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 - 6th January

Welcome to the future! According to Back to the Future II, people in 2015 should be riding on hoverboards or driving flying cars. Sadly, this doesn't yet seem to have come to pass, but at least someone invented the blog post!

Christmas came late for Chitra Soundar, who definitely wins this week's prize for perseverance. Seven years after first writing a picture book about Anasi (the West African spider-spirit) and a mere two years after she first submitted it to OUP Pakistan, they finally accepted it for publication! Such are The Perks of Patience.

Alistair Lane has set himself a target for the year - writing 12 stories in 12 months. But he doesn't want to do it alone, and he's set up a Facebook group to encourage other writers to join him. Read Alistair's blog post to find out all about his new collective.

Space on the Bookshelf are trying something a little different this week, with their first 3D review of a self-published book. SCBWI author Amanda Hatter is the lucky recipient, and her novel Callum Fox and the Mousehole Ghost is clearly one of those books that gives self-publishing a good name!

Is it a bird? Is it a horse? No, it's a Dartmoor Pegasus! Enjoy Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve's latest burst of adorable whimsy, as it unfolds post-by-post on Sarah's blog.

I'm sure we all managed to leave plenty of used wrapping paper and empty chocolate boxes behind in 2014, but sadly, library closures seem harder to shake off. Nicola Morgan has written an impassioned post about the fight to save Falkirk School Library Service, with a deadline to leave feedback for the council by the end of this week.

Whenever I've tried to write a review of my year, I generally can't remember more than the last couple of months. Dee Kirkby was smarter than me - she's been recording all the very nicest bits of 2014 as they happened, and gives us a quick rundown on her blog.

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 has delved into his archives for the third year running, and found some wonderful lost lunacy for your reading pleasure. Check out The Museum of Me - The Lost Years.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 23rd December

Is there anybody out there? I wouldn't blame you all for being frantically busy in the run-up to Christmas, but I hope you'll find a few minutes to join me for the last Blog Break of 2014.


Nicola Morgan has written a lovely post about Christmas spirit, and how it means different things to different people (and not always in a positive way). Nicola's own Christmas seems to involve a lot of food, booze and books, which sounds just fine to me!

While Nicola is full of Christmas spirit, Marie Basting has got the fear. Specifically, she's experiencing some significant self-doubt after meeting other writers in the flesh at the SCBWI conference, and realising that they're all really good! But Marie won't be kept down for long, and her post examines the cyclical nature of self-doubt.

For those seeking to polish their craft during those empty days between Christmas and New Year, a couple of our bloggers are here to help. Vanessa Harbour is looking at dialogue this week and considering its best uses within your story. And, following her post about evaluating picture book ideas a few weeks ago, Kate Peridot is now focusing on developing your chosen idea. In this week's post, she's looking at the typical structure and layout of a picture book, and how to map your idea onto it.

For last-minute gift ideas, you can't beat Space on the Bookshelf's A Book in Every Stocking series. Writers, editors and illustrators (including Sara Grant, Sarah McIntyre, Anita Loughrey, and, erm, me) suggest the children's books they'd like Santa to leave in their stocking this Christmas.

I'm convinced that Candy Gourlay wrote My Year in Books 2014 just to make me jealous. How else to explain how many more wonderful books she seems to have managed to read than me? Clearly, I need to set some reading targets for 2015!

Merry Christmas and see you in January,

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 has delved into his archives for the third year running, and found some wonderful lost lunacy for your reading pleasure. Check out The Museum of Me - The Lost Years.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 16th December

It's been one of those days - I broke my tooth during breakfast, and everything that followed had to be fitted around dentistry! But fear not, because I managed to squeeze the Blog Break in, and good job too, because there are some great posts this week!

On the SCBWI-BI Facebook group, I've already flagged up Anne-Marie Perks's prominent (but strangely uncredited) appearance on the BBC News site with her wordless picture book illustrations. Over at Big Little Tales, Anne-Marie shares more background on the project and artwork from the forthcoming companion volume.

Last week, we had a wonderful story of perseverance rewarded (from Kathy Evans). This week, it's the turn of my fellow Undiscovered Voices 2010 winner Abbie Rushton. Ever wonder what it's like to have that meeting with a publisher? Read Abbie's post and find out all about it.

There's a great process-related post on Sarah McIntyre's blog this week. Responding to a query from an MA illustration student, Sarah tells us all about her sketchbooks and how important they are to her creative process.

Claire O'Brien also has some great advice for picture book illustrators, focusing on internet video training courses. In her blog post, Claire highlights some courses on a variety of sites that she's found engrossing.

Have you got a difficult teenager (or adult) who you want to buy a book for this Christmas? Nicola Morgan has gone straight to the source for her book recommendations, asking the teens of Larbert High School for their must-reads.

We're all about advice this week, and Candy Gourlay is happy to contribute. She's just made her first virtual author visit using Google Hangouts, and her blog post provides a guide as to how easily you can use the same technology.

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 - 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 - 2nd December

Christmas rumbles towards us, like a brightly-coloured tank playing Jingle Bells while simultaneously mowing down everything in its path. But the Blog Break stands firm from festive concerns (at least for this week, anyway!)

One of the many challenges of parenting is persuading a reluctant child to read, something that can easily turn into one of those battlegrounds like room tidying or eating broccoli. Sally Poyton is blogging at Space on the Bookshelf about a new book by Alison David, Help your Child Love Reading - a Parent’s Guide. The book is full of non-judgemental advice about how to foster a reading culture, and Sally even finds some useful tips for her own book-mad family.

Katie Dale is putting her thinking cap on, and taking part in the annual Kids' Lit Quiz. Pitting school teams against children's authors, the quiz is a fun and fiendish event that you can read all about in Katie's blog post.

For this week's adventures in self-publishing, Larisa Villar Hauser is delving into the mysteries of Amazon rankings and doing lots of promotion. Meanwhile, Olivia Bright has been experimenting with Amazon's new Kids' Book Creator to self-publish a picture book, and shares a useful how-to video guide on her blog.

Still in picture book territory, Claire O'Brien delivers the second half of her blog guide on creating a picture book illustration portfolio. Bravely analysing her own portfolio, Claire finds a surprising amount of room for improvement.

Who doesn't love receiving feedback from child readers? Sam Zuppardi has some fun letters from a primary school class who've been using his book The Nowhere Box for Literacy lessons, and making some stupendous cardboard collages in the style of the illustrations.

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 - 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 - 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 - 11th November

How's NaNoWriMo treating you? You may think that writing a novel in a month is tough, but how about producing a whole comic in 24 hours (without sleep) like Sarah McIntyre did a couple of weeks ago?

I missed Sarah's blog when she first posted it, but it's well worth catching up on - there's tons of creative process, illustration technique and varying levels of sleep-deprivation into the bargain. Even better, you can read her whole comic Scribble here.

Something else that I missed in the wake of the conference was National Dyslexia Awareness week. Thankfully, Space on the Bookshelf had that all wrapped up with a series of Dyslexia-friendly book reviews. The series concludes with a review of Ransom Publishing's Star Struck books, which just happen to be co-authored by super SCBWI volunteer Anita Loughrey. Anita even gets her very own interview on the site.

Talking of the SCBWI conference, a brace of bloggers have crafted their thoughts on the weekend. Kate Peridot found that exhilaration (and not exhaustion) overwhelmed her, as she dreamed of being up on that Saturday Book Launch stage. Sarah Broadley has already blogged about the conference once, but comes back for a second bite of the cherry to detail her session with Melvin Burgess. And Loretta Schauer pays tribute to Outstanding Contribution Award winner Anne Marie Perks, then shares a wonderful picture of Nick Butterworth's Halloween party "friend" (by the way, was it just me, or was there a touch of Harry Hill in Nick's delightful keynote speech?)

As a writer, I've always been inspired by contemporary people and their stories. Yet, I know that some people are drawn to places and legends to drive their imagination, which seems to be the case for David Thorpe. In an evocative blog post for Awfully Big Blog Adventure, David talks about the inspirations for his new YA novel Stormteller (which also manages to have a contemporary theme).

Finally, not content with blogging on this site just yesterday, Natascha Biebow also wrote a piece for Picture Book Den. Following up her post on breakout picture book premises, Natascha delights in picture book plot twists that zing!

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, as they launch 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 - 28th October

Attribution is an interesting subject in publishing. The writer is often credited as the sole creative force, but what about all the editors and designers behind the scenes? And what if the book is illustrated as well?

Attribution certainly became a big issue for Sarah McIntyre, when her book Oliver and the Seawigs was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, but only her co-creator Philip Reeve was listed for the award. You don’t need me to tell you that Sarah did not take that lying down, as her crusade to change the submission rules proves!

I know I featured the fight against Liverpool City Council’s plan to close eleven of its libraries last week, but:
A) You can never make enough fuss about library closures
B) I was much taken by Paula Rawsthorne’s letter to Mayor Joe Anderson, which argues the case for public libraries both from the heart and the head.

To live your creative life fully is to accept a constant process of evolution. To that end, I’m very much enjoying watching Maureen Lynas (who I once saw as primarily a writer) spreading her artistic wings. Her Klimt-inspired Red Riding Hood is a lovely image.

Marie Basting is getting in touch with her inner small person this week, in a bid to perfect her voice and point of view. Prepare to tie a towel around your neck as a makeshift superhero cape when you dive into her blog post.

Finally, a couple of SCBWI bloggers are focusing on the importance of reading to improve your writing. K.M. Lockwood provides her own take on the Kathleen Hale story about stalking book reviewers (which appeared in the Guardian recently). As a writer and a reviewer, K.M. gives a very positive perspective on the perks of being a reader. Elsewhere, I found myself nodding in agreement with Vanessa Harbour, as she complains about some writers of children’s fiction, who somehow think it’s appropriate to claim that they don’t read other children’s books. Not big and definitely not clever!

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 - 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 - 14th October

Occasionally, SCBWI bloggers fall through my net, either because they blog at the same time as lots of other people, or don't fit the theme of a particular week. But don't worry, because if you keep blogging, I'll get to you eventually!

A blogger who I've finally found space for is illustrator Claire O'Brien, who's been writing some useful stuff for aspiring picture book makers. Claire's blog post on Creating a children’s picture book illustration portfolio from last week is full of great tips and you may also like the video she made examining picture book anatomy.

Forget fish 'n' chips, because it's fish 'n' actors who are all the rage at Darlington Civic Theatre. Sam Zuppardi breaks out his considerable artistic skills to show us why.

Being a professional children's writer nowadays is a process of juggling many types of project, and few are better jugglers than the prolific Tony Bradman, who's interviewed for Space on the Bookshelf this week. As a writer, editor and teacher, Tony was the first to publish work by Scoobies such as Candy Gourlay and Miriam Halahmy, and he's currently working on an exhausting list of new projects for OUP, Barrington Stoke and the Golden Egg Academy.

Juliet Clare Bell is suffering a creative block - could reading her old school books help? What about a photo of E.T.'s head riding on a car? Find out in her post for Picture Book Den.

Finally, there's just room for some wise words from Sheila Averbuch about the painful business of having a book on submission. Sheila advocates a fire-and-forget approach to submitting your work, assuring us that our precious manuscripts are not sailing off into mortal danger, but are simply "in hyper sleep." In which case, I have enough books in hyper sleep to crew the Nostromo (from Alien). Let's hope one of them turns out to be my very own Ellen Ripley!

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 - 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 - 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....

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 23rd September

Although it's time-consuming to read so many blog posts each week (SCBWI people do write a lot!) I always learn something new. So I hope that you too will pick up some glorious pearls of wisdom from this week's Blog Break...

As well as a choice of surnames, the ever-generous Olivia Bright/Kiernan offers us a choice of blogging formats. Do you prefer reading about her thoughts on writing a great opening to your novel in a standard blog post, or to have them summarised in a vlog (with added whiteboardery?)

More choices present themselves with Larissa Villar Hauser's latest post, as it comes with a warning that the content is "really boring for anyone not interested in the brass tacks of self-publishing!" But if you are looking to self-publish, her advice on obtaining and managing ISBNs is invaluable.

I initially thought that Sue Hyams' 500 Word Challenge was going to be about flash fiction (my own personal word count obsession), but it turned out to be a post following her attempts to write 500 words a day for ten days. The results may surprise you (and indeed her!)

Bryony Pearce's plea for us all to take responsibility for childhood literacy may be preaching to the converted here in SCBWI land, but that doesn't make it any less true. How can we help those families who don't consider reading either a pleasure or a necessity?

Double Crystal Kite winner Candy Gourlay may already seem "kind of a big deal" in our world, but she's front page news in her native Philippines! Read Candy's interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the accompanying blog post about her Filipino book tour.

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 finds him exploring a character he just can't stop writing about: The Evolution of Max.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 16th September

I'm sure I wasn't the only one buoyed up by Jan's super-positive editorial at the weekend. And there certainly is plenty of good stuff out there if you know where to look, as this week's Blog Break once again proves.

Every writer is looking for the golden ticket, an idea which is just so compelling that it will motivate them to do their best work and crack the market wide open. But how can you identify a breakout premise for a picture book? Natascha Biebow has plenty of advice at Picture Book Den.

My drawing of Pilbeam the robot from Cakes in Space

I was at Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve's book launch for Cakes in Space on Saturday, and I can confirm that a very good time was had by all. Amongst the treats on offer were drawing lessons, a new song and interactive video comedy involving sporks(!) But fear not if you couldn't make it, because Sarah has written a blog post with tons of photos from the event.



There's a fantastic interview with Sam Zuppardi on the Scottish Book Trust website this week. I especially liked the anecdote about his childhood biblical confusion!

Candy Gourlay is exploring diaries this week, discussing how they can be used for personal reflection, as creative fodder and as an exercise for author visits. She shares some great tips for keeping a diary, and lets us have a peek at the diaries the kids made in response.

Finally, I found a lot of food for thought this week in Marie Basting's blog post all about embracing the dark side of her creative personality. It set me wondering as to why it is that we become compelled to write certain stories, even when we're trying to do something quite different. That led me to my own post a few days later, all about a character that I just can't stop writing about.

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 (mentioned above) traces The Evolution of Max.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 9th September

I'm aware that the same names crop up fairly frequently on the Blog Break, so I'm going to try this week to highlight posts from bloggers who we haven't heard from in a while.


Larissa Villar Hauser hasn't blogged since April, so she definitely qualifies! It might appear sometimes that self-published authors simply empty the contents of their hard drives into Amazon Kindle Publishing, but Larissa has been taking a more measured approach, as she notes in her post.

What turns a great book into an obsessive read? Blogging at The Edge, Sara Grant gets Book Mania when she explores the books that she's loved over the last few years, and tries to determine why they mean so much to her.

I didn't have room last week for Katriona Chapman's blog for Big Little Tales, but luckily I've managed to squeeze it in this time. It's a post which provides quite the visual feast as it explores Great Book Cover Designs.

I enjoyed reading about John Shelley's triumphant return to Japan over the summer, and the two exhibitions of his work. Like his trip, John's post is "busy, inspiring and very encouraging."

My last selection is a bit of a cheat, because Olivia Kiernan actually got into last week's Blog Break with her vlog. But that was written as Olivia Bright, whereas this week she's blogged under her real name. More than that, her blog post on Writing and Coping with Rejection is so full of wisdom that I simply had to include it!

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 post finds him looking away from despair, towards Higher Ground.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 2nd September

Hello! I'm here and I'm fine. Better than fine, actually, due to a whole lot of SCBWI love sent my way over the weekend. So that's enough about me, because it's time to focus on what you clever people have been doing this week...

The triumphant return of Kate Bush to the stage has certainly fired up our bloggers this week. KM Lockwood contributes a wonderfully empathetic piece that delves into Kate's thoughts and motivations for her great comeback. Sue Hyams also avoids the concert review route, examining how the power of heartfelt emotion binds Kate Bush and her audience together.

Encouraged by proximity and her very obliging family, Sarah Broadley threw herself body and soul into the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Her exhaustive (but far from exhausting) post takes in many literary luminaries, including Scoobies such as Sarah McIntyre, Dave Cousins and Stephanie McGregor.

Another well-deserved success at the Edinburgh Book Festival was Nicola Morgan, whose signing queues have now swelled to rival those authors who seemed to overshadow her in past years. But it's not just a matter of ego, as her blog post makes touchingly clear.

I know I claimed I wasn't going to say any more about me, but Space on the Bookshelf did a whole series of posts about Stew Magazine last week and I was very proud to be interviewed, as was fellow SCBWI member Lisa Mann. You can also read the thoughts of editor Ali Fraser and Grace Sandford, who is one of the fine Stew illustrators. Remember, it's never too late to subscribe ;-)

Finally, here's a technological departure for the Blog Break, our very first vlog! For the uninitiated, these are video blogs, and I've embedded Olivia Bright's whiteboard-tastic introduction to her self-publishing process below:



Olivia also posted an accompanying blog about the wider process of bringing her book to the market. And I say good luck to her!

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 post is "less a cry for help, more a squeal of frustration" as rejection and dejection find him Falling Back.

Ten-Minute Blog Break - 26th August

I'd like to start this week's column with a special message for the Space on the Bookshelf team. Stop writing so many interesting posts! It'll be your fault if no-one gets any further than paragraph two on this week's Blog Break.

Space on the Bookshelf, you may remember, have a special series of features running about comics, graphic novels and magazines. Let's start with their top picks for graphic novels for various age ranges, then move on to off-the-shelf and subscription magazines for children and a special spotlight on The Phoenix (as championed extensively by David Fickling the other day). Most recently, the site ran an informative interview with Emily Haworth-Booth, who teaches a course in London on making comics and graphic novels.

One SCBWI blogger who always seems to avoid appearing in the Blog Break is our very own Words & Pictures editor Jan Carr. She generally does this by not blogging very much, but this week I've caught her! Her latest post may be "shameless self-promotion" for her novel You're Magic, Duggie Bones, but it's also a chance to see the very positive kids' feedback that gave her the idea for the Chalkface Challenge.

Moving to illustration, Loretta Schauer contributes a terrific process post to Big Little Tales this week. After admitting her unusual phobia of sketchbooks(!), Loretta talks us through her recent life drawing classes and shares the results at each stage.

What made you the artist you are? Miriam Halahmy and her photographer brother have journeyed back to Hayes in Middlesex, where they grew up. In a reflective post for The Edge Miriam traces how this outwardly uninspiring suburban environment shaped her creative outlook.

Finally, author events can be scary enough for anyone, let alone if you have Asperger's Syndrome. So you have to applaud Julie Day's determination to get out there and meet her audience, as she does in her latest post about a children's workshop at Bexley Community Library.

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.

In Nick's most recent blog post, he enters phase 0.5 of his plan for world domination, sharing A Work in Progress.