Pictures, Books and Ancient Inspiration

By Philippa R. Francis [K. M. Lockwood]

Our ancestors held no prejudice against illustrated books for adults. Art and words were beautifully combined in sacred texts like the Lindisfarne Gospels. For a wonderful programme about these by David Almond, follow this link to the Radio 3 site.






I have divided this piece into Picture and Book sections – but I’d like you to think of it as a whole for both artists and writers.

Pictures 
I love how the artist Eadrith used birds and animals in his work. He plays with their features and integrates them into the whole design. Could you transform a creature into a magical being, keeping something recognisable about it? Or if you favour realism, could a creature reoccur in your work – could an owl, say, have her own little story throughout the book?

We get little glimpses of the scribe in the Gospels – it was created by one artist throughout. It is Eadfrith’s individual style that unites the whole work. Do you choose to reveal or conceal yourself as creator in your work?

Books
The Lindisfarne Gospels arose from their immediate surroundings. The vellum came from local calves, the words were written with the feathers of local birds and the colours from the stones and plants.  
Are there ways your work can be imbued with a specific place, rural or urban? Is the landscape in the ink?

St Cuthbert's Isle by Peter Herring CC NON COMMERCIAL

Yet the Lindisfarne Gospels did not stay on their tidal island off North East England. The monks fled with them away from Viking raiders. Over 13 centuries they ended up in The British Library in London.
Will there be a distinct change of location in your work? Might there be a homecoming too? [See below]

Endnote
To the delight of many in the North East, the Lindisfarne Gospels and the St Cuthbert Gospel [the oldest European book] are coming home- almost. They will be in Durham Cathedral 1st July – 30th September 2013,  temporarily reunited with one of their inspirations, St. Cuthbert, after 12 centuries.

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@lockwoodwriter

K. M. Lockwood is a writing name of Philippa R. Francis. Once a primary school teacher, she became a graduate of the MA in Creative Writing at West Dean College in 2011. Her story The Selkies of Scoresby Nab was short-listed for the Mslexia Children’s Novel Competition and long-listed for the Times Chicken House in 2012/13. She was born in Yorkshire but now lives by the coast in Sussex. Her writing shows her deep fascination with British folklore and the sea. Her interests include reading, scuba diving and belly dancing, though not at the same time. She also blogs at the-wedding-ghost.blogspot.co.uk

Results - 1st Slush Pile Challenge 2013

The winner of the first 2013 Slush Pile Challenge is Gerald Killingworth.

Anne Clark of Anne Clark Literary Agency set the challenge in April. The challenge was to send in a paragraph pitch for a middle grade novel. 

We received over 25 entries for this challenge. We sent 15 randomly picked pitches without mentioning the names of the entrants to Anne Clark. We asked Anne to tell us about the entries and how she chose the winning entry.

Thank you for inviting me to judge the first 2013 Slush Pile Challenge. I really enjoyed reading the middle grade paragraph pitches – what a fantastic range of subjects and styles!

I chose The Dead World of Lanthorn Gules as the winner because it succeeded in telling me enough of the plot to engage my interest and gave me a strong sense of the atmosphere and tone of the book.

I also liked the way it plunged straight into the story, leaving the hard sell until the end.

The most successful pitches really homed in on the elements of the story which were original, intriguing or exciting, without reaching for too many abstractions. 

They included enough detail to convey the flavour of the book as well as the plot. But I do know how hard it is to find the perfect balance between ‘too general’ and ‘too much detail’ and to boil down tens of thousands of your carefully honed words to just a few lines – so congratulations to all entrants!

Words & Pictures
First Slushpile Challenge Winner!

We asked Gerald Killingworth about his experience of taking part in the competition and about meeting Anne Clark.

"I have only been a SCBWI member for a few months and so I was delighted when I heard that I had won the first Slush Pile Challenge of 2013. 

For many years I was an English teacher and unable to give my full attention to my writing; it’s difficult when your head is full of ‘Will you please sit down.’ and ‘Who drew that on my whiteboard?’ Joining SCBWI was an important step in my becoming a ‘serious’ writer and I have been very grateful for the tips of the trade that I have picked up at the socials and the Saturday goal-setting brunches.

When composing my paragraph for the Slushpile Challenge, I decided to write it about a supernatural novel for 9-12 year-olds that I have just begun. I am currently three chapters in with the synopsis more-or-less complete.

I chose to write as if I were a publisher’s publicist, trying to make the story as appealing as possible to the target readers and also to their parents who are the ones likely to be buying the book.

I divided my paragraph into three sections, the first giving some of the most unusual/dramatic details of the story, the second suggesting that the atmosphere was exciting and spooky and the third saying, basically, ‘It’s fantastic for the following reasons.’

Anne Clark and I finally met at the Wellcome Collection café in Euston Road. She had come down from Cambridge for the meeting and we talked for over an hour, not simply the half-hour promised as the prize. Anne had even taken the trouble to buy the ebook version of Lord of the Silver Hand and read it on her kindle on the journey to London. Winning the Slush Pile Challenge was really useful for the time factor alone, as un-agented authors become very used to not having the opportunity to present themselves and their work as fully as they would like.

Anne and I talked mostly about the book which was the subject of my winning paragraph. I had sent her four chapters prior to our meeting and we discussed in detail what I planned to do with the rest of the story. She had obviously read the chapters carefully and the discussion was a helpful one.

For example, Anne suggested that I increase the age of Edwin, the central character, to twelve as she feels that 9-12 year-old readers prefer their protagonists older rather than younger.

We also talked about possible publishers and markets. Anne seemed very enthusiastic about the book and, although she did not make me an offer of representation then and there, she explained, quite reasonably, that she needed to see whether she liked the rest of the book as much as she liked the beginning.

I plan to finish the novel over the summer and it is heartening to know that, when it is complete, I have an agent keen to read it. So it’s up to me to be as brilliant as I can! Thanks again to the SCBWI organisers of the Slush Pile Challenge and to Anne Clark.

I feel that I have jumped quite a few places in the queue that leads to publication and success.

In a July sort of mood

Tomorrow, Monday 1st July 2013 submissions open for Undiscovered Voices 2014.  Are your 4000 words poised ready to be uploaded as soon as submissions open? Could yours be the first? Or are you, like me, more interested in the the date they close? That's
Thursday 15th August
Put the reminder on your phone NOW!

Today, we also have our first Words & Pictures Slushpile Challenge Winner, who describes his experience of winning and his meeting with Agent Anne Clarke. Our next Slushpile Challenge has been set and will be posted next Sunday.

I know we're still June but I'm already in a July sort of a mood and July is Picture Book Month! Are you going to be at the Picture Book retreat next weekend? Did you know that this year it's the 50th Anniversary of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are? And here's a heads up - next weeks new Slush Pile Challeneg is especially inspiring for picture book writers.

Blackbirds are very friendly
near Swanage

We're also looking for feedback in July - how are we doing? Too much to read, too little or  about right? What do you like? What would you like to see more of? Let me know in the comments or at editor@britishscbwi.org or do our POLL.  There'll be a different question every week in the left hand side column.

I've just come back from a few days camping... not at Glasto - bless the lovely person who thought I was cool enough for that - but at favourite campsite near Swanage trying to deal with the muddling middle of the WIP. No internet there but the 3G was good so picked up this Twitter advice from UV 2014 which was especially pertinent for me or anyone trying  to  de-complicate a plot.

This is a personal plea from someone shamelessly using an internet platform for her own benefit - how do you plan, plot, map story and NOT overthink? I'd love to know. It seems I've asked a lot of questions this week - they have a lot to do with overthinking.

Here are some more:

Did you click on Bear's rumbling tummy on Friday, tell us where your group meets on Thursday or celebrate with Paula, Jackie and their guests on Saturday? Did you see that picture of Sally Poyton with the FAMOUS PERSON she interviewed? Nick did on Tuesday. Wednesday's workshops: what does make them work? And Twitter mentions: are you watching them as Sheila advised on Monday? Was your week a Words & Pictures week or did the big round yellow thing in the sky lure you away from the screen. That's ok it'll all still be here when it rains!

Next week, after all the talk of illustration for older readers we kick off Picture Book Month with some ancient texts from a time when no one (I'm guessing) thought twice about illustration for adults. Ask an Agent on Wednesday will be demonstrating how not to write a query. Friday's illustration feature about The Plaister Press, is from Gillian McClure, illustrator, writer and publisher.  

Don't forget Undiscovered Voices 2014 submissions open tomorrow - you could be the first...

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is older middle grade, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta.

Who was at the Faerie Tarantula book launch last week?

I was truly thrilled to be at the Faerie Tarantula book launch last week. It was a joint affair by Paula Harrison who launched The Crystal Mirror, the first in her new middle grade Faerie Tribes series for girls, and Jackie Marchant who launched I'm Dougal Trump Where's My Tarantula?.

It was held in London's Phoenix Arts Club, in a tiny street where the opening scenes from Harry Potter were filmed. The pictures and theatrical posters crammed on the walls were a great backdrop for a wonderful evening.


Kirsty Stansfield, Paula's editor at Nosy Crow says, about The Crystal Mirror

"It’s got great atmosphere and pace, and I really like the relationship between the characters. They’re very well drawn. But what I like best about it is that it raises the possibility of transformation – one day, you’re on the school bus, thinking about what to have for tea; the next, you’ve got wings and you’re about to fly out the window! I like that."

Paula says: "The story is based on the idea that faeries live among us and look like us in their human form, so humans can't tell them apart. They also belong to five tribes with power over water, air, animals, plants and fire. There's a lot of enmity between the tribes. I just liked the idea of writing about a reality hidden inside our everyday world."

We first gave Paula, a big hurrah a few weeks ago. SCBWI's love to celebrate with cake and wine so I thought I’d share some photos of the evening so you can see who was there and raise your own glasses to Paula and Jackie.

You can see Candy Gourlay’s recording of Paula reading the prologue of The Crystal Mirror on the Nosy Crow blog. Thanks also to Candy for letting me post some of her photos.

Thanks to Paula and Jackie for a fabulous evening and here’s to sparkling success for the Faeries and the Tarantula, hip hip hooray!

Kirsty Stansfield, Editor at Nosy Crow
& Catherine Alport, Publicity Manager, Macmillan

Paula with one of her fab sparkly cakes

Andrew Weale gave a hilarious reading

Anita Loughrey and Joe Friedman

Candy Gourlay, Alice Williams from David Higham Associates
& Odette Williams

Nick Cross and Kirsty Stansfield

Mo O'Hara

Heather Kilgour, Paula Harrison and Bridget Strevens Marzo

Lucy Van Smit

Tim Collins

Jeannie Waudby and Jo Franklin

What's escaped from Jackie?

Teri Terry and Jo Franklin

Heather and Bridget with the earlier books...

Mo O'Hara with scary hat and Jackie

Quick! The tarantula's escaping!

The last sparkly fairy cake...

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Tania Tay is an ex-advertising copywriter and has been published in Sable LitMag. She is writing MG and YA fiction, and is on the editorial team at Words & Pictures.

Duck & Bear Episode 4

Writing is Rewriting - Duck learns some painful lessons while Bear quietly gets on...
Read episode 5 of Amanda Lillywhite's webcomic Duck & Bear here!

Network News: The Sense of Place

By Gill James

An interesting place to meet?

I’ve already touched on this little in earlier posts – see particularly my post about the quirky nature of the events room at Waterstones, Deansgate, Manchester. Getting the right place for your meeting or critique group is extremely important. You need somewhere where you can talk undisturbed but where you can feel good about yourselves too.


Here are a few examples:

The IBM Club, Hursley, Winchester 
We used to meet in the beautiful panelled committee room. A couple of us were IBMers or married to someone who worked for IBM. As we met early evening folk coming straight from work could grab a bite to eat in the bar first. We were a group of SCBWIers and graduates of / students on the Winchester MA in Writing for Children. On a warm summer’s evening we have been known to sit on the terrace, with the sound of leather on willow in the background in the cricket season. One time we even worked in the Sunken Garden when the committee room had been double-booked.

Sherlock Holmes Hotel, rear lounge, Baker Street, London 
This is an elegant lounge. You are expected to buy a drink and they’re not cheap. However, it’s a given that people will sit for a couple of hours in creative meetings.

There was a lovely fire in winter and it was always quiet. Handy for the tube as well.

Most of us in the group had a short commute into London and we often ended up in the basement of the nearby Starbucks on our way to the hotel, so we sort of had a pre-meeting over a coffee and a sandwich.

Chester Library 
We’re offered one of two meeting rooms for our meetings: the small one at the back, which looks out over the hills towards North Wales, or the larger one at the front, from where you can look down on the buzz of an historic town on a Saturday morning.

It’s always good to be near books when you’re talking about writing them.

The Refectory, Chester Cathedral 
We’ve used this for social meetings rather than critique groups. It’s a little gloomy and can be quite cool in winter but the drinks are reasonably priced and it’s never crowded, even on a busy Saturday just before Christmas.
It can really feel as if your discussion is adding to history because you know you are in a building that has hosted many other important debates. The wisdom seems to ooze out of the walls.

The Black Swan, York, upstairs room
 Yes, of course this is actually a pub. But recently they offered this upstairs room for free to a group with which I worked as part of the Writing Festival if every member bought at least one drink.

Many places will do this – especially if you pick a time when they’re not likely to be able to hire the room out. Popular times would be:

• Anytime Monday 
• After breakfast or late afternoon Saturday. 
• Early evening most days 

What to consider when looking for a venue for your group 

•  A space where you can talk in peace and without disturbing others 
•  Access to refreshments at a reasonable price 
•  A place that is special and allows you to feel special 
•  Obtaining the agreement of the owner / manager / landlord 

Over to you 

• Where does your group meet?

• What's special about the venue you've chosen?

• Any more tips for choosing a venue? 

Next week: 
How has being involved in a network has helped you with your writing and/or getting published?
Please let me know at networknews@britishscbwi.org

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Gill James writes mainly for young adults. She lectures in creative writing at the University of Salford where she also runs the Creative Café Projectwhich is all about creative spaces for creative practitioners.      

 

Workshops: so what makes them work?

By Celia J Anderson

I love the whole idea of a workshop. The name conjures up an intensive but fun session with like-minded writers who hopefully don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s also an ideal opportunity to break out your notebook collection to impress people. But what’s the secret of a successful workshop? And why take part at all?


Over the years, I’ve explored a wide variety of workshops with varying results. Sometimes they’re disguised as festivals with guest speakers who not only are excitingly famous but when you get in there, you find to your delight that they’re quite prepared to share the tricks of their trade. And they are willing to let you have a go at the writing process and hold your hand while you do it. There might even be biscuits. And wine later. These ones are excellent.

One of the first of this type of event that I made myself attend as a terrified aspiring writer was one of the well-organised Writers’ Workshop Festivals in York, back in 2010. Harry Bingham and Kate Nash were largely responsible for the organisation there, and I threw myself into the whole thing with gusto, coming away with a few good contacts, several new friends and having been part of the Authonomy event. This involved sending a couple of chapters in beforehand, which, if selected, you were expected to read aloud to a huge room of very well-oiled people who were full of dinner and wine. This was scary but at the end, Kate Fforde, romantic novelist extrordinaire and all round good egg, came up to me and said ‘I know you didn’t win but I just wanted to tell you that my table liked your story the best.’ She may have been going round to everyone saying that for all I know, but I almost wept. It made the whole weekend worthwhile and stopped me being quite so in awe of the already successful delegates.

Heartened by this experience, I signed up for the Festival of Romance 2011 in Watford (now in Bedford: another of Kate Nash’s creations) and met a wonderful group of people. Nine of us later formed ourselves into The Romaniacs, an online writing group, I hope these ladies will always be my writing support network, drinking buddies and fabulous friends. 

A network SCBWI event followed in Birmingham, when we workshopped chapters of our children’s novels, critiqued each others’ work and received excellent (tactful but honest) feedback.

In between times, I run my own workshops for children, using dressing up clothes and various other props to stimulate lively imaginations and to generate great writing. At the moment, I am running one to write the Year Six play at the school where I teach. Spending a whole day focused on nothing but writing and what leads up to it, with lots of fun activities included and plenty of breaks for a bit of gentle exercise, seems to work well whatever your age group may be.

Which one will you try first?

• There are lots of places that you can go to experience the workshop buzz. You don’t even need to leave the comfort of your sofa – the recent bulletin from SCBWI detailed several online discussions on Twitter that would work in almost the same way, one every Wednesday evening at #yalitchat and one on Tuesday evenings at #kidlitchat. Moderators pose topics and agents/editors visit to chat too. Why not start your own online Twitter workshop session? You even get to choose the nibbles.

• In the same bulletin, author Kim Tomsic from the other side of the pond describes her ‘schmoozes’ which are informal local get-togethers where workshop type subjects are generated and planed together. Another good one to experiment with nearer home, maybe?

• If you’re feeling brave and want to venture out into the real world and meet...you know...actual people, you could visit the Festival of Romance festivalofromance.co.uk (for those of us who moonlight in the adult world) or The Writers’ Workshop events – there are a great many interesting workshops within the September festival; www.writersworkshop.co.uk

• SCBWI have some fantastic regional events for those of us who don’t get to the big city very often. My nearest group, based in Birmingham, has some great activities with Clare Bell sharing her expertise in a variety of ways, including the wonderfully named Critique-nique. Try browsing in the ‘What’s on’ section of the SCBWI site – you’ll be spoilt for choice. The Picture Book Retreat in July (5th-8th) also sounds like one to look out for.

• Guardian Masterclasses are often run on workshop lines too, with some charismatic leaders, covering subjects such as ‘How to complete a first draft’ for absolute beginners but also offering a range of others for the ones of you who have less basic concerns. So, in a nutshell, the choice is yours – stay at home networking workshops and local do-it-yourself groups right through to the whole-weekend-hangover-included-free variety.

Can you add to this list with your own workshop experiences? 
Perhaps you went to The WInchester Writers' Conference or SCBWI British Isles' Conference also in WInchester, in November?

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@CeliaAnderson1

When she’s not marking children’s work, or writing stories involving pants, Celia spends far too much time on Facebook (Celia Joy Anderson) and does a lot of walking to counteract the cooking, eating and drinking which form another of her hobbies. She blogs as part of the Romaniacs online writers’ group . You can also find her over at her own website. Celia’s first novel, Sweet Proposal, a contemporary romance involving chocolate, a jacuzzi and a bespoke bookshop, will be published by Piatkus Entice on August 1st. Her ultimate dream is to have her children’s books published too. Usually sea-starved in the depths of the Midlands, she can often be found wandering happily around Brighton visiting her two daughters pretending to collect ideas for her next book.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 25th June

I blogged last Friday about how I was having a bit of a struggle to keep coming up with new ideas for blog posts, but I'm glad to report that the rest of our SCBWI bloggers seem to be doing just fine!



Nicky Schmidt has been pretty quiet (by her standards) in recent months, but last week she unleashed two new articles in the same day - one on here about author brands and the other on her own blog. The latter post is a typically idiosyncratic take on the world of social networking and the need (or otherwise) to build an "author platform". As ever, Nicky's advice is refreshingly direct and pretty much boils down to "shut up and write the damned book".

Taking a writer (and a subject) close to my own heart, Space on the Bookshelf have a very special interview with Charlie Higson. Charlie talks boys' books, Young Bond and of course zombies!

Sam Zuppardi's blog posts are often very short illustration pieces, so I was pleased to see him talking at more length this week about his creative process. In presenting his sketch of a baby in a hat, Sam discusses the pros of cons of spontaneity in drawing and how he sometimes struggles to capture the spirit of his rough efforts in his finished drawings.

The award for bonkers post of the week must go to Meagan Monroe of The funeverse, whose invitation to go on an "imagination journey" is one you should accept forthwith. I think Meagan's blog post might actually be intended for children, but don't let that get in the way of your enjoyment as her hated maths teacher is carried away by a vampire bat (in lurid Technicolor).

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round digital guru. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.
Read Nick's latest blog post, in which he's all out of ideas for blog posts! How can writers keep the ideas flowing when they're Running on Empty?

Social Sheila Video: watch those Twitter mentions

By Sheila Averbuch

In my latest installment of how-to videos for writers new to Twitter, I'm looking at "mentions."

A mention is any tweet that includes another person's Twitter identity, and is a good way for you to start building relationships on this social media platform.

A few things to remember about mentions:

• Twitter will not automatically e-mail you whenever you are mentioned
• There is a dedicated part of the Twitter website that lets you keep an eye on mentions
• Mentions may even help bring you to the attention of influencers (writers, publishers, agents), but don't overdo it 

Mentions may even help bring you to the attention of influencers (writers, publishers, agents), but don't overdo it 

Click the bull's-eye icon below to view this video in full size. Thanks to Celia Rees for being an unwitting guinea pig in my video today!


Do you have a suggestion for another social media how-to video you'd like to see? Just email me at sheila@spacekidsbooks.com

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@spacekidsbooks

Sheila Averbuch lives in East Lothian in Scotland and is currently working on SPACE KIDS AND THE SPY FROM PLANET 12, a sci-fi adventure for 9-11's. She holds an MA in journalism from Stanford University and a BA from Harvard University in American History & Literature. Sheila is managing director of the content services and social media training agency ENNclick and blogs at www.spacekidsbooks.com

"the fuel for our future"

In Words & Pictures' first week as a blogzine, one of our posts was Nicky Schmidt's interview with Ferelith Hordon on the judging criteria for the Carnegie Medal and the Kate Greenaway Award. In this our thirteenth week as a blogzine we saw the 2013 Carnegie Medal won by Sally Gardner for Maggot Moon and the 2013 Kate Greenaway Award won by Levi Pinfold for Black Dog. Many congratulations to Sally and Hot Key Books, our Ask a Publisher, and to Levi and Templar Publishing. Many congratulations too to all the shortlisted, especially our own Elizabeth Wein for Codename Verity - Carnegie Shortlisted Author still sounds pretty damn fine to me.

The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Award Winners 2013

As well as congratulating these worthy winners we must also bid what I hope may be a temporary farewell to Nicky Schmidt our Correspondent at Large and the winning features she has produced for us. On Wednesday she concluded her excellent marketing feature with part 2 on Branding. She, I'm sure, will still be very much in evidence on our SCBWI forums, FB and Yahoo, but for the time being, thank you so much, Nicky for sharing your expertise and insight with us here on Words & Pictures.

If this week has had a theme for me it's been children's imagination. I was particularly struck by this...

“The greatest thing a country has is its children and what children have is imagination and that really is the fuel for our future.” Sally Gardner, BBC Breakfast News, 21st June 2013

I was also inspired by the ShoutSouth Festival where a group of volunteer authors and Illustrators  delivered a three day explosion of imagination-busting story creation with South London children and Julia Groves, our new featured illustrator, encouraging us to...

"run any idea past a child if you possibly can, you’ll be amazed at their brainstorming abilities!" Julia Groves

I believe that every life saving and life enhancing discovery as much as every story has started with a 'what if'. Wouldn't it be great if the ShoutSouth model could be recreated outside London? ShoutSouth should certainly be shouted about. Bridget's breathlessly enthusiastic post about the festival was featured by Nick in the blog break.

This all made me wonder what's so special about a child's as opposed to an adult's imagination and why should it be nurtured?

So I came up with the beginnings of a list:

• A child is not blinkered by what experience has taught them. Nothing and everything is 'silly' to a child but still worth trying.

• A child is not cynical.

• A child has a fresh look from a new angle - if you can, get down on your knees and look at the world from their height.

• A child is unhampered by convention or politeness and so less afraid of what people might think.

• A child sees with sparkling clarity what's there not what should be there, think The Emperor's New Clothes. 

As writers and illustrators for children we are part of that nurturing and as much as delivering better books to children, we should also be listening to them more. It's what I hope for the Chalkface Challenge - all of the entries now having been delivered and according to their teacher, to some very happy young people.

Interestingly, the favourites from the young people shadowing the Carnegie/Greenaway judging process were The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan and Pirates and Pistols by Chris Mould. You can read the young peoples' reviews for all the shortlisted books here.


Also in week thirteen, with Bridget, Nick featured some of the graphic novel comic buzz around illustration for older readers, unleashing creativity and some silliness in the blog break on Tuesday. I was delighted how the network news this week came in the comments to Gill's brilliant classification of critique groups on Thursday. Ask a Publisher was as lively as ever, I so appreciate Sara taking time to reply to comments on Monday. If you haven't already, check out Hot Key's own blog for some more of that transparent and adventurous Hot Key spirit. And if you're unpublished and unagented, and need any more convincing about Undiscovered Voices 2014 read Lara Williamson's success story on Saturday's celebrations with Jackie Buckle also celebrating a debut deal.

Next week we have Workshops: How to make them work, another video from our Social Sheila, and Duck & Bear part 4!

I'm off in the van for a couple of days to make headway on the WIP.
Hope yours is a productive week too,

Jan Carr

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Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is older middle grade, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta.

Hope after UV and Facebook ferrets... two SCBWI debut authors scoop deals

This week, we're very excited to be celebrating two SCBWI debut authors. Please join me with a massive Hip Hip Hooray! for UV 2012 Honorary Mention Lara Williamson and YA author Jackie Buckle for their publishing deals.

@LaraWilliamson

First, let's raise our glasses as Lara Williamson celebrates a contract with Usborne. Her middle grade novel, A Boy Called Hope  tells the story of a boy on a quest to make his dad love him again. 

A Boy Called Hope: Dan Hope isn't your average eleven-year-old. After his dad ran off with the lady from the chip shop life turned upside down. Now things are even stranger since his dad has just appeared on the local TV station. Seeing him again makes Dan realise he wants his dad back. When Dan's plan to make his dad proud goes horribly wrong his mother's new boyfriend steps in and it isn't long before Dan discovers that real fathers can come in many different shapes and sizes.

Lara was born and studied in Northern Ireland. After graduating with a degree in Fashion Design she moved to London. After work experience at Marie Claire and freelancing for various magazines including ELLE and New Woman, Lara eventually settled at J17 where, as Beauty Editor, she wrote and styled shoots. Lara won The Jasmine Awards for Best Article in a Youth Title and more recently received an Honorary Mention in Undiscovered Voices 2012. She currently lives in London with her family.

Lara says: “Almost two years ago I entered Undiscovered Voices 2012 and I was delighted to receive an Honorary Mention. At the time it created a little bit of a buzz around my work and I was thrilled to be able to build on that. While I was waiting to hear back about my UV submission I wrote another slightly younger book called A Boy Called Hope. Having two books was better than one, I thought. In fact, it was my second book that caught the eye of an agent who then helped me prepare it for submission. Soon after it was submitted I had interest and after meeting a few publishers I found the perfect home with Usborne and I couldn't be happier. I imagine my character Dan Hope would be thrilled with the outcome too. Like him, I soon discovered that dreams can come true if you keep hope alive.”

 What a wonderful UV story to encourage everyone entering this year, and huge congratulations to Lara!

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The diary of a wannabe metal-head

And now let's drink a toast to… Jackie Buckle, who recently signed a contract with Curious Fox (a new imprint of Capstone) to publish her young adult book, Half My Facebook Friends Are Ferrets, the diary of a wannabe metal-head. The book is due out next March.

Her main character, teenage metal head Josh Walker says “The lyrics of metal music are extremely important. The fact that no-one can hear them is irrelevant. No one can see the oxygen in air but without it we'd be dead, right?”

Jackie is married with two teenage daughters and a very hairy Finnish Lapphund (dog). She’s a website manager and editor for a national drug dependency charity and drug news alert service. The book’s inspiration comes from her eldest daughter, Sophie, who is a total metal-head. Jackie secretly likes listening to some metal herself – don’t tell her daughter - and enjoys playing the acoustic guitar, helping animal charities and watching YouTube videos of cats.

Have a giggle this weekend and check out her website www.facebook-ferrets.com where Josh’s chat-up advice had me in stitches, while my kids were rolling around to the dancing ferret. And join in with a big Hurrah! to Jackie  – we can’t wait until next March to read the rest of Josh’s diary.

I’ll be back next week with wine and cakes...

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Tania Tay is an ex-advertising copywriter and has been published in Sable LitMag. She is writing MG and YA fiction, and is on the editorial team at Words & Pictures.