Ten-Minute Blog Break - 13th January

In the wake of the shocking Paris attacks, this week's column should probably be renamed "The Ten-Minute Freedom of Speech Break". Be warned though, this is one debate that's going to take a lot longer than ten minutes to reach a resolution.

Those looking for books to help them, and their children, understand the world in the wake of this week's events should check out the excellent list by Sita Brahmachari on the Guardian Children's Books site, which includes SCBWI writers such as Miriam Halahmy and Sam Osman.

One of the authors at The Edge uses their weekly blog slot to mount a robust response to the recent violence, arguing for the continued importance of unfettered freedom of speech.

K.M. Lockwood takes a more cautious (but no less thoughtful) approach in her blog post, and focuses on the risk of polarisation in the debate on freedom of expression.

Sarah McIntyre blogged her own detailed reaction to the Charlie Hebdo killings, and voiced her hopes that the events in Paris could ultimately lead to more people around the world taking up cartooning/comics to tell their stories. Commendably, Sarah then wrote a second, even longer post called I Want to Make Cartoons & Comics But I Have No Idea Where to Start, which is full of useful advice on how to make that happen.

As for me, I deliberately haven't weighed in on the subject up till now. But I will say that I identified most strongly with that Joe Sacco comic that Sarah includes in her first blog post - free speech is all very well, but what do we want to achieve with that freedom?

OK, time to leave the weighty topics for something lighter. And what could be lighter than snow? Catherine Friess has a list of snowy picture books to cuddle around while dodging the winter weather outside.

Larisa Villar Hauser has decided to stop juggling and just "be". It all sounds very zen, but it's really a way to cope with being a writer, publisher, translator, mother etc. without going completely mad!

Finally, Liz Flanagan has an interview with someone who "popped over for a cup of tea." That doesn't sound very exciting, until you realise that Liz has Melvin Burgess in her living room! In an entertaining blog post, Melvin talks about the current state of YA and shares some tips on writing for teenagers.

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine.

On his blog, Nick is thinking about flashbacks, and their use as a narrative device: Flashback to the Future.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 9th December

After resisting Christmas for exactly one week, reality has descended on the Blog Break in a shower of tinsel. So enjoy some festively-themed posts dotted amongst the usual weekly round-up of our SCBWI bloggers.

What could be a better Christmas present than a contract for your debut novel? If you went anywhere near Facebook over the weekend, you were probably unable to avoid the wave of joy (and dare I say it, relief) because Kathy Evans has finally, finally got a book deal. It seemed for a long time that there was indeed no justice in the universe, but Kathy and her agent soldiered on and placed her YA novel More of Me with Usborne. Here's Kathy telling us all about it.

Sarah McIntyre has gone all out on the book-themed free merchandise this Christmas. If you feel like knitting your own Jampire, or sending a special Jampires card, then this post has all the details. If, on the other hand, you prefer a Cakes in Space theme to your mailings, then listen up, because Hark the Herald Poglites Sing.

Layn Marlow is hosting a very special conversation on her blog, as she chats with an imaginary squirrel. While this might normally be grounds for prescribing stronger medication, Layn's illustrated blog post turns out to be a rather sweet treat!

At Catherine Friess's house, the advent calendar is a major undertaking. Read Catherine's blog to see how the first week of Snowy and Christmas’s book advent calendar turned out (and it's nice to see SCBWI-BI author Alice Hemming's picture book making an appearance on December 5th).

Writing a book often requires a large number of drafts, and it seems that artwork is no different. David Thorpe's blog post showcases a fascinating time lapse video that demonstrates how many passes his cover artist needed to render the atmospheric artwork for his latest novel Stormteller.

Finally, a worthwhile cause that's also very local to me is highlighted in Robin Stevens's post for Space on the Bookshelf. The Oxford Blackwell's Giving Tree is a fantastic way to donate a book to a disadvantaged child who otherwise would not receive one, and this year you can donate online as well!

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 18th November

Diversity is a word that gets bandied around a lot, and I hope we can agree that diversity in children's books is generally a good thing. But moving from that concept to actually bringing more diverse books to the market seems to be a tougher job.

K.M. Lockwood takes on the diversity question this week, in a blog post that starts with dressing up and ends with the challenge of trying to write a character who sits outside of your own cultural experience. This is something I've been tackling in my own writing (with much trepidation), and K.M.'s post has made me think and reflect more than anything else I've read this week.

The checklist that Kate Peridot uses to evaluate her picture book ideas is immensely useful for pinning down what makes a story work. But it also strikes me as a little controversial in its focus on the commercial appeal of an idea over its creative merits. How do you choose which ideas to develop and which to put aside?

There are more picture book happenings at Story Snug, where Catherine Friess is interviewing SCBWI US illustrator Hazel Mitchell. Hazel talks about her process and the inspiration for her illustration work on Imani's Moon by (fellow Scoobie) JaNay Brown-Wood.

A lot has happened in Larisa Villar Hauser's life since we last checked in with her. In particular, her self-published book has gone out into the world and been received pretty well. Read Larisa's insightful blog for her reflections about launch week.

NaNoWriMo is motivating for sure, but also a big ask in terms of commitment. Those seeking a somewhat gentler November may appreciate Julie Day's approach, which focuses on good process rather than strict word count.

Show don't tell - this simple mantra hides a multitude of complexity, especially for a novice writer struggling with character, dialogue, structure and everything else in-between. Thankfully, Dr Vanessa Harbour has put on her teacher's hat for a succinct and illuminating post that explains when to show and when not to. Thanks, Doc!

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine.

Nick's most recent blog is all about the reasons Why You Should Support Stew Magazine, in their Kickstarter campaign.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 4th November

I'm in a post-conference state of over-stimulated tiredness (if such a thing is possible), but have valiantly dragged myself to my Blog Break chair to summarise another week's worth of great blog posts. Please wake me up if I... zzzzzzzz.

What?! I was just resting my eyes, OK? Look, why don't you go and visit Sarah Broadley (who I met in real life for the first time at the weekend), because she's been super-efficient at blogging her thoughts about the SCBWI Conference.

Catherine Friess (who I somehow failed to meet at the conference) has a really useful post all about book-related advent calendars. If you're fed up with chocolate or Lego for the kids this year, why not try one of her ideas?

Ukip supporters should probably click with caution on Jane McLoughlin's latest blog post. Emboldened by a controversy in the comedy world, Jane examines the subject of diversity in society and her hopes for reflecting that in children's fiction.

November brings PiBoIdMo (Picture Book Idea Month) and NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), but we mustn't forget Inktober, the far more sensibly-named drawing challenge that spanned October. Claire O'Brien inked her way to a picture every day last month, and shares the results and her thoughts on the experience.

Bridget Strevens-Marzo hasn't blogged since March, but that's clearly because she's been busy obsessively repainting the cover for her next book! A perfectionist through and through, Bridget shares some artwork from Tiz and Ott's Big Draw and brings us up to speed on everything she's been doing. She certainly seems to have a lot of wall space and drawing pins to display all those roughs!

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine.

Stew Magazine is looking for your help as it enters its second year - join the Kickstarter campaign.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 21st October

Is there life after Amazon? Is your library the place to find love? Is Iggy Pop a fairy story? Is there any end to these rhetorical questions?

You'll have to read this week's Blog Break to find out...

If I was surprised that Iggy Pop was asked to deliver the BBC's John Peel lecture, then I was even more surprised to see someone applying Iggy's thoughts to the subject of children's illustration! But John Shelley's blog post does a great job of drawing provocative and intelligent parallels between the modern music industry and the UK children's illustration market. Anyone born after the 1980s may need help with that "Kajagoogoo" reference, though...

Sadly, the battle to save libraries looks likely to be one we're going to be fighting for a while. The latest flashpoint is Liverpool - where eleven libraries are soon to be closed - so Vanessa Harbour has written her own Love Letter to Liverpool Libraries to support the campaign.

Orion Childrens' Editorial Director and soon to be literary agent Amber Caravéo is no stranger to Words & Pictures. But this week, Space on the Bookshelf have grabbed her to talk specifically about developing series fiction, and how she works with authors to hone the finished product.

One of the reasons that authors like me shy away from self-publishing is all the research involved. Investigating book formats, layout, cost and distribution really eats into the time available for writing. But Larissa Villar Hauser is still boldly going through the self-publishing process and feeding back loads of useful info and stats along the way.

Storytime is a major new monthly children's magazine that has popped up on supermarket shelves recently. Like many others, I was wondering what it was all about, so I'm very grateful to Catherine Friess for her detailed review. I also checked Storytime's website, and although they aren't taking writing submissions at this time, they will look at illustrators' portfolios. More details here.

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine (September issue out now).

Nick's most recent blog post takes a look back at a year of Stew Magazine stories and teases out the common threads that bind them. What's the Story?

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 30th September

Is it really the 230th September already? Oh wait, that's a typo (goes back and edits title). I was sure September hadn't been that long! In fact, it seems to have flown by - helped, no doubt, by lots of quality blogs to read.

There's an interactive component to Katie Dale's latest blog post for The Edge. Katie takes on the subject of censorship to highlight Banned Books Week and sets a tricky quiz. I scored 6 out of 10 - can you do better?

It's great to find a blog with a very different perspective, such as Catherine Friess's Story Snug. Catherine's focus is on book recommendations for non-native English speakers, and her post to celebrate European Day of Languages is a very good place to start. I'd never considered the issues around sharing picture books with a group of children who have varied English abilities, but now I feel like an expert!

Having watched from afar the problems that friends had when negotiating cover designs with their publishers, I assumed that self-publishing would make this process easier. Not so, it turns out, as Larissa Villar Hauser discovers.

It sometimes feels like writers are awash in rules - always do this, never do that. But what would the world of writing tuition have been like two hundred years ago? Marie Basting has a lot of fun setting out her rules for how to write like a 19th century children’s novelist.

Finally, there's nothing I like better than getting a sneaky peek at a work in progress, so I loved seeing the sample designs for Loretta Schauer's new graphic novel. It's a story with a definite Good Dog, Bad Dog feel (by no means a bad thing), as The Three Bears Detective Agency put the squeeze on a certain Incy Wincy Spider.

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine (September issue out now).

Nick's most recent blog post is inspired by a graphic novel whose subtitle is: "Mania, Depression, Michelangelo & Me." You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here....