I've been pretty quiet on here for quite a while now. And that's because I've been such a busy writer/ teacher/ poet. Too busy to tell you all about the big re-write I've been working on and certainly to busy to mention all the fun I've had judging on the first round of Chris Evan's 500 Words story competition. With all this happening you might think I haven't left my writing pit for months. But that would be silly,I have to get out sometimes otherwise the smell can become overpowering! So when I had the opportunity to go school visiting with fellow funEverser and author of 'My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish' Mo O'Hara I ripped of my gas mask and jumped at the chance! We had one aim, to spread the funny poetry love bug and have as much fun as we could along the way. You can read all about it over on The funEverse blog.
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Catch up, Conflab, and Cake-The SCBWI Annual ConferenceI found time in my busy schedule to see the sights. I am currently still basking in the warm friendly afterglow that follows the SCBWI Annual Winchester Conference. I know that there will be many blogs being tapped out at this very moment of what EXACTLY went on this year, much of which was informative, hilarious or both so you should definitely read them. I thought I’d concentrate on what I brought home and that means the conference three Cs. Catching up with all my writing buddies. The wonderful Celia Rees in her keynote talk spoke about how important it is to be a part of a writing community. She’s right; I honestly believe that if it wasn’t for the SCBWI I wouldn’t be a writer at all. As well as the regional events it has a very strong on-line community and I have friends spread out all over the county and beyond. I talk to them every day but meet many of them just once a year. The conference is often the only time I get to see many of them face to face and drink to drink. Scoobie Dooers making everything run smoothly. Conflab in bucket loads. From keynote speakers to chats over lunch, from professional one to one sessions to peer crit groups, from intensive workshops to the Saturday night mass book launch we never stop talking about one thing, our writing. Why we write, what we write, what we love about it, what we hate about it and how we can make it better and better again and then even better than that with a sparkly ribbon on the top. The Literary Gift Company I’ve come away in possession of some fantastically encouraging comments about my work, but also a healthy portion of suggested improvements. I couldn’t be happier about it. My writing goals have been brought into focus and I have a refreshed sense of purpose, so there may not be a lot of bloggage for a while. Oh and we’ll let the CAKE speak for itself shall we? And the grand total is,,,,,,Three and a half hours, six picture book, two novel samplers, one novel, six poems, a bag of props, 190 children and more socks that you can spray a deodoriser at and my first ever story time marathon is complete. There was fun, there were laughs, there were kites and walkie talkies and scary fish and YES I am still in position of my voice. But more importantly than that there was money, pots of it, both of the real and on line variety. So with the remaining strains of my very tired voice I would like to announce that myself and the children of St. Mary’s CEP School have raised….. £443.90Yes you read that right. And the total may grow. My Just Giving page will remain active till the end of the weekend so you still have your chance to donate. Oh and one last thing, just time to say a very big... THANK YOU!!!!!!At last, I've finally arrived! Where? you ask. Agent Island? Deepest Publishing contract? The Great Horn of Fame and Fourtune? Nope, none of the above, but I have touched down in the FunEverse. FunEverse Ahoy! The funEverse is a tricksy place It can't be found in outer space, But look inside where you will find It there inside your brilliant mind. The FunEverese is the home of nine of the most crackpot poets you may ever meet. Think Edward Lear, think Spike Milligan, think FUNEVERSE! *ATTENTION- ALLITERATION ALERT* They use it as a place to incubate nourish their nonsensical notions, incubate their idiotic ideas and reassure their ridiculous rhymes before hatching them into fully fledged potty poetry and sending them into the wide, weird world. And they don't stop there, in their bid to pull all known life into the FunEverse they work with partner schools and unleash their creative chitterings into classrooms. The children are invited to respond to the FunEverses' work through commenting and then replying through their own poety. Sounds like your kind of place? Then visit us in The FunEverse. Artwork- copyright Alex Craggs 2012 Later in November I'm off to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference in Winchester. It's a chance to meet up with all my writing friends from around the country, get involved in some great critique sessions and workshops as well as network with a glittering array of industry professionals. I can't wait, I've been getting excited ever since I booked my place in August. And now I have another reason to let the excitement mount. SCBWI have just announced the winner of the conference badge design, and guess what I won! Do you like it? I wish I Could take credit for it all, but only the words are mine. The fabulous artwork is by the supremely talented Ellie Ansell, whose artwork can also be seen on 'My Snot' page. She is a young talent just waiting to burst onto the illustration scene and I am very proud of her. Pudsey is coming and I can’t wait? Why? Because on the morning of 16th November I am going to give up my morning lessons and do one of my favourite things instead. Take story time. But this isn’t your usual story time but a story time marathon. It will start at 8.30 in the morning and finish and 12 noon. Ever single child in the school will have the chance to join in as well as their parents and families. I will entertain, amuse, shock and surprise them with a massive range of stories and poems to suit anyone from 3 to… well there’s no upper age limit to stories is there? And what’s even better than doing my most favourite thing for a morning? Raising money for one of my favourite charities at the same time. BBC Children in Need, trying to give every child a childhood. Find out more and donate at my Just Giving page. When November starts to draw closer I tend to get grumpy, but not because of the shorter says, the perpetual rain or seasonal affective disorder. No, because I am fed up of other writers asking me if I'm going to do Nanowrimo. Nanowriwhat? How many words? Why do I have to tell you every year that I write picture books, and middle graders? But not this year, no this year I have discovered PiBoIdMo.
PiBoIdMo stands for 'Picture Books Ideas Month.' Throughout November I have committed to come up with thirty completely new ideas for picture books. I don't have to complete the full manuscripts, just come up with thirty brand new ideas for stories. Some of the ideas may be a pile of smelly old pants, but maybe a few of them will have a sprinkling of sparkly imagination dust and will eventually find there way onto here. I hope so. |
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