A NEW COMPETITION

 

COMPETITION

Rhyming Poetry or Verse Stories for Children

Entry Fee $5

Entries to be received by 1st JUNE 2013

 

Conditions of Entry

• Stories or poems must be unpublished
• Stories or poems must not have been previously submitted to my Rhyming Ms Editing Service

Submission guidelines

Cover Sheet to include entrants’…

• Title of Work
• Name
• Address
• Email
• Method of payment: cheque, money order, direct debit or PayPal

Story or poem to be…

• Typed in 12 point Arial
• Double spaced
• Title of Work on each page (header)
• Page numbers (footer)
• No identification (only on cover sheet)

Please send story or poem by

• Regular mail to

5 Lewis Court

Anglesea Vic 3230

• Email as word doc attachment to

jackiehosking@bigpond.com with “COMPETITION” in the subject line

Entry fee payment

• Cheque or money order to Jackie Hosking (see above for address)
• Direct debit to Jackie Hosking BSB 063144 Acc No 10174208 (ref – your name)
• PayPal – email Jackie for invoice

Receipt of payment

• Will be emailed once story and payment have been received.

Prizes

• 1^stprize
  • A Rhyming MS edit to the value of $105
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • A set of five (5) picture books

• 2^ndprize
  • A Rhyming MS edit to the value of $70
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • One (2) picture books

• 3^rdprize
  • A Rhyming MS edit to the value of $35
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • One (1) picture book

 

 

COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Today I am thrilled to announce the winners of my inaugural Rhyming Poetry or Verse Stories for Children Competiton but before I do I would like to thank everyone who sent in entries (there were 82 in all). I’ve had so much fun reading through them all but of course, as with any competition there can only be three place getters and here they are…

 

First Place goes to Sylvia Forbes for Holly’s Runaway Lolly.

Second Place goes to Val Neubecker for Little Miss Muffett.

Third Place goes to Maura Finn for Grandma Murphy’s Pussy Cat.

So a HUGE congratulations to the winners and a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who entered, your stories and poems were an absolute joy to read.

**As a side note I have to say that unfortunately I am unable to give feedback on your poems and stories however if you would like a manuscript edit I would like to offer non-winning entrants a discounted rate. Please contact me if you would like to take advantage of this offer.**

Happy Rhyming everyone

 

Writing in Rhyme Tip 4 – The Anapaest

Last time I talked about a type of meter called the IAMB.

Today I am going to talk about the ANAPAEST.

To use ‘dancing’ as a metaphor for meter, the iamb might be likened to a march da DUM, da DUM, da DUM, etc where the anapaest would be a waltz da da DUM, da da DUM, da da DUM, da da DUM.

Seuss was particularly fond of this type of meter and many of his verse stories are written this way.

The first story in Dr. Seuss’ Book of Bedtime Stories is called Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book. Here is the first verse.

 

 

 

The news just came in

From the County of Keck

That a very small bug

By the name of Van Vleck

Is yawning so wide

You can see down his neck.

 

When we pop this into a syllable grid here’s what we can see..

 

	The	news	just	came	in	from	the	Coun	ty	of	Keck
That	a	ve	ry	small	bug	by	the	name	of	Van	Vleck
	Is	yaw	ning	so	wide	you	can	see	down	his	neck

 

And here’s the first verse from Horton Hears a Who!

 

On the fifteenth of May in the Jungle of Nool

In the heat of the day in the cool of the Pool

He was splashing…enjoying the jungle’s great joys…

When Horton the elephant heard a small noise

 

On	the	fif	teenth	of	May	in	the	Jun	gle	of	Nool
In	the	heat	of	the	day	in	the	cool	of	the	Pool
He	was	splash	ing	en	joy	ing	the	jun	gle’s	great	joys
	When	Hor	ton	the	el	e	phant	heard	a	small	noise

 

As you can see, the pattern is quite distinct. Each line contains 4 stressed syllables separated by two unstressed ones.

In the last line we’re introduced to Horton the elephant. Here are some other characters that would fit the meter…

 

Shirley the crocodile

Martin the Terrier

Freddy the butterfly

 

Here are some that don’t…

 

Frank the mongoose

Jacqueline the chook

Marmaduke the Great White Shark

 

And here’s why…

 

Shirley the crocodile

Martin the terrier

Freddy the butterfly

 

When	Shir	ley	the	croc	o	dile	heard	a	small	noise
When	Mar	tin	the	te	rri	er	heard	a	small	noise
When	Fre	ddy	the	butt	er	fly	heard	a	small	noise

 

Frank the mongoose

Jacqueline the chook

Marmaduke the Great White Shark

 

When	Hor	ton	the	el	e	phant	heard	a	small	noise
When	Frank	the	mon	goose	heard	a	small	noise
When	Jac	que	line	the	chook	heard	a	small	noise
When	Mar	ma	duke	the	Great	White	Shark	heard	a	small	noise

 

If I really wanted to use the name Jacqueline this is how I could do it and stay true to the meter…

 

When Jacqueline chicken perceived a small noise.

 

When	Hor	ton	the	el	e	phant	heard	a	small	noise
When	Jac	que	line	chick	en	per	ceived	a	small	noise

 

Okay I’ll leave it there.

 

Happy rhyming

 

Writing in Rhyme Tip 3 – Meter

Today’s tip looks at METER.

Meter is the the pattern created by the ordering of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of verse.

Here is what some Australian publishers of Children’s books had to say when asked the question…

What are the most common difficulties that writers in rhyme encounter?

They haven’t got a sense of timing – rhythm or flow.

Metre metre, metre! So few submissions have pleasing, easy metre. Read your poem aloud. Do you have to work hard to fit your words into your metre? Do you adjust the stress on ANY of thewords (i.e. do you say them differently to the way you say them in natural speech)? Rewrite those lines!! I cannot emphasise enough how important metre is to poetry.

They think the rhyme excuses a whole lot of other flaws, including poor rhymes. Rhyming is a subtle and complex art that deserves years of study and then you have to make it work for children and then in a picture book format. You need a great story first and one that works for children, which has a proper beginning, middle and end.

Bad rhythm and forced rhyme. There should be no extra words to get the rhythm to work ‘such as the lion did say” instead of ‘said’ or reversals of words to get the rhyme, ie  ‘lion blue’ to rhyme with ‘you’ instead of blue lion. In other words the rhyme has to be very natural. The other thing to bear in mind is that many people don’t have a natural sense of rhythm anyway, and read rhyme and the emphasis on the words differently. The rhyme has to be very consistent to avoid such differences. The other thing I find is that the necessity to rhyme often means that the story goes in different directions when inexperienced writers attempt to write rhyme, so there can be dead spots in the story or extraneous material (if that makes sense). It is very difficult to get good succinct rhyme which keeps to the storyline. Rhyme that works better is when writers are not trying to write rhyming couplets, but stick to a simple repetitive couplet such as ‘I went walking. What did you see. I saw a red cow looking at me.’  Or ‘Let’s go visiting what do you say. Two black kittens are ready to play.’

Rhythms and rhymes that are “not quite there”.

To help us understand what exactly this thing called METER is I am going to engage the help of two very famous children’s authors, Roald Dahl and Dr. Seuss.

In front of me I have two books, one by Roald Dahl called Dirty Beasts.

The other by Dr. Seuss called Dr. Seuss’s Book of Bedtime Stories. Both are collections of stories written in rhyme and both, quite frankly, are brilliant!

I’m going to begin with Roald Dahl’s book, Dirty Beasts to help explain a type of meter known as the IAMB.

The very first story, in the book is called The Pig and here are the first four lines..

.

In England once there lived a big

And wonderfully clever pig.

To everybody it was plain

That Piggy had a massive brain

.

When we insert this verse into a “syllables grid” and we bold the stressed syllables, this is the pattern that emerges…

In	Eng	land	once	there	lived	a	big
And	won	der	fu	lly	cle	ver	pig
To	eve	ry	bo	dy	it	was	plain
That	Pi	ggy	had	a	ma	ssive	brain

Iambic meter then, is the the rhythm created by alternating one unstressed syllable and one stressed syllable -

|da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | da DUM | with each da DUM chunk being called a FOOT.

Each of Dahl’s lines contain 4 iambic feet so the verse above is written in iambic tetrameter.

Now every one of Dahl’s stories and there are nine in this collection, is written in iambic tetrameter so if this is a meter that you enjoy I would encourage you to read every one of them.

I will leave you with the first four lines of the final story in the collection called The Tummy Beast

.

Once afternoon I said to mummy,

“Who is this person in my tummy?

“He must be small and very thin

Or how could he have gotten in?”

.

Next time we will explore the meter known as the ANAPAEST, a favourite of Dr. Seuss.

Until then, happy rhyming

Writing in Rhyme Tip 2 – Stress

 

 

So today’s tip focuses on syllable stress and the easiest way to do that, I think, is to look at words known as heteronyms.

A heteronym is…, according to the definition found on The Heteronym Page

…a word that has the same spelling as another word but with a different pronunciation and meaning.

The words that I’d like to concentrate on are the ones whose definition changes according the position of the stress placed upon it.

Here are some examples.

Desert

If you stress the first syllable DEZ-urt – you are describing a dry, baron place.

If you stress the second syllable di-ZURT – this is a verb meaning to abandon.

Following is a couplet that looks like it should rhyme but it does not. Why doesn’t it?

 

I feel that I must now assert

That Simpson’s a sandy desert

If we bold the syllables, that in natural speech, are stressed, we’ll find that a pattern emerges.

 

i FEEL that i MUST now aSSERT

That SIMPson’s a SANdy DESert

Can you see the problem?

The pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables has been disrupted.

The previously established pattern (stressed, unstressed, unstressed, stressed, unstressed unstressed, stressed) requires the reader to mispronounce the word “desert” so that the stress falls on the second syllable.

While this scenario is unlikely I think it highlights a common problem when writing in rhyme.

Another example that I use in my book “Rhyme Like the Experts” may help to clarify the issue.

 

Mary, Mary, quite contrary
Filled her mouth with one strawberry

So in order for this to rhyme, the writer needs the reader to mispronounce the word “strawberry” so that it sounds like this… strawBEHrry to rhyme with conTRAHry.

What I urge all writers of rhyme to do is to get their work read aloud by someone else. A fresh eye will immediately pick up where the writer has manipulated a word to fit the meter. The new reader will read the words as they would in natural speech and will trip up if the pattern is disrupted due to the stress position of certain words.

Clear as mud?

If you have any questions, please post them below in the comments section.

Happy rhyming

 

Dimity Powell’s Blog Tour continues…

Today I am very excited to introduce Dimity Powell to my blog. We are helping Dimity celebrate the release of her new children’s book PS: Who Stole Santa’s Mail.

Q. So Dimity, tell us a bit about yourself and where you lived as a child.

 

A. I’m Dimity Powell. I was born in far north Queensland and once found an echidna in the backyard. We also had lots of fruit bats who used to feast on our paw paws every night until the trees were destroyed by a fierce cyclone one summer.

 

Q. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

 

A. When I was little, I wanted to be a Vet. I chose working with people instead but am not sure why. My past life included a lot of travel, a lot of people, and a lot of boats.

 

Q. What did you do for a living?

 

A. I cruised around the world and in and out of a career in hospitality and marketing until I finally found my way back to Queensland.

 

Q. When did your writing journey begin?

 

Journeys begin and end all the time. I set out in earnest on my writing journey shortly after becoming a mother for the first time. But my love of writing stories began in Year 8 at school. I spent afternoons at the kitchen table penning mysteries and tales about homeless ponies. Since then, everywhere I went, I took my diary and wrote about anything I experienced, visited or did. I can’t draw or paint, and I sing like a cat being strangled, so as a supposedly creative Piscean, thought writing might be a better option for me.

 

Q. What was your first success as a writer?

 

A. Amazingly, the first story I ever submitted was accepted by the School Magazine in NSW shortly after I graduated from my writing course. I still have a copy of that magazine. I was and still am, thrilled to think that kids would be reading my words. I felt that I had definitely succeeded in my dream to write for children. Since then I have accumulated files and files of rejection letters proving that pride comes before a fall. Ha. But I have had other short stories published on line and in magazines as well.

 

Q. Do you think winning awards prove you know what you are doing?

 

A. Awards are lovely ways to hear that other respected writers and people in the book industry like your stuff. They don’t necessarily make you a better writer, but they certainly encourage me to improve and keep on writing. I have won a few special mentions, top ten placings, and commendations over the years for various picture book manuscripts and short stories. My work is often shortlisted so I refer to myself as the bridesmaid author!

 

Q. What other exciting things have you done?

 

A. I have done a lot of strange and wonderful things over the years. I’ve jumped out of planes, slept in caves, eaten alligator and survived a couple of cyclones but perhaps one of the most notable things I’ve done is cruised across the Atlantic Ocean, twice.

 

I was part of the crew of a luxury vintage 40 metre super motor yacht. We had to deliver the boat from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean and back. It took one month each way. It was not always the exciting adventure you might imagine especially when you had to be on watch twice a day and often at night and the boat pitched and rolled wildly from side to side constantly making it impossible to sleep, bath or just sit still and relax. We even passed through the Bermuda Triangle and experienced some very strange phenomena. But that’s a whole other story!

 

In conjunction with this blog tour, you can go in the draw to win one of three copies of the book PS: Who Stole Santa’s Mail.

Send the answer to this question: ‘What do you think Santa wants for Christmas?’ to submissions@morrispublishingaustralia.com

In the subject line put, PS: WSSM entry.

The competition will close at midnight on November 30^th  2012.

All entries will be assigned a number, and that number will be put in a draw.

The winners will be notified by email.

The book can be purchased at your local bookshop. If it is not in stock, ask them to order it for you.

A signed copy can also be purchased from http://morrispublishingaustralia.com

 

Thanks so much Dimity for joining us here today. We wish you all the best with your book.

PS: Who Stole Santa’s Mail  will be reviewed in next week’s issue (417) of PASS IT ON

To continue following Dimity’s blog tour please see the links below.

Kids Book Review 17 November

 

My Little Bookcase  18 November

 

Sheryl Gywther  19 November

 

MPA Australia 20 November

 

Kat Apel 21 November

 

Elaine Ouston 22 November

 

Renee Taprell 23 November

 

Alison Reynolds 24 November

 

Buzz Words 25 November

 

Christine Bell 26 November

 

Dee White 27 November

 

Jackie Hosking PIO 28 November

 

Alphabet Soup 29 November

 

Angela Sunde 30 November

Writing in Rhyme Tip 1 – Syllables

SYLLABLES

 

 

 

During the weeks preceding the COMPETITION deadline (14th December) I will be offering tips to wouldbe entrants.

Today’s tip focuses on the strange creature known as the SYLLABLE.

When you google “syllable” here’s what you might find…

A syllable is the sound of a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) that’s created when pronouncing a word.

This definition can be found on a website called How Many Syllables and if you click on the link you can discover how many syllables any word has.

Here’s another explanation taken from a site called Pronunciation Tips.

English words are made up of syllables. Syllables are distinct sounds within a word. All syllables have a vowel sound in them, and usually have a consonant between it and the next syllable. A word may have one, two, three, four, or more syllables. 

In the English language words range from having 1 syllable – 12 syllables (there aren’t many 12 syllable words).

1 syllable – ape

2 syllables – apple

3 syllables – aggravate

4 syllables – absolutely

5 syllables – accumulation

6 syllables – acclimatization

7 syllables – antidiscrimination

8 syllables – autosuggestibility

9 syllables – antiferromagnetically

10 syllables – antidisestablishmentarian

11 syllables – antidisestablishmentarianist

12 syllables – antidisestablishmentarianism

If we were to deconstruct the last (and longest word) to highlight each syllable this is how we might do it.

an

ti

dis

i

stab

lish

men

ta

ri

an

is

m

syllable sound

a

i

i

i

a

i

e

a

i

a

i

u

syllable number

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

 

Writing in rhyme is a musical business with each line driven by its rhythm.

Each syllable takes up a beat in time and what we will learn tomorrow is that certain syllables take more time than others. This is what determines the meter.

If you have any questions, please post them below in the comments section.

Happy rhyming

 

 

COMPETITION

Rhyming Poetry or Verse Stories for Children

 

Entry Fee $5

 

Entries to be received by 14^th December 2012

 

Conditions of Entry

 

Cover Sheet to include entrants’…

• Title of Work
• Name
• Address
• Email
• Method of payment: cheque, money order, direct debit or PayPal

Story or poem to be…

• Typed in 12 point Arial
• Double spaced
• Title of Work on each page (header)
• Page numbers (footer)
• No identification (only on cover sheet)

Submission guidelines

• Regular mail to

5 Lewis Court

Anglesea Vic 3230

• Email as word doc attachment to

jackiehosking@bigpond.com

“COMPETITION” in the subject line

Entry fee payment

• Cheque or money order to Jackie Hosking (see above for address)
• Direct debit to Jackie Hosking BSB 063144 Acc No 10174208 (ref – your name)
• PayPal – email Jackie for invoice

Receipt of payment

• Will be emailed once story and payment have been received.

Prizes

• 1^stprize
  • A Rhyming MS edit to the value of $70
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • A set of five (5) picture books
  • Publication in PIO and on Jackie’s blog (optional)

• 2^ndprize
  • A Rhyming MS edit to the value of $35
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • One (1) picture book
  • Publication in PIO and on Jackie’s blog (optional)

• 3^rdprize
  • A copy of “Rhyme Like the Experts”
  • 12 months subscription to PASS IT ON
  • Publication in PIO and on Jackie’s blog (optional)

 

Sharon McGuinness’ Blog Tour continues with a FREE book giveaway…

Today I would like to welcome Sharon McGuinness and Shannon Melville to my blog with their new book Coming Home which has been released to coincide with Mental Health Week.

Mental Health Week is all about raising awareness of mental health and wellbeing in the wider community.  A critical part of reducing stigma to support those with a mental illness (and their carers); is public awareness and an understanding that mental illness, like mental health, is part of the human condition.

Sharon tells a very personal story about how she came to write this book. Thank you Sharon for sharing your story behind the story.

My family knows depression intimately – for my late husband Greg and I, his black dog was an unwelcome participant in our marriage and family life, often lurking in the background, nipping at his heels on a regular basis. Early on, it was manageable, but in 2006 something changed – the black dog gained a firmer grip and in 2008 Greg began a regular pattern of hospitalisation. We would visit on weekends, but I would often visit by myself, travelling to Sydney and back to Thirroul on the train.

It was after a particularly good visit that the seeds for my book ‘Coming Home’ were sown. Greg had been upbeat, was looking ahead, making plans and I left him smiling. Travelling home on the train, the idea for the story started forming and I remember rummaging in my bag for my notebook. It wasn’t there, but I pulled out an envelope and began to weave our own experience into a new narrative. I never set out to intentionally write a children’s book about depression.

The story instead, found me.

Over the next few weeks I completed a rough first draft, using Greg’s garden as a metaphor for his mood, his roses as a symbol of hope.

The story revolves around Gemma, a young girl who is struggling to understand why her dad seems sad day after day. He sits alone in his unweeded garden – the metaphor for his mood and he seems to disappear from daily life – sinking into ‘another place’. Gemma wonders whether it is somehow her fault, did she do something wrong? Her mother is reassuring and explains that Dad is suffering from an illness called depression, which ‘you can’t see like a broken leg, but it’s there just the same’.  Gemma continues to involve Dad in her life and then one day, he begins to feel a change – his mood begins to lift.

The ending was how I wanted our own story to finish.

My online writing buddy, Jodie gave me advice, Sandy Fussell helped me finesse it some more and entering it in a competition gave me valuable feedback and the encouragement to continue.

During this time however, Greg’s illness worsened until in February 2010, he took his own life, unable to stand the torment of his illness. Our real story was not to share the same ending as the book after all.

It now seemed more important than ever for the book to have an audience. Depression affects one in five families – maybe the book could help explain depression to children and raise awareness, so I began submitting the ms to publishers.

Rochelle Manners of Wombat Books was interested, but admitted that the topic was ‘challenging’ to publish. She urged me to get the ms professionally appraised and I sought the advice of Dr Virginia Lowe who was able to help me with some final tweaking of the manuscript and provided a letter of recommendation. I also met with representatives of the Black Dog Institute, who read the manuscript and agreed to write a letter of support which would accompany the manuscript on its trips to publishers.  I resubmitted it to Wombat Books and Rochelle offered me a contract in February 2010. We agreed to publish in October 2012 to coincide with Mental Health Week.

Ironically I was relieved, thinking that the hard work was over.

How naive I was….the work was only just beginning! The task of selecting the right illustrator for the book would not be easy as I believed the illustrations would be more powerful if they were portrayed realistically.  The work of Shannon Melville – particularly her black and white drawings led Rochelle to the offering of a contract.

Shannon set to work and in October 2011, she had completed the first roughs and in May 2012 the final illustrations were ready, most taking between 10 to 15 hours to complete individually.  Shannon has been able to capture the essence of the text, with contrasting endpapers and the use of both black and  white and colour illustrations, while  the expressions on the father’s face clearly show the pain often experienced by those with depression.

All author royalties will be donated to the Black Dog Institute to help fund further research into depressive illnesses.

The book has become my way to honour Greg’s memory and while I gain satisfaction from its publishing, it will always be bittersweet.

 

Thank you once again Sharon for sharing your incredibly personal, bittersweet story. You have written a very important book, one that will help many families.

 

Now before I introduce Shannon I would like to offer readers the chance to receive a copy of Coming Home to help acknowlege Mental Health Week.

What you’ll need to do is tell me (in the comments section) how depression or mental illness has affected you, your family or someone you know.

I will put everyone’s name into a hat and draw one randomly. I will contact you if your name is chosen.

 

 

Okay so next I would like to welcome Shannon Melville. Welcome Shannon! Shannon has completed some questions that I’ve put together for illustrators appearing in PASS IT ON’s segment Illustration of the Week. These questions give us an insight into the workings of an illustrator. Thank you Shannon for sharing a little bit of how you work as an illustrator.

 

 

Please describe your chosen illustration

~What medium did you use?

Chalk pastel sticks and pencils

~How long did it take?

Approximately 10 hours

~What is it for?

Coming Home (Wombat Books); a picture book written by Sharon McGuinness. Publication date: 1st October 2012.

When did you know you had a talent for illustration?

~How old were you?

I remember the girl sitting next to me in year 1 copied my care bear drawing. It went on the school recipe book cover, so I guess you could say that was my first published illustration!

~How did you know? Did someone encourage you?

Both my parents encouraged me, particularly my dad who I recall creating oil pastel artworks with me on the back of his big old land valuation maps (around A1 size). My parents enrolled me in holiday and after school art classes. My dad was also gifted with art and I enjoyed seeing the work he created at night school in print making, painting, drawing etc. He always had lots of different art supplies for me to try out. My neighbour was a high school art teacher and I often knocked on her door to show her my latest work, she was kind to show interest and give me feedback. I always chose Art as an option in high school. Teachers and peers usually complimented me on my work or held my work up to the class.

Have you ever studied your craft at an institution of any sort?

~Which institution?

Central TAFE (now Central Institute of Technology, Perth)

~How long was the course?

3 years

~How affordable was the course?

More affordable than university for me (although I have also completed university studies). I had a casual job on the side to support my studies.

~Would you recommend it to upcoming artists/illustrators?

It was an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design (major in illustration). We only got to focus more intensely in illustration in the 3^rd year. If you also want to learn Corporate branding, Advertising, Web design, Art Theory, Packaging design etc. then the course may interest you. The illustration lecturers were great though.

~Do you run courses or workshops yourself?

No, although I have taken children’s holiday art classes. Twice a week I work with people with disabilities assisting them to create artwork. I find this work very rewarding also.

What computer programmes do you use?

~Can you recommend any?

Corel Painter, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator.

Have you illustrated any books?

~How many books?

Yes 5, currently working on my 6^th book about a platypus and after this I have 2 more contracts lined up.

~Do you have a favourite?

Little Good Wolf by Aleesah Darlison and Coming Home by Sharon McGuinness are very well written, they are talented authors, the stories are all so unique it’s hard to choose a favourite.

To be honest I am enjoying working on the illustrations for my current one about a platypus, as I really love animals and nature. Rochelle from Wombat Books is always happy for me to choose which medium I want to use, so for Boondaburra written by Natalie Lonsdale I am using gouache. I am finding it quite therapeutic using a paintbrush and it is tying in nicely with the watercolour course I am currently enrolled in.

~How are you usually commissioned? What is the process?

A publisher will contact me and ask me what I think about a particular manuscript and if I am interested in illustrating it. I then say yes or no (most have been yes so far though). I sometimes am asked to do a couple of character sketches which the publisher and author look at.

If they both think I am on the right track then the contract is sent out for me to read and sign and post back to the publisher.

~Do you have contact with the authors?

All of the authors I have worked with so far live in different states so I haven’t met with them in person regarding their manuscripts. Sometimes the author and I will exchange a few emails, but this is usually through the publisher, to make sure we are all kept in the loop about what is going on.

~On average, how long does a picture book take to illustrate?

It is hard to say as they all vary depending on what styles are required, how detailed and what medium is used. They can take anywhere from 3 months to a couple of years, although all the books I have illustrated have generally been done in less than 6 months. I may have the contract for longer, but depending on my workload and other deadlines I may not be able to get started straight away.

~Is it difficult working to deadlines? Does it interfere with your creativity?

It depends how many jobs I am working on at once. Sometimes it can interfere with creativity if I get too stressed. I find that I have to be in a relaxed mood to work well on my illustrations. I think it usually shows through in the artwork if it has been rushed or if the illustrator enjoyed working on it. Fortunately I have 2 dogs to walk / jog and a gym nearby to let out some steam when I need to. I usually find it refreshes me and helps me concentrate again on my work.

Who is your favourite Australian children’s book illustrator and why?

There are many but here are the ones I entered in my phone whilst I was at Pinerolo recently: Tony Oliver, Pamela Lofts, Mark Jackson, Emma Quay, Sarah Davis, Nina Rycroft, Anna Pignataro, Craig Smith, Beth Norling and Rebecca Cool.

What’s your website or blog address (if you have one)?

http://www.shannonmelville.com.au/

http://shannonmelville.blogspot.com/

Deborah Abela’s Blog Tour cont…

Frauds, Phonies and Hoaxes

The Art of Good Story

By Deborah Abela

www.deborahabela.com

            In the late 1840’s the western world experienced a rise in what was to become known as Spiritualism…or a belief that spirits of people existed beyond the grave. It came about at a fascinating time of increased literacy, new ways of thinking and a rise in new scientific methodologies and inventions. For many this provided a delicious idea…make use of new inventions to capture images and recordings of ghosts to prove to the world that they really did exist.

Spiritualists held public lectures and demonstrations where they spoke to the dead, held séances and conducted automatic writing which was a direct transcribing of messages from spirits (Arthur Conan Doyle’s wife professed a great talent for this and would ‘perform’ on stage beside her beloved husband.) Some even believed in Mesmerism: the belief that you could heal people through hypnotism. This got believer Charles Dickens into trouble with his wife, however, when he spent a large amount of a family holiday staring at a pretty young lady who he was trying to cure of nervousness.

Spiritualism became a firmly held belief system as well as a great source of public entertainment.

Some attribute the rise of Spiritualism to the Fox sisters, three young women who lived in Hydesville, New York in a house they claimed was haunted. Through a series of knocks and banging they said they could communicate with their dead housemate, and within months they became a huge sensation, touring the country displaying their remarkable skills.

Many tried to uncover them as frauds, but none succeeded, until the younger sister Margaret, unable to take the guilt any longer, admitted it was all a very well rehearsed hoax. She confessed:

‘There is no such thing as a spirit manifestation. That I have been mainly instrumental in perpetrating the fraud of spiritualism upon a too-confiding public many of you already know. It is the greatest sorrow of my life . . . When I began this deception, I was too young to know right from wrong.’ (Margaret Fox (1888), quoted in Joseph F. Rinn, Searchlight on Psychical Research, 1954)

It did little to damage the enthusiasm for Spiritualism, but it did ruin the sisters, two of whom died poor and destitute.

One staunch believer was Arthur Conan Doyle, a medical man who created one of the most famous detectives of all time, Sherlock Holmes. In his later years he even gave away Holmes to travel the world to speak about Spiritualism, so convinced he was of its truth, but he was sometimes too quick to believe and was subsequently drawn into the Cottingley Fairies hoax….a series of photos taken by two cousins of fairies dancing at the bottom of garden. When they were much older, the cousins confessed how they did it. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx8yD_cymKA)

But despite the many frauds, Doyle remained committed:

‘The conclusion, then, of my long search after truth, is that in spite of occasional fraud, which Spiritualists deplore, and in spite of wild imaginings, which they discourage, there remains a great solid core in this movement which is infinitely nearer to positive proof than any other religious development with which I am acquainted.’

Arthur Conan Doyle, The New Revelation, 1918

He even allowed it to ruin friendships. Harry Houdini was a great friend of Conan Doyle but the two were at odds with Doyle’s belief in spiritualism and Houdini often exposed fakes who used simple tricks in claiming they could speak with the dead. Conan Doyle was so astounded by Houdini’s escapist feats, however, that he insisted he must have spiritual powers. Houdini repeated that it was all technique and skill and the two fell out irreconcilably.

In the UK, The Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 made it illegal for people to pretend to act as spiritualistic mediums for money or other reward. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/spiritualism/history/history.shtml)

I have just finished the first draft of the third Ghost Club: The Transylvanian Ghost Convention and the temptation for some to commit fraud for fame, money or simply for fun, was too much a part of Spiritualism to ignore.

 

Whether you do believe in ghosts and spirits or think it’s a bunch of hokum, the fact still remains, that our rational human minds cannot know and explain everything, leaving the delicious possibility for the writer to imagine what may be the real story.

Visit the next stop on Deborah’s blog tour:

http://buzzwordsmagazine.blogspot.com.au

Did you miss the previous stop? See http://www.readplus.com.au

To see all the stops on the tour see http://www.DeborahAbela.com

Harry Houdini picture source: http://www.fwweekly.com/2012/09/25/harry-houdini-coming-fort-worth/

Fox sisters picture source: http://www.natemaas.com/2011/02/fox-sisters.html

Conan Doyle picture source: http://history.inrebus.com/index.php?category=25

Spiritualism poster source: http://www.shorpy.com/taxonomy/term/78,107?page=1