Why and How I wrote A Winter’s Day in 1939

When the Soviet soldiers come and order them out, Adam and his family have no idea where they are going or if they will ever come back.  The Germans have attacked Poland and the world is at war. Boarding a cattle train Adam and his family embark on a journey that will cover thousands of miles and several years, and change all their lives forever. And mine too. Because Adam’s story, the story told in my new novel A Winter’s Day in 1939, is very much my Dad’s story.

I often heard fragments of this story from my dad when I was growing up.  It was shocking, and sad, and amazing.  My Dad’s family was forced out of their home and taken to a labour camp in Russia. It was freezing cold, and many people died from disease or starvation. Even when the Soviets finally let them go, they spent weeks travelling around the USSR , were made to work on Soviet farms and were still hungry and often sick, with no idea of where they might end up next.  As a child growing up in a peaceful place like New Zealand it was hard to imagine the real dangers and terrible conditions my father experienced.

I didn’t get to know the full story until I was grown up with children of my own and was regularly writing stories for children.  I wrote a short story, also called A Winter’s Day in 1939, based on a single event I knew fairly well  from my Dad‘s childhood – when Soviet Soldiers first come to order them off their farm, the only home my father had known up till that point in his life. The story was published in The Australian School Magazine.  I showed the short story to the publishers Scholastic who liked it too. They wondered if I could turn it in to a novel.  This was a chance to tell my father’s story. By now I knew it was an important story that should be shared

Luckily my Dad had made notes about his life during World War Two; about twenty pages all typed up.  However I know people’s real lives don’t always fit into the framework of a novel and I knew I would have to emphasize some things and maybe leave other things out.

I read and researched to add the right details to the story. And asked my parents lots of questions. How cold was it in Poland in January 1940? Who or what were the NKVD? What were the trains like? What are the symptoms of typhoid? How do you make your own skis? Some information was hard to find. Some of the places that existed in the 1940s aren’t there anymore. And people didn’t keep records about how many people were taken to the USSR from Poland or what happened to particular individuals. But what I wanted to give readers most of all was a sense of how it felt to live that life.  So this then is the story of a twelve year old Polish boy in the USSR during World War 2 that all started on A Winter's Day in 1939. 

I think I might do a give-away of a signed copy in my next post :)

The title Minefield...

It can be nerve-wracking when your publisher wants your input on things like covers etc... For all the times you might think 'I wish I had more control over this' remember that with great control comes great responsibility. What makes a great cover? Who will it appeal to? Will it make your target audience pick the book up? Will it make a wider audience pick it up? Will the people who pick it up feel that the cover represented the contents and feel satisfied with their selection. Or will they feel duped or cheated? Or will they think its better than they expected? Do certain colours put people off. Is the cover too juvenile for the target audience or too mature? Will it attract boys and girls. See - it's a minefield. When you are already sweating and fretting about whether your book will sell or not, if the cover was your idea it can make you sweat and fret more. And yet to be able to share your thoughts on things like this is exciting. For my next book - a teen thriller - I knew from the beginning the title didn't work like it should and a change was likely. It took some brainstorming and some down time where I shoved it to the back of the grey matter for me to come up with a useful alternative. It was weird, as 9 times out of 10 I really like the first title I think of. My instinct has worked well in the past I think, to the point where I feel compelled to stick with the first thing I come up with. But when it isn't right you have to a)recognize the problem, b)be prepared to change and c)do your homework on how titles work. When I felt the need to change the title for this new book I didn't realise how much I had subconsciously been learning about titles and covers (hence the nervousness about having the control and getting it right). I mulled over other titles and occasionally fired off my best suggestions to the publisher and when I came up with the one that stuck, it felt different. Same as the idea for the cover. I had a few but they were too arty or juvenile/mature/cliched. Then when I had my latest idea, it not only resonated with me but with the designer also and her wonderful creative response made me very happy. Here then is the cover of my next book.

And on the back it says

“I found myself standing outside Mallory’s bedroom. The last door on the upstairs hallway. I’d seen those forensic crime shows on television. I know what dead people look like. In the beginning I’d imagined Mallory, pale, lying in long grass, her eyes closed. Just her face because I didn’t want to see beyond it. But I couldn’t do it any more. Mum kept telling me she was still alive somewhere. And one day she’d come home and we’d be a happy family again but that was one big fat stupid lie. Mum could tell it to herself but I’d stopped believing it ages ago.”

Playing second fiddle to a ‘missing, presumed dead’ sister is soul-sucking for fifteen year old Ryan. As he tries to move on with his life he begins to appreciate just how difficult growing up can be. And now there’s a stranger watching him. Will his family ever be whole again? Or did Mallory light the fuse that will blow it apart forever ...

And for all the times when I've wondered about 'my online brand' I rather enjoyed reading this post (http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2011/09/on-internet-theres-no-such-thing-as.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NathanBransford+%28Nathan+Bransford%2C+Author%29) from Nathan Bransford this morning. Folks I think he's right.

I can't tell you what I want, I'll know it when I see it...

I have another picture book in the works which is planned to come out middle of next year. On Monday I went to the publishers to check out the illustrator's first sketches and to agree on what we thought was the best way to go. This particular story is essentially a love story. Although the illustrator was keen to produce something that fitted with the images I had in mind I have to admit that the images in my head were pretty vague and I waffled somewhat when we first discussed it. The dominant thing was the emotion of the story. I have always understood how publishers say 'we can't tell you exactly what we want, we'll know when we see it'. This was how I felt about this story. I didn't have a sharp visual idea in mind but I knew I would recognize the right thing when I saw it (which is also something that kind of happens in the story) and when I saw the artist's sketches my heart melted. I don't know how she does it. In a few simple pencil drawings she had captured the emotion I had aimed for with my words. You can never tell how a book is going to go but I for one am very happy with the pictures that will accompany my story in this new book. I hope folk will feel the love for this book the way the characters feel the love inside it. Sweet.

Denial is a rubbish place to grow up in...

Did a school visit yesterday reading the new picture book, The House That Went to Sea. I shared the floor with the book's fabtastic illustrator Gabriella Klepatski. The children were great, keen to know about writing and illustrating and its always a blast for me to read my books aloud and talk about ideas. After, we met up with the publisher and had a look at the I-pad app being produced for the book. It had cool sound effects and looked great and I am excited to see how this goes. Embracing the new technology is thrilling and a little scary as there are still things I don't know yet about how it all works in terms of production, distribution, marketing and sales but its fantastic to be joining the adventure (I feel a bit like Michael Mariner in my story).

I have been reading the debate over this recent article in the Wall Street Journal about the darkness of teen fiction. My teen thriller out in December has a dark edge. Not as dark as some of the books Gurdon references but there are some difficult themes and tragic events in my story. I like this response from award winning author Sherman Alexie, who has himself written about some very challenging themes. I believe we should protect our children as best we can but I don't think we should pretend bad things don't happen. If we do, we divide ourselves. The world can be a harsh place and if we deny this, how are we helping our youngsters to protect themselves in the future. Denial is a rubbish place to grow up in. Isn't it better to share these things so that those who have suffered know they are not alone and see a way to survive and overcome and those who haven't suffered can understand those who have? I'm not saying all teen books should be dark or that all dark books are good, well written or worth reading but there are a lot that are and it would be a travesty to deny them a place in our book shops or on our bookshelves.

I am studying Patterns of Language this year for my Children's Lit Diploma at Canterbury University and am currently reading about the chants and rhymes used by children in primary school playgrounds. Alot of these chants talk about trouser snakes, babies and cruelty. In one of the readings (Grugeon, E. "Underground Knowledge:What the Opies Missed." English in Education, pp9-17) the writer says one of the crucial factors in the survival of these games (some of which are very bawdy and explicit) in the culture of childhood is that they challenge and defy adult conventions, provide ammunition for resistance and permit a shared exploration of areas of experience which are considered to be taboo or irrelevant for young children. Many of the commentators on the topic talk about how these chants and rhymes belong to the children and are performed and passed on without adult knowledge or interference. Even little children are talking about difficult topics when they are left to their own devices. We are kidding ourselves if we think not talking about things is going to protect our children. I would rather have the opportunity to discuss something difficult with my children that they have come across in a book. Excluding a topic does not make my children safe.

As seen on tv

http://www.3news.co.nz/News/Piggity-Wiggity-Were-Nana-Chicken-Feathers-Kids-reading-award/tabid/309/articleID/101993/cat/185/Default.aspx

Jack the Viking

Be careful what you wish for. Life for 14 year old Jack Fletcher would be a lot easier if he was as tough and fearless as the viking warriors he likes to read about. A strong, brave warrior wouldn't stuff up at the interschool swimming competition or become the target of the school bully.

But when he finds himself in eleventh century Norway, Jack has bigger problems, like how will he get home, and can he stay alive long enough to find out?

The first part of a two-part story, my novel Jack the Viking, published by Scholastic NZ, is a fast moving tale of adventure, mystery and betrayal. Available now at bookshops like Jabberwocky and Timeout.

Out Now - The Were-Nana

My book, The Were-Nana is out now. This is a scary story best suited to the slightly older reader (4 or 5 plus). Like me when I was a child, the young girl in the book, Stella-Rosa, has an older sibling who likes to frighten her. And like me as a child, Stella-Rosa is about to meet a grandparent she doesn't know. Is her Grandmother really what Simon says she is?

I tell my children a little bit of fear is a good thing. It heightens our senses and helps us be prepared. I never really stopped being a bit afraid of my one and only grandparent with the thick accent and gruff manner that i rarely got to meet, and my older sibling never got over the fun of scaring us but will this happen in the Were-Nana? You'll have to read it to find out. Published by Scholastic NZ and available at super duper book shops like Jabberwocky and Wheelers now.