Proud Mum Moment #3 How to Clean Up Your Room

How To Clean Up Your Room

By Sian Carvell

(although I think there may have been a brainstorm among friends to get all these gems)

If you want to clean up your room you have to be a very brave person or else you will not get it done but I know the trick.

There are actually a few ways and here they are.

Stuff everything in your closet!

Hide it under your bed. Shhhhh!

Put your stuff in your brother/sisters room! Don't tell anyone

Blame it on your dad for playing rugby in your room.

Ask your helper to do it.

Lock the door if necessary.

If your mum is uptight do it anyway ... or do you?

Proud Mum Moment #2 cobra golden eyeball finger rotten wizardry hair nose

Another one of Sian's astonishing snippets of writing came home, scrumpled in the bottom of her bag.

She says she just wrote it just for fun.

I had to share!

How to Make a Witches' Potion.

this is how you make a witches potion:

******

* take a teaspoon of cobra wine and pour it into a big cauldron with a golden outside

* then plop three mens fingers in and if they don't turn into eyeballs put in a bit of rotten bread

*add a pinch full of wizardry essence and then a bowl full of singed chest hair

* get a fat pig nose and a wooden spoon. Stir the pig nose until it is at the bottom.

* all this will result to a delishus stew. It is called cobra golden eyeball finger rotten wizardry hair nose.


YUM SCRUM in my TUM !!!

There's Soup on my Fly

Story Book Theatre performs 'There's Soup on my Fly,' by David Seow

Last week I went to see the Storybook Theatre's 'trial' performance of 'There's Soup on my Fly' by David Seow which will be released next February. David is a good friend of mine but any of you who know him will understand he can be somewhat 'unpredictable.' So I was a little nervous. This was the first time he had seen the interpretation of his story. What if things went wrong? What if he didn't like it?

But, of course, Storybook Theatre were fantastic and we were treated to a clever mix of humour, music, dance and puppetry. We all loved it. Especially the very adorable children who were lucky enough to be little guinea pigs (and puppies, kittens and hamsters) for the preview performance. There was plenty of audience interaction and the kids were calling out, barking, meowing and squealing with delight all the way through. I couldn't wipe the grin of my face.

Storybook Theatre brings books to life and introduces children to performance and local authors.  Click here then scroll down for more details.

Curtis Brown Creative

The Creative Brown Creative crew, Singapore Writer's Festival 2013

I just completed a three day novel writing course with fifteen of the most inspiring and creative people I have ever met. Here we are all are at the end of the course looking incredibly inspired and somewhat intellectually drained. After such an intense three days, it was sad to say goodbye but happily, we all swapped emails and already have a facebook page where we intend to share our writerly news and hopefully, establish some critiquing relationships.

Anna Davis and Jake Arnott

The course was run by Curtis Brown Creative as part of the Singapore Writer's Festival. It was tutored by  Anna Davis and Jake Arnott, so we knew we were in good hands.

Anna is an agent for Curtis Brown UK as well as director of Curtis Brown Creative. She is also the author of 5 novels which have been published around the world in over twenty languages.

Jake is the author of six best selling novels, two of which have been serialized for British television.

The course itself, Writing Your Novel - From Beginning to End and Beyond, was certainly everything it promised to be. We discussed beginnings, character, point of view, story, plot, editing, rewriting, endings, letters to agents and how to get published. We also did plenty of writing exercises focussing on our own work and got a personal twenty minute critique of our manuscripts from both Anna and Jake. Invaluable stuff!

Personally, I got a great deal from the course. Not only did I have several epiphanies about how to improve my story, but I also enjoyed listening to the enormous diversity of stories taking shape amongst the participants. We had crime thrillers, historical fiction, autobiographical, dystopian, photographic and detective novels as well as my children's story and more. It was a delight and an honour to get a glimpse into the creative process of this amazing group of people.

I also enjoyed getting out of my pyjamas and leaving the school run, dinner and dishwasher hum drum to my ever supportive husband for several days :-)

Curtis Brown Creative have a new online novel writing course available. Applications open soon and the next course starts February 2014.

Singapore Writer's Festival - Two Book Launches

Yesterday was the start of the 2013 Singapore Writer's Festival and today I celebrated by attending the book launch of two fabulous books.

Tibby the Tiger Bunny by Emily Lim and The Robot in my Playground by Pauline Loh.

Emily Lim and I met at the SCBWI West Australian Rottnest Retreat earlier this year and on our return to Singapore, Emily introduced me to Pauline Loh. Since then the three of us have met once a month to critique our mid-grade manuscripts and have become firm friends.


So it was with great pleasure that I was able to share their excitement today.

It was an extra bonus that Emily Lim's book, Tibby the Tiger Bunny, was illustrated by Jade Fang who also illustrated my good friend, Sarah Mounsey's books, Purple Paw Prints and Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa. 

It was a bit of a party to tell you the truth. A book launch, a reunion, and a happy day all round.

Emily Lim, me and Jade Fang with Tibby the Tiger Bunny

Emily Lim launched Tibby the Tiger Bunny, illustrated by Jade Fang.

Poor Tibby! All he ever wanted was some friends to play with, but the other rabbits thought he was too strange. After all, he could pounce and roar like a tiger. But he also had long floppy ears and could hop like a bunny.

Was he a tiger or a bunny?

No one knew, until the day Tibby showed everyone just how much of a tiger - and a bunny - he really was.

Pauline Loh, Edmund Wee (Managing Director of Epigram) and Avina Tan

Pauline Loh launched her picture book, The Robot in my Playground, illustrated by Avina Tan.

Lucus loves robots. Especially the robot in the playground near his house. How he wishes that the robot would come to life, and after a big storm, he does!

Both books were published by leading Singapore publishing house, Epigram Books.

An Author/Illustrator Blog Hop - Hip hop hurray!

I have been tagged by Myra Garces-Bacsal of Gathering Books (a website for children's literature and YA fiction) to participate in the author/illustrator blog hop that is doing the blogosphere at the moment.

The first time I met Myra was at the 2012 Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore when I attended her conference session entitled, Picture Books as Portals to Enchantment and Imagination — Choosing Books that Challenge the Mind, in which Myra did what she does best and inspired us all with her passionate belief that the power and beauty of children's literature can be some of the most thought provoking art for all ages.

Since then I have been lucky enough to cross paths with Myra at several conferences and workshops and more recently we both became members of Saturday Night Out for Book Geeks,  a book club for likeminded grown ups with a passion for children's literature. 

Myra's bio on the Gathering Books website has this information about her:

Asst/Prof Myra Garces-Bacsal is a Teacher Educator and Coordinator of the Masters and Bachelor’s Program in High Ability Studies and Gifted Education at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. As a clinical psychologist, she has done extensive work with the gifted which range from conducting psychological assessments to counseling and developing indigenous gifted programs for highly-able learners. Aside from doing teaching supervision in Singapore Schools, she also does clinical supervision among graduate students in counseling psychology.

Dr. Bacsal has published on socioaffective concerns of gifted learners, family influences in talent development, and experiences of flow among young artists. Her research interests include psychology of artists, Asian folktales, identification of the disadvantaged gifted, experiences of flow among creatives, and bibliotherapy.

*******

Okay. Now to answer my Blog Hop Questions ...

What are you working on right now? 

My first book Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs is due for release in March 2014 so I am currently learning about how to market a book from my publishing house, Fremantle Press. Big learning curve!

I am also writing my second book for children entitled, Mergul. I am about 15 000 words into what I imagine will be a 30 000 word story. I am hoping to finish the first draft before the end of the year, but realistically it will take much longer than that.

How does it differ from other works in the genre?

Mergul is a mid-grade adventure story about two fourteen year olds who discover a wounded mermaid in the mangroves and must overcome the authorities to set her free. Set in the mudflats, the strange but beautiful zone between land and sea, the story explores themes of belonging, control and finding your way in a confusing world. Unlike other books in this genre, the setting plays a pivotal role in telling the story and the mermaid is more wild animal than maiden.

Why do you write/illustrate what you do?

I was born in England and as a small child I enjoyed reading, writing and collecting things from nature (snails, earthworms and tadpoles were my favourites).

My family migrated to Australia when I was eight and I was raised in the northern suburbs of Perth. My love of nature and stories continued so I studied botany and journalism, with an aim to get a job doing something I loved. But, as often happens in life, I landed a sensible government position, and lost sight of the original plan.

I moved to Sydney, met my husband and several years later, as I read to my two small children, I remembered my childhood dream and realized something amazing ...I had motorbiked across Australia, backpacked through Europe and explored South East Asia, but my most exciting adventures of all, had taken place within a children's book.I finally knew what I wanted to do - write fantastic stories for children to love.

What is the hardest part about writing/illustrating?

For me, the most difficult part of writing is staying focussed and not getting sidetracked by face book or tempting lunch invitations. 

*******

Part of the author/illustrator blog is to introduce 3 author/illustrators. So here they are;

Kelly Canby I met illustrator Kelly Canby at the 2012 SCBWI Rottnest Retreat and am a huge fan of her work.

Kelly Canby studied BA Design and Illustration and Design at Curtin University in Western Australia then worked as a graphic designer until now. Recently she saw a twitter from The Bright Group International, calling for new work. She took a risk, tweeted her portfolio and is now represented worldwide by The Bright Group. Watch this space! Kelly Canby is on the rise.

Click here for Kelly's website and blog.

James Foley

I met James Foley at the 2010 SCBWI Rottnest retreat and since then have watched his career go from strength to strength. 

His website has this information about him; 
James is a children’s author and illustrator, cartoonist, public speaker and workshop

facilitator. He is the author/illustrator of In The Lion(Walker Books, 2012) and the illustrator of The Amity Kids Adventures (2013) and The Last Viking (Fremantle Press, 2011). In The Lion was selected for the International Youth library’s White Raven list in 2013. The Last Viking won the 2012 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ Crystal Kite Award, the 2012 WA Young Readers’

Hoffman Award, and a 2012 Children’s Book Council of Australia Junior Judges Award. It was shortlisted for a further four awards. James is a Books In Homes ambassador and the Illustrator Coordinator for SCBWI Australia West. He is a big fan of yoga and gardening and has far too many books in his bedside reading pile.

Click here for James's website and blog.

Emma Nicholson is a fellow member of the SIngapore chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She is originally from England where she worked for many years in the publishing industry. She is now writing her own stories and her first book, Princess Petunia's Dragon will be out soon.

Click here for Emma's blog

SCBWI Singapore dinner with Jacqueline Harvey

Sarah, Simon, Jeff, Catherine, Jacqueline, Emma, Evelyn and David took the photo

One of the best things about being a member of SCBWI is the inspiring, creative and talented people you get to meet.

This week we had dinner with Jacqueline Harvey, the best selling author of the Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose series. She is in Singapore for school visits on her way to the UK  for a promotional tour of her latest book.

A full time writer with two best selling series (both recently optioned for animation), more books in the pipeline, a full schedule of school visits, and plenty of world wide travel, Jacqueline is a great Australian success story.

Add to the equation a balmy evening in Singapore, a bustling riverfront, great company and delicious food and you have a very memorable night out.

A good time was had by all.

For more information on Jacqueline Harvey, click on the link below.

http://jacquelineharvey.com.au/