Here's What's (Probably) Wrong With Your Story... � The CBI Clubhouse - The Community for Children's Book Writers

Here's What's (Probably) Wrong With Your Story... � The CBI Clubhouse - The Community for Children's Book Writers

 This is an excellent article on critiquing your own story, which we all know is a very difficult thing to do. Of course, every book starts with a bright and shining idea-story in your head, but to turn it into a truly bright and shining book, you need to stand back from the story that you've actually written, and look at it as dispassionately and 'from the outside' as you can. And then fix it...

Not easy, but this article gives you some hints.

Interview with Audrey, a teen reader & blogger

A Type Of Teen blog interview

Something very special about being interviewed by one of my readers! Audrey is 13 and runs the very impressive atypeofteen wordpress blog. She recently interviewed me about my writing, and Raven's Mountain in particular.

When did you decide you wanted to be an author?

I dreamed of being a writer from the time I learned to read and write in English, when I was nearly 7. (I started school in France,so had learned to read and write in French, though English was what we spoke at home.) All through school I wrote plays, poetry and stories – including one about a girl who lived alone on an island. One day at work a friend told me she’d written a book, and I decided it was time to do what I’d always dreamed of, too. I started writing, and year later, in 1988, my first book, Amanda’s Dinosaur, was published.

What gave you the idea for Raven’s Mountain?

The first image that came into my mind to plant the seeds for this book were of a girl experiencing oxygen lack while mountain climbing, (as I had, as a twelve year old, at 3000 metres, which my pilot father explained was the height at which pilots of unpressurised planes needed to start using oxygen). I think the point of this image was the feeling of confidence as I regained my breath and went on to finish climbing the mountain.  The second image was of a girl smashing a house window, being torn between feelings of wickedness at doing something so uncharacteristic, and hoping that a security camera would pick up her actions and alert someone that she needed help.  I have no idea where that thought came from, but the dilemma was interesting to play with.

Like many people, I’ve long been fascinated by the white Kermodes or spirit bears, who live on an island and small section of coast north of Vancouver. As they are a subspecies of black bear, so that a white mother may have one white and one black cub, it struck me as likely that their whiteness was a recessive gene. And as the mountains at this coast run into the Rockies, it seemed likely that Kermodes bears might occasionally turn up in other mountain ranges. In fact, while I was working on a later draft, I saw a newspaper report that a Kermodes bear had in fact turned up in Banff, a couple of thousand km southeast of where they’re known to live.

I’ve also been fascinated by the North American ravens, ever since I got to ‘know’ an orphaned one who was being raised by a friend. Its intelligence was extraordinary, and I understood why it plays the role of Trickster and Creator in the First Nations mythology.

What is your first memory of writing?

Sitting at the coffee table in the living room when I was seven, writing “Glossy the Fairy Horse or Shetland Pony.”

Of all the books you’ve written, which is your favourite?

I can’t really choose; they’re all special in different ways. Nim is my favourite character in some ways, but Raven is my favourite realistic character; I think Ark in the Park is the book that is closest to exactly how I wanted to write it… and I know that many people believe Peeling the Onion is my best, but it’s too personal for me to know.

What age group do you prefer to write for?

10-13, if I absolutely had to choose. But I love the freedom of just writing a story the way I feel it wants to be written, and letting my publisher worry about what age group that seems to be.

What style of writing is your favourite?

Another tricky one! I love the fun light touch but it’s usually very hard work to do.

What is your tip to aspiring authors?

Go on writing. Just write whatever you want to, enjoy it, and throw yourself into it. And read a lot – the more you read of different authors, the more you’ll learn about writing, and about how you want to write.

If you could rule the world for one day, what would you do?

Set up literacy projects for children everywhere around the world – making extra sure that girls got their chance to learn to read and write.

Filming wraps for Nim's Island 2

Sadly, deadlines, school festivals and a nasty cold kept me from getting back up to the set for the rest of filming and the fun of the wrap party,  but I've still felt very much part of it all with emails from people who actually had to be up there. Let's say the excitement doesn't seem to be dying down!

But it's hard to believe that five weeks have gone by, and filming is over. It must be even harder for everyone living in that intense experience - and one friend has told me that she's already homesick for Nim's Island, even if it is an imaginary place. Long hours, working intensely with other people for over a month... all very different from the solitary world of a writer.

However, on one of my non-solitary days at a school festival I heard two boys chatting at the back of the signing line: "Wouldn't it be cool if there was a movie of Nim at Sea too?" They both had copies of it, so I was able to give them the good news when I signed their books. (I'll post about that school another day, as I'm hoping to be sent a couple of pictures of students' work. I've been very lucky with some of the amazing schools I've been to lately.)

So here are a few more pictures.

Something very exciting about seeing the signs...

Bindi Irwin & Wendy Orr, photo by Alexander Rice.  

Studios

Animal Carers and Careers: Jan Rosen at Washington Animal Rescue League

Jan Rosen, DVM, the Medical Center Director at the Washington Animal Rescue League, has kindly agreed to take some time out from caring for the animals to telling us a bit about her job:

Jan and her dog, Roxie, a WARL adoptee

Dr.Jan Rosen graduated from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1989.  She worked in private practice for 16 years. At the same time, she volunteered her medical services at a local shelter and surgical services in feral cat spay/neuter clinics. In 2003, she joined the League as Senior Staff Veterinarian in order to fulfill her original goal of reducing the suffering of stray animals. In 2008 she became the Medical Center Director.

The Washington Animal Rescue League71 Oglethorpe Street, NW  |  Washington, DC 20011

warlkids.blogspot.com

How would you describe your job? 

 It’s very satisfying.  I love working with animals and with people who love animals.  We do a lot of laughing.  It can be really hard though, especially when an animal is in pain and we don’t know how to help it.

What was the path - or the passion(!) -  that led you to working to animals in general, or this job in particular?  

I always felt terribly sorry for homeless animals, especially cats.  I felt that no-one cared about a lot of them and that made me really sad.  I thought this was a way for me to make a difference in the world.

Did you have pets as a child? 

 I always had cats and they were my best friends.  I think cats are the ideal pet! 

Do you have an animal companion now?

I have two cats who I got as wild kittens.  I also have a dog I got from the shelter (a mutt).  They all constantly make me laugh.

Roxy & her best friend (a pit bull) 

What would your pet tell us about you?  

They would probably tell you they adore me.  What more could I ask for? 

If you were an animal, what would you be? 

 A cat (obviously) but I would consider being a ring-tailed lemur too.

Any advice for people wanting a pet?  

Make sure you want them for life! 

Favourite animal books?  

I don’t usually read animal books.  I worry too much about the characters! 

Roxy and Tutu

“How Often Do You Get Bitten?” A Chat With Sean Casey, Brooklyn Animal Rescuer | The Awl

“How Often Do You Get Bitten?” A Chat With Sean Casey, Brooklyn Animal Rescuer | The Awl

My Rainbow Street series editor sent me the link to this article on a truly amazing man. Once again, fact is stranger than fiction - I wouldn't have dared make up some of the stories Sean Casey has lived. I felt truly humbled reading this:

"If you live in Brooklyn and have any kind of affinity for animals, the odds are fair that you’ve heard about Sean Casey. He operates his shelter—Sean Casey Animal Rescue (or SCAR)—out of a cramped storefront in Windsor Terrace. The no-kill shelter takes in around 150 animals per month, providing a service that too often can’t be served by official agencies. Stop by the shop and you'll see gerbils, hamsters and domesticated rats, lizards of all possible description, as well as chattering parakeets, lonely-looking cats and, lumbering freely along the floor at comically low speeds, several rescued tortoises. Volunteers and staffers dash about, answering visitors' questions in between stocking shelves and tending to the menagerie.

Nearby the store is a kennel, recently opened, for the dogs taken in by the shelter. SCAR is particularly known for its work with pit bulls: sometimes abandoned and gone feral, and sometimes rescued from the shockingly cruel underground dog-fighting culture. The stories about these dogs are dramatic and sad, although SCAR's work also seems to be a reliable subject for soft-focus pieces. In one such segment, a reporter from Channel 11 dubs Casey “The Pit Bull Whisperer.” Casey has appeared on "The Today Show" and on Animal Planet. When a two-headed turtle was stolen from his shop, The New York Times covered it."

Whether you live in Brooklyn or not, have a look at the rest of the article. It's fascinating, and moving.
 http://www.theawl.com/2012/08/sean-casey-scar 

On set of Nim's Island 2: Mud, leeches and the most magnificent tree in the world

Trailers on site 

I'm filled with admiration for people who can blog on exciting events as they happen. I even have every intention of following their example, but in the end I get caught up in the event and the blogging just doesn't happen.

In fact, I did make notes and start a post while I was sitting in the rainforest on the set of Nim's Island 2, but lost them when I closed the iPad...

But yes, I said, 'The set of Nim's Island 2.' And although I'm giving up exclamation marks, that deserves a few: !!!!!  In fact everything about it deserved a few: the location, the trees, the actors, the crew, the atmosphere on set. (!!!!) Being with my friend Paula Mazur the producer, meeting the real-life Nim, Bindi Irwin and her lovely mum Terri, making new friends...

Actors' stand-ins, waiting - cold but cheerful

This is going to get sentimental, so I'll add the ticks, the leeches, the mud, the cold.  (Why don't we have upside down exclamation marks?) Filming is never quite as glamorous as it sounds, and even in tropical Queensland, rain forests are dark and shady – and the word 'rain' ought to suggest mud. In fact, since the mud lasts even longer than the rain, mudforest would actually be a more accurate term, albeit somewhat less romantic. And cold, did I mention that?

But beautiful. There are so many aspects to watching a book's characters come to life, that I'm not going to touch on most of them now, partly because I've spent the last two days editing the last Rainbow Street series book and my brain is slightly fried. But partly because I just want to share some of these pictures now and show you why leeches, ticks, mud and cold, can't do anything to spoil this.