A week of words, warmth and wisdom ...

It is Monday November 11 here in New Zealand and I am reporting to you live from my bed at 10.22am.

It has been quite a week.

Last Tuesday I flew from Auckland to Dunedin with fellow writer Maria Gill. We were met at the airport by Fifi Colston: writer, illustrater, wearable arts creator and Wellingtonian, who'd flown down earlier in the day. Later in the week we would be presenting various sessions at the Wild Imaginings Children's Writers and Illustrators Hui, but Maria and Fifi had thought schools might be interested in having some out of town authors visit preceding the Hui, and had invited me to join them.

Bright and early Wednesday morning we set off for Oamaru to take part in a Speed Date the author/illustrator event, with 82 students from schools in the district. We'd run with a historical theme and Fifi and Maria dressed up for the occasion. The day was enormous fun (many thanks to all those involved in making the event such a success, especially Fiona Kerr, children's librarian at Waitaki District Libraries, and Kathryn Carmody at ReadNZ Te Pou Murarmura). We had car trouble though, so our highly anticipated dinner date at Fleur's Place in Moeraki had to be cancelled. Grrrrrr.



Maria, Me! and Fifi.

Thursday we were back in Dunedin, and Maria and I had school visits. I was hosted by North East Valley Normal School for the morning and what a great school they are, doing wonderful things to build a love of books and reading in their students.

Friday, Maria and I checked out the Challenging the Deep exhibition at the Otago Museum which was quite amazing, while Fifi had a school visit. Then it was back to the computer for some final content construction and preparation for our Hui presentations, and then off to the Opening Ceremony.

The Hui was wonderful.  Lots of talk. Lots of meeting old friends, and making new ones, forging connections and building relationships. I was a panellist for a discussion on reviewing for the first breakout session and we had a great round table chat about the topic with the attending delegates. My takeaway was that as traditional reviewing channels contract and decline, we need to make the most of the new reviewing forums popping up online, and grow their reach and their reputation. We have to focus on making the most of the new possibilities, rather than wasting time on lamenting the loss of the old.

Kate De Goldi's keynote chat with illustrating marvel, David Elliot, was a joy, followed by a fascinating discussion about different routes to market with a panel of 3 publishers (Mary McCallum at Makaro/The Cuba Press, Anoushka Jones of Exisle/EK Publishing, and Sophie Siers at Millwood Press), and best selling author Stacy Gregg, chaired by writer/agent Chris Else. It was great to hear the speakers talk about their title sales across a range of territories. The second breakout session with Stacy Gregg provided a solid framework for constructing compelling novels. With 25 novels to her name, Stacy knows her stuff.

I'd been tying myself in knots for several weeks trying to prepare my talk for the afternoon keynote that I was to be involved in - Pathways to Imagination. It's tricky writing for an audience that ranges from novices to experienced award winners. In the end I opted for covering as many bases as possible and touching on a reminder about the limits of our imagination. We can be inventive but cannot create something out of nothing. Our imagination must draw on our experience and knowledge, and risks arise when we try to write beyond these. We have to respect our own limits, and more importantly, respect the reader. I was really touched by the hui delegates who came up to me afterwards to tell me how much they'd enjoyed the talk.

The Conference dinner was a blast. Previous University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children's Writers in Residence (of which I am one) spoke about their experiences during their residencies, over the course of the evening . That's us below - from left: the 2020 resident, Elena De Roo, Leonie Agnew (2013), Me! (2014), Kyle Mewburn (2011), Fifi Colston (2019), Robyn Belton (with Jennifer Beck 2015), and Karen Trebilcock (2010). 2002 resident, Sandy McKay, who also spoke is missing from the photo.



During my spot, when I remembered to mention my 'getting locked in/small-lady fence gymnastics' adventure, I completely forgot to talk about the friendships formed with the other University fellows during my residency, in particular the Mozart fellow, Jeremy Mayall. Jeremy was keen to work collaboratively and composed music to accompany my picture book The Song of Kauri, released while I was in Dunedin. It was a very special and treasured experience, which a day of heightened preparedness had driven from my mind.

Next morning kicked off with a fabulous keynote by the incredible Wendy Pye, whose tireless work and creative thinking takes tools for reading acquisition all around the world to people who would otherwise not get the opportunity. Next I attended junior fiction series author Swapna Haddow's, breakout session on writing series. This was a terrific primer on constructing a series, and after a mini epiphany mid-session, I came away fizzing with a potential idea. The post lunch keynote was a fascinating insight into the process of two very different authors, Stacy Gregg and Rachael Craw, who were interviewed by Kate De Goldi. The session was a great reminder that there is never just one way to write a fantastic book. Unfortunately we had to dash away before the final keynote and farewell in order to catch planes home, but we'd had an amazing time. I tip my hat to the organisers for this rip roaringly successful event. I will be down there in a shot if they do it again.

Pitch Slam Dunk...

I am slowly sifting through some of the information put in my brain last weekend at the conference. Here are some thoughts I have had following this fab event.

1. If you are serious about being a writer and/or illustrator one of the most useful things you can do to help yourself is to join at least one (if not all) of the professional groups available in NZ. Kiwiwrite4kidz or the WCBA (Wellington Childrens Book Assoc.), the NZSA, Storylines, The NZ Book Council and Te Tai Tamariki. When I finally got up the nerve to give the writing thing a shot I joined Storylines and the NZSA. Becoming part of the children's book community is the best way to find out how it all works. If I'd stayed alone in my study tapping away on my computer, sending things out in the post to publishers I would be years behind where I am now. Talking with others who share the same goals is inspiring, motivating and educational. I have since joined Kiwiwrite4kidz and intend to join the NZ Book Council as well. It is an essential part of your development.


2. Martin Baynton gave a stirring keynote speech on the opening night of the Conference where he urged everyone to take control of their intellectual property and exploit it for maximum benefit. He does not automatically assign all rights to publishers who contract his work. Can that publisher actually exploit that right and maximise the income for that work? The publishers panel the following day gave a mixed reply to his advice. Some argued for their ability to make use of these rights. Others stated which rights were non-negotiable (thereby implying that the others were?). Many publishers are part of a global company or are affiliated with overseas publishers, some of whom have the necessary skills and corporate machinery to make use of these rights. I never asked them how often these rights are exploited and how lucrative they were. I appreciate that a small proportion of published work would ever be deemed suitable for film or merchandising (or other similar) rights but I now know I shouldn't forget about them during the contract process. Baynton's vision is broad and his ambitions, global. He borrowed millions to exploit one of his works and it paid off. Of course this kind of investment is a) not for the faint-hearted and b) not suitable for everyone's work. I'm not sure if I'll ever go down that route but his talk certainly opened my eyes.

3. I was extremely honoured to be invited to participate in the Speed Date The Author event held at Island Bay School in Wellington on the morning of the opening day of the conference. I did a 15 minute presentation on tone to 5 different groups of intermediate aged children who rotated round 6 different authors and illustrators each assigned their own topic. I hope the children enjoyed it. I loved the format and once I warmed up I enjoyed it. Congratulations to Sarah Forster from the NZ Book Council who came up with the idea and thanks for including me. This concept could easily be used anywhere in the country.

4. Pitching. Huge kudos to Maureen and Fifi for including this in the conference. Pitching has, as I understand it, been a part of writing conferences for some time in the US. A writer or illustrator makes an appointment to pitch their book idea/completed novel/pb to a publisher or agent. It has never been formally done in New Zealand before. There were 7 publishers and 2 agents (one Kiwi, one from Oz) available at Spinning Gold. Appointments were 3 minutes long with 2 minutes for the pitchee to recover before the next appointment started. I applaud the publishers and agents for agreeing to do this. It would not be easy to listen to up to 12 individuals trying to sell you their idea/book. We were all newbies at pitching and everyone looked terrified. Rescue remedy was being passed around. Some faces were a worrying shade of pale. There was a lot of nervous joking in the stairwell before we were let through for our appointments. I had three appointments and through sheer luck (and being completely brazen) I managed to get myself a fourth. Some publishers would be ideal poker players. Some were probably overwhelmed by the all the things I thrust at them and were wishing they were better at poker. I was grateful for the opportunity to just meet these people face to face. I think my pitching needs an awful lot of polishing. Although one is talking about one's own work which we theoretically should know intimately, it is easy to forget the salient points and go heavy on the waffle. I think I did better at talking about my shorter works - lets face it - its a lot easier to summarise a 700 word pb then it is to summarise something in excess of 45,000 words. Thank you to the Spinning Gold team who organised this and who, on the day, despite a huge chance of mayhem had it all running like well oiled clockwork. Thank you to the publishers and agents who gave up their time to participate. I am hoping, like dating agencies that publicise any resulting unions, that Spinning Gold will mention any successful deals struck as a result of their inaugural Pitch Slam.

Speed date an author...

I am one of the lucky folk all signed up for the Spinning Gold conference in Wellington this September. I love, love, love winey whiny gossip with other writers, and talking books and writing, and listening to others talk books and writing (major bliss), and I am anticipating this event with great relish (although I'm not packing just yet). I don't get down to Wellington too often and had been wondering about maximising the opportunity with some school visits or similar down there when I was given the chance to participate in what sounds like the most excellent fun and a great alternative to school visits - a speed-date-the-author event on the friday morning organised by the NZ Book Council. You deliver a 15 minute talk on a set topic (I really like my topic on 'tone' and I can't wait to attack a whiteboard with my ideas) 5 times to different groups of intermediate age children, who rotate through 6 different authors/illustrators, each with their own topic, during the morning. I'm not sure where the idea originated but whoever thought of it deserves a prize. It seems like a very smart format, and I'm interested to see how well it works. I am very excited...

I am also excited (and very lucky) as an illustrator has done a couple of pics on spec for one of my picture book manuscripts, and ms and illustrations have gone off to an interested publisher. I adore the pictures and hope the publisher does too. Fingers, toes and eyes are crossed for luck...

BTW I have been following a very interesting discussion over at editorial anonymous and Justine Larbalestier's blog about racism in book covers (and sadly beyond). It is eye-opening and depressing and I am watching and reading to see what may come of having this raised and aired and debated....its certainly got me thinking.