The 2017 Storylines Hui and what I learnt there ...

Weekend before last I attended the 2017 Storylines National Hui for Children's Writers and Illustrators with other delegates from all over New Zealand. There were plenty of familiar faces but a whole host of new ones as well which I thought was a terrific sign. The mood was collegial and a positive hum accompanied every gathering. I attended keynote speeches, workshops and panel discussions. I engaged in more 'active listening' then I've done since university and man that stuff is seriously tiring but totally worthwhile.

I gave a workshop on the business of being a writer, or 'What They Don't Tell You at Writing Class' (and discovered that when you are worried about providing sufficient content for 90 minutes, you end up with 180 minutes worth of content),

and I was part of a panel where I talked about Fabostory, with the other panel members talking about cool initiatives such as NZ Read Aloud, SCBWI, Getting Kids Into Books, and Storylines itself.

There were some sobering moments where people talked about the realities, difficulties and disappointments of their own experience and/or current local and global trends. There were some moments of envy when established writers talked about close relationships with publishers and agents, 6 figure advances and long successful careers. Nearly 60 delegates pitched to publishers and agents during the Pitch Slam and I really hope we get to hear some success stories down the line from these. Agents talked about what's hot, what's not and what's downright dead. I made some pitches of my own. To two agents and two publishers in the end and now I wait too to see whether anything has 'taken'. It's part of my attempt to get 100 rejections this year. The philosophy is that the more submissions/applications/entreaties/pitches you make the more chance you have of something being selected/accepted/supplied. There is merit in this idea although it does mean working harder submitting and applying often enough to achieve this, and it does mean preparing yourself for a higher than usual rejection onslaught. But the truth is there is no yes without the submissions, the applications and the nos. I can't go soft on that stuff. And all the submitting and applying gives off a nice aura of possibilities.

So, back to the Hui. My favourite workshop? Poetry with Paula Green. Hands on word play is like a happy drug. And I wrote some things I really really like. Stacy Gregg ran a close second with her realistic insights into the life of a series writer. Not for the faint-hearted. My favourite keynote? Brian Falkner. Honest, unexpected, and a testament to all the things that make up a career - self belief, hard work, luck, more hard work, and gripping on for dear life during the tough times. I felt strangely buoyed by his words. I learned that success is a strange creature with many faces. And that is a useful thing to know. I felt grounded, and encouraged and motivated by the whole experience. And I felt reminded yet again that my community is a wonderful one. And whatever happens it is very clear that we are there for each other. Love you all guys.

Bits and Pieces...

I am so excited to have a poem of mine included in the most wonderful book just out - A Treasury of New Zealand Poems for Children (Random), edited by poet Paula Green and illustrated by Jenny Cooper. This is a wonderful collection of poems by poets both new and experienced, young and old.

Paula arranged a series of interviews by children of all the poets and you can see my interview with Lily here. Lily asked awesome questions and I really enjoyed answering them. Oh, and my poem is called Fancy if you want to go check it out.

And next Saturday, November 1st, I will be reading my new picture book, The Song of Kauri, at 11am at Arataki in the Waitakere Ranges, as part of their events for Conservation Week. Yay!!!

Never say never... it can be embarrassing

I have always loved and admired poetry. The best poems make your mind sing. I still remember poetry I loved in my childhood (favourites included The King's Breakfast and The Invaders by AA Milne, Walter de la Mare's Silver and The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes). And I have studied poetry in my journey through tertiary education - I particularly enjoyed Keats, Coleridge, Donne and Arnold - and I have plenty of poetry books from the past and present, overseas and NZ poets (Kate Camp, Hone Tuwhare, James Brown and many others). There are other poets I am keen to try out - e.e.cummings and Emily Dickinson. Rhyming, poetic picture books are lyrical lovelies that stay in the mind and on the tongue - by rhyming geniuses like Lynley Dodd, Margaret Mahy and Dr. Suess, to name a few. And yet I have been very shy about my own poetry, both writing it and sharing it. I have not considered myself a poet and I have often looked at the poetry of others with envy. The best make it look effortless and natural. Like sirens calling they lure you on to the rocks, dashing your poetic hopes there. But sometimes...just sometimes... an idea turns up refusing to be anything but a poem. It is not my fault. I do as I am told. But once written, they have stayed in my drawer, or in a file on my hard-drive. Occasionally they have been wheeled out on my blog, (like trolls are, I have been emboldened by the relative anonymity of social media) because it's my blog and I can post if I want to. But I am not a poet. Really. And I couldn't write a rhyming story if I tried. Never.

Except last week I was contacted about having a poem of mine included in an anthology of children's poetry, edited by the wonderful Paula Green, and to be published next year by Random. And then on Friday I heard from a publisher about a rhyming picture book story I had submitted. It's coming out late 2014/2015. And several people have pointed out that the text of While You Are Sleeping is a poem. Well that snuck up on me. It's a bit awkward really. Never say never. It's likely to come back and bite you. Although sekritly I am very pleased.

Ta da...

This competition was fun - I will have to do this again soon. And now as you can probably tell from the drum roll I am about to announce the winner. Congratulations to Vanessa Hatley-Owen who reminded me how much I love the word Oubliette (which sounds cute and fun but actually means something rather nasty) and makes me want to go rent out the movie Labyrinth (also a smashing word in itself). Vanessa let me know what book you would like. And I enjoyed doing this so much I have picked another winner at random. 5inabus gets a copy of The House That Went to Sea. Email me at melinda@tale-spin.com with postal details too peeps.

And folks if you have not already checked out the most awesome NZ Poetry Box blog run by fab poet Paula Green go take a look now. This is a blog for children, parents and teachers up to year 8. Paula posts tips, challenges, competitions, interviews and poems by children amongst other things. She has already run a number of challenges and awarded prizes to young poets from schools (and individually) all around New Zealand.

Paula recently ran the first Fabulous Poetry Competition for Children and after receiving nearly 2,000 poems has selected twenty to appear in the A Treasury of New Zealand Poetry for Children to be published by Random House. I cannot wait to see this fabulous book. Paula said:-

it was an ELEPHANT task reading my way through them all. It was really hard narrowing it down as there were so many wonderful entries. I think some schools must be little writing havens as they sent in so many good poems.

There were poems about cats, dogs, paddocks, beaches, the moon, wizards, witches, blue, yellow, fireworks, families, feelings, dragons, space, people, places, the world, gardens and a thousand other things. There were fat poems, skinny poems, funny poems, musical poems, poems that rhyme, poems that don’t, scary poems, thoughtful poems, imaginative poems, surprising poems, sad poems, happy poems.

There were similies that popped and words that shone.