Happy Feet

A few days ago I posted on facebook that I had 'Happy Feet.' Some presumed this might have something to do with penguins. And they were right. Only it is just one penguin, a very big one, actually the biggest and only penguin in the publishing industry - Penguin Group (Australia).

My feet are happy, because they have been dancing around the house for a few weeks now, ever since I first received an email informing me my manuscript, 'Pond Magic', was on the desk of Penguin's children's publisher 'for consideration'.

Fast forward through Christmas, holidays with friends, overseas guests and New Year. Even with all those distractions, my mind was very much on whether the children's editors at Penguin would enjoy my story.

I had submitted Pond Magic to a select few publishers 6 months prior and the waiting room I found myself in was starting to grow dull - after all I'd read all the magazines.

Then on the first working day, a Monday, after New Year I received the email which blew me away. The executive editor 'enjoyed my story' and said: 'It's great fun, with a strong voice, likeable characters and themes that will appeal to the tween age group.' What's more they felt it would make a terrific addition to their Aussie Chomps list.

Did I open the champagne? you might ask. Well, no. Firstly, my manuscript was nearly 14,700 words long and the Aussie Chomps maximum is 12,000.

'Could I cut it back, please?'

'Why, yes, of course.'

The very next day I set out my instruments, sharpened my pencil and took to my manuscript with the precision of a brain surgeon. How do you cut nearly 3,000 words from what is a relatively short story? Very carefully.

I created a table on word and then read through my manuscript once more (for the millionth time), carefully writing down every plot point, character development and humourous remark in each chapter. There appeared to be two chapters where not a great deal happened, although they did show more about the characters. I decided to cut back both chapters by half and then systematically cut 100 words at least from each of the remaining chapters. This worked and I loved doing it. Playing with words and language have always been a passion of mine.

After smoothing out any wrinkles the editing had created, I re-read the manuscript again (I can't remember how many more times) and emailed it to the Aussie Chomps editor at Penguin.

Two days later I received a formal offer of publication.

'Pond Magic' will be published in September this year in Penguin's Aussie Chomps series.

I'd like to thank the writers who have believed in me and supported me along the way to my first publication, (especially all the writers of the Kwd group):

Sheryl Gwyther for your advice,

Dee White and Matt Zurbo for your critiquing.

and


Narelle Oliver for your passionate belief in my manuscript 'Pond Magic'.

The Queensland Writer's Centre for the editorial consultation,

The CYA competition judges,

and The Gold Coast City Council 'Creative Juices' team.



Thank you also to my readers:

Nadia, for your support and feedback,

Daniela, for every time you obliged when I shoved a chapter under your nose,

Rob for bouncing ideas and brainstorming in the wee hours of the morning,

Peter (14), for reading the final edit,

Elesia, Rosalia and Craig for your enthusiasm

and Ellen (aged 11) who wrote the first review of Pond Magic on this blog back in May 2009.

I know this sounds like I have won an award, but I am truly grateful to be so blessed.

Warm up those artistic muscles (warning - nudie pics)

Watercolour Pencil Sketch. Life Drawing. A.Sunde 2009

Even though I love to draw children, life drawing sessions are essential to the development of my skills as an artist. With a live model there is no choice but to draw the figure in the position I see her/ him. That means it's not possible to turn the model on his/her head (as I might a photo) simply because it's easier to capture a certain curve or a particular stroke.


Graphite Sketch. Life Drawing. A. Sunde 2009

Before I start to draw I have learnt to do warm up exercises designed to loosen my strokes and relax my mind. The exercises train my brain to remember arm and hand movements through repetition, using both left and right hands (sometimes simultaneously). It also shifts the focus of my mind to the 'right brain'. In other words the left analytical brain becomes so bored with the exercises it switches off and hey presto I am able to draw what I see and not what I 'think' I see.

These movements will then help me more accurately capture the image before me, even when I'm not looking at it. That makes it sound simple doesn't it?

Acrylic sketch. Life Drawing. A.Sunde 2009

I study Life Drawing at the Gold Coast Art School http://www.artschool.com.au/ with Tony Champ. We begin by drawing circles, repeatedly, without taking the pencil off the paper, big ones, small ones, in one direction, then the next, with our right hand and then our left for ten minutes each. Then we do figure eights, then ellipses.

By now it's apparent to me that a certain direction of stroke feels uncomfortable and awkward. My hand just doesn't naturally relax into the movement. That will be my weak stroke and that's the one I need to practise the most, just like an archer practises his aim so he can shoot the bullseye with his eyes shut.

Speed is essential in Life Drawing. The less time you have the looser your strokes. You learn quickly to draw from the elbow and not the wrist. These exercises have helped me to achieve that relaxed sketch I so admire in others.

But the real trick is to draw with your heart and not your intellect.

Submissions

I have a little manuscript, an urban fantasy for 9-13 year olds, which I submitted to four Australian publishers this year. Three of these actually invited me to submit. How do you get an invite? Simply attend as many conferences and workshops where publishers are present. I've found the publishers at these events are very approachable and also looking for the opportunity to meet new authors like me.

The CYA conference has the 'Pitch' sessions each year, where you may pitch your manuscript to a publisher or an agent for a fee. This is really worthwhile, as through the CYA pitch I have met a leading children's publisher and a literary agent, both of whom were interested in my work. Hopefully this may lead to future opportunities. An editorial consultation at the Queensland Writers Centre also helped me to fine tune my approach to being published. The consultant has since introduced me to publishers and even obtained on my behalf an invitation to submit to one of these.

And then there is the slush pile for unsolicited manuscripts. Many publishing houses do not accept these; others only have their slush pile 'open' at certain times of the year. My little manuscript found itself on one of these slush piles where it was waiting up to six months to be read. Luckily an industry contact (through conferences and workshops) enquired on my behalf and my manuscript found itself being fast tracked to the editor's desk.

Yesterday I received an email from this publishing house, informing me my manuscript has potential and I will hear from them 'in the near future'. Now that is something to celebrate.

The Battle is Won! And what did I learn?

Parallel Import Restrictions on books in Australia are here to stay.

Today the Australian Labor Party Cabinet and Caucus decided not to accept the Productivity Commission’s recommendations. This decision shows their support for the Australian book industry and the people who work in it. I applaud them for understanding the complexities of this issue.

http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2009/11/13936/

As a member of Saving Aussie Books action group I have learnt a great deal about the impact standing up for what you believe in can achieve. I know now I have a voice and that voice can be heard. Through this campaign I wrote my first letter to a Prime Minister, a Premier, many Senators and politicians both federal, state and local. I spoke on radio and left my very first comments on local and international digital media sites. I had my first letter to the editor published in the Courier Mail and hand painted my first protest placard. My voice could be heard loud and clear at my first street rally outside the Dymocks store, Brisbane and I answered my first live interview by a national journalist in between handing out leaflets. And then there was the petition. It is a wonder my friends are still speaking to me. At BBQs, birthdays, school fetes, evening classes, P & C meetings etc the petition was always being passed around.

I’ve learnt so much on this journey. I’ve learnt we all truly have a voice and an opportunity in this great country to be heard. Thank you to the politicians who listened and understood. Thank you to everyone who posted, emailed, wrote, phoned and spoke in support of our cause. I am elated. It was indeed a privilege and an honour.

But best of all I have made some life long friends.

Three cheers for the Warrior Women of the Book.

WWOBs rule!

http://savingaussiebooks.wordpress.com/

I squashed a Fairy

My family believes in fairies; not the sort who live in the garden, under toadstools and behind cobwebs, not the sort who fly through the night carrying bucket loads of baby teeth and chinking coins. We believe in the true fairies; the strong, tough, dependable ones, the ones who never let you down, the ones who don’t forget to leave a gold coin under the pillow. (Sorry Peter.)

Our fairies are real and they accompany us wherever we go. They especially like travelling, whatever the mode. When we took the kids to Europe, UK and Canada in 2006, our Travel Fairy came with us and she is a delight to journey with. Travel Fairy weighs nothing, never tires or complains and is always available.

This was lucky for us on the day we knocked at the door of our rental ‘gite’ in Haute Provence, France. Monsieur Chauvel had never heard of us, let alone received our booking. With a hot supermarket chicken and two tired little bodies simmering in the back seat of our car, my husband and I were gutted.

This is where Travel Fairy stepped in. She quickly turned my frown into a smile and dropped at least ten words of fluent university French into my head. As Mr Chauvel struggled to pull a shirt over his white singlet-clad tum, his wife appeared and Travel Fairy set to work charming her with expressions of praise for the lovely house, the delightful garden, the wonderful view – deftly slipping in a request for bed sheets.

So you see they are real.

But my most loved fairy of all is Parking Fairy. She has a twin who lives at my sister’s house. Just last week my sister found a free parking space right near an entrance at three different shopping centres in the one morning. True.

Of course I don’t want to compare Parking Fairy with my sister’s. You see, Parking Fairy achieved a major coup on the Sunday of the ‘Swell Sculpture Festival’ at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast. We wanted to have lunch at The Deck Café on the beach front. Parking Fairy organised for someone to pull out of their spot at that moment and then Café Fairy found us the last table.

What? You don’t know Café Fairy!

You don’t have one?

How do you arrive last minute for unorganised get-togethers then?

Look, I’ll see what I can do. Perhaps Café Fairy has a cousin.

A new fairy arrived to live at our house on the weekend. She just crept up on us while teenage daughter was fretting over Year 12 assignments, getting her P’s and buying a ticket for The Big Day Out. Teenage son was holed up in his room, connected to a virtual world, too engrossed in a game of strategy to notice a little fairy creeping up the hallway. And hubbie, well, some footie game was on.

Sitting at my desk, making plans, writing lists, plotting stories and feeling overwhelmed, I did not hear her come in. She was silent. I continued to focus on writing my junior novel; an urban fantasy with a young teenage protagonist who goes on student exchange to France.

I stopped.

I glanced across the desk at the rejection letter I had received that week from a publisher. It had been a positive one, full of hope and personally written.

But that is when the fairy pounced.

She landed on my back.

Her prickly skin rubbed against my neck. Her mocking laughter echoed around the room. Her cold breath froze my heart. I looked up at my reflection in the window and there sitting on my shoulder, delicately swinging one ever-so-small leg crossed over the other, was

a Doubt Fairy.

She laughed again, a sparkling laugh, and the bells on the end of her green, pointed boots tinkled.

A Doubt Fairy had arrived to fill my head with negative thoughts:

‘You can’t write, no one will publish it, you don’t know what you’re doing, your word count isn’t high enough, your characters are cardboard, your plot has no arc, the stakes are not high enough, your participles are dangling…’

She just went on and on for two whole days. I couldn’t shake her or that stupid little laugh, those ugly little boots, that annoying tinkling noise.

On the third day I forced myself to sit back at my desk and fiddled around, not achieving anything. And then there on my desk was the answer… a packet of positive affirmations given to me by a writing friend, my first creative writing teacher. That day’s affirmation read:

“You do not need to leave your room…remain sitting at your table and listen. Simply wait. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." Franz Kafka.

With one quick movement I slipped the thong off my foot and...

‘SWAT!’

The Doubt Fairy was no more.

Are you brave enough to climb to the top of the tree?

Writers are like apples on trees. The best are at the top of the tree, but the climb is difficult and the branches are rough. Some writers don't want to climb because they are afraid of falling and being rejected, so they stay on the ground. These apples are good, but they risk withering in the leaf litter. Have you ever seen the view from the top of an apple tree? Are you brave enough to risk a fall? Here, take my hand. I am climbing up. Together we can reach the top and bask in the sun.

Chee Chee and Mia at the CYA

I was in the car at 7am; overnight bag, sleeping bag, pillow, foam mattress, writing materials and sundry all carefully stowed in the back. I was on my way to the CYA!

The highlight of the year in writing and illustrating for children is the Children’s and Young Adults’ Writers and Illustrators Conference held in conjunction with the Brisbane Writers Festival. It was at my first CYA conference three years ago that I fell in love with the industry and its people. Children’s writers and illustrators are a passionate, inclusive group who welcome and support new and emerging writers. Now in its fourth year the conference is a sell out success and draws award-winning speakers and workshop convenors from across Australia and internationally. Every year I am rewarded with rich learning and networking experiences and along the way I have made some treasured friends.

At 8.25am I slipped into a seat in the auditorium, looking forward to Jackie French’s key note speech. Our MC for the morning, Anita Bell, began by announcing the winners of the CYA writing and illustrating competition. I had entered in two categories, but did not expect a prize. When my name was called as the winner of 3rd prize in the Illustrated Picture Book and Graphic Novel category, tears began to sting my eyes. Somehow I fumbled my way to the front and accepted my award. Paul Collins of Ford Street Publishing had chosen my illustrated picture book ‘Chee Chee and Mia’ as the 3rd prize winner. WOO HOO!! That meant so much.

‘Chee Chee and Mia’ tells the story of a little girl’s love for her chicken Chee Chee (she can’t say chicken). Mia loves to hug Chee Chee, take her on the swing and push her around in the doll’s pram. But while Chee Chee tolerates all this attention, she is not all that pleased. The illustrations were worked in watercolour and coloured pencil.

My first workshop for the day was Jackie French’s master class. Her advice was hard hitting and to the point and her pearls of wisdom included:
“A good idea for a book is not enough; you need thousands of good ideas.”
“Quite good is never going to be good enough.”
“Be intellectually honest about your writing.”
“It takes longer for genius to be published than the very good.”

Together we brainstormed a story outline for ‘The Last Zoo’, set in Antarctica. Jackie had us smelling the ice and hearing the muttering of monkeys. She emphasised that each word must be specific and value laden and each character needs to be individual with their own characteristics and quirks.

Jackie believes ideas are more important than the quality of writing – you can always re-write. And writers need to be self-centred enough to spend time on themselves and their writing. This was good advice for me as self doubt and guilt are my two very good friends. But while I may doubt my writing, I seriously do enjoy re-writing.

A 15 minute pitch with Leonie Tyle of Woolshed Press (Random House) was the most rewarding experience of the day for me. I have taken on board her advice regarding my manuscript and in those few moments learned a great deal about some subtle aspects of ‘telling’ that still sneak their way into my writing.

In Meredith Costain’s ‘Constructing a Picture Book’ class she stressed that a good picture book must:
Resonate emotionally with the reader.
Have heart.
Tell an important story the reader can find meaning in.
Beg to be read over and over again.

This is very true of the favourite picture books I have in my collection. In groups of four we then brainstormed ideas for a story and amidst great laughter my group presented our version of ‘Grandma’s False Teeth’ to the audience.

Peter Carnavas’ master class ‘Illustrate a Picture Book’ took us inside the world of the professional illustrator. Peter led us sequentially step by step through the stages of illustration and story development, workshopping with us all the way:
Narrative structure and developing characters.
Finding the balance between words and pictures.
Developing a storyboard.

The session was valuable for the insight to Peter’s methods, for the hands on experience and the sharing of ideas with other illustrators in the room.

Among other things I learned a picture book is structured in three ‘Acts’ – a problem, a journey to solve the problem and a solution. Within Act 2 there is often a ‘blue page’ when all appears lost and the problem seems insurmountable. This week I have been re-working my picture book structures and have included where possible a ‘blue page’. Thanks Peter.

The CYA has been and gone. It was without a doubt the best one yet. Tina Clarke and Ally Howard have once again managed to seamlessly present the conference of the year. Their hard work and commitment is greatly appreciated and I thank them. I also thank the many friends who congratulated me on my award and who have supported me with their kind words. The life of a writer/illustrator is not a lonely one.