Steerpike`s sister's Blog on WriteWords
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This article in the Bookseller (the industry magazine for booksellers (duh :)) ) is depressing reading, but there's a good deal of truth in it:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/childrens-publishing-haemorrhaging-talent.html Read Full Post
I spent the last half of last year writing the first draft of a novel which I'd hoped would be taken by a certain publisher. Blimey, it was like pulling teeth. The publisher turned out not to want it after all, and though my agent was still interested in the idea, that really knocked my confidence. I wrote the thing. I sat down to work on it every day (well, not really every day, but most days. Okay, some days) with a Vox Deus sized 'Verily, what you are writing is pants' ringing through my brain Read Full Post
The latest installment in the Epic Saga of the Bit of Land Yesterday was a bit of a lost cause as far as work goes, not so much for me as for my husband, who had to spend the whole day dealing with it. We were woken by my father-in-law ringing the doorbell, and the noise of a jack-hammer under our balcony. Turns out our neighbour had decided to have our garden wall knocked down because it was in her way. Read Full Post
What it's like writing for a book packager I am currently working on the first draft of a commissioned children’s novel from a book packager. This is the sort where you get given a long plot summary by the editor and you write it up into a novel before it is published under a pseudonym, in effect reversing the creative process. Lots of contemporary children’s books, especially in the 5-8 age bracket, are produced in this way. Children’s authors with books published under their own names are glad to have the extra source of income, and unpublished writers see it as a way into the business.
This is the first time I’ve written such a book, and I thought it might be interesting if I wrote down how this is going for me, personally, in terms of my writing life. Read Full Post
Today is the festival of the Befana, when by tradition the Befana, who is a good witch, is supposed to come to all children and leave them sweets if they are good and coal (really a hard candy coloured black) if they are not. There are various legends about the origins of the Befana, generally attached to the story of the birth of Christ: she is supposed to have missed giving him gifts along with the Wise Men and now searches all over for him, leaving gifts as she goes, like a sort of a cross between the Wandering Jew and Father Christmas (who is Babbo Natale in Italian!). In another legend she was a mother who was driven mad by the death of her child and went to see the newborn Jesus in the belief that he was her child, she gave him presents and Jesus promised that as a reward she should be the mother of every child in the world (the cynical might call this a mixed blessing). Read Full Post
I was watching a starfish extrude its gut when I realised.
“It should be in first person!” Read Full Post
Writing is always difficult I commented on Nick Cross’s blog a few days ago, saying that possibly people give up writing because, while they’re prepared for it to be difficult at first, they’re not prepared for it to go on being difficult. Read Full Post
On the importance of going native and having strong knees David Thorpe just wrote a really interesting post on Dragontongue, the blog for children's authors in Wales, wondering if we have to remember what it's like to be a child, to write for children. Read Full Post
Musicians are in the house and as usual are putting me to shame. What I envy – these are proper, conservatoire-trained classical musicians – is their work ethic. Every day I hear the piano start off at around 8 am and it continues for the whole morning. Practice, practice, practice. Why am I not so committed to my writing? Read Full Post
The prince and the frog-maiden rode along the ancient track.
“Ah-ha! You’re trapped, traitors!” A soldier leapt out in front of them. But with a snap of her fingers, the frog-maiden turned herself and her companion invisible. They spurred the horses past the baffled soldier.
“I didn’t know you could do that,” said the prince, once they were visible again.
“Useful, huh?” croaked the frog-maiden.
No sooner had she spoken when they heard a terrible screeching above their heads.
“Oh no! Witch birds! If they see us, we’re done for! Quick, hide!” The frog-maiden spurred her horse towards cover, and the prince followed her. But they weren’t fast enough. The birds grabbed them and carried them into the sky… Read Full Post
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Steerpike`s sister