Ten-Minute Blog Break - 25th November

I like the book and I like the film adaptation, but which is best?

Harry Hill would have them FIGHT, but here at Words & Pictures we like to take a more measured approach.


Dave Cousins is blogging for The Edge, examining film adaptations as a good way of encouraging discussion during school visits. Dave blogs about ten of his favourite book and film combinations, and asks you to contribute your own suggestions. Where's The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!, Dave?

Eggs seem an unlikely inspiration for a children's book, but Chitra Soundar has a traumatic relationship with these ovoid foodstuffs, as she reveals in her blog post.

Jo Thomas is a newcomer to graphic novels, and her engaging blog post chronicles the challenge of trying to absorb a whole new style of storytelling. Amanda Lillywhite and I then bombarded poor Jo with further reading suggestions on Facebook, so she'll be an expert by the time she's finished those ;-)

Talking of Amanda Lillywhite, she has an interesting report on her Sequential Art blog about an event featuring graphic novelist Emily Carroll. Carroll is an award-winning webcomic creator who has reversed the usual career path, only now releasing her first print collection Through the Woods.

Given my very public stance on writing for free for a commercial (but independent) magazine, I'm probably tying myself in ethical knots by recommending John Shelley's blog post. But John is absolutely entitled to his opinion, and he builds a convincing argument against unpaid working for creatives.

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.

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

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 7th October

I'm not keen on doing research because I just want to get to the writing, even if that subsequently involves staring at a blank screen for hours! But the Blog Break forces me to do my research, because otherwise, what would I write about?

Hopefully, you read Sue Hyams' excellent W&P post last week all about research, and she's not the only SCBWI writer thinking about the subject. Dave Cousins turns in his own fascinating blog post for The Edge, taking us inside his unusual research methods (weather diaries anyone?) And I also have to give a mention to Mark Jones, who is getting very excited about drawing maps.

There's more useful stuff in the blog post Sheila Averbuch has written, summarising SCBWI SE Scotland's session on getting the best from a critique. Critique can be hard for any writer, so do yourself a favour and learn some new coping strategies from Shelia's post.

Sadly, my dream job of ice-cream-powered spaceship pilot has yet to come up, but fortunately Layn Marlow is having more luck. Not with dairy-propelled interstellar vehicles, but rather a job illustrating the website of much-loved author Dick King Smith. Layn blogs about the opportunity and shares some of her sketches.

It's great to welcome Jane McLoughlin back to the Blog Break with her brand new blog, after what she describes as "a major Blogger mishap involving malware and dodgy addresses and other befuddling and frightening things". Jane picks up the TGFW (Thank God For Writing) baton that I mentioned a few months back and talks about the power (and pitfalls) of escaping into your own imaginary world.

After all that reading, here's a post that's mostly pictures! Candy Gourlay is just back from an incredible school tour on behalf of the Siobhan Dowd Trust and Authors for the Philippines, and she shares her vivid experiences.

There have been so many great posts this week that I've gone way over my self-imposed five link limit. But I just loved Vanessa Harbour's sage advice on redrafting and the marvelous title of her post: Are you STILL writing that book?

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 - 12th August

After a quiet last week at the offices of my day job, there's been a sudden return of people from holiday. I hope the same is true of you SCBWI folks and you're all out there raring to read another Blog Break!

Sarah McIntyre contributes this week's must read blog post, fearlessly taking on the furore around the new Penguin Modern Classics cover for Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As well as showcasing some great parodies of the cover art by Philip Reeve, Candy Gourlay and others, Sarah engages thoughtfully and rationally with the issue, without making a knee-jerk reaction.

What is it that makes writers feel so bad about not writing? Sue Hyams contributes a somewhat guilty list entitled Ten Things That Are NOT Writing My Novel (but they're not far off). Strangely, Sue fails to mention writing blog posts in the list, which perhaps brings the total to eleven!

Fans of A Boy and a Bear in a Boat and Good Dog, Bad Dog will want to check out Space on the Bookshelf's interview with their writer/illustrator Dave Shelton.

It sometimes seems as though self-published authors are just hanging around in the wings, waiting for a traditional publisher to pick up their novel and drive them to fame. So I found Julie Day's defence of her independence a refreshing perspective.

Finally, if you're not returning from holiday, but (like Dave Cousins) about to leave, you'll be wondering about suitable reading material. There's a teensy bit of self-interest for me in promoting Dave's post on summer reading, as I wrote one of the recommendations. But there are also lots of other kidlit people offering their advice on great books to take to the beach this year.

Nick.

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

Nick's most recent blog post is a guide to writing flash fiction, to celebrate the latest issue of Stew!

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 29th July

Hello there - a new voice on your Ten-Minute Blog break this week: Nick Cross has mysteriously transmogrified into a Yorkshire lass. The blog posts that caught my imagination all feature creativity - an essential for all of us.



First off, I present to you the joyous colours of the Dream Football Kits featured on Dave Cousin's blog. Young people are so free with their design work. Someone really should make these.

I suggest you follow this with Layn Marlow's visit to the Pencil Museum - it's full of unexpected uses for pencils, cake and splendid vocabulary for us not-professional-artists. Unsurprisingly, some pretty cool images too.

Then have a look at how illustrator  Heather Kilgour has speeded up her work - only to find new outlets for her creativity - or possibly a smidge of procrastination? I love how the layers all work - but combine to make something so intense - like the best writing.

Sam Zuppardi certainly used his time creatively at Scarcroft School - I hope you enjoy his results as much as I did [and get the reference to one of the best school tales ever written].

Finally - and before you think I am an illustrator manquée - read our own Nick Cross's piece on Writing Flash Fiction. It's a practical guide to using up all those scraps and offcuts of creative ideas we writers have stashed away.

Now inspired by all these ideas, I'd better get on on with creating myself . Nick will be back next week.
Philippa

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K. M. Lockwood is a writing name of Philippa R. Francis. As well as being a regular contributor, Philippa (@lockwoodwriter) is also part of the Words & Pictures team as the @Words8Pictures Tweetmaster, growing our following and maintaining our 'Industry news' feed.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 8th July

There will be those amongst you who thought that Sarah McIntyre couldn't possibly top the insane headgear that she wore to launch Oliver and the Seawigs (a six-foot pink confection with a sailing ship on the top). You were wrong.

For the press launch of Seawigs follow-up Cakes in Space, Sarah sports a... well, I'll let you read the blog and find out. I particularly love the transformation that Sarah has wrought on Philip Reeve, who was such a quiet, reserved man when I first met him a few years ago, but is now wearing blue lipstick and dressing like 1970s David Bowie!

There's more good news with another SCBWI book launch, this time for Cliff McNish's Going Home. In fact, it's a double SCBWI success, because Trish Phillips has illustrated the book and blogs about the launch over at Big Little Tales.

K.M. Lockwood starts her latest blog post in something of a quandary. Should she be honest about a subject that's troubling her, or keep quiet for fear of making a bad impression? Fortunately for us, she plumps for the former and reveals her struggles with an unexpected problem - receiving praise for her work.

Sarah Broadley is doing some hands-on research this week, at her local children's library. But after being thrown out by the librarians(!), she returns home to share her own list of top 5 favourite picture books.

Finally, Dave Cousins is reliving his days of being in a rock band by taking his latest book on tour. Charlie Merrick's Misfits is all about football, and Dave's school audiences have a lot of fun with felt-tips making some dream football kit designs.

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, ex-zombie and part-time superhero who was born with an intense phobia of Twiglets. Twice voted President of the Universe, Nick has been married on no less than twelve occasions and is a black belt in ju-jukebox (the ancient martial art of compiling playlists). A formidable sportsman, Nick was runner-up at the 2014 world tiddlywinks championship (he also holds the world record for wrapping sellotape around a small child). Nick's other hobbies include embroidery, chainsaw juggling, writing environmentally-sound haikus for Porridge Magazine and telling lies.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 24th June

I spent most of Saturday running the second-hand book stall at our school fete. It probably won't surprise you that parents constantly go gaga for the books they read as kids, while their children actually want the recent books with cool covers!

Another unsurprising fact is that the prolific Sarah McIntyre has yet another awesome project on the go. This time, it's her contribution to Moose Kid Comics, a high-quality all ages free webcomic that aims to increase the breadth of UK comic publishing. The site was a little slow when I tried it, but hopefully that's down to all the kids reading it!

You may have heard that there's some sort of football thing going on in Brazil? Dave Cousins wisely starts his latest blog post for The Edge by acknowledging: "I like football, but I appreciate it’s not for everyone." You said it Dave, but I enjoyed this post about using sports books to improve literacy despite myself. Dave's list of his top football 11 books for the Guardian is also worth a look.

The timing of this post (after the Carnegie Medal announcement) could have made Space on the Bookshelf's final Carnegie shortlist discussion somewhat moot. But it's a lively read and worth dipping into, especially if the selection of Kevin Brooks' The Bunker Diary proves controversial...

The web is a wonderful tool for making connections across geographical and ideological space, which is demonstrated by John Shelley's excellent interview for The Iranian Research Quarterly of Children and Youth Literature. John's interview is full of great thoughts on the dynamic between writing and illustration, and the importance of strong editorial input.

Finally, Sarah Broadley gives a great report on SCBWI South East Scotland's recent event on Voice and Point of View. The gathering was also an opportunity to celebrate Christina Banach's recent publication and the exhausting achievement that was Sheila Averbuch’s story written with the pupils at Pencaitland Primary School (here are some photos of the latter's launch).

Nick.

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

Nick's most recent blog post is a fairy tale on the "dangers" of fairy tales: The Improbable Prince.

Candy Gourlay - Winner of the Crystal Kite 2014!

Candy's First Crystal Kite

It's official: Candy Gourlay, you're the toast of SCBWI British Isles and SCBWI Ireland!
Candy is now a two times winner of SCBWI's Crystal Kite, her debut novel Tall Story won the prize on its inaugural outing in 2011. When Crystal Kite winners were announced on 12 May this year, her teen novel Shine came out on top - against a shortlist for the British Isles and Ireland Region that included multi-award winning authors Teri Terry (Fractured) and Elizabeth Wein (Rose Under Fire). Here is Candy with a few thoughts on being discovered:

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The business of becoming a published author is such a peculiar thing. You spend years struggling, growing extra layers of skin to withstand the inevitable rejections. And then suddenly you are published, your books are on the shelves of bookstores, and you learn about a new fear that you weren't aware of when you were just an aspiring author.

That is the fear of being UNdiscovered.

This is rich of course coming from someone whose big breakthrough was the Undiscovered Voices anthology - which was how I got my agent. Surely after the UV, the dream has come true. I've been discovered.

But UV glory didn't result in instant publication. It was two years (and two widely rejected novels) before my debut novel Tall Story made it to publication.

And the publication of one's work, as SCBWI's burgeoning numbers of debut authors (congrats to our most recent debuts, Christine Banach and Nick Cook!) are realising, is not the end of the journey but the beginning.

Suddenly your concerns are not: have I written a book that will get published? But: will my book be discovered?

Rosa suffers from a rare condition that renders her mute. She has to live a hidden life on the island of Mirasol where it never stops raining. Every night Rosa lights a candle at the window to summon the ghost of her Mother. One day she is befriended by a boy online who calls himself Ansel95 - and she quickly realizes that this is one friendship that can take place in the real world. Can she really trust him? What does he want from her? ... And then Mother turns up at the front door.

Once you join the world of the published you become aware that only a few select names enjoy the privilege of expensive book tours, flashy book launches and celebrity appearances. It ain't so for the majority of us in this funny business.

The publisher does plenty - getting your book into bookshops and what have you. But it is you who must design and print your own bookmarks to give away, you who must angle for invitations to visit schools, you who must write that press release for the village paper and hope that it makes page 24, and it's you who must wrack your brains for creative ways to raise awareness about your new book.

Lucky for me I'm a web designer. I can make book guides like the one below. Even so, one is never sure if anyone is paying any attention.

Discussion Guide: Shine by Candy Gourlay

Which means you are constantly crossing your fingers for a little bit of edge. There is only so much you can do for yourself. The rest you owe to total strangers deciding to champion you.

I owe any success of my debut Tall Story to unexpected champions. It was shortlisted for the Waterstones Prize because one bookseller believed in it (and SOLD it -- imagine my delight to discover that one week, Tall Story outsold Percy Jackson, hand-sold by the bookseller). Other shortlists Tall Story got on were down to the generosity of librarians. Librarians literally put Tall Story into the hands of young readers. There are unexpected champions everywhere still promoting Tall Story now, for which I am speechless with gratitude.

Shine came three long years later. It took me a long time to write it -- which is another long story. But it was clear that promotion-wise, Shine wasn't going to get a free ride on Tall Story's debut buzz. Besides which, it's a very different book and another stand-alone.

When I finished writing Shine, I was very worried. What had I done? Why couldn't I have written a commercial, easier to sell book? What is it with me and quiet novels that explore my own bizarre stuff that nobody else probably cares about? Why couldn't I write a vampire novel?

I feel sometimes that I have no power over my stories. My characters go their own way and surprise me with their own versions of my story. Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of Shine. But it's never gonna be The Hunger Games.

So just making it to the shortlist of the Crystal Kite was disconcerting.

And this was a year when SCBWI books were ON FIRE.

Our big name members had new books: David Almond had Counting Stars, Meg Rosoff released Picture Me Gone.

The shortlist was very short, and very tough -- with Teri Terry (her Slated books are winning EVERYTHING at the moment) and Elizabeth Wein, who with Rose Under Fire was continuing the story of her magnificent Code Name Verity, which has collected awards here and across the pond.

So many truly brilliant books: what about Half Lives by Sara Grant (which I adored), Paula Harrison's right-on Rescue Princesses, Dave Cousins' charming Waiting for Gonzo, Steve Hartley's supercharged new series Oliver Fibbs,  Sarah McIntyre's rumbustious Oliver and the Seawigs? ... and the picture books! Oh the picture books! (Dare I suggest: the Crystal Kite should have a picture book category to do justice to our members' picture book output!)

I could go on and on and if I didn't mention your book, forgive me. But this is the thing about being discovered, I guess.

Getting published is all about doggedness, craft, luck. Staying published is about all the above PLUS continuously being discovered.

Thank you, fellow SCBWIs, for honouring me with this prize. This has given Shine that extra something that might help it be discovered by readers, librarians and booksellers. I sure hope so.

Meanwhile, I urge you to continue this voyage of discovering. In these times, when the book world is drowning in promotional clamour, there are many who need your help.

We don't need to wait for the Crystal Kite Prize to support our fellow writers and illustrators.

Whenever you love a book, take the time to tell the world - whether it's a Twitter mention, a blog review, a like on Facebook or five stars on Goodreads or Amazon. Your little push might make all the difference.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 18th February

Turned out nice again, hasn't it?

Er, no. Not at all.

So my suggestion is to stay inside (ideally in a boat) and enjoy the best of this week's SCBWI blogs!


The weather might be awful in the UK, but in Cape Town it's hot. Or as Jane Heinrichs puts it, "So, so, so hot." Jane manages to blog about her sweltering summer without a trace of gloating and even a note of envy. She also gives us a charming watercolour animation of a little girl with more than a touch of the drama queen about her.

Love was in the air for Valentine's Day, and what better way to celebrate than with a list of romantic books? But wait a minute, romantic books for boys??? Head over to The Edge to read Dave Cousins's recommendations.

The life of a visiting author is nothing if not varied. Although not technically a blog post, I enjoyed Julie Fulton's update on her recent author visits, which took her from a nursery, to primary school and then to university! It seems that we never really grow out of loving a good picture book.

Someone who definitely loves picture books with a passion is Norinder Jones, Senior Book Designer at Little Tiger Press. If you've ever wondered what a picture book designer actually does all day, I'd suggest you hightail it over to Big Little Tales, where Loretta Shauer interviews Norinder about their work together.

Finally, here's something a little different. It takes great courage to put your own fiction writing online for others to read - especially when your readers are all authors as well! It's fitting then, that K.M Lockwood's "fairy story for writers" The Blind Seamstress is a tale about courage and finding your voice. Read parts one, two and three.

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead and currently writes short fiction for Stew Magazine, an event that was recently celebrated on this site.

Conference Goers - All a Twitter

David Richardson

There will be reviews and articles from the SCBWI Winchester Conference on the Words & Pictures blog over the next week. But to give us an early flavour of the events of the weekend, here is a compilation of some of the tweets from eager and happy conference goers.



Of course, there’s so much to do even before the conference starts. As noted by Molly Ker Hawn ‏@mollykh. ‘Frantically trying to finish a dozen things before I leave for #scbwicon. Tick tock...’ she tweeted on Friday.

Meanwhile Maureen Lynas‏ @MaureenLynas was ‘Enjoying a lovely rail journey on the way to the  SCBWI_BIconference in Winchester." Although there was a 20 minute delay!

Friday Night Pizza

Sheila Averbuch noted, the conference is an ‘Incredible opportunity to meet agents and editors in children's publishing.’

It all begins with the Friday night meal, and this time Friday night was Pizza night! “Half of us! Pizza chaos. Actually very orderly really thanks to the amazing @julietclarebell”.

Incredible opportunity to meet agents and editors

As regards the various sessions to help writers and illustrators, Jane Hardstaff‏@JaneHardstaff4htwitted “Excellent workshop by @MostlyReading and @CRALP'45% of new discoveries are made by word of mouth, bookshops and school visits.'”

Here are a couple of agent wish lists – thanks to Emma Greenwood.

First: Agent @mollykh#wishlist is contemp UK romance, cults, WW1, MG with strong literary and funny voice, narrative non-fiction.  

Second: Comm Ed Random House Natalie Doherty #wishlist - sinister ghost story beautifully written, genuinely funny MG. No direct queries.

The ‘Best thing about the conference,’ according to Miriam Craig is ‘meeting so many people all obsessed with reading and writing’.

Two titbits from the Malorie Blackman session. Miriam H Craig‏@miriamhcraigsaid: “For Malorie Blackman the plot comes first in development of story, but she spends the most *time* on the characters.”

And Emma Greenwood reported that Malorie said 'Write from the heart. Sell from the head'.

Malorie said 'Write from the heart

Eventually, Sunday comes and it’s time for reflection. For some, it is as tweeted by Nicky Schmidt‏@NickySchmidt14h. "@miriamhcraig: Shattered!" The conference does that! Hope you had fun! #scbwicon.

Or you may feel as did Dave Cousins when he said ‘I always thought sleep was over rated anyway!’

Gemma Cooper tweeted: Such a fantastic weekend at #scbwicon - Thanks to all the @SCBWI_BImembers for being so friendly and welcoming (as always)

There were other thanks too:-  Thanks to @JoWyton@Abbietheauthorand many other brilliant volunteers for such a fantastic & inspriring @SCBWI_BIconference by Jane McLoughlin‏@JBMcLoughlin2h.

Congratulations & ENORMOUS thanks to Natascha Biebow, 15 years British Isles RA. Wonderful dedication! We're so lucky to have her! #scbwicon.

Keep a looking out for more from the Conference on Words & Pictures!

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David is working hard on his next project while awaiting the UV 2014 long list announcement. He helps with the London Professional Series Events for SCBWI and is Words & Pictures' Events Editor. In his spare time he works as an adult tutor.

Ten-Minute Blog Break & Conference Blog Challenge!

Before I start this week's Blog Break, I'm pleased to announce something a little special for next week, the Conference Blog Challenge!
Read on for details of how you can get involved...


During or following the SCBWI British Isles conference this coming weekend, I'd like as many of our SCBWI bloggers as possible to write a short post with the title:

I Love the SCBWI-BI Conference Because...

I always come out of the conference buzzing, and I know I'm not the only one. It would be great to harness that energy for a super-special Blog Break next Tuesday.

Once you've written your post, please email me a link at:
whoatemybrain-conference@yahoo.com with the subject:
"Conference Blog Challenge" by 9pm Monday 25th November.
I will include every SCBWI member who emails me in next week's Blog Break post.

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OK, back to our usual programming. A subject that's been very much on our bloggers' minds this week is the terrible devastation in the Philippines. Many, many talented people have banded together to present the amazing Authors for the Philippines auction site. You could win an author visit from Teri Terry, a picture book critique by Sarah McIntyre, signed books and an exclusive CD by Dave Cousins, or even a character named after you in Liz de Jager's final Blackhart Legacy book. Frankly, I could go on and on - there are over 450 lots on offer at the time of writing. But get in quick - the auction closes at 8pm GMT on Wednesday 20th November.

Sam Zuppardi shared an awesome trailer for his forthcoming picture book The Nowhere Box. Sam's art looks even more fabulous when animated, and the trailer is a textbook example of how to build anticipation for a book without giving away everything that happens.

What do guinea pigs do online? Predictably, they get into trouble, while also imparting a useful lesson about internet safety for younger children. Sally Poyton reviews Guinea Pigs Online over at Space on the Bookshelf.

Finally, we've heard all about what authors can offer when they get together for charity, but on a more prosaic level, Sara Grant asks What Do Authors Owe Their Readers? Prompted by the vociferous response to Veronica Roth's Allegiant, Sara analyses the changing relationship between writer and audience, and answers the question for herself. Check out the blog post and see if you agree.

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.

Nick didn't write a blog post this week and now finds he has this big area to fill but nothing much to put in it.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 29th October

Last week, I complained about there being too many good blog posts to choose from, and yet this week there are even more! Now, I'm not going to say you should write bad posts, but you're making my life difficult here, folks ;-)

Dave Cousins is popping up all over the place, thanks to ... erm ... Pop Up. That's the London Pop Up organisation (famous for their festival) who also run a project called Booklinks, which encourages children to study a book in detail and then meet the author. Dave blogs all about it and shares some great film posters that the kids made, promoting their very own production of Dave's 15 Days Without a Head.

Sam Zuppardi's been scrawlcrawling around York Minster this week, and trying to solve the problem of scale. Can you draw a picture that captures the immense majesty of such a building, or is it better to focus on the more intimate details?

Another binary question is vexing Sue Hyams: Setting or Characters – Which Comes First? I'm not spoiling anything by revealing that Sue prioritises setting in her stories, but the comments on her post demonstrate what a range of different approaches we all take.

Certainly the noisiest blog of the week comes from the inimitable George Kirk via The FunEverse. George is exploring rhythm in poetry, and her post is a multimedia extravaganza that takes you right to the beating heart of children's verse.

If you missed Sara O'Connor's SCBWI Middle Grade Masterclass at the weekend, panic not. Lorraine Gregory has a terrifically in-depth post all about it!

Finally, check out John Shelley's blog for a view inside the fascinating production of his latest book, Stone Giant. The book is, in itself, a "making of", as John and writer Jane Sutcliffe recreate the creation of Michelangelo's David, a job that required a huge amount of research and educated guesswork to depict Renaissance Florence as it would have appeared to the artist. Great stuff.

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead.

This week on his blog, Nick is linking into Words & Pictures' Diversity theme, and discussing how a colleague's bravery challenged his preconceptions about transgendered people. Read about A Life in Transition.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 9th July

If I hadn't realised it was summer from looking out of the window, I'd certainly have noticed from the sudden drop off in new blog posts!

Fortunately, the content is out there and I have found it...


I was sure that I must have written here about Dave Cousins's genius plan to release an album of songs from his teen novel Waiting for Gonzo, but apparently not! Luckily, Dave blogged at the edge this week to tell us all about it. Even better, he's releasing the catchiest song on the album as a single, with all proceeds going to charity. Trivia fans may like to know that Dave's band Monorail were interviewed in the one and only issue of my fanzine (back in the dim distant days of 1996) but that Dave and I never actually met until Undiscovered Voices. Spooky, eh?

Maureen Lynas wrote a great post for Notes from the Slushpile that I wasn't able to fit in for space reasons last week. Maureen, whose blogs about story structure had been getting ever more analytical, recounts how she was suddenly overtaken by the muse and found herself writing (and illustrating) a book on a subject she didn't even like! Maybe there's an unexpected book lurking in your head too?

I'd never imagined you could get anything out of a favourite jumper except warmth, but Loretta Schauer proves me wrong by scanning the texture of one and including it in her drawings. Loretta's blog post on character development in illustration is a joy, giving a helpful glimpse into how characters change according to publishers' and writers' requirements.

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.
This week, on his blog, Nick tries to hold crazed authors back from the edge by telling them You Know You've Gone Too Far When...

Crack open the bubbly for Kathryn & winners Teri Terry and Dave Cousins

Three cheers for Kathryn! Hip Hip...

 It’s been an exciting week for SCBWI writers but first, I’d like you to join me in saying a massive thank you and hip hip hooray to Kathryn Evans, our lovely Celebrations Editor here at Words & Pictures. She’s been unflagging in cheering on the brilliant SCBWI successes since Words & Pictures started in March. Kathryn says: “I'm really sorry to be stepping down as I've had so much fun sharing everyone's news but I'm taking on a new SCBWI role and there just won't be time to do this one justice as well. So drum roll please.....here's Tania Tay!!!!!” 

Yes, that's me... I’m taking over the Celebrations column for a bit so please send me all your successes and let’s carry on toasting everybody’s amazing news!

Teri Terry's a winner in Leeds

For my first piece of fabulous news, you may remember a few weeks ago we told you that Teri Terry was nominated for the Leeds Book Awards among a host of awards listed here. Well, I’m delighted to announce that last week her brilliant book, Slated was the winner for the 14-16 category. Teri says: “I was very excited when Slated won the Leeds Book Award in the 14 - 16 category in Leeds on 23rd of May!” And we were all extremely excited too… 

 Photo: Nicky Busby@Yorkshire Images

In Teri's own words... pretty awesome! The Leeds Book Awards winners are voted for by young readers through schools and libraries in Leeds – and as we all know, it’s ultimately the readers who count. Teri tells us that the Leeds Book Awards ceremony was held at the Leeds Civic Hall. The event was MC'd by writer Dave Cryer and there were 10 short listed authors present, five from the 11 - 14 and five from the 14 - 16 categories. Each author spoke for a few minutes about themselves or their books, then answered questions from a packed audience of readers from schools across Leeds. Finally, a golden envelope was opened by a volunteer student to announce each winner. The winner for the 14-16 category was Teri for Slated, and the 11-14 category was won by Mark Lowery, for Socks are not Enough. 

Megan Larkin, Teri’s editor said: "Slated is a remarkable debut; it completely gets under your skin, and lingers in your mind long after you've finished reading it. It's haunting, tense and thought-provoking. We're thrilled to be launching such an exciting new author on the Orchard Books teen list." And at Words & Pictures we’re thrilled to bits that it’s got under the skin of all the teenage readers in Leeds who voted for Teri to win… 

Teri’s busy promoting Fractured the sequel to Slated, and doing final edits for the third in the trilogy... the title of which was just revealed on Teri's website as... drum roll!!.... Shattered.

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Congratulazioni Dave Cousins!

Photo by Jennie Younger

The amazing Dave Cousins is back... This time, the Italian edition of 15 Days Without a Head…. Quindici Giorni Senza Testa – published by San Paolo in Jan 2013 - won the Andersen Prize for Best Book for readers over 15 years. The Andersen Award is the most prestigious Italian award given to children's books, their authors, illustrators and publishers. Each year they select the best works, with particular attention to the most innovative and original. Fresh off the plane, Dave tells us: “I had a great couple of days in Italy. The people from Andersen and San Paolo were wonderful hosts, and the audience at the award were very gracious in their applause after my attempt to give an acceptance speech in Italian!” 

The Italian edition!

Just in case you missed it, Jan our Editor chatted to Dave last week  about winning Undiscovered Voices and his journey to the 2013 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award for the UK and Europe, which many of us will have voted for. But his remarkable book keeps scooping up the nominations and awards. 15 Days Without a Head has been long-listed for both the Carnegie and Branford Boase this year. It was also shortlisted for the North East Teenage Book Award, The James Reckitt Hull Children's Book Award, The Grampian Children's Book Award and the Lancashire Book of the Year Award. Dave tells us: “It is also on a number of other shortlists, but the winner hasn't been announced for those yet, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed!” 

Woooohooooo!!!!! Applause please!!!!

I hope you’ll join me in giving Teri Terry and Dave Cousins a ton of applause and hip hip hoorays for their inspiring wins. Ciao from me until next week! 

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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.

Dave Cousins’ Journey to the Crystal Kite

The SCBWI Crystal Kite Awards recognise great books from the 70 SCBWI regions around the world. Each regional chapter is assigned to one of 15 divisions and the membership in each division votes for their favourite book published by an SCBWI member that year. The Crystal Kite Awards are a regional complement of the annual SCBWI Golden Kite Award, given in four children’s literature categories. Both awards are unique as they are chosen by other writers and illustrators, which makes them the only peer-given awards in publishing for young readers.

Here at SCBWI British Isles we’re very proud that the winner of The 2013 Crystal Kite for the UK and Europe is Dave Cousins for 15 Days Without a Head.

Jan Carr spoke to Dave about his journey…

Dave, many congratulations! 'The Journey to the Crystal Kite' sounds lovely and fantastical - has it been?

Fantastical? It's certainly been a bit of a fairy tale. When I was getting up at 5am every day to write before I went to work, I never believed "15 Days Without a Head" would be published, let alone win an award!

I love 15 Days, all my sympathy is with Laurence struggling to look after his little brother, Jay, and hide the fact from Jay and everyone, that their alcoholic mum has disappeared. They’re so real - where did you find Lawrence and Jay?

I found them in a pub! It was a lunchbreak from work and I'd gone to the pub with a couple of mates. We heard a disturbance in the beer garden and went out to investigate. There was a woman arguing with the person at the next table. She was so drunk she could hardly stand up and was being really aggressive. I noticed she had two lads with her and realised she was their mum. The elder boy – who looked about 15 – was doing his best to calm her down, while at the same time trying to stop his little brother from getting upset. Eventually they left the pub and I went back to work, but all afternoon found my mind going back to them – wondering what had happened when they got home and what life must be like. That's how a story tends to start for me. When something affects me emotionally – makes me care in some way.
I never saw them again but I felt a responsibility to do justice to their story. Of course, it may have been a one off incident and their mum was never drunk like that again. But even if my imagination veered away from the truth of that family, unfortunately there are thousands who do live in circumstances similar to the ones faced by Laurence and Jay in the book.

You’ve said that you wrote and drew when you were a kid. What prompted you 'many years later' to have a go yourself?

What prompted me to finally try to write a novel was reading great books and wanting to have a go myself. There were so many books along the way that inspired me, but the two that I think finally pushed me to give it a go were CREEPERS by KEITH GRAY and STORM CATCHERS by TIM BOWLER. My first story was about a girl's football team. I thought it was a very original idea, until two years later BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM came out. But it was my idea first, honest! I wrote for years (four or five) before showing anything to anyone. I'd finish a novel or get two-thirds of the way through and decide it was no good. They all went under the bed. I have quite a stash under there, at least half a dozen finished novels. I need a ladder to go to bed now!

You've certainly served your apprenticeship, Dave! How long have you been writing seriously?

That's hard to say, but it was probably since the early 2000s sometime, so getting on for ten years before I was selected for the 2010 Undiscovered Voices anthology.
In those ten years I had a full-time job and a young family, so writing had to be squeezed in around everything else. An hour at 5am or late at night, in lunch breaks, weekends, on trains and buses, whenever I could find a few minutes. But yes, all I was doing was reading lots and trying to write. I didn't tell anyone beyond my immediate family and never went on any courses or joined a crit group or anything. Just sat in my attic typing!

What did that it feel like when you first gave someone outside your immediate family something of yours to read?

Nerve-wracking! I eventually sent an early draft of "15 Days" to Cornerstones because I wanted a professional opinion. I expected them to politely tell me not to give up my day job, but the response was very encouraging and that gave me the confidence to keep going and enter Undiscovered Voices.

 

And we know what a life changing experience Undiscovered Voices was for you, Dave! What's a typical week like for you now, are you really still in the attic?

Yes, I'm sitting in the attic right now! It's hard to describe a typical week. At the moment I'm doing a lot of school events. I just came back from a mini tour of schools in Scotland and next Friday I'm off to Italy to receive an award for the Italian edition of "15 Days" which is called "Quindici giorni senza testa"! When I'm writing though, I like to be at my desk by 9 at the latest and work for about four hours, then have a break for lunch, then try to get another three hours in before my wife and son get home. I'll have a cuppa and a catch-up with them, then do another few hours work. If I'm really busy I sometimes work all evening and into the night too. Trying to make a living as a full-time author is hard, but I love it, so I'm not complaining!

Your second book for OUP,  Waiting for Gonzo, was published in March, how's that going?

It's still early days, but so far the response from readers and reviewers has been very positive thanks. I also got to read the story for the BBC audiobook, which actually came out today! And there's a soundtrack to go with the book too which has been released as an album! All very exciting.

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. I’m waiting for my copy of Gonzo to arrive. Thank you very much for your time, Dave, and again many congratulations on all your successes; they are inspirational.


Life in the Land of the Crystal Kite certainly sounds good. Many congratulations to all this years winners!

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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.