Book Bonding pics

Here are some pics from my reading at Book Bonding. We sang some songs and made paper boats as well!

Independent Type: Books and Writing in Victoria exhibition

Last night my friend Jackie Kerin and I attended the opening of the Independent Type: Books and Writing in Victoria exhibition at Altona Meadows library. The exhibition celebrates the development of writing in Victoria from markings on possum-skin cloaks through to contemporary offerings. The exhibition, initially mounted at the State Library is now making its way around Victoria via selected public libraries.



Last night was the opening of the Independent Type: Books and Writing in Victoria exhibition at Altona Meadows library. The exhibition celebrates the development of writing in Victoria from markings on possum-skin cloaks through to contemporary offerings. The exhibition, initially mounted at the State Library is now making its way around Victoria via selected public libraries.

Local authors were asked to provide material to supplement the touring exhibition and now features work from Andy Griffiths, Jackie Kerin and me.

Independent Type Exhibition

The wonderful Independent Type Exhibition that appeared in the State Library last year is on the move. It's opening in Hobson's Bay at Altona Meadows Library on Thursday. The exhibition curator, Steve Grimwade, will be doing the officials.

The local exhibition will feature works by local writers including Jackie Kerin, Andy Griffiths and moi!

More playing

When I took this photo, the boats and navigation thingo were invisible. I kinda like how they look almost ghostly.




Paper bark


It's a fish!

There's a mini interview for 'There Was an Old Sailor' here

I'll be at Book Bonding in Niddrie tomorrow morning for a book reading.

Puggle

Today, my visitor is Catriona Hoy, author of picture books including 'My Grandad Marches on ANZAC Day', 'The Music Tree', 'Daddies' and 'Mummies are Amazing'...and her new release 'Puggle'. 'Puggle' is the story of a young echidna, illustrated by Andrew Plant.

Welcome, Catriona!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my writing and my latest picture book, Puggle.

Picture books are mostly for younger children. How does this affect the language you use in telling a story?

Like any other kind of writing, you have to think yourself into your character’s head. Three of my books have been written in the first person, so I must be good at having a mental age of four! Word choice is important, especially when conveying difficult concepts. I struggled with how to talk about death in My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day and ended up with ‘their mums and dads waited but they never came home.’

The sound of words are also important. Most picture books are read aloud, so the words have to flow naturally and have an almost poetic quality. I used a bit of alliteration in Mummies are Amazing, with mum doing things like making ‘buses out of boxes’ and ‘planning perfect parties.’

With Puggle, my aim was to make the language simple, without resorting to making the character anthropomorphic.

What was the easiest thing about writing Puggle?

Knowing the general framework of the story; I always knew what the ending had to be. Often with a story, the ending can be one of the hardest things to make satisfying.

What was the most challenging?

Working out the timing, beginning with Puggle, going back to his mother, to the present….what tense to use where. The story begins in the present but I had to think carefully about what to do. In the end Jane Covernton suggested changing it all to present tense to make it flow better.

Picture books often take a long time to write and even longer to reach publication. Can you share a little of the journey to publication?

September 2006.The story began as a word…Puggle. That was always going to be the title. I knew that I wanted to write about this baby echidna but not what form the story would take. Then I had the first line. I had that for a long time. I did a lot of research about echidnas, trying to work out timelines, augmenting the notes I had taken on a visit to wildlife carers, cross checking and referencing.

When I was happy with the text, I sent it to one publisher who rejected it but saw the potential for some work on non fiction animal books. I really felt I wanted to stay with Puggle at that stage, so sent it out again to Working Title Press. I was working as a receptionist in England, answering phones when one day I quietly checked my emails and found that she had accepted it I had to contain my excitement! .This was November 2007.

Next I did a lot of editing with Jane. She has exceptionally high standards and we worked on nuances and flow. Jane asked me if I had any illustrators in mind and I mentioned that I would love Andrew Plant to illustrate. Andrew was incredibly busy and couldn’t start for quite some time, so it was 2009 before the illustrations were finished. The book’s release was postponed till March 2010 to maximise the exposure to schools as the educational market is a large potential market for this book.

So I guess 3 ½ years all up!

Why picture books? Why do you write for this age group?

When I started writing my children were that age, as were most of my friends children so that’s where my inspiration tended to come from. Now that they’re older I’m sure they’d like me to write the next Twilight! I still like writing for this age group because I like the way in which an idea can be captured in so few words.

You recently spent some time living in the UK. Do you think this will
affect the way you write or the subjects you write about?

Living in the UK gave me lots of opportunity for background information…I’m just waiting for the inspiration. I’d like to write a ghost story I think based in Ireland and Scotland.

What's next for you?

My next book, George and Ghost is due for release in November. It’s with a UK publisher, Hodder, but as they are part of the Hachette Group I’m hoping to see it over here in bookstores too. I’m very happy with this book…, it’s a story about friendship, with a little science and philosophy thrown in. It can be as deep or light hearted as you wish.

Apart from that, I’ve couple of books currently being illustrated and my fingers are always crossed that the next envelope I open won’t be one with my own handwriting on the front…those rejections don’t ever get easier.

As for goals…I’d like to tackle a longer story…it’s on the list of things to do.

Thanks for stopping by Catriona.

Follow Catriona's blog tour:

April 13- http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com

April 14 – http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

April 15 –here!

April 16 – http://orangedale.livejournal.com

April 17 – http://sherylgwyther.wordpress.com

April 18 – http://angelasunde.blogspot.com

April 19 – http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com

April 20 – http://belka37.blogspot.com

April 21 – http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com

April 22 – http://trudietrewin.com/blog-ramblings

More playing

Can't say I love spiders and this one is spectacularly ugly. He's a garden orb-weaving spider, of the sort that I've always called a 'leaf-curl' spider because that's where he hides in the daytime, inside a curled leaf in the middle of his web.


On Thursday Catriona Hoy will be here talking about the writing of her new picture book, Puggle.

Playing with my new camera...

Native fuscia

New growth on my severely pruned lemon tree

Hibiscus

Dutch iris

Detail of a rug. Remember I said I was just playing...

Set in miniature. Amazing detail

WWW at Willylitfest

At the Willylitfest...

I'll be 'in conversation' with Deborah Forster (who's first novel 'Book of Emmett' has just been long listed for the Miles Franklin Award) on Sunday 2 May as part of the Williamstown Literary Festival. Our topic is WWW - Women, Writers and the West.

'nother nice review

here at ReadPlus. :)

Bollard bods

My Old Sailor story started life as an oral story, long before it was a book. I use it as the basis for a workshop and have collected the sea creatures he swallows. Particularly with younger children, the sea creatures props can be their first introduction to the animals.


Before the Old Sailor, there was the Old Lady. These photos curtesy Jackie Kerin, author and storyteller. She has her own sailor, and the Old Lady is hers as well.

Newport Substation Art Market

Yesterday was storytelling, bookreading and singing in a room to the side of the main art market space at the Newport Substation monthly Art Market. We, Jackie Kerin, myself and Dharma Picking (from Everlasting Books) had a bit of a tag thing going. I'd tell a story, Dharma would start a song, and then Jackie would bring in an spoken word story.


Was great fun. We had quite an audience too which was fabulous.

Meet my old sailor

Boomerang Books has just engaged five bloggers to talk about books, and my friend Dee White is one of them. Yesterday she interviewed the sailor, main character in my picture book 'There Was an Old Sailor'. You can read the interview here.