A Week In My Writing Life!

This was a busy week for me, writing-wise. Well, not so much writing, but about being a writer. 

Sadly, there was one rejection slip, for a Pirates anthology, but it was a personalised one, saying they had actually liked the story and found it one of the more original ones they had received, but they had had so many submissions... I guess that however much they liked it, there were others they liked better. However, they did say they really loved my universe and how about doing one set entirely in that one - it was a portal fantasy - and submitting it for a planned alternative universe anthology they had in mind for next time. And I just might do it, if only to have another story to submit somewhere. I will have to send a thank you email and ask to be put on their mailing list for future anthologies. It’s not often you get publishers these days sending personalised rejections and such kind ones at that. 

I wrote the story, originally, for a Monsters of the Mediterranean anthology, but missed the deadline. Time to look again at the market guides...

On Tuesday I went to the YABBA Awards ceremony, which was hosted this year by Camberwell Girls’ Grammar. Fortunately that school was in easy reach of public transport, two trams from where I live, but easy. However, not wanting to take a chance, I got up at 5.30 a.m to catch the tram along Chapel St near where I live and then a connecting tram, and I was still early, so sat in the sun, working on my notes for the second event of the week. 

The YABBAs are child-nominated and voted awards, like the State Library’s Inkys. There are a number of levels, for picture books, younger readers, older readers and Year 7-9. Other states have their own equivalent awards - these are Victorian, though the authors don’t have to be living here, and some do come from interstate.

 I’ve never been on this shortlist, alas, though I know my own students nominated my books several times. However, they do invite authors to come along for the ceremony and the signing, and you can bring books to sell. So I go when I can. I have only taken students once, when we could get to the school by train and tram, but they were Year 10s, because I could meet them at the station instead of going all the way to school and collecting my younger kids, then making our way to some distant school. And the year I took the Year 10 students, all the rest were from primary schools and were sitting on the floor! A bit undignified for teenagers - there were only five anyway, so I begged chairs for them, and afterwards I told them to go and get their autographs and chat with their favourites while I signed, then meet me in an hour. Afterwards, we had lunch in the city and I gave them some books from a goody bag I had been given, but which I didn’t think were of use to our library. A great day! 

So, this year the awards were handed out - check the winners here at the YABBA site - one by Aaron Blabey(my great nephew Jonah is a big fan!), one by Andy Lee, Morris Gleitzman’s wonderful Once series book, Maybe, and, as usual, the latest Andy Griffiths/Terry Denton Treehouse book. Andy Griffiths was overseas and Morris Gleitzman was also unavailable, so both sent videos and Terry Denton accepted on behalf of both him and Andy. This year’s Graham Davey Award, judged rather than voted by kids, went to the wonderful Melbourne writer/illustrator Gabrielle Wang. I have read pretty much all her books, except the picture book. They are sweet, gentle children’s fantasy novels and one of them, A Ghost In My Suitcase, has been adapted for the stage. I went to see that when it was being performed in Melbourne and loved it - it really caught the spirit of the novel. The Graham Davey Award is recent - last year’s went to Meredith Costain, the partner of my lovely publisher Paul Collins. Meredith doesn’t make a huge fuss about her writing and doesn’t appear in glossy magazines, but she gets a lot of work and recognition within the industry - and kids read her books and love them. Graham Davey was the guy running YABBA for some years and was a storyteller by trade. When he passed away they started thinking about an annual award for authors who were special in one way or another. Both Meredith and Gabrielle deserved it. 

After all that was over, the signings began. I only signed one book, though plenty of autograph sheets, and my bookmarks and mini posters for Crime Time were certainly appreciated! However, one young man said, “My brother has Crime Time.” I asked where his brother was, and the boy next to him grinned and put up his hand. “I loved it!” he said. Happy tears from me... I gave him a bookmark, which he didn’t have. 

Yesterday the temperature soared when I did a Ford Street Publishing gig at Emmaus College, a Catholic school in Vermont South, another suburb on the tram route. It was further than Camberwell, but I got up at 5.00 a.m this time and caught a tram to Richmond, where I got the connecting tram to Vermont South. Even that early in the morning it was too warm to wear long sleeves. Fortunately there was air conditioning at the school. If there hadn’t been, it might have been hard to get the kids to focus. Even as it was, my last session was less attentive than the first two, but there were kids participating. 

The introductory sessions were, first Year 7, then Year 8. The Principal(I think) made a speech to the kids and then Meredith Costain introduced us one by one and we had to introduce ourselves, along with what we were going to do in our sessions. Last time I had a gig I did story outlines, which worked very well. In 50 minutes or less, you really can’t ask kids to write much, or at all, the simplest thing is to do something together. 

This time, though, I was asked by Paul and Meredith to do something about villains, which would give me the excuse to talk about some of the stories from my book. Talking, discussing and making lists on the board with the kids’ help was about all I was able to do, but I chose some of the weirder, wackier stories from Crime Time to share. The first two sessions the kids laughed heartily, and one boy said, twice “Oh, that is hilarious!” I told the same stories in the third session, and got silence, so went on with other stuff. It was the only group that I had to ask a couple of times to not talk while I was, though it was only a small group of kids within the class. The teacher had to ask them too. I’m a teacher, which helps me do these events comfortably, but they aren’t my students.  

I think they sold a couple of copies of Crime Time, I even saw a child carrying one, though nobody asked me to sign it, and I brought my own books to sell. One copy of Your Cat Could Be A Spy was bought by a friend of mine who turned up for the event for some reason and then kindly drove me home afterwards. And someone actually bought a copy of Wolfborn! I brought three copies, but suddenly realised that two were the stained copies I had withdrawn last time. I think I may see if I can do a “special” on those next time, just so someone can enjoy them, even if I lose money on them. 

Someone right now is curling up with my novel and someone else with my book on crime, and my friend with my book on spies. I do hope they enjoy them! 

There was an after-session, then kids were given the chance to buy another book at the stall before the day was over. We were asked to stay where we were to sign. I only signed kids’ autograph booklets, and some from one of my groups had already asked me to sign theirs. But my books were bought anyway. 

I have another gig on November 19, at a school in Mt Eliza. I have a lift for that, because public transport is impossible for that school, but I still have to get up super early and meet my lift at a station near his home, as the school is in the other direction. Hopefully I can find a way, in the time till then to make my villains session more like a writing workshop than a discussion!