POSTCARDS: to Spike, sixth graders of Beacon School, and year sevens of Ellis Guilford

SPIKE | BEACON SCHOOL | ELLIS GUILFORD

Dear Spike

Dear Spike,

I'm sorry this postcard is so late. My life is a little bit crazy. I just want to thank you properly for sending me this picture of a crocodile and a dodo. My husband got really excited when he saw it - but he can't have it because you sent it to ME! I used to visit the stuffed dodo at the Natural History Museum and stand in front of it for AGES imagining what a walking, squawking dodo would have been like. It made me sad to realise that it was extinct. And then I read the small print on the glass case and realised that the stuffed dodo was just a replica! We used to have a LOT of crocodiles in the Philippines. Now not anymore. But when found, they are MASSIVE.

A crocodile found in the Philippines in the 1920s ... but check out this one captured in 2011 and this one.

Thank you for sending me your beautiful drawing. I am going to frame it and hang it up on my wall. Love, Candy

SPIKE | BEACON SCHOOL | ELLIS GUILFORD

Dear Sixth Graders of Beacon School
in Manila

Dear Beacon sixth graders,

I was looking at that photo I took of you guys during my visit last September and wistfully remembering how much fun we had. Just then I got Facebooked by your teacher, Trixie. She said you'd all been working on projects and here were a few pictures. OMG - you guys must have been working SO hard! I love all the care and thinking that you put into your projects. And I loved how you took quotations from my book and reflected on them in so many different ways. I am so proud of what you created that I made this Slideshare to show your work off. I hope your parents and teachers are proud of you too.  Oh the amazing things children like you can do! Keep on reading! Love, Candy (and thanks again, Trixie, for sharing these photos with me!)

SPIKE | BEACON SCHOOL | ELLIS GUILFORD

Dear Year Sevens of Ellis Guilford School
in Nottingham

Dear Year Sevens of Ellis Guilford School,

I had a wonderful two days visiting your school last week. Hey, I LOVE your new school uniforms ... you all look so smart and stylish! It made me wonder if I'd remembered to comb my hair. You've got such a big school and it's a credit to your librarians, Ms Davison and Ms Greasby that I managed to meet EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 12 Year Seven classes. Phew!

Ms Davison with the work of one class. The wall was festooned with Philippine flags and suitcases (under flags) packed with ideas from Tall Story.

Now is there some kind of magic ingredient in your school puddings?  You guys were just the right mixture of enthusiastic and well behaved during my sessions - I didn't have to burst into tears even once! - and you asked such terrific questions, I was still thinking of them on the train journey home. (To the boy who wanted to know how I met my husband, I'm sorry we didn't have time to answer the question but it is such a funny story I made a comic about it - here it is: An Affair to Sort of Remember)

Before I raced off to catch my train, Ms Davison and I rushed around to see the work you'd done on Tall Story. I loved them - especially the height charts! I used to be one of the tallest girls in my class, now I'm smaller than some of you. Hmm. I also loved the models you made of London. I was sorry not to be able to visit all the classrooms.

7D's height chart which reveals that Mr. Smith is almost half Bernardo's height!

London landmarks

Downing Street

The Shard

Tower Bridge

So funny to see this wall display - sadly, Andi's head needed a transplant!

I know some of you are still reading Tall Story. I hope you like it. Make sure you show this postcard to your parents so that they can be proud of your work and how wonderful you made me feel.

Keep on reading! Love, Candy (and thank you, Katherine and Claire for your supreme biscuit hospitality and organisation)

SPIKE | BEACON SCHOOL | ELLIS GUILFORD

Farewell, Manila: a short video of thanks and discovery

These past few weeks have been quite an adventure. I had 19 speaking engagements over a period of about 10 days. My poor voice is a squeak and I left Manila in an embarrassing hurry, not having done my usual trawl for new Filipino books to take home or even spent enough quality time with my mom. Still, going home is always good for the soul. Till next year.

<< My visit to Sambat Trust school libraries to fulfill pledges to Authors for the Philippines

Visiting Schools for Authors for the Philippines and the Sambat Trust ... and then some

My niece Nicole Q Ramos performing for children at the second of three school libraries we visited. When she finished, there was a burst of applause from the classroom next door! (Apologies for the very poor video. I'd never used the camera before and only belatedly remembered to film. Someone was taking a proper video alongside. Hopefully we can see that footage somewhere else soon)

Today, I fulfilled some of my pledges to donors to Authors for the Philippines. I was supposed to:

• Visit a Sambat Trust School  on behalf of the Siobhan Dowd Trust. 
• Donate a 5 CD set of Tall Story's audio book to a Sambat Trust school on behalf of author Christina Banach
• Donate a hardback copy of Shine to a Sambat Trust school on behalf of Tina Benipayo Andrews.

Here's proof! This is South Central Elementary School in Tanauan, Batangas - the first of three schools we visited. We also visited Ambulong and Hanopal Elementary Schools

Far too early in the morning, I set off with Sambat Trust consultant and school librarian Zarah Gagatiga and my singing niece Nicole Q. My publisher Anvil and mother company National Book Store provided transportation.

My Philippine mothership Anvil Publishing and National Book Store provided transportation to Batangas, about an hour's drive south of Manila. Thank you so much (especially thankful because flash flood traffic meant the return trip took four hours -- it was nice to be safe and comfortable in the Anvil van).

My niece, Nicole Q Ramos, came along to add a little musical sparkle. Nicole sings like an angel - last year she was nominated Best Newcomer at the 2013 Aliw Awards. She also hosts the i-Sport and Home Court segments of PTV4. I taught her everything she knows about singing. And ballet.

Zarah keeps the crowd entertained as extremely tightly wrapped donated books are released to take their place in South Central's new library.

Xi Zuq

Author Xi Zuq aka MJ has been working with schools building their libraries. The librarians and teachers he was working with had no idea that their shy, unassuming Sambat Trust worker was an award-winning children's author!

I grabbed a copy of his latest middle grade novel Supremo, about a boy whose ambition is to become a revolutionary style 'supremo' at his school. Can't wait to read it!

Then it was my turn to speak to the children. And I started sensibly enough ...

 

But unfortunately I quickly lost my dignity. This tends to happen when I'm in the company of children. Siobhan Dowd Trust, this is what you're getting for your money.

Here I am presenting the school with Christina Banach's donation of a 5-CD audio book of Tall Story.

I was worried that they wouldn't have the equipment to play the audiobook, so the night before, I popped over to the shops and got them a CD player and a nice set of headphones. 

... I hope the teachers will feel free to clamp the headphones on and have a listen to Tall Story. The audio book is lovely.

The teachers were delighted when I presented them with brand new copies of Minty courtesy of author Christina Banach who also donated the CD set of Tall Story

Then it was time for Nicole to sing ... and that's when everything went slightly spangly.

Nicole singing A Whole New World with math wiz Fiona.
Everyone loved it!

But it was when Nicole began to sing Let it Go from Frozen ...

... that the kids joined her in song. They knew ALL the lyrics. Even the mumbly ones between the notes.

Afterwards the children came forward with thank you cards and read them out to me. They were directed to Authors for the Philippines donors, the Siobhan Dowd Trust, Christina Banach and Tina Benipayo Andrews.

Obligatory Who's Who shot!

At lunchtime, an autograph seeking queue suddenly formed in front of Nicole's side of the table.

What about me?

Just kidding. I got to sign autographs too. But not as many as Nicole.

Nicole was still signing when it was time for lunch heh heh.

We also visited Ambulong Elementary School and donated a stack of Tall Stories, a couple of Animal Tricksters and a copy of Shine.

Ambulong Elementary's warm greetings for the donors.

We also went to Hanopol Elementary School where the librarians told us about how Typhoon Glenda ripped the roof off their library (one of the few relics of the Marcos era with its militaristic design) and almost carried away all their books. We stocked their shelves with copies of Tall Story and they promised to take us to see the volcano lake behind the school next time we came.

Zarah will definitely be back to train teachers and librarians soon. But I'm going home to England now and it's going to be another year before I'll be visiting libraries with the Sambat Trust again.  I cannot wait. Meanwhile, we think we've won over Nicole to our literacy advocacy. Fingers crossed there will be a lot of singing in Sambat Trust libraries sometime soon!

I suddenly discovered this morning that my flight is today and not tomorrow like I'd been telling everyone. So I'm finishing this blog post off in the departure lounge while texting apologies to all and sundry. Talk about absent minded. Lucky I checked my ticket before going to bed. I've got a short video of Nicole singing in Ambulong but I've got to roll up to the plane now so I'll add it to this blog post when I get to London. Farewell to the Philippines for now. I wish I could stay longer. Lots of love to you all. Mabuhay!

A Serendipitous Story, The School Run to End All School Runs, Come to My Write Away Workshop, and The Shock of the Dilis

SCHOOL RUN | COME TO MY WORKSHOP FOR YOUNG WRITERS | DILIS | BOOK LAUNCH

A SERENDIPITOUS STORY

I was featured on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer yesterday! Find out about my identity crisis here (just in case you are not from the Philippines, the nay in 'Pinay' sounds like 'buy').

Thanks to Ruey for writing such a comprehensive article that had to be continued on two further pages. But no thanks for mentioning my age within the first two sentences! It was also Ruey who gave Shine a very nice review last August.

My mom rang me at my hotel first thing. 'CANDY! You're on the FRONT PAGE of the Inquirer!'

When Ruey interviewed me, he said it might appear on the Culture section of the Inquirer, not on the front page, so this was very exciting indeed.

I was interviewed by Ruel de Vera of the Inquirer. We met at a fascinating restaurant called Ziggurat. The menu was created by Filipino cooks who used to work for the dictator Khadafi. Delicious!

But searching for a copy of the Inquirer in the hotel lobby, I discovered they only stocked the Star.

Then, as I was eating breakfast a pretty smiling woman approached me. 'Don't you recognise me? It's Olga, your classmate!'

OMG. Olga was a childhood playmate. I hadn't seen her for maybe 30 YEARS! Olga then took me to meet her family. I couldn't help but notice that one of them was leafing through the Inquirer. 'This is Renato Reinoso, CEO of the Inquirer,' Olga said.

CEO? Of the Inquirer? Whaaaa????

And yes, they gave me a copy.

THE SCHOOL RUN TO END ALL SCHOOL RUNS

Last week, I was in Hong Kong and visited Bradbury and Glenealy schools. I was supposed to visit Peak School as well but sadly that chance was blown away by Typhoon Kalmaegi.

With children at Bradbury School. Photo by Mio Debnam

In Glenealy's beautiful school library. Photo by Mio Debnam

This coming week, I'll be visiting:

Beacon Academy (Laguna)
Xavier Nuvali
Alpha Angelicum Academy
Poveda
Ateneo de Manila
Beacon Academy (Makati)
Colegio de San Agustin
University of the East
Miriam College
St Theresa's College (my alma mater!)
(With two more schools the week after -- view the schedule)

Whew!

I will be telling the young people from these schools about my long journey to becoming an author. It's definitely gonna be fun, it's probably gonna be tiring ... I just hope it won't be FATTENING as well.

Filipino hospitality is so unstinting I usually find myself offered tasty treats at every single stop of a Filipino book tour.

Sadly, I am usually far too polite (and greedy) to refuse. Alas, poor waistline. I knew her well.

WORKSHOP ALERT! ASPIRING YOUNG WRITERS, THIS IS FOR YOU

On Saturday morning (27 September), I'll be running a Write Away workshop.

Write Away writing weekends are open to young people 7 to 17 years old. The current programme offers opportunities to interact and write with a published author  -- and this Saturday, it's gonna be me!

The Saturday workshops are run by Where the Write Things Are, a centre for lovers of writing of all ages. The centre is the brainchild of Neni Sta Romana Cruz, author of some of my favourite Filipino children's books and a fellow journalist from the Marcos era.

What am I going to do? Well, I don't want to spoil the surprise but there are going to be lots of chances to write and draw and show off your work.

Contact 0917-6240196 or writethingsph@gmail.com for more info. ASAP! It's this coming Saturday and places are limited!

THE SHOCK OF THE DILIS 

During the Manila International Book Fair, my friend Blooey took me to an ice cream parlour where we had this:

Yes, that is fish. Dried anchovy. We call it dilis.

What was it like? It was like Caramel Salt ice cream, except instead of salt, you have crispy bits of dried fish, and instead of caramel, your ice cream is made of chocolate sticky rice porridge.

Was it good? Ye-es, but I think if you're not from the Philippines, it might be a taste that needs a bit of acquiring!

... AND FINALLY

It's just five more days till the launch of Shine, Philippine edition. Are you coming?

< Diaries of Definitely UN-Wimpy Kids

Diaries of Definitely UN-Wimpy Kids

The first comic diary I read was this comic
made by Sarah McIntyre, illustrating
a diary she kept when she was a teen.
Here'sSarah's blog post on where she got the idea.

Where do you get your ideas?

That has got to be the most frequently asked question I've encountered in school visits. The children also tell me (though in politer words): 'You're OLD. You've already had a lot of experiences. We're YOUNG. What experiences do we have to write about?'

The answer? A lot. But you've got to pay attention. And keeping a diary is one way of learning how.

Last summer, I ran a three day workshop for South Friern Library in Barnet. I asked the kids to keep a little diary during those three days.

I made the diaries myself, folding sheets of A5 paper in half and stapling them together into a little booklet which I handed out at the very beginning of the course.

I got the idea from the graphic novel course I attended last winter, run by comic maker Emily Haworth Booth.

When Emily asked us to keep a comics diary, I was a bit worried.

I mean, I'd been starting and abandoning diaries since I was a teenager. I just didn't think I could keep at it. Writing was already my day job and writing some more didn't seem like fun.

But keeping a diary in comics was different. I couldn't stop! I filled my drawing book in no time. Changing the medium somehow freed me to express myself.

A frame from one of my comic diary entries in which my daughter begs for a pet dog.

So when I asked the kids to keep their own diaries, the rule was: do whatever you like, as often or as little as you like. Draw, write essays, write poetry, write captions, paste pictures, whatever.

DIARY KEEPING TIPS

1. Write as little or as much you like. But try to write regularly. Turn diary keeping into a habit.

2. Diaries are not all words. If, like me, you like drawing, then draw! I keep comics diaries! Experiment to find the best way to put your thoughts down.

3. You might find it easier to write to somebody, which is why so many write ‘Dear Diary’ – in The Color Purple by Alice Walker, the heroine keeps a diary in which she writes to ‘Dear God’.

4. Diaries are not just about keeping a record. Ask questions. Someday when you re-read your diary, you might find you know the answers.

5. You can also print out a photo you took during the day and caption it. If you're posting photos on social media, you might already be keeping a sort of diary!

6. Make lists. Check out the opening chapter of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole by Sue Townsend below.

7. Have fun!

Writing is not just about writing. It's about paying attention to the world around you. Noticing things. Trying to see things through other peoples' eyes. Digging under the surface. Thinking. Asking questions.

All these will feed into the writer you are going to become.

Ask questions, maybe someday you'll know the answer. From My Diary by Sarah McIntyre

The diary exercise was new to me. I hadn't tried it before. This time though I was going to see the same group of children for three whole days. Guess what? They loved it!

Right now, I'm getting ready for a school tour in and around Manila. I'm doing a few school visits in Hong Kong too. If I'm visiting YOUR school, you might want to have a go at keeping a diary ... I'd love to see what you do with it! For inspiration, have a look at these pages from the diaries of the children at my South Friern workshop:

Click on the images to enlarge

If you're a teacher or librarian and would like to get your kids to make diaries, do get in touch (scroll down to the contact form) and I'll send you a pdf of my Dear Diary Flyer.

I'M GOING HOME TO MANILA TO LAUNCH SHINE, PHILIPPINE EDITION ...

... AND I'M GOING TO BE SPEAKING IN A LOT OF PLACES! 

13 Sept Saturday Afternoon HK	SCBWI Hong Kong	Part One - A Writer is Just a Rabbit Staring at Rabbit Holes. Writers are like rabbits staring at rabbit holes that represent character, story and setting. We must dive in, go as far as we can go, in order for our stories to reveal themselves. Candy will talk about how there are no half measures in unfolding a story and how we are all better authors for the journey we have to take. Part Two - If Everyone's Now Got a Platform, How are You Going to Stand Out? We are all wise to the internet now, all tweeting, blogging, Facebooking. But is anybody listening? Candy Gourlay was an early adopter of the Internet, blogging before Blogger was invented, learning web design before content management systems became ubiquitous, and trying out every new thing that came along from MySpace to Tumblr. She will be discussing the author's biggest challenge: being discovered by readers. There will be tips and tricks and strategies. But be warned. Ultimately, it will be about writing a good book.
15 Sept Monday Morning HK 8.35 am	Bradbury School	School Visit
15 Sept Monday Afternoon HK 12 pm	Glenealy School	School Visit
16 Sept Tuesday HK 8.30 am	Peak School	School Visit
20 Sept Saturday Pasay City 8 am	Manila International Book Fair - Mall of Asia: Meeting Room 8, SMX Convention Centre	Why I Write for Young Readers. I will be speaking to an audience of educators - librarians and teachers who are already at the frontline of the reading battle. They already know the value of fostering a love of reading in their students. I will argue that that is not enough. Our educators must not only seek to create readers, they must also empower their pupils to become writers.
22 Sept Monday Biñan, Laguna 8 am	The Beacon Academy	School visit
22 Sept Monday Calamba, Laguna 12pm	Xavier Nuvali	School visit
22 Sep Monday Biñan, Laguna 2 pm	Alpha Angelicum Academy	School Visit
23 Sept Tuesday Mandaluyong 1 pm	Poveda	School Visit
23 Sept Tuesday Quezon City 1 pm	Ateneo de Manila	School Visit
24 Sept Wednesday Makati 11am	The Beacon Academy	School Visit
25 Sept Thursday Makati 8 am	Colegio de San Agustin	School Visit
25 Sept Thursday Sampaloc 2 pm	University of the East	Lecture
26 Sept Friday Quezon City 8 am	Miriam College	School Visit
26 Sept Friday Quezon City 3.30 pm	St Theresa's College	School Visit - my alma mater!
27 Sept Saturday Makati 9.30 am to 1.30 pm	Write Away Event (Where the Write Things Are, )	Workshop
27 Sept Saturday Makati 4 pm	National Book Store, Glorietta I	SHINE BOOK LAUNCH and signing. Yehey!
1 October Wednesday Tanauan, Batangas	Ambulong Elementary School and Janopol Elementary School	I will be fulfilling pledges I made to the Authors for the Philippines auction, delivering signed copies of my books, one CD set of Tall Story, and a school visit care of the Sambat Trust. I will also be opening one of the Sambat Trust's school libraries!

... and now some brazen promotion for my favourite charity:

Your old car can pay for someone's education.