter and rattle; it's all digitalised and computer screens - but there are still HUGE piles of paper everywhere and tubs of ink...

Anyhow - the upshot is that I now know;

1. A fair bit more about putting a physical book together - Granny Rainbow will be stapled and bound, not 'perfect bound.' The cover hides the staples, and I'm assured that the book won't fall apart.

2. A Xerox machine will be better for my initially small print runs. When I'm selling thousands, it switches to the BIG machine...(yeah, right!)

3. The more I can do up-front with respect to editing, proof-reading and formatting, the better it is for the printer - and the cheaper it could work out for me on unit price.

4. That my initial deadline to myself of 'before Christmas' might not be for the best - the printer advises an after Christmas publication/launch date to take advantage of all those book tokens bought as presents. This is because the printer and publisher have links to our local Waterstones store for their local history books; they are hopeful the branch will support and stock Granny too.

5. How important it is, for me personally, to deal with real people and support local businesses rather than deal with a faceless megacompany.

And the last thing I've learnt? That you can be scared and excited in equal measure when you take the plunge to self-pub because I have no idea how Granny will be received by a wider public - but I'm getting really close to the point of finding out! 

Added sometime later: On the subject of finding out what people think... I am one very happy Squidge! Have now received feedback from four young test-readers of Granny Rainbow... 4/4 likes - nay, dare I say, loves - though I probably need to adjust the intended age range to a slightly younger audience. All the stories were enjoyed,  whether they were read by or to the child, with the 'little green man' and 'black shadow' stories coming out as favourites. Also sounds like they were a hit with some of the parents too...

And just to put the topping on the lovely warm and fuzzy feeling I'm experiencing, I found out that one of those young readers has already introduced her friend to the stories I wrote in 'Reading is Magic'; they have been singing the 'Follow the Yellow Sick Toad' song and made up actions to go with it! How cool is that?!

Beginning to believe that kids really will enjoy my stories...