Dear Candy Gourlay, Why did you decide to become a children's author?

By Candy Gourlay

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Because of THIS:

 

Excerpts from a bulging envelope of letters from the children of William Read Primary School in Canvey Island. Thank you to the Year Sixes, Ms Probin, Mr Overill and other staff of William Read. 


Kids, you made my day! Thank you for making my job the best in the whole wide world.
Love, 
Candy

It's not too late to win a MOUNTAIN OF BOOKS! Join the UKYA egg hop - count up the chocolate eggs on participating authors' websites. Anybody from ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD can join! How does it work? Read this. Where does the Blog Hop start? Go to Teri Terry's blog.

The UKYA Egg Hunt -- Do Bunnies Lay Chocolate Eggs?

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This competition is now closed

BLOG hop. Not to be mistaken with BUNNY hop.
Not that this bunny is hopping.

So, as you can see, I've joined a blog hop.

It's actually an EGG HUNT in honour of UKYA. If you are uncool and have no idea what UKYA is, it refers to Young Adult books written in the UK, of which my novel Shine is one.

Do read the rules carefully below if you decide to join the hunt. That grand prize is yowza!

Welcome to the UKYA Easter Egg Hunt! One very lucky winner will win a huge grand prize of signed books by over thirty YA authors who write and live in the UK (including SHINE by yours truly!).

All you have to do is read this blog, count up how many UKYA-branded Easter eggs you see in the blog (the ones in the banner have no brand, capisce?), and follow the link at the end to the next author blog on the hop. Keep going until you get back to the blog where you started, and add up how many eggs you’ve seen along the way.

Email your answer to: UKYA2015egghunt@gmail.com. A winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, and contacted by email. This closes at noon (UK time) on Sunday, 5th April, and is open internationally.

If you've never heard of me before and came upon my blog because you're following the UKYA blog hop, welcome, welcome, you can read about me here ... and please check out my novel SHINE, proudly made in the UK and proudly YA, and feel free to buy a copy or ten. Or a few hundred, if you happen to be a school.

Here's a little story: I began writing Shine at the height of the Twilight rage, a few years ago. Green with envy at Stephenie Meyer's success, I decided to write my own little vampire story starring a Filipino vampiric monster called a manananggal.

Mananggal. A beautiful woman whose feet become rooted
to the ground at night. She sprouts leathery wings and, ripping
her upper from her lower body, flies off to eat the souls of
unsuspecting strangers. Thanks to Mervin Malonzo for the
amazing art

I wrote the book only to discover that you can't really write an entire novel about something you have no interest in. I don't read vampire or monster books. I didn't know how to write them! So I threw away that draft and wrote something else. On the back of Shine the blurb now
says: 'This is not a ghost story even though there are plenty of ghosts in it. And it's not a horror story though some people might be horrified. It's not a monster story either, though there is a monster in it and the monster happens to be me.' ... which was kind of my way of apologising for not being able to pull off a Twilight blockbuster.



Did you spot any eggs while I was distracting you with that story? Get counting! I hope you meet some awesome UKYA authors and books along the way.

Hop this way to the next author on the UKYA Egg Hunt ... Lucy Coats, Author of CLEO, an exciting new take on Cleopatra  (YOUNG Cleopatra - I can't wait to read it!) - it's out in May 2015  

Do you want to see the master list of blog hop authors? Visit Notes from the Slushpile (PEOPLE THIS IS AN INFO LINK, NOT THE NEXT LINK IN THE CHAIN. THE NEXT LINK IN THE CHAIN IS LUCY COATS ... HONESTLY, WILL YA PAY ATTENTION ... on the other hand, you can check your TOTALS by looking at the list of authors in the chain on Notes from the Slushpile)

This competition is now closed.

Thinking about the World in Books

By Candy Gourlay

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Latymer's excellent world  map of books. Click on the image to enlarge.

There is SHINE sharing the Philippines with Andy
Mulligan's TRASH.   

Last week I visited The Latymer School in Edmonton as one of my World Book Day school visits (yeah, I know, it's not just really a DAY anymore, is it?).

The second thing that caught my eye -- the first thing being the superb art on the walls -- was this map of the world in books.

Librarian Miranda McAllister had to coax me away from the map because book addict that I am, I was immediately trying to think of books to match countries.

As Miranda led me up to the impressive studio where I was going to speak, I found myself softly chanting titles that could be added to the map  -- The White Darkness (Geraldine McCaughrean) could be for Antarctica, The Language Inside (Holly Thompson) would cover Cambodia and Japan, surely, and what about Mister Pip (Lloyd Jones) set in Bougainville? Oh, and what was the title of that book set in Chile?

The Newbery winning author Richard Peck writes that child readers don't read for happy endings but for new beginnings ... young readers are only just beginning themselves and they wouldn't mind a map!

A map certainly captures how books grow a reader's world.

When I visit schools, I tell the children about the day I realised that I didn't have to be stuck in my hot and boring home in Manila. Between the pages of a book, I could travel anywhere!

But books are not just windows to a world outside your experience. Books should also be mirrors -- reflecting who you are and where you came from. In this way, you can learn about the person you are going to become.

While the books I grew up with showed me the world, they didn't acknowledge that people like me existed. All the characters I ever loved were pink skinned and lived in America or Britain. It gave me a lasting feeling of insecurity about my right to put Filipinos into my own stories.

Thankfully, there is a burgeoning of publishing in the Philippines of today -- but I think that insecurity continues -- not just for Filipinos but for other countries where local publishing is outgunned by Western imports.

On 3 June, I will be delivering a keynote at Singapore's exciting Asian Festival for Children's Content.

Are you coming?

My keynote is titled Why Asia Needs More Writers for Children and Young People -- and here's the blurb:

If books are mirrors and windows to the world, are the children of Asia well-served? ... (Candy) shares how Asia needs more writers for young people because seeing themselves in books will empower them, while providing the rest of the world with a window to our diverse cultures.

When I visit schools in Manila, the children are more familiar with Harry Potter than Bernardo Carpio, a giant of Philippine legend who figures in my first book, Tall Story. I love Harry Potter and many other Western books myself. But there is a big gap where my own native stories should be.

Apparently this sort of disconnect is not uncommon in other countries. It's odd though, like forgetting something before you've even begun to remember. Especially given that so many of these cultures do have rich and varied literatures that go back centuries.

I've been working in the British Library a lot recently, and everyday I walk past displays of beautiful red lacquered manuscript chests from 19th century Thailand and ancient books dating back to the 17th century in gorgeous Malay script. The Library is currently conserving hundreds of  ancient manuscripts from my part of the world  -- Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the southern regions of Thailand and the Philippines.

I stand and stare at these beautiful things and wonder why I have never been told stories from these great cultures.

The Story of the Pig King, composed in Palembang in 1775 by Usup bin Abdul Kadir, a merchant
from Semarang. I am informed that the Hikayat Raja Babi is about to be published in Malaysia.

Some of the books, like the Hikayat Raja Babi, The Story of the Pig King (shock horror, a pig king in Muslim Malaya?) attract much comment but little study.

"Despite the flurry of interest always aroused by its title, Hikayat Raja Babi has never been studied or published," the British Library blog says. "If anyone would like to be the first to do so, just click here and start reading!" Go on, Malay readers, click!

Do check out the Asian and African Studies blog of the British Library, it's a treasure trove.

Seeing Latymer School's World in Books brought home to me the VASTNESS of our storytelling world.

It's a world constantly in motion, the stories are always changing.

It's a world that goes back, back, way back: stories are there from our forefathers and beyond, if only we thought to look for them.

It's a world that is wide and deep and rich. It can be any world we want it to be.

If we read it. And if we tell it.

Thanks to Sandip Debnath for making this beautiful photo available on Creative Commons. The
quote is from  inspirational Newbery Prize winning author Richard Peck. Read my blog
post Richard Peck on the Beating Heart of What We do as Children's Writers 

With many thanks to the Year Sevens, Year Eights and Miranda and the other welcoming staff at Latymer, with a special mention to Nicole who provided me with soothing Yogi Tea. Yum!

My Happy World Book Day - in which Tall Story Got a Book Bench!

With the totally, utterly, spectacularly, beautiful
Books About Town bench created for Tall Story by
the children of Hampden Gurney Church of England
Primary School in Westminster

March 5 was World Book Day here in the United Kingdom -- a busy time for librarians, who organise WBD events, authors like me who appear at these events, and parents who lovingly help their children dress up as their favourite book characters.

A TALL STORY BOOK BENCH!

A few weeks ago, I got a message from Gohar Avanesjan, literacy coordinator of Hampden Gurney Church of England Primary School, that her Year Threes (!) were enjoying Tall Story and that they were designing a book bench for it!

OMG!

Last summer, I had enjoyed touring London's book bench trail with my SCBWI pals, gazing with authorly envy at all the beautifully illustrated benches, each honouring a book of note - from 1984 by George Orwell to Alex Ryder by Anthony Horowitz.

My friend Joe enjoying the bench for The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe

Books About Town is a joint project of Wild in Art and the National Literacy Trust, displaying fifty benches across London and later, auctioning them to raise money for reading. As part of an education programme, the project gave London schools their own benches to decorate (based on a book set in London).

World Book Day was my chance to see the Tall Story bench, which was created from the designs of Hampden Gurney's Year Three children. I cannot tell you how moved I was to see the bench and to meet the children and staff who made it. Here's a Slideshare I made about the bench with pictures of the bench and of the artwork the children made to develop the final design:

DRESSING UP FOR WORLD BOOK DAY

Me as Yoda. By Shanarama

I really, really, really, really must get my act together and dress up as a book character on WBD! Every year, the day comes along and catches me unprepared.

Perhaps next year I'll come as Yoda from Star Wars. My illustrator friend Shanarama drew a picture of me as Yoda recently, and I quite fancy having green ears! (My sons when they were still small and cute made me read Star Wars to them every night, over and over again)

On WBD morning, I passed several schools while sitting on the upstairs deck of a bus. It was so wonderful to see the streets filled with children all dressed up as their favourite book characters.

Last year, when I visited King Alfred School, librarian Cathy Brown dressed up as The Beast. This year, she was Max from Where the Wild Things Are. I think there should be prizes for Best Dressed Librarians and Teachers. (Some discreet pictures of children from King Alfred --- I was especially chuffed to see a boy dressed as Stanley Yelnats from Holes, love that book!)

The WBD display at City of London School
for Boys, complete with basketball.
Photo: David Rose

There were Wimpy Kids, lots of Elsas from Frozen, Boba Fetts, James Bonds, Red Riding Hoods, Cinderellas ... and at the schools I visited, I did actually meet several Andis from Tall Story! Woo hoo!

The Guardian has collected photos of WBD finery

The Telegraph came up with the 7 Stages of Parental WBD Crisis ... then documented the best and most bonkers WBD costumes

The day before WBD, I spoke to Year 8 boys at the City of London School for Boys -- a school on the banks of the River Thames, the view on one side is of the Tate Modern, and on the other side, St Paul's Cathedral. What a location! Thanks to librarian David Rose for inviting me.

Me and King Alfred's librarian, Cathy, at last year's WBD 

(btw to the boy who asked how I met my husband but I didn't have time to tell the story, here's a link to the comic I made about it An Affair to Sort of Remember)

On the morning of WBD, I visited King Alfred School where I talked to Year Fives about how myth was the earliest form of science because people were trying to make sense of their world.

A little girl named Carmel greeted me with a typewritten letter. She gave me permission to reproduce an excerpt in this blog:

... I absolutely adore Tall Story as it is one of the best books ever ... it makes me feel as if I'm actually inside the book. My classmates and I are reading Tall Story together and when it is home time, we sometimes groan when it's a cliff hanger and say 'Please read more!' or 'Why do we have to stop?' 

Thank you, Carmel, you are why I love writing for children. I hope you enjoy the rest of the book!

Thanks to King Alfred librarian Cathy Brown for inviting me to visit!

After King Alfred,  I travelled from North London to West London to visit Hampden Gurney C of E Primary -- not just to see their Tall Story Book Bench but to speak to the whole school. Lots of parents came! How fantastic to see parents turning out for WBD! Thank you so much to Literacy Coordinator, Gohar Avanesjan, whose idea it was to make a Tall Story bench. I was blown away!

My heartfelt thanks to everyone for your kind hospitality. I had a wonderful World Book Day -- how lucky I am that my day job involves meeting such inspirational teachers and children!

---

A note to Teachers and Librarians: World Book Day happens on different dates all over the world (most often 23 April), so if your country hasn't hit the date yet, you can trawl the British WBD site for ideas and downloads like the leaflet below.

Also read my blog for writers: Why (most) authors do not need a Facebook Page

Why My Hourly Comic is Going to Take DAYS to Draw

I'd always wanted to join Hourly Comic Day but always found out about it after it was over. This year, I spotted my friend Sarah McIntyre's heads up just in time, and thought I'd have a go.

So. Hourly Comic Day happened yesterday. I'd been teaching myself how to use a new graphics tablet and I thought, wouldn't it be clever if I could draw the whole thing digitally?

WRONG. Doing something that requires quick drawing isn't a good idea when you don't know how to use your tool. As you can see, the drawings are kinda muddy and the lines are wonky. That's because drawing on a Wacom (when you're just starting) is like drawing with your left hand when you're right handed. I'm hoping it will get better with practice. Sigh.

Be that as it may (does anyone actually say 'Be that as it may?'). I had a go. I managed two hours. One of the hours I drew was the middle of the night, at three in the morning when something woke me up and my husband began to sing in his sleep.

(You can click on the images to view them in full size)

The other hour I managed to do was six in the morning when I had a dream.

(Don't worry. It turned out hubby just went out early for a 40 mile cycle ride. He does that.)

I will post the other hours I sketched up.

Once I've rubbed out all the mistakes.

View other hourly comics on Twitter. And of course Sarah McIntyre's hourly comic looks fab, even though she decided to be a Triceratops for the day.

Postcard to St Anthony in Quezon City

DEAR SIXTH GRADERS OF SAINT ANTHONY IN QUEZON CITY

On Facebook last week, your teacher, Ms Kat, showed me this video she made of your Tall Story drawings.  Wow, they are FANTASTIC! Thank you!



I always get a thrill when I see the fun things children do with my book in the classroom. At the same time, I also feel ever so slightly guilty that you had to do a book report. Sorry!

In the main though  I hope you enjoyed drawing and thinking about my story. I certainly enjoyed looking at all your drawings. So much talent!

Thank you for being amazing, kids. And thank you, Ms Kat, for letting me have a peek at the children's work. They have really inspired me.

Love,

Candy

PS I made a Slideshare of your drawings (below) so that people can admire them at their leisure!

PPS I love the name of your class. Non-Pinoy peeps, 'Mapagmahal' means 'Loving' in Tagalog.

Thinking Outside the Book from Candy Gourlay

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!

---

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?