My Year in Books 2014

They say books hold up a mirror to who you are, as well as windows to other worlds. I thought I'd look back at what I read in 2014 to see where I've been!

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WARM UP  

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell was the first book I read in 2014. It is set in 1986 -  the year I met my husband, the year the Philippines had a revolution. The details are super authentic and made think: hey, Rainbow Rowell must be MY age! But when I looked her up, oh boy. She's just a baby compared to grizzled old me.

Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve. I've got a proper version of this book of course. But I had a sudden longing to read the opening chapters again. So I got a Kindle version too. Anyone who loves good writing will adore this cross-dressing, re-envisioning of an epic tale.

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones. Another re-reading! I am currently writing a historical novel, in which I'm crafting a massive culture clash not just between West and East, but between past and future. Because I write both for a Western and a Filipino audience, I am constantly aware that what one reader from one culture will find acceptable may be totally repulsive to another. I went back to Mister Pip to experience again how Lloyd Jones manages to be unflinchingly true to a painful setting.

Running Girl by Simon Mason. This is a mystery of the hard-boiled kind - and its hero is a 16 year old genius / slacker named Garvie Smith, described by the Guardian as "sharper than Sherlock, more moral than Marlowe, and way too cool to be in school." Garvie solves a murder mystery while dodging his determined mum and Police Inspector Raminder Singh who is always just one step behind. Please let there be more Garvie mysteries.

I took forever writing Shine -- three years. But SF Said has to win the Endurance Prize, taking seven years to finish Phoenix. It's completely different from anything out there at the moment and don't miss the brilliant book trailer made by illustrator Dave McKean.

DARK AND LIGHT  

Then in February, I read three books that starred characters plagued by demons not of their own making. Unputdownable Salvage by Keren David takes a brother and sister separated by adoption and explores the painful realities of nature and nurture. In Close Your Pretty Eyes by Sally Nicholls you feel like a hapless companion to Olivia as she careens through her own emotional minefield. Tulip in The Tulip Touch by Anne Fine is in a similar predicament. I read it for the first time because I was speaking to some girls who'd just read it in class. We had a fantastic discussion about empathy.  

By March, the CILIP Carnegie shortlist was announced.

I read a couple of the happy ones first: Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell  and Liar and Spy by Rebecca Stead. Man, there is such warmth and kindness in Rebecca Stead's books. And I loved the fortune cookie bit. Katherine Rundell has an engaging, whimsical style -- I hope there are more Rooftoppers books because the world on the rooftops part ended too quickly for me. I wanted more!
Then I read Anne Fine's Blood Family, which was wow but pretty heartbreaking. Anne Fine is never the first to look away when a plot is playing chicken.

I read Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper of The Dark is Rising fame, not quite my thing but it had a twist right in the middle that jolted me right out of my seat! I love lyrical writing and debut Julie Berry of All the Truth That's In Me is definitely an author to watch! I started The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks, but I'm not a very brave reader and I had to stop fairly early on. I will try to finish it sometime. But with all the lights on.

Sadly, I got busy and didn't manage to read the other Carnegie books. The Bunker Diary won, and I was kicking myself for putting it down too quickly.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED  

My friend Cliff McNish is known for his creepy, scary books. His latest, published in April certainly gave me a start ... but for other reasons. Going Home, about dogs in a rescue centre, was sweet and heartwarming. Sweet? Heartwarming? Cliff McNish?

Speaking of heartwarming, another favourite author who's somehow turned to the light side is Marcus Sedgwick. The brilliant She is Not Invisible had no beheadings and no gruesome deaths.  Marcus, Cliff, are you guys on heartwarming medication or something?

About that time, my author pal Jon Mayhew (Mortlock) messaged to ask me to stand in for him at a school visit in my area. Sure, I said. And then, as authors do, we got to talking about books.

You've got to read The Girl Who Had All the Gifts by M R Carey, Jon said. But it's a zombie novel! I said. You'll see, he said. So I read it. Ahhh! Wonderful - I had no idea that zombie novels could be so filled with pathos.

USEFUL PROCRASTINATION  

About May, someone asked me what I was going to do about my unpublished novel Volcano Child.

Well ... I've cannibalised so many ideas and characters from Volcano Child for Tall Story and Shine. Volcano Child needs a total reimagining. So I'm thinking of turning it into a fantasy adventure for younger readers.

To research fantasy fiction, villains, monsters and magical settings, I read Doomspell by Cliff McNish, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black. Brilliant stuff.

What did I learn? It's NOT going to be easy. I had thought I could write the adventure book in the afternoon and my historical work-in-progress in the morning. No, no, no. Focus, Candy. I got back to work on the historical book.

PICTURE PERFECT  

Spring was an explosion of graphic novels.

I took an evening course in graphic novels at the suggestion of my friend Bridget Strevens who, ever since we met, has been convinced that I'm an illustrator pretending to be a writer.

After the course (with Emily Haworth-Booth), I realised that Bridget might be right. I LOVED it.

I realised that I'd been suppressing my love of drawing maybe because I can barely keep up with myself now, why take up yet another interest?

I think it's too late now to train to become an artist of the caliber of Craig Thompson (Habibi), Stephen Collins (The Gigantic Beard that Was Evil), Isabel Greenberg (The Encyclopedia of Early Earth) and Jon McNaught (Dockwood).

I was very much intrigued though by the non-fictionish storytelling of Pyongyang by Guy Delisle and Line of Fire by Barroux (translated by Sarah Ardizzone) and Fun Home, Alison Bechdel's autobiographical reflections.

The graphic novelist I'd most like to emulate? Marjane Sartrapi who applies magical realism to true stories like Chicken With Plums.

SUMMER OF LOVE  

Reading graphic novels reminded me that, before I became a novelist, I had wanted to write and draw picture books. I gave up when my picture book rejection pile outgrew its shoebox and turned to novel writing instead. Should I return to that dream?

In the summer I signed up for SCBWI's picture book retreat. What a joy to hang out with illustrators. They sit around scribbling in their sketchbooks all the time. It kind of re-orients your brain.

I've joined a picture book critique group to focus my mind. I'm writing picture books again. Fingers crossed, maybe this time I'll be more successful.

Meanwhile, oh the stories, oh the pictures, here are some picture books to fall in love with:

WORKING HARD, READING HARD  

Then I realised that I had to crack on with the novel I was writing. I had a big book tour in the Philippines in September and I had to make lots of progress before then.

So I went on a frenzy of research which involved buying obscure, out of print books from obscure out of print online bookstores, downloading lots of diaries and old government documents from Open Library and, sigh, lovely research time at the British Library.

It looks like hard work, but the truth is ... it's addicting. I have to physically force myself to stop researching and get on with writing the book!

Go, go, go!

PINOY READS 

In September, I had an incredible book tour in and around Manila to launch Shine in the Philippines. Nineteen events in ten days! It was tough but wonderful. Unfortunately it meant I didn't get a chance for my usual trawl of Manila's bookshops. 

I did manage to acquire some treasure.

The delightful school series Supremo by Xi Zuq, illustrated by Al Estrella is funny, sweet and totally Filipino. Woman in a Frame by Raissa Rivera Falgi is about a girl who discovers the story behind a painting.

Moymoy Lulumboy Ang Batang Aswang (Moymoy Boy Monster) by Segundo Matias opens with a strange creature clutching a baby passing unnoticed in a mall because people think he's part of a Cosplay event. Anina ng mga Alon by Eugene Evasco caught my eye because of its cover, and when I opened it, I was hooked by the lyrical prose (you can hear me reading passages from it here). Fish Hair Woman by Merlinda Bobis -- I haven't read it yet but there's a woman with 12 metres of hair who trawls the river for corpses ... what's not to like?

The coolest thing I spotted though had to be Jomike Tejido's new series Jepoy Dyip (that's Filipino spelling for Jeep). Not only is it a young fiction series with lots of stories and cool characters, its a build it yourself town! Each episode introduces a new vehicle character. I bought the whole series for my nephew. I mentioned Jomike's incredible Foldabots characters and low cost pop up books in a video about the Asian Festival of Children's Content back in 2012.

READING SOON!  

Yup, I've done a lot of reading this year. A lot of it work-related. Which is my excuse for not yet reading Shattered, the third book in my friend Teri Terry's trilogy. I've left it so long, I'm going to have to start from the beginning and read all three in one go.

Another series I've got to catch up with is Mo O'Hara's My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish. I blinked and three came out all at once! And there's going to be a picture book too! (Wait, was that a secret? I hope not)

2015 is gonna be a delight though. I'm SO looking forward to the publication of my friend Jeannie Waudby's book One of Us. Go, Jeannie!

Another friend Jo Franklin just got a book deal in the United States. At last, I will be able to read her book Hilf Ich Bin Ein Alien (Help! I'm An Alien!) in English!

The Secret Dog by Joe Friedman is out in May. Joe's in my fiction critique group and I've read all the early versions. Can't wait to see it in print!

Chitra Soundar is in my other critique group and she seems to be roaring away with her Farmer Falgu series -- Old Macdonald doesn't hold a candle to what Farmer Falgu gets up to! I just got a copy of her second Farmer Falgu and I can't wait to read it!

And what about Sarah McIntyre? I haven't seen my lovely illustrator friend all year except via her blog. She's published THREE books this year -- There's a Shark in the Bath, Jampires with David O'Connell, Cakes in Space with Philip Reeve  -- how will I ever catch up? The woman is a whirlwind!

And hey, Jane McLoughlin, is your new book out in 2015?

In related news, writing buddy Kathryn Evans has at long last been discovered - her book More of Me will be published by Usborne in 2016. I've been in critique groups with Kathy and she writes with a to die for voice. Look out, world, your favorite author is about to be published! You can read about her amazing book-to-be here and her inspiring blog post announcing the deal is here.

... that was MY Reading Year. I can't wait to see what books will be coming my way in 2015. What was YOUR reading year like?

Asia for the World? Whose World? Reflections on the AFCC 2013

The AFCC (Asian Festival of Children's Content) was held in Singapore on 25 to 30 May 2013

At the moment, I'm reading The Language Inside by Holly Thompson, handed to me at the last minute in Singapore as I was about to get on a plane with an already overweight bag.

It's a splendid read. Congrats to Delacorte Press for daring to publish a novel told entirely in verse  and not just that, a story which is more about what is inside than outside.

The Language Inside is about a girl who has grown up in Japan, thinks Japanese, speaks Japanese, but is of American origin. And it asks the question so many young people want to know: where do I belong? Is what I am on the outside who I am on the inside?

Holly Thompson
@hatbooks

Holly herself has lived in Japan for eighteen years, bringing up a family there, though she is originally from the United States.

Perhaps the novel resonates with me so much because I am close to a point in my life where I would have lived in England for the same number of years as I've lived in my native Philippines.

Where do I belong?

Attending the AFCC, it struck me that this was the question uppermost in the minds of the delegates who came from all over Asia - from up in Mongolia to way down south in Australia.

Here's the blurb on the AFCC website:

Asian Content for the World's Children
Picture by Malaysian illustrator Emila Yusof

The focus this year was on Malaysia - and I was struck by how many of the countries attending shared the same story - bookshops are stocked with the latest bestsellers from the West, while local titles languish in forgotten corners.

And even when cash-strapped publishers innovate - witness the low-cost, self-made pop-up books created by Filipino writer illustrator Jomike Tejido in my video - the consuming public continues to favour the product flow from the West.

Filipino writer illustrator Jomike Tejido - innovating instead of making do

If children had the choice, would they pick up a homegrown book or the latest Wimpy Kid? Someone asked at a rather exciting discussion about the Asianness of content (the panel featured author/reviewer Daphne Lee, Paper Tigers critic Marjorie Coughlan, and author Anushka Ravishankar (India's Dr Seuss according to an old article).

The exciting panel: Daphne, Anushka, Marjorie with moderator Lisa Yun.
Photo: Holly Thompson

'It's our responsibility as adults to go out there and put it into the hands of the children,' Marjorie said.
And yet Asian books 'are having to fight very hard to reach an audience'.

'Choice is important,' Daphne said. 'I grew up with no choice. There were no Asian books.' Later, writing in  Malaysia's Star Online, Daphne described publishing in parts of Asia as 'still learning the ropes'.

It seems that Asian content is something we discuss at every AFCC. It should be something that we all take for granted, but I suppose the industry is still too young for us to feel confident about what we put into our books. Can you imagine a panel at the Edinburgh Festival discussing the wisdom of publishing books with European themes? Suck it up, people, Daphne Lee, Star Online

At one point, we found ourselves wondering if Asian resistance to confrontation might be getting in the way of craft!

This year, I was one of the judges of the Sing Tel Asian Picture Book Award - seeking an 'outstanding picture book with a distinctly Asian theme'. 'Distinctly Asian' was inevitably interpreted by entries as folk tales, festivals and chopsticks.

Winner of the illustration category was Bolorma Baasansuren from Mongolia.
I just LOVED her work. This is a page from a picture book she had illustrated called A Wise Mother and a Bad Fox (A Mongolian Story) published in Japanese by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers in Tokyo

Interestingly, the AFCC was also launching this book:

BEYOND Folktales, Legends and Myths, the title says - it calls itself a rediscovery of children's literature in Asia. Edited by Myra Garces and the delicious Tuting Hernandez, it attempts to describe the coat of many colours that is Asian literature.

Launching Beyond Folktales with Myra (who's pretty tasty herself) and Tuting (right)

I wrote the end chapter, the story of my own journey to publication and how I had to overcome my own disbelief.

How could I become an author, I used to ask myself, I have never seen myself in the characters and narratives that I have discovered between the pages of a book.

How could I ever become an author – I didn’t look like one, with my black hair, chinita eyes, brown skin, flat nose. How could I presume to write novels – Filipinos didn’t write novels.  From Seizing the Sword, A Writer's Journey in Beyond Folktales, Legends and Myths

It took me a long time to give myself permission to write - and I wonder if there are many out there (and not just in Asia) unable to give themselves permission to write their stories because they do not find themselves in the books they read.

At that rumbustious panel on Asianness, after discussing quality and market and what our children want, it was Anushka who declared the bottom line for all the writers present:

You just have to write the story you want to tell.

Which might seem a simple thing - except so many of us are not in the habit of thinking we are good enough.

The final paragraphs of my chapter (which is the final chapter of Beyond Folktales) begs to disagree with the classic Filipino poem The Jewels of the Pauper by Horacio de la Costa about the need for a Shakespeare or Cervantes to be born among us.

We are good enough.

Here's a SoundCloud I made of The Jewels of the Pauper for Poetry Month.

Singapore Fling - My Video of the Asian Festival of Children's Content

Here's a video I made with the scraps I found in my camera. Apologies for the poor focusing - I got a new camera lens for my birthday and haven't learned how to use it properly yet!