Suddenly She Turned Into a Gerbil

Hello, this is Chris and i am happy to be back in the blog-seat. This is a blog about last week, last week was brilliant...

Last week was a brilliant brilliant week!Firstly, my bro and his wife rushed off to hospital to have twin baby girls (both very cute and tiny), which left me looking after my 4 year-old nephew. He is great fun and he took great delight in soaking my shorts with the hose while we were supposed to be watering the plants, for my revenge I beat him at draughts. Like every wee lad he is going through a cheeky-phase and is calling everyone Mr or Mrs Poopy-face, so it’s especially hard not to laugh when he calls the check-out girl in Sainbury’s Mrs Poopy-face (a silent chuckle from me instead).

It is Wednesday already and for our final Big Issue event of the 08-09 school year we thought we would try something a bit different: rather than us going into the school we thought it would be great if schools would come to us. So out went the invites, in came the responses and finally in came the pupils from Newcraighall, Burdiehouse Primary and Leith Primary School.

John Fardell talked about his latest exciting novel, The Secret of the Black Moon Moth, before guiding the children through the art of storytelling, imagination and illustration by asking them to think of what happens next and getting them to draw their suggestions. All of this happens on the flipchart at the front of the stage and it always reveals a mad story, crazy character and even crazier plot twists “suddenly she turned into a gerbil”!

Philip the photographer for The Big Issue then gathered the pupils around John for some group shots before Jane (Big Issue’s wonderful reporter) interviewed a small group of the children for the magazine feature which should be out in about a month or so. John’s events are always such a pleasure to be involved with because his enthusiasm and love of writing/illustration shines through and it is infectious – a little like swine flu only without the nasty side-effects!

Ok, so where are we now, Wednesday afternoon. Following our Big Issue event is was time for me to leave the office and take my shiny new car on its first road-trip: 3 hours north to Aberdeen. What was waiting in Aberdeen for me? One ticket to go and see rock icon, Neil Young with my dad! The gig was truly brilliant, loads of great songs, big-,loud riffs and outros that just went on and on and on and on – watch highlights of his Glastonbury set to see what I mean. Stayed with my cousin at her nearby cottage then up at 6am back in the car and back at my desk by 9ish to start another day - well worth the early start and the 6hr round trip.

Thursday, a peaceful but busy day back in the office tying up most of the loose ends of our Highland Tour in September with Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell- we are officially now good to go. All we need is somewhere to rest our heads each night, some places to fill our tummies and to get our stars up to the Highlands and back to London.

Finally Friday night, work is over for another week and it’s time for another gig – this time it is part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival and sees 3 local bands (Eagleowl, Meursault and Found) scoring music to some archive film footage; a lovely piece about a fishing boat, the postal service and Laurel and Hardy visiting the Playhouse in Edinburgh (they were the Brangelina of their day).

The event made me feel nostalgic so as well as reading Fergus Crane by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell, I picked up Michael Rosen's Sad Book off my shelf and read it repeatedly as well as Days Like This from the Scottish Book Trust as its full of people’s memories. Apart from spilling an entire pint of Guinness down my jeans I had a great time and it was a perfect way to end a brilliant week.

Over and out.

Joan Lennon: Wag and the King

Back in March, in the days when the sun shone in the SBT garden, Joan Lennon came to launch her book Wag and The King. Here's what she thought about the event...

You could not have asked for a more beautiful spring day than Wednesday 18 March at the Scottish Book Trust – the kids got a good run in the garden before and after the event, and they looked like a great happy busyness of brightly coloured ferrets! Amelia (my suitcase full of props) and I were excited too, but didn’t run around so much. Once inside, I told them about having probably the best job in the world, about the old dog who gave me the idea for Wag and the King, and the painting that made me want to write The Ferret Princess (ah, so that’s why she said the kids looked like ferrets!) – and there was even a sneak preview of the cover art for A Mucker’s Tale (the third book in the Tales from the Keep series, due out at the end of the summer). I really enjoyed myself, so many thanks to Flora Stevenson Primary, Craigentinney Primary and Burdiehouse Primary for making it such a fun day!

Other news:

Steve Cole's latest book in the Astrosaurs Academy series, Deadly Drama!, is dedicated to our very own Chris Newton and Jasmine Fassl. They took Steve on a tour of Orkney and Shetland in April. Check out Chris's brilliant interview with Steve and hear them discuss writing, touring and Doctor Who! Listen now.

Patrick Ness has released a brand new, exclusive, FREE short story from the world of Chaos Walking written for his Writer In Residency at Booktrust. It might, just possibly contain hints of things to come in book three...

Gill Arbuthnott: The hectic life of a writer

Gill Arbuthnott has just launched her latest novel The Keepers' Daughter. She takes a moment out of her very busy schedule to give us an insight into just how hectic her life has been lately...

Goodness me, what a week! I feel as if I’ve been living about three people’s lives simultaneously recently, and unfortunately, what’s left of my brain seems to cope by keeping me awake so that I can go over and over where and when I need to be. Of course, this leaves me sleep deprived and slightly hysterical, so if what you’re reading doesn’t make sense, that’s probably why.

I’m about to launch my first novel for four years (four years – how did that happen?), and I’ve been a bit nervous about talking about it; I feel as if I’ve forgotten how to just talk about a book, rather that having an interactive show, which is what I do for my non-fiction. So, it is with an empty stomach (much too nervous to eat lunch), and an over-filled brain (see previous paragraph), that I approach the schools’ launch of The Keepers’ Daughter… I wish I was as brave as my characters.

Two Hours Later

Hooray! I’m feeling completely elated, because things have gone so well. Scottish Book Trust put together a fantastic event (thanks everyone, especially Jasmine, Chris and Heather) with pupils from a number of schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I managed to find some readings that didn’t give away any of the surprises in the plot, and once I got going, I loved talking about the book. The real revelation was the questions I was asked: so many, and so perceptive! There were a good number I’d never heard before, and I’m still thinking about the answers to some of them. In particular:
Which other author would I like to collaborate with? I think the final answer is Terry Pratchett. (I should be so lucky.)
Which character would I like to play in a film of any of my books? On reflection, I think one of the modern day witches in Winterbringers, and not just because they’re the only characters who are old enough for me to play them…

I’ve also done an interview for Teen Titles with a completely bonkers (and I mean that in a totally positive way) group of pupils from Holy Rood High School. We got talking about the fact that I use music to get me in the right frame of mind for writing, and Kimberley (I think) suggested I put a playlist on my website. I certainly will, once I work out how to do it. I must thank them too for their amazingly generous present of a Smart Car. It will be very, very easy to park, as it is only about 4cm long… It is now sitting on the desk where I do a lot of my writing, ready to inspire me.

And now, I have to change writing gear completely, and get ready to go to Melrose for Borders Book Festival to talk about a completely different book, and next week I’m in Dundee, and then it’s London… and it would be nice to think I might fit in some writing as well.
I need to find out how to clone myself. But that’s another book.

Other news:

Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner wins the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medal 2009.

Nicola Morgan's Deathwatch Dash sets a new record for the greatest number of separate school talks by one author in one day!

Ayr Academy Library's brilliant blog - Juist bletherin’ an’ guid craic! - is definitely worth a read! Check out what they have to say about SBT's events with Sophie McKenzie and Anthony Horowitz.

Theresa Breslin: A Serpent. Two Circles. AZ-rod. A Mirror.

Theresa Breslin is a Carnegie medal winning author whose work has been filmed for television and broadcast on radio and is read world-wide. Her latest book is The Nostradamus Prophecy (paperback Corgi ISBN 9780552557214)

Here she tells how she drew inspiration from the Standing Stones of Scotland and elsewhere to write her latest book for young adults - The Nostradamus Prophecy

A serpent.
Two circles.
A Z-rod.
A mirror.

On my window sill sits a replica of a Standing Stone given to me when Divided City was shortlisted for the Angus Book Award. The original at Aberlemno is one of the most famous of these carved ancient stones, with markings indicating that it was a prehistoric monolith reused later by the Picts. Examples of similar mysterious designs can be found across Europe with the snake symbol universally associated with magic and with death.

Standing Stones fascinate me and I’ve travelled widely to study them. Are they merely monuments, or do they have a deeper, more mystical, history, and exist to give guidance on events to come? Can the future be foretold? And are some people empowered to do this? People such as Cassandra, Doctor John Dee, the Braham Seer, and, arguably the most famous of all, Nostradamus, the Seer of Salon.

‘Three to make fifteen in the circle of one.’
So speaks Nostradamus to Mélisande, daughter of the minstrel at the court of the ruthless Catherine de’ Medici in sixteenth century France. This scene from The Nostradamus Prophecy was inspired by the Stone Circle at Callanish on the Isle of Lewis – (photo credit to Chris of Scottish Book Trust!) As well as telling Mélisande that her fate is linked to the Kings of France Nostradamus voices his concerns for the welfare of mankind. He fears that we will destroy the bounty of the earth and squander the harvest of the seas – bringing about the so called ‘Sixth Extinction’.

Mélisande’s ponders on his prediction, thinking that she should take heed, for: ‘Words do not disappear. They sear the mind like a comet coursing across the night sky.’

But does anything happen to Mélisande that cannot be explained as a result of vivid imagination? Did Nostradamus really see what others could not?

You are invited to consider the question.

Other news:

To mark the fifth anniversary of their Fabulous Fiction list, Usborne are launching The Usborne Young Writers' Award.

On Thursday 11th June we held a meeting for Scottish children's writers here at Sandeman House. Poets Amanda Lichtenstein and Elspeth Murray spoke to them about their experiences of bringing poetry to pupils in Scotland and Chicago.

On Thursday evening Elspeth and Amanda treated us to an evening of poetry reading at the Scottish Poetry Library to celebrate the Chicago Exchange. A lovely evening was had by all.

Sophie McKenzie: What a great visit!

Sophie McKenzie was our guest for The Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour last week - read on to hear how she got on...

Coming from a small flat in a big city, the first thing that struck me was the space! Most of the schools Jasmine, Chris and I went to were set against an amazing backdrop of lush green hills and rolling fields. I’m sure it’s easy to take the view for granted if you go there every day – just like I take for granted having a supermarket down the road from where I live – but to me, like many other visiting authors, the scenery was jaw-droppingly stunning!

Getting on board the Scottish Book Trust bus was a big thrill. I love going on tour – the chance to explore new places and meet new people and this visit round beautiful Ayrshire was no exception. We were given such a warm welcome wherever we went and I got to meet lots of readers too. Standing up in front of people and talking about my books and writing is always more fun when the audience asks questions and gets involved – so thanks to everyone at all the schools who put up their hands (pictured below) and made me think… here’s a list of the answers to the top three questions I got asked on tour. See if you can work out what the questions were!!!

1. Yes, there will be a sequel to Blood Ties – its coming out next year.

2. No, I’ve never met Stephenie Meyer, but I love her books!

3. The Set-Up is the first book in my new series about a group of teenagers with psychic powers.

Plus!

Big congratulations to Sophie who was last weekend named the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award for her book Blood Ties! Well done Sophie!

Heather Collins: Ch-ch-ch-changes!

There’s lots of commotion in the office today. Everyone is moving desks because there’s been an addition to Scottish Book Trust's staff, and will be even more new SBT-ers before the year is out! Our new Children's Programme Assistant, Heather, has written this week's blog to tell us about her first week at work...

Two weeks ago I sat my final university exam. As I watched the last minute of exam time tick by I was filled with a strange mixture of sadness at having finished university and excitement for what was to come in the future. Unlike many of the people sitting in the exam room with me I was lucky enough to be able to relax in the confidence I had an exciting new job waiting for me – right after a week of pure self-indulgence and celebration that is!

I’m Scottish Book Trust’s new Children’s Programme Assistant and have just had my first full week at work. In my interview I was asked why I wanted the job and I told them it was because few people have the pleasure of being able to say they love what they do, as well as knowing that it makes a positive difference to other people. Working with the children’s team is going to let me continue working with books, which are my passion, and also try to get children across Scotland to love reading as much as I do – is there really a better job than this?

It has been a busy week, especially with Chris and Jasmine being on tour to Ayrshire with Sophie McKenzie, leaving the children’s team two members down. Between preparations for our Highland Tour in September, checking RSVPs to other events next week and arranging an author visit to Barvas School on the Isle of Lewis, I’ve had little time to do much else. Each day has flown by but I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute – even the photocopying. Well okay, maybe not the photocopying, but getting up bright and early and spending the day doing lots of interesting things certainly beats being flat-bound and surrounded by Victorian literature – the scene which has formed the main part of the past two months of my life!

One of the most interesting tasks I was able to tackle this week was looking into ways we can improve our website so that it becomes an excellent place for children and young people to share their creative work, book reviews and get more involved with Scottish Book Trust more generally. I’m really looking forward to seeing the improvements take shape so we can work more closely with the people who really matter to us – the young readers of Scotland!

When I’m not at work I’ll be spending lots of time reading things I want to read which after four years of English Literature essays, seminars and exams, is a real treat! At the moment I’m reading Don DeLillo’s Americana – a wry look into the superficiality of America and consumer society. I have a large pile of other novels ready and waiting which include writers such as Cormac McCarthy, Hanif Kureishi and Paul Auster. A book I’m particularly excited to read is my new 1945 edition of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Waugh edited the book in 1952 and this is the only version still in print. I found the 1945 one in Barter Books in Alnwick during the aforementioned week of self-indulgence – it’s a visit every book lover must make! An entire train station packed with incredible second-hand books.

I absolutely have to share with you my favourite Brideshead fact – in chapter one my name appears; one sentence ends with ‘Heather’, the next begins with ‘Collins’, I bet few people can say that of their favourite novel!

Of course on top of all that I’ll also be reading lots of brilliant children’s books, starting with the Royal Mail Awards shortlist. The books I read as a child still stand out as some of my all-time favourites. I believe the reading you do when you’re young stays with you forever. I can’t wait to discover the magic of contemporary children’s fiction.

Knowing that there are so many people who hope to find employment in the arts, particularly with books, I feel very privileged to be getting this amazing opportunity and hope to share some more of my experiences with you another time!





Other news


Nicola Morgan's Deathwatch Dash.

Scottish Book Trust's creative writing competition receives press coverage in One Magazine and East Kilbride News.

Liz Rettig: Dating Disasters

To celebrate the publication of Liz Rettig's hilarious novel My Dating Disasters Diary we have an exclusive peek at the first chapter also in this bumper-blog we have a dating guide for boys and a dating guide for girls (both compiled by Liz) and real-life dating disasters from anonymous members of Scottish Book Trust staff and perhaps one author...enjoy!

To access your free downloads please click on this link which will take you back to the Scottish Book Trust website.

Our Dating Disasters

After a particularly heavy night out my boyfriend (at the time) stumbled back to my college halls and as happens when you have drunk a lot of beer he needed to pee in the middle of the night. But rather than walk into the bathroom, he walked into the cupboard and peed all over my college course-work and my shoes. He wasn’t my boyfriend for very much longer.

I had just started seeing this guy and was giving a friend of mine the low-down by text and I said that he was ‘quite cute in an ugly sort of a way’ but rather than send it to my friend, I sent it to him. Oops! Things didn’t work out between us…

I was asked out on a date by a bouncer as I was leaving a pub at the end of a very long night. Disregarding the fact that he probably used the same tactic on every girl exiting the establishment, in anticipation of an eventual acceptance based on the law of averages, I readily agreed to meet him the next week at the same pub. The day of the date dawned, and I pulled on my standard student first date outfit (unnaturally tight clothes and sky high heels.) Tottering along to the appointed place in the pouring rain, I was slightly surprised to see him muffled up in layers of clothes, wielding a single golf club and a huge umbrella. Bouyed up my new heels, quite literally, I decided to disregard the ominous signs and continued on the approach. 'We're going to The Open' he beamed at me. 'Lovely', I beamed back, disregarding the fact that the Open is known throughout the world as an international golf event, and assuming instead that it was a nice new restaurant.The peny dropped when we arrived at The Old Course, a seething mass of mud, golf umbrellas and small children wearing hats in the shape of tigers. Slightly disapppointed, but deciding to disregard the obvious practical complications arising from sky high heels and lots of mud, I went to follow him through the gate. A hand shot out in front of me, almost sending me toppling onto the 18th green. 'Hold on there lady, you'll need to pay first - that'll be £16 please.'I watched in disbelief as my date continued forward towards the champagne tent, flashing his single complimentary VIP pass at the stewards. Disregarding the fact that he would at some point presumably turn round and expect to find me wobbling along behind him, I turned on my heel and tottered home again.

It was the fashion for 'big hair' which in my case was achieved with upside down blow drying and the liberal addition of various hair products: mousse, gels, sprays - you name it I put it on my hair for my date that night. And it worked. I had BIG HAIR. I thought I looked fabulous although with my hair sticking out vertically about six inches from my scalp I probably looked as though I'd just had an awful shock. My date seemed impressed though and took me to a lovely restaurant where we dined by candlelight. So romantic. Until I leaned over the table towards him and my hair caught fire. I was unaware of it at first but he noticed immediately and was horrified. My hair didn't just singe but caught fire and kept burning fuelled by hair products probably as flammable as petrol. He lunged over to me and started slapping my head to damp the flames which infuriated me until I realised (along with other diners) that I was on fire. Oops.

I had made the effort to look smart and had turned up to the pub a few minutes early just in case she was on time. I ordered a drink and waited patiently. I waited patiently for half an hour, so I texted her to see where she was and she never got back to me. I wondered if she was ok or had I just been stood up. She never did turn up and to this day I still don’t know if she was ok.

Other News

Joan Lingard has been nominated for the West Sussex Children's Book Award.

Methphrog have been blogging about their Comic Workshops