authors – Page 17

Pass the Book Baton: Paula Hayes

Posted on October 21, 2016October 16, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

It’s Friday! And that means it’s time for Pass the Book Baton. Alphabet Soup features a book creator every Friday who will answer one question before throwing a new question to the next Friday visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

Today Perth author Paula Hayes takes the baton. Paula has one husband, four children, three dogs and five rabbits. She is the author of a YA novel and also a recent children’s novel, Lily in the Mirror, which one of our regular reviewers (Matilda, 10) described as ‘creepy but good’.

Paula Hayes discovers a copy of Lily in the Mirror in a bookshop.

Last week Joshua Button and Robyn Wells posed a question for Paula. They ask:

Q. Your character Lily loves all things dark and mysterious. Were you inspired by any real life mysteries, strange events or unusual people?

A. Lily loves all things dark and mysterious and so do I. I like fantasy that is almost scary but not too scary. The book was inspired by a room in my grandmother’s house full of vintage family treasures. The door would shut behind you but that was because the house really did need restumping and not due to supernatural events. But add a little imagination … and I was in the Rosy Room.

And now Paula Hayes passes the book baton to the next Friday visitor — AL Tait. AL Tait is the author of the bestselling series, The Mapmaker Chronicles.

My question(s) for AL Tait:
Which book in your Mapmaker Chronicles series have you enjoyed writing the most? Does creating a series get easier or harder?

Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!

Visit Paula’s website for more about her and her books. You can read Matilda’s review of Lily in the Mirror on Alphabet Soup’s site.

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authors, illustrator, Pass the Book Baton

Pass the Book Baton: Joshua Button and Robyn Wells

Posted on October 14, 2016October 7, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

Today we are lucky to have two visitors at once! Joshua Button and Robyn Wells collaborated over ten years to create their recently published picture book Steve Goes to Carnival.

Joshua Button is an Indigenous artist from Broome. He is descended from the Walmajarri people of the East Kimberley in Western Australia. He first worked with Robyn in a literacy program at primary school that resulted in the picture book Joshua and the Two Crabs. Robyn has a degree in Fine Arts and has lived in the Kimberley for many years. She is passionate about enabling young people to express themselves through language and art.

Kathryn Apel posed a question for Joshua and Robyn. Kathryn asks:

Q. I read that you collaborate for hours over the kitchen table. Can you describe your process — and how you came to form this wonderful working partnership?

Joshua answers:
Robyn and I help each other a lot with the artwork. Robyn often cuts out stencils and does the background textures with sponges. Then I usually use black drawing ink to paint the characters or animals over the background textures.

Robyn and I research the animals and characters together. We look at the size and shape of the animals, the structure of their bones and the texture of their fur. Sometimes we take photos of people we know in Broome to base the drawings on — we study the colour of people’s skin, how they are standing, the expressions on their faces and what clothes they are wearing.

Robyn and I work really well together. We don’t have any arguments — working with someone else means it takes half the time to finish the work!

[Here are some photos of Joshua Button and Robyn Wells working together. Thank you to Magabala Books for permission to use these photos.]

Joshua and Robyn creating a picture book together.

And now Joshua and Robyn pass the book baton to next Friday’s visitor — Paula Hayes. Paula is the author of the novel Lily in the Mirror.

Our question for Paula Hayes is:
Your character Lily loves all things dark and mysterious. Were you inspired by any real life mysteries, strange events or unusual people?

Check in every Friday for questions and answers from children’s authors and illustrators. See you next week!

Visit Magabala Books for more information about Joshua Button and Robyn Wells and their books. You can read a recent review of Steve Goes to Carnival here on Alphabet Soup.

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authors, Pass the Book Baton, poetry

Pass the Book Baton: Kathryn Apel

Posted on October 7, 2016October 6, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

PASS THE BOOK BATON

Today we introduce a new Friday feature — Alphabet Soup will be featuring a book creator every Friday who will answer one question. And then they will ask one question of the next Friday’s visitor. (It’s kind of like a book relay in slow motion.)

We’re thrilled to have Kathryn Apel visiting for our first ever Pass the Book Baton! Kathryn writes poetry, picture books, novels and verse novels. You might know some of her books from the photo below.

Kathryn Apel dressed for the launch of Bully on the Bus.

Kathryn starts our interview series, so we asked Joseph to give her an interview question. (Joseph is 12, and is one of our Top Reads team members. He has reviewed Kathryn’s verse novels for Alphabet Soup.)

Q. I really enjoyed Bully on the Bus and On Track, both verse novels. But you’ve written other books, too. Why did you decide to write those two books as verse novels?

A. Verse novels very often deal with issues that have a lot of heart. They have humour and laughter too, but I think the raw emotions are key. I really wanted to try writing a verse novel, and chose a topic that would interest sporty kids. My first attempt was a verse novel about training, with threads of sibling rivalry and self-doubt. But I didn’t get far before I panicked. In fact, I’d only written 139 words! (I think I was feeling that self-doubt!)

I put it away to think about (or forget about) and went back to polishing a manuscript about bullying. It was a chapter book I’d written for younger readers. But then I had feedback from a critique-buddy, and realised the chapter book I was writing was really the verse novel I wanted to write. I sat down straight away, and started working Bully on the Bus into a verse novel. At first, I thought I’d flick between verse and prose (poetry and paragraphs) … but once I started, the prose sounded clunky and heavy, whereas the verse was lighter and so much better. It all needed to be written in verse.

Bully on the Bus was accepted … and published … and I was still writing that verse novel about training; On Track. I thought it was going to tell Toby’s story. I didn’t realise that his older brother Shaun also had a story to tell. Being a verse novel made it easier to feel the emotions from both sides — and to switch between the two brothers.

My heart soars when I’m writing verse novels. Maybe because I’m writing about topics that are important? That can make a difference in someone’s life? Or maybe because they’re just so very beautiful to write … and read. Though I do often get teary when writing them … and reading them — even my own. It’s also fun to slip in short and snappy little jokes, and the verse novel format enables that.

Writing a novel — without the verse — scares me. It seems so enormous! But writing a verse novel, I can write short, complete pieces, individual poems that slowly, carefully, bit by bit, build to tell the story.

I remember when you reviewed Bully on the Bus, Joseph, you said you would like to read more verse novels and maybe write one, too. I’m wondering how you’ve got on with that. Don’t worry if you haven’t written much yet — ideas grow once you’ve made the start.

And now Kathryn can pass the book baton to our next visitor. (Actually two visitors at once — Joshua Button and Robyn Wells who are the author-illustrators behind Steve Goes to Carnival.)

My question for Joshua Button & Robyn Wells: I read that you collaborate for hours over the kitchen table. Can you describe your process — and how you came to form this wonderful working partnership?

Visit Kathryn Apel’s website: https://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/ to find out more about her and her books. (You can also read Joseph’s reviews of her verse novels Bully on the Bus and On Track here on Alphabet Soup.)

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authors, illustrator, Pass the Book Baton, poetry

A new Friday feature: Pass the Book Baton

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

Every Friday Alphabet Soup will feature an interview with a children’s book creator — writers, illustrators and writer-illustrators. Our Friday guest will answer a question and then ask one question of the next writer or illustrator. (It’s a bit like running a book relay in slow motion.)

We’re calling it:

PASS THE BOOK BATON

Be sure to check in on Fridays. Our first writer will be setting off with the baton tomorrow morning. See you then!

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authors

How writers come up with ideas

Posted on April 16, 2016April 12, 2016 by Alphabet Soup

Aleesah Darlison and Alyssa with Zoo Ball — Aleesah Darlison & Alyssa hold copies of Zoo Ball.

Aleesah Darlison has over 20 books published in Australia. Her latest picture book is Zoo Ball and the best part is that it is illustrated by Australian school students! Aleesah is visiting today as part of a Blog Tour to celebrate the book.

Have you ever wondered where authors get their ideas from? Read on!

—

As an author, I’m often asked ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’.

For me, generating ideas isn’t the problem. Why? Because ideas are all around us!

Ideas for stories are in everything we do, everything we hear and everything we see.

We can collect ideas from conversations, from holidays we go on and places we visit, from stories friends tell us, from articles we read in newspapers, from things we experience ourselves, from news reports on TV, and from our imaginations.

Ideas start from the smallest, most simple seeds. The hard part is recognising a great idea and being able to turn that into a short story, a picture book, or a longer work such as a novel.

If we keep our eyes open, our ears open and our minds open, we find that ideas will come far more easily to us.

It’s always a good idea to write these ideas down, or if you have an iPod, iPhone or voice recorder of some sort, to record the ideas on those devices so you save them for later.

Another way to collect ideas, ready to use in a story, is to brainstorm or mind map them.

Brainstorming is a loose form of planning that people of any age can work with.

If you’re worried about where to start your story, what sentences to form, or the correct grammar to use etc, brainstorming lets you cut everything back to its most simple form. You can use single words or pictures (by drawing your own, printing pictures off the internet or cutting photographs out of magazines) to record your ideas. Each item you place on your page or mind map acts as a story prompt, a place to jump off and start writing.

Three terrific things about brainstorming:

Allows you to put all of your ideas on paper in the one place quickly and easily
Helps you plan a story before you start
Allows you to work through various options and combinations of ideas until you find one that works best

Here’s an easy example of brainstorming to start with.

When choosing a main character, or characters for a story, I start with the three categories:

Human
Animal
Fantasy

Then I might list 10 or 20 or sometimes 50 different items under each of these headings.

Let’s look at animals (my favourite).

On a blank piece of A4 copy paper, write the heading ‘ANIMAL’. Now list 10 animals. They might be your most favourite animals. They might be your least favourite animals. They might be animals that you’ve seen books on before. They might be animals you’ve never seen books on before. My ANIMALS list would look like this:

Cat
Giraffe
Dog
Dolphin
Rabbit
Wolf
Elephant
Mouse
Meerkat
Otter

The idea of brainstorming is not to use every idea we write down. It’s to use our best ideas only. And if you’re like me and listed lots of animals, you probably couldn’t fit them all into one story — not very well, anyway.

So let’s choose two animals from the list. I choose:

Meerkat
Dolphin

Now you have two main characters for your story. You can choose any combination of characters that you like.

Give each character a name.

My meerkat is called Millie. My dolphin is called Bubbles.

While you’re brainstorming your animal main characters, you might already be getting an image in your mind of what they look like. It’s a good idea to draw your characters too. This helps you visualise them and they become more real to you, the author. And if your characters are more real to you as the author, they will be more real to your reader.

You can now follow this process for brainstorming problems your characters might face.

Do they get lost?
Are they trying to save the world from destruction?
Or is it their first day at a brand new school?

There are almost limitless possibilities.

When you’ve brainstormed and mind mapped as much as you can, it’s time to write your story.

Introduce your character and their problem quickly. Drop your reader straight into the action then spend the remainder of the story having the character try to solve their problem.

Remember to pace your story well. Include a beginning, a middle and an end (resolution).

Don’t solve your character’s problem too soon in the story. Make sure you build the humour, tension or drama until you reach a climax.

When you’ve finished your story, always be sure to edit it to make sure it really is as good as it can be. Then you’ll be ready to share your story.

Happy writing!

Best wishes
Aleesah Darlison

Zoo Ball cover

Zoo Ball is unique — it’s written by an award-winning author and illustrated entirely by Australian school children. The publisher, Wombat Books, ran an illustration competition. Winners for each page were chosen and the overall winning entrant was also asked to illustrate the front cover. With the launch of Zoo Ball, 23 young illustrators were published — before they’ve even finished school!

For more information about Aleesah Darlison and her books, visit her website: www.aleesahdarlison.com

authors

Jackie French: The Australian Children’s Laureate

Posted on June 18, 2015June 17, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Jackie French (Credit Kelly Sturgiss) — Jackie French (Photo by Kelly Sturgiss)

Jackie French has written more than 140 books — and she’s received over 60 awards in Australia and overseas. Wow! Jackie is also the 2014–2015 Australian Children’s Laureate. As part of her role, she has co-created the Share a Story calendar (you can download it!) and given each month a theme. June’s theme is HEAR A STORY, SEE A STORY, FEEL A STORY.

If you were an Alphabet Soup reader from long ago, you might remember that Jackie French was the very first author we interviewed in our print magazine! Today we’ve invited her back to answer three questions from members of our Top Readers team.

—

How long does it take to write a book? (Celine, 12, WA)

Three months or thirty years, depending what answer you like best! I think about a book for at least three years before I begin to write, and many are based on ideas I have been thinking about since I was your age. The actual writing takes about three months, but then I rewrite and rewrite, and each book takes a different amount of time to both think about, and write, or rewrite.

—

Has your son read every one of your published books? (Joseph, 11, WA)

I don’t think he has read any of them! Except maybe a few he has read to kids as bed time stories.

It’s hard to be a mum and a writer too. There were stories I told my son as his mum when he was small, and those were his stories, and I won’t publish them. But the private ‘mum’ and the public ‘writer’ are two different roles, and his schools were good at making sure he didn’t have to read or study one of my books. It’s a bit like being the son of a teacher — you need to keep the teacher role and the parent role separate. He said that people talk too much in my books, too.
—

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Which one of your books did you enjoy writing the most? (Matilda, 9, WA)

Diary of a Wombat: I just had to watch her, listen to her, and write it all down — and supply carrots — then work out how to create a wombat voice, in English. And every time I read the book I remember Mothball.

—

Do you live in Perth, WA? Jackie French will be at a public event at St Stephen’s School Library, 100 Doveridge Dr, Duncraig at 5pm on Monday 22 June 2015. (A small donation is requested towards the Laureate program as a door entry fee.)

If you don’t live in Perth (oh dear!) find out more about Jackie French on her website. And check out some great ideas and activities for HEAR A STORY at the Australian Children’s Laureate website.

Hear a Story, See a Story, Feel a Story ©-ACLA. Image used with permission.

authors

The Mapmaker Chronicles: author Q&A

Posted on March 25, 2015March 16, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Race to the End of the World (Book 1 of The Mapmaker Chronicles)

Prisoner of the Black Hawk (Book 2 of the Mapmaker Chronicles)

A.L Tait is the author of The Mapmaker Chronicles — an exciting new series, full of danger and adventure. The first book — Race to the End of the World — is already out in bookshops. The second book — Prisoner of the Black Hawk — will be published in April 2015. Today we’re talking to A.L. Tait about writing, and what inspired The Mapmaker Chronicles.

—

Can you tell us a bit about where you live?
I live on the south coast of NSW, with my family, four goldfish and a very cheeky puppy.

Do you prefer to write with a pen and paper, or onto the computer?
I prefer to write on a computer these days because I type very fast — much faster than I can write with pen and paper — and that means I can keep up with my thoughts. I have to also confess that my handwriting is very bad and I can barely read it myself — so typing is probably the safest option.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I like to read! I also like to spend time with my two boys, who are 8 and 11, walking, riding our bikes, going to the beach, and watching movies (we love adventure stories!).

What sort of books did you like to read when you were growing up?
I loved mystery stories, like the Trixie Belden series, The Famous Five, and Encyclopedia Brown. When I got a bit older I read The Lord of The Rings over and over. But the books I most remember are those that made me feel deeply — Storm Boy by Colin Thiele, and Callie’s Castle by Ruth Park are two that stand out.

Did you know you would be writing a series when you started writing Race to the End of the World?
I always thought it had to be a series — or one very long book! A race to map the world isn’t something you can cover in one novel.

What led you to write the series — are you good at making maps yourself?
I’m actually not very good at making maps — but I do love them when they’re made by other people. I particularly love the old maps, made when people weren’t really sure where things were. These are the ones that feature mermaids, and sea monsters and angels in the wind. They’re so beautiful and show us so much about what was known — and what wasn’t.

As for where the ideas for the series came from… my two boys are both fans of the ‘head-hurting’ question. We have long-and-involved conversations about where space ends, how high the stars are, whether there are any places in the world that remain unexplored, which dwarf from The Hobbit I would invite to a dinner party … you get the idea.

Several of those conversations, close together, led to The Mapmaker Chronicles.

“How far does space go?” asked Mr11, one night.

“Nobody knows,” I answered.

Then the next night: “How did they map the world?”

“Well, they had to go out there and find out,” I answered, distractedly.

“They must have been brave,” he answered.

“They were,” I said. “They would have felt exactly as we feel looking out into space, not knowing how far it goes or what’s out there.”

And just like that, in my mind I saw a race to map the world, and a boy who really didn’t want to go.

Do you have any advice for young writers?
My first tip is to read a lot. And not just the things you usually read, but all the books you can get your hands on. The more you read, the more you learn about writing.

My second tip is to write a lot. It takes a long time to learn how to write a book — the sooner you get started, the better!

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?
At the moment, I’m busy finishing the editing process for book three in The Mapmaker Chronicles series. After that, I’m not sure. I have lots and lots of ideas, and I need to work out which one of them to write first. I’ll keep you posted!

—

Check out The Mapmaker Chronicles website to read Chapter 1 of Book 1 (for free!), find out about old maps, cartography, and more.

authors, illustrator

Q&A with Author-Illustrator Frané Lessac

Posted on March 17, 2015March 16, 2015 by Alphabet Soup

Today we welcome Frané Lessac to Alphabet Soup. Frané is an illustrator and author — she’s the illustrator behind Ned Kelly and the Green Sash, Midnight, and The Greatest Liar on Earth (and many, many more books!).

Ned Kelly and the green Sash, illustrated by Frane Lessac

We asked Frané if we could talk to her about A is for Australia: A factastic tour — her latest book. Here it is in all its glory:

—

Can you tell us a bit about where you live?
I live in the port city of Fremantle in West Australia. From my front porch, I can see a sliver of the Indian Ocean and Rottnest Island. Our house is over 120 years old and we’ve built an art studio in the back garden where I paint.

When you were working on A is for Australia, what came first — the artwork or the text?
Location came first. We had to decide what locations would be depicted for each letter of the alphabet. There were incredible alternatives and that made it hard to choose, but what made it easier was the need to represent all states narrowing down the locations. Next came the text, then art.

How long did it take you to create the book?
I first approached Walker Books with the idea over seven years ago! They were familiar with my other alphabet books based on New York, Washington D.C., Texas and the Caribbean. They knew the format and the market. I wasn’t sure if I was going to write the book myself initially, but with a twist of the arm, I did it!

What do you like to do when you are not illustrating (or writing-after-your-arm-has-been-twisted)?
Over the years I’ve lived in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and the Caribbean before settling in Australia twenty-five years ago. My closest friends and my family are spread right across the globe and l love to visit them as much as I can. When I’m home in Fremantle, I like to walk along Dog Beach.

What sort of books did you like to read when you were growing up?
My mother was an avid reader and placed an importance on reading and books. She took me to the library at an early age to pick out my own books. I started with Beatrix Potter and moved onto The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew mysteries.

What led you to create A is for Australia?
A is for Australia is a celebration of Australian people, places and culture. I wanted to create a book for children so they could discover why Australia is one of the most amazing countries in the world. I hope that visitors from overseas also grab a copy and share it back home.

Do you have a preferred medium?
I use gouache paint on watercolour paper. There’s an enormous range of colours and they are also easy to mix. The paint dries fast and I can paint in layers, which allow me to make any changes easily.

Do you have any advice for young artists?
Believe in your art and don’t compare what you create to anyone else’s. Everyone draws differently. Be confident. If I worried about what other people created, I never would have created one single book. I never went to art school and I was never the best artist in the class, but I always loved to draw and paint.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?
I recently received a folktale from my UK publisher that’s set in India. It’s called Pattan’s Pumpkins and it’s right up my alley. Jungles and animals and bright pumpkins! Exciting to work with this publisher again — I met the editor over thirty years ago and we created three folktales together set in West Africa, Papua New Guinea and Polynesia.

—

For a peek inside the pages of A is for Australia, visit Frané’s blog. And you can hear Frané talking about making the book on the book trailer:

You can find out even more about Frané Lessac and her books by visiting her website: www.franelessac.com.

(And teachers will be interested in these A is For Australia Classroom Ideas.)

authors

Meet Geoffrey McSkimming

Posted on June 27, 2014June 27, 2014 by Alphabet Soup

Geoffrey McSkimming is the author of Ogre in a Toga and Other Perverse Verses, the Cairo Jim chronicles, and the Phyllis Wong books. Today he is visiting to talk about writing and his new book Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror. Welcome!

—

Can you tell us a bit about where you live?

I divide my time between two places: Sydney, where I live in an old apartment by the water, only a short ferry ride to the Sydney Opera House and the city, and the second place is Cawdor in Scotland.

I write the Phyllis Wong books in both places (in Scotland we light the fire in the old stone cottage we stay in, and it’s the perfect place to lock myself away and travel into Phyllis’s world).

This is your second Phyllis Wong book. Is writing the second book of a series very different from writing the first book?

Yes and no. In Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror, Phyllis’s world opens up in huge new ways that she has never encountered before. She discovers magic far greater than the magic she has known. So that meant that because of what happens in the second book (and also in the third mystery, which I’m finishing at the moment), the story is very different from the first, even though many of the characters from Phyllis Wong and the Forgotten Secrets of Mr Okyto reappear in the second story.

But the overall atmosphere of Phyllis’s world from the first book is still there — the friends and neighbours, the places she visits in the city, the humour and the suspense. And the unexpected.

What gave you the idea for the Phyllis Wong books?

My publisher at Allen & Unwin, Anna McFarlane, got in touch with my agent and asked whether I’d like to write a novel for A&U. I hadn’t written a novel for a while, after having completed the 19 volume Cairo Jim chronicles; I’d been writing other things — character-based tours for the Art Gallery of NSW and a performance piece based on Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

At about this time I’d come into contact with Australia’s leading female magician, Sue-Anne Webster, and I was publishing, in a magazine, a regular series of magic tricks she’d written. I’d also been using stage magic in the Hamlet presentation, which I performed for a while. Anna McFarlane became aware of all of this and when she asked whether I’d like to write a novel, the idea of a young girl magician came slowly to mind. The character of Phyllis has developed (and is developing) with the more I learn about magic from Sue-Anne (I don’t know the secrets behind the tricks; I don’t want to!) … it’s so true that magicians think in ways very different to most other folk, and I’ve learnt that from knowing Sue-Anne as well. It’s this way of thinking that propels Phyllis through the amazing mysteries she encounters.

Do you prefer to write with pen and paper, or using a computer/laptop?

Both. I make lots and lots of notes by hand in my notebooks, but I write the stories onto the laptop, simply because when I’m in the full force of the story I can write faster on the keyboard than with a pen.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Reading. I read lots, mainly old crime and detective novels. I never watch TV. I like to go for long walks (that’s great for sorting out story problems often), and we go to the pictures usually once a week — there’s a glorious art deco cinema nearby and it’s the perfect place to escape!

Did you have a favourite author when you were growing up?

I’m still trying to work out what growing up involves, but when I was younger I liked Ray Bradbury’s stories and Roald Dahl’s and Tolkien’s. Later on I read Shakespeare (and acted in some of his plays when I worked, long ago, as a professional actor), Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Agatha Christie and a swag of Golden Age detective novel writers.

Do you have any advice for young writers?

Read lots.
Always carry a notebook around with you and jot every idea down, no matter how silly or little it might seem at the time. You never know when one of those little ideas will become a gem!
Listen and watch and soak up the atmosphere around you all the time.
Try to write a little bit every day (or a lot if you can manage it).
Enjoy the wonderful craft of scribbling. Have fun!

Are you working on any new projects at the moment and if so, are you able to tell us a bit about them?

I’m finishing the third Phyllis Wong mystery and I’ve just started on the fourth. I’m having a ball finding the things that Phyllis discovers … with the new magic she finds in Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror, it enables her to try to solve crimes and mysteries that have started at various times way back in history and which have consequences for us today. I love the fun and the intrigue and I really enjoy uncovering things from the past that are, to use a robust cliché, stranger than fiction …

Is there is anything you would like to add?

The only thing I can add is to always remember: there is no such thing as a wicked gherkin.

—

Check out Geoffrey McSkimming’s website to find out more about him and stop by phylliswong.com for more about the Phyllis Wong books! Phyllis Wong and the Return of the Conjuror is published by Allen & Unwin and is now available at all good bookshops and online.

authors, illustrator

Writing and illustrating a junior novel – Gabrielle Wang

Posted on June 16, 2014June 10, 2014 by Alphabet Soup

Today we are thrilled to have Gabrielle Wang visiting Alphabet Soup again — we’ve talked to her before about her Poppy books (in the ‘Our Australian Girl’ series). Her latest ‘Our Australian Girl’ series is about a girl called Pearlie who lives in Darwin in the 1940s.

Our editor Rebecca was enchanted by one of Gabrielle’s books published in 2013 — The Wishbird. And Gabrielle was kind enough to take time away from her writing to talk to Rebecca about writing and illustrating the book.

—

The Wishbird is woven like a fairytale or folktale. As a child did you have any favourite fairytales, folktales or fables?

My favourite fairytale was The Little Green Road to Fairyland by the Australian sisters, Annie R Rentoul and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. They were born in the late 1800s. I loved and still do love Ida Rentoul Outhwaite’s illustrations. As a child I was forever copying them.

The pen-and-ink illustrations in The Wishbird are intricate — how long would it take you to do one of these drawings for the book?

The Wishbird cover

At first I didn’t know what style to use. But then I saw some Indian folk art and I loved it.

I did many roughs in pencil on layout paper.

When I was happy with a drawing I traced it onto lunchwrap. This is much cheaper than buying tracing paper.

lunchwrap

For the final illustration I used water colour paper, a rapidograph, which is a pen with a fine nib, and a lightbox.

The lightbox has a light inside it.

lightbox

Mine is very old. I had it made when I lived in Taiwan many years ago.

I placed a sheet of water colour paper on top of the traced drawing and used a rapidograph to make the linework.

Because The Wishbird illustrations are so fine I had to look through a sewing magnifying glass.

Some illustrations took longer than others because when I made a mistake, I’d have to start all over again. Probably on an average, from concept to finished product, each one took about a week to complete.

Was it your own idea to include illustrations in The Wishbird or did the publisher suggest it?

I wanted to include illustrations not only because I like to draw, but also because these were the types of books I used to love reading as a child, especially books like The Magic Faraway Tree.

Do you sing or play an instrument yourself? What led you to write a book where music features so strongly?

I learnt the piano and took piano exams up to Grade 5. I began to love classical music then especially the works of JS Bach. In high school I took classical guitar lessons. I still play the guitar and used to compose my own pieces. When I was living in China, I also learnt the Chinese bamboo flute but I’m not very good at it.

Imagine if all the singers and musicians disappeared, never to be seen again. Music is outlawed. Even birds are killed because they sing. And because birds live in forests then the forests all around are burnt to stumps.

Music is an integral part of human existence. Every culture in the world makes music. Without it, the soul dies. This is at the heart of The Wishbird.

Did you write a plan before you began writing The Wishbird, or did you just start writing and see where it led you?

I hardly ever write plans for my novels. I like my story to grow organically. The only books I have written plans for were the Our Australian Girl books. Because they are historical fiction and in a series of four books I had to know where each story was going and how it fed into the next before I even sat down to write them.

Can you tell us a little about what you are working on now?

I’ve just finished the final edit for Pearlie’s Ghost, which is the fourth and final book in the Pearlie series.

I’m glad to have finished the series because they are hard work. But I’m also sad to leave Pearlie. Now she will have a life of her own out in bookshops and libraries.

I have started a new novel with another author. This is a new experience for me. It’s a very exciting way to write and we’re having lots of fun together. I can’t reveal much about it yet except to say that the working title is The Map of Tiny Coincidences and it will be filled with maps and drawings.

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Find out more about Gabrielle Wang and her books at her website and her blog.

And LOOK! LOOK! You can even LISTEN to Gabrielle Wang reading the first two chapters of The Wishbird here.