Celia's diary

Arvon Adventures

2011-11-12T16:22:00.009Z

This time last week, I had just come back from a week at The Hurst, the Arvon Foundation's centre in Shropshire. Like the other Arvon centres, it is a lovely house in a beautiful place, peaceful and tranquil, with lots of space to think and write. It was the playwright John Osborne's house, and so has lots of writerly associations and reminders, with playbills up everywhere and loos sponsored by Maggie Smith.

I'm a bit late blogging about it, but it has taken me a week to:

a) Recover.

b) Catch up on other stuff enough to get round to writing my own blog.

I was beaten to it first by by my co-tutor, Linda Newbery, on the excellent site: Do Authors Dream of Electric Books? To see what she has to say, just click on the link below and while you are there, have a look round, particularly if you are interested in publishing e books.
http://authorselectric.blogspot.com/2011/11/tutoring-for-arvon.html

I was also beaten to it by Jo Wyton who got her blog up on the equally excellent Notes From The Slushpile http://notesfromtheslushpile.blogspot.com/ . Jo was on the course, so her perspective was particularly interesting for me.

I've tutored four Arvon courses now, and each one has been different, made so by the setting and by the people, tutors and tutees, who have been taking part. But they all had some things in common. They were all intense, hard work, but inspirational. There's something about a group of people with a common interest and a common purpose. Wherever you are at: just beginning, stuck in a rut, blocked, putting off the evil day before you get started, a week away on an Arvon course seems to free the spirit and untie the knots. It's an opportunity to be a writer, not a doctor, or a house wife, or a web site manager, or a lawyer, or a student, or whatever you are when you are at home, and to join with other writers, to learn from the tutors, who are all experienced writers, but also from each other. By the end of the week, Arvon has done its magic. Everyone seems to have made significant progress with the work that he or she brought with them, or has started something new.

To find out more, go to:
Arvon Foundation Home
http://www.arvonfoundation.org/

You'll find all you need to know there, but perhaps what it won't tell you is that going on an Arvon course is also extremely good fun.

I'm indebted to Linda for this snap of our last supper.

Edinburgh International Book Festival

2011-08-24T21:00:00.001+01:00

I've been away from my own blog for a while, although I have been active on various joint blogs, like the Awfully Big Blog Adventure awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com and The History Girls: the-history-girls.blogspot.com.

I was reminded of how lax I'd been by the Bookwitch when I met her at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. She was there with her Roving Photographer, taking snap shots and storing away details to blog about us authors so I thought I'd reciprocate and mention her, instead of the other way round.

I was in Edinburgh at the weekend to do a series of events. I flew up on Saturday and my Sunday started at 10am with a ten minute reading in the Writers' Retreat. I could choose to read from any work so I gave my new novel its first public outing. It looks very different: no girl on the cover, no elegant writing. That is because it is very different. It is not historical but a contemporary thriller; the narration shared between a boy and a girl. It will not be published until February 2012. I'll be writing more about it as the date nears.

My main event was with Nicola Morgan, talking about Historical Fiction with Julia Eccleshare, Children's Literary Editor of the Guardian, as Chair. We had a good audience for an excellent session. You never know what you will find out about people on these occasions. Nicola, for example, has a deep interest and knowledge of the gruesome and gory. It does not do to judge authors by what you see. Afterwards we repaired to the Yurt (see below). The yurt is big kind of tent for us authors to hide in. There we met fellow author, Linda Strachan. Linda lives in Scotland, so I don't see her all that often. Edinburgh is a great place to catch up with people.

When I'm at a festival, I like to go and see other people if I get chance. I always find it interesting to hear writers talking about their craft. So in the afternoon, I went to see Patrick Ness talking to Moira Young about dystopian fiction. Not my fave genre but a very interesting session. My last engagement for the day was another reading - not from my own work this time but from the work of an Iraqi Blogger who has to be anonymous because he could be arrested or killed for speaking out in his country. This event was organised by Amnesty International and PEN, the writers' organization, which works to promote literature and human rights. There are readings throughout the festival: writers speaking the words and freeing the voices of their brothers and sisters abroad who have been silenced by oppression.

Monday was the first day of the Schools' Programme (Scottish schools start back earlier than their English counterparts). My time in Edinburgh finished with a talk about The Fool's Girl to a large, appreciative and very enthusiastic audience from schools all over Scotland, some of whom had got up at 5am to get to the Festival.

I was sorry to leave Edinburgh. There are so many things going on that I never get a chance to see. Maybe next time I'll get to stay longer.

Pirates! fight another day...

2011-05-29T18:17:00.002+01:00

Sometimes interesting and intriguing requests drop into my inbox. A month or so ago I had an e mail from a blogger who was planning a pirate month on her web site. She asked if I would like to take part, she wanted to feature my book, Pirates!, offer some copies for a giveaway (courtesy of the publishers, Bloomsbury) and would I like to write something? She wanted me to write a piece to be called The Brawl in Triton's Tavern. I love pirates, so how could I refuse?

I decided that I couldn't add anything to the actual book. Somehow, a book is a finished thing - it is what it is - and can't have extra episodes added on to it. Besides, there is already a tavern scene in the book, so there is not really room for another. So I decided to write an episode from Pirates!, the phantom sequel. This book has never been written, but parts of it exist, in my mind, anyway. Even though I might never get to write it, I'd certainly thought about what might happen after the end of the book, but would I actually be able to go back to the time, the characters, re-visit a novel that was published eight years ago?

The answer was - no problem! It was like visiting old friends that I hadn't seen for years. They were there waiting for me. You can read the result at: http://vvb32read.blogspot.com/2011/05/triton

I really enjoyed my visit and maybe the girls will sail again one day. Who knows? Certainly looks like they are up for it!

If it's Tuesday, it must be....

2011-04-14T12:06:00.010+01:00

Northampton, or that is where I was last week. I was on a Book Tour, organised by my publisher, Bloomsbury, to promote The Fool's Girl, which came out in paperback... last Tuesday. I was travelling up and down the country all week, from Coventry to London via Kettering and Northampton and then back up to Wolverhampton. Hard work, but worth it - you get to meet readers, sell books, spread the word. For children's authors, appearances are mostly in schools these days, or theatre spaces, with children brought in from schools around to hear you speak. The schools involved do not have to pay, they are effectively receiving a free school visit, although the understanding is, stated or otherwise, that the students will have money to buy books. Authors might also be asked to take part in evening or twilight events, in a bookstore or local library, so it can make for a long day but worth it, as I say, or at least that is what we are told. If we are asked to do a tour, we do not refuse. We are contractually obliged to support the publication of a book in any way we can but not everyone is offered the chance of a tour, publishing is going though hard times and budgets are tight. Not everyone feels happy and confident standing up in front of hundreds of children and/or teenagers. Just because you write for them, doesn't mean you automatically have the ability to entertain them en masse. The very idea fills some authors with the kind of dread experienced by stand ups booked to play the Glasgow Empire.

Never fear, there is now a different kind of tour. A Blog Tour. Writers can get out and about, travel the world, without ever leaving their desks. It is all done in cyberspace. Writers go from blog to blog answering questions, being interviewed, writing a guest blog. It is busy out there and getting busier. Gillian Philip is visiting the Bookwitch right now. Kath Langrish was with her not so long ago and expect Mary Hoffman some time soon.

There is nothing like connecting with readers personally, but if this not going to happen for whatever reason, then the Blog Tour is an excellent alternative. The great thing about the Blog Tour is that writers can organise them for themselves, no longer completely dependant on the vagaries of publicity and marketing departments. Just as important, it is a way of making connections, growing awareness, building interest, not just in us and our books but in the bloggers and the sites that they work so hard to keep current and fresh.

Der Narr und das Madchen

2011-03-23T12:36:00.008Z

Is the title of The Fool's Girl in German. Last week I was on what the Germans term a Reading Tour, going to various schools and venues reading from and talking about my book. I gave up German when I was thirteen, or rather it gave up on me, so it was a good thing that all the groups I met spoke excellent English.

My first visit was to the Franconian International School in Erlangen. It was a full on day of talks and workshops organised by their wonderful librarian, Elaine Smith. As it was my first gig, I admit to being slightly nervous, but the staff could not have been more helpful or accommodating and the students were attentive and full of enthusiasm. From Erlangen, I went to Munich by train. I had a fistful of tickets for various long distance train journeys. I like travelling by train and I had Christopher Isherwood's Berlin novels with me as appropriate reading.

In Munich I met another wonderful librarian, Sabine Balmer, who works at the European School. The reading went well with lots of questions. Afterwards, I was interviewed by a student team for the local radio station. They made me read a few sentences in English. Their excellent English put my stumbling efforts to shame!

I went from Munich to Berlin, which is a six hour journey, but I didn't mind. It gave me time to reflect, write and do lots of staring out of the window. I stayed overnight in Berlin and did a session the next day at the Gruner Salon in Rosa Luxemburg Platz. Then on the train to the Leipzig Book Fair. The book fair was huge, miles and miles of stands spreading across a bewildering number of halls. 'Home' was the Berlin Verlag stand in aisle D, Hall C. I did a couple of events. A reading with a young German actress and a public event at the fair. I was concerned in case no-one showed up. but plenty of people came along to hear me read and talk about The Fool's Girl. I also met a very self possessed group of young readers from Berlin, representing a network of book groups that operate across several schools in the city. I was impressed by what they told me about how the groups operate. They have their own web sites where they post blogs and reviews. They even had their own business cards!

In the evening, I was taken to Auerbachs Keller, a famous beer keller associated with the German writer Goethe and the story of Faust. According to legend, the alchemist, Dr Faust, rode a wine barrel from the cellar to the street with the help of the Devil, or his helper, Mephistopheles. Goethe included a scene in the wine bar in his play, Faust. Mephistopheles was there in person, startling diners and acting out scenes from the play. I couldn't understand a word, but his presence was enough. Thanks are due to Katja Henkel, fellow author, who remembered to bring her camera.

The Book Fair marked the end of my week. I had a great time. I love travelling, seeing different places and meeting different people. I just wish that I'd paid more attention in my language lessons in school!

Swindon Ten Youth Festival of Literature

2010-11-17T11:18:00.007Z

Last week I was invited to attend the third Swindon Ten Youth Festival of Literature. This is a collaborative venture, co-ordinated by the librarians of Swindon with 11 Secondary Schools involved and 10 Primary schools. If anyone doubts the worth and importance of school librarians, they should visit Swindon in Festival week. This is a huge feat of organisation but the rewards are manifest. The Festival attracted a stellar list of authors, including Charlie Higson and the Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, who took part in a celebration of reading, covering books of every kind and genre. The enthusiasm in the schools for both reading and writing are proof of the importance and value of this Festival.

I visited two schools, Isambard Community School and Greendown Community School, and talked to three groups of students about my books, reading, and writing generally. I was impressed by the enthusiasm I met, both for reading and writing. Isambard particularly seems to have a keen group of talented and motivated writers. I hope they get together and spark off each other. Writers don't have to work in isolation, sharing work and writing concerns with others can really help. I've been writing for more than twenty years and at each stage of my career, I've benefited from being in touch with other writers, both friends I've made through having a common interest and through the Scattered Authors' Society.

I hope the Swindon Festival continues and that its success inspires other places to follow its example. It is a wonderful way, not just to celebrate reading, but to encourage writers, too.

Ardingly College

2010-11-09T15:45:00.004Z

Last week, I was invited to visit Ardingly College in Sussex to take part in a special day dedicated to reading. I talked about my books and then led a creative writing work shop. One of the classes had been studying Witch Child - some of their work is displayed on the board behind me in the photograph. I was impressed by the enthusiasm amongst the students for both reading and writing and would like to thank the library staff and the English Department for making it into such a good day.

By coincidence, the librarian remembered me from a visit I made to a school in nearby Crowborough. It was the early 1990's and I had not long been published. I had been invited to the school as part of the Conan Doyle Festival (I wrote thrillers then). I felt very honoured to be invited but it was my first school visit and I had no idea what to do. I was terrified, but luckily there were other writers there to calm me down and proffer suitable advice and encouragement. I've done hundreds of visits since then but I'll never forget that first trip to Crowborough!

Where does the summer go?

2010-08-23T10:50:00.002+01:00

Every July, I go to this place, Charney Manor, in Oxfordshire on a kind of writers' retreat/re-charge with fellow members of the Scattered Authors' Society. For me, this marks the beginning of the 'Summer Holidays', except they are often not holidays at all. Last year I was working on re-writes for The Fool's Girl; this year, I'm working on a new novel. It is actually set over a school summer holiday, so I can synchronise the events to the changing months. They are having much better weather in the book, but then it is a fiction.

Writing Life

2010-07-05T12:15:00.006+01:00

A writing life is made up of many things other than writing books. In June, I tutored a week long Creative Writing Course, at the Ted Hughes Arvon Centre at Lumb Bank in Yorkshire, together with Patrick Ness. We were lucky enough to tutor a talented and enthusiastic group. They worked very hard and rose to every challenge we could devise. It is traditional on Arvon courses to read out work on Friday night and the standard that they achieved was very high indeed. They have gone on the start up their own Yahoo! Group. I hope they stay in touch with each other - and with us.

I went from there to Rimini in Italy. I had been invited to a Festival and was looking forward to a few days in the Italian sun. It rained (it did not rain in Yorkshire), but the festival was well worth the trip. It was run and organised almost entirely by teenagers. I was looked after by the wonderful Cristina who spoke excellent English and sorted everything out for me. A big audience turned out to hear me talk about Sovay, published in Italy as La ragazza con le pistole, despite a spectacular thunderstorm.

The day after I arrived back in England, I went to Kingston-on-Thames for an event with my friend, Mary Hooper, and another Bloomsbury writer, Lucy Jago. We were in the Rose Theatre talking about historical novels. Mary has just had her novel Fallen Grace published and Lucy's novel, Montecute house came out in April.

I ended the week at Haberdashers' School in Monmouth, taking part in a whole week's activities, centred around the life of Charles Rolls (of Rolls Royce fame). his family lived just outside Monmouth and this year is the centenary of his death. On Friday afternoon we were entertained to an Edwardian tea on the lawn - an excellent way to end the week!

Celia's diary: Writers and Artists

2010-05-23T09:09:00.000+01:00

Celia's diary: Writers and Artists

Writers and Artists

2010-05-23T08:36:00.006+01:00

Yesterday, I went to the Opening of an Exhibition of paintings and photographs by my friend, Chris Lock at the North Wall Gallery and Arts Centre in Oxford. Chris and I taught together a very long time ago at Binley Park School, Coventry and we have stayed friends ever since.

A lot of my friends are artists. I admire and envy their facility. Art attracts me enormously, but I have no skill. I could blame being badly taught, or left handedness, but I have never been able to draw or paint or take a half way decent photograph.

Nevertheless, I feel a great affinity to visual artists and feel that we have lot in common. Our ways of expression may be different, but I can identify with their single mindedness, their interest in certain images, symbols and motifs that they will return to again and again to the point of obsession. They see things that the rest of us miss and look differently. I always feel I can learn a lot from them and that we are just dipping from a different stretch of the great and mysterious stream that is creativity.

For details of the Exhibition go to:
http://http//www.thenorthwall.com/moreinfo.php?ref=194&type=x&start=0

Churches and Gardens

2010-05-01T18:08:00.014+01:00

I've spoken in all kinds of places: classrooms, school halls, libraries, theatres, tents, even on the deck of the Cutty Sark, but never anywhere where the audience were sitting in pews and up in a gallery. This is St George's, Edinburgh, and it used to be a church. I was there to talk to students from various schools in Edinburgh. The space took a bit of getting used to, but it worked very well. Viv French, friend and fellow author, introduced me. I was there to talk about Fool's Girl. She's acted in Twelfth Night several times so I was really pleased when she said she loved the book.

Sunday, May 2nd

On Friday, May Day Eve, I was filming for a podcast in the garden next to Shakespeare's Birthplace. Flowers and herbs from Shakespeare's plays were all growing there - violets, pansies for thoughts, rue, bitter herb of grace, and rosemary. I was reminded of my mother, these were plants we had in our garden.

There's rosemary, that's for remembrance

pray you, love, remember.

- Hamlet

Today is her birthday. She loved Shakespeare. She named me for Celia in As You Like It and introduced me to his plays through his flowers, his songs and his verse that she could quote from memory. People ask where do ideas come from - I don't know, but sometimes I think that that come from a very deep place indeed.

Fool's Girl and Shakespeare's Birthday

2010-04-25T18:21:00.006+01:00

Last Monday I was at a schools event at Crosby Civic Hall, organised by Tony Higginson of Pritchards in Formby, Merseyside. Here we are outside his great independent book shop, with The Fool's Girl just visible in the window behind us. This was my first big schools' event talking about Fool's Girl but the students who had come from different schools to listen to me were hugely welcoming and very enthusiastic. I signed lots of books afterwards and one boy told me he bought the book because he really liked the idea - just what authors like to hear!

Friday, 23rd April. A special day. It was Shakespeare's birthday and I was at the Birthplace Trust in Stratford-on-Avon, talking to students from King Edward Sixth Grammar School (Shakespeare's old school) and Stratford Girls' Grammar School, which is in Shottery, Anne Hathaway's village. I was in Shakespeare Central and when you are talking about a book which has Shakespeare as a character, you can't get much better. It was an excellent day all round. In the afternoon, I attended a lecture given by James Shapiro about his new book Contested Will: Who wrote Shakespeare? This time it was my turn to get my book signed.

2010-04-12T13:20:00.003+01:00

The spirit of Feste is alive and well and was with me on Saturday. I encountered this street performer on the way to the Central Library to give my talk for the Cambridge Wordfest, and was careful to put money into his hat. I'm superstitious like that. To walk by would have been to court disaster. It was the first time that I'd really spoken about The Fool's Girl at length, more than giving a sneak peek of a work in progress, and I was anxious for it to go well. I needn't have worried. He must have been with me. My writer friends - Yvonne Coppard, Julia Jarman and Anne Rooney - had come along to support me and there were other people, too: some young, some older: readers, librarians, fellow writers. I read a bit, talked a bit, showed them some pictures and then they asked questions. It's always hard to know what people want to know about a book. What fascinates you, as the writer, might not necessarily interest other people. There's so much that you could say that it is hard to decide what to include. That is why I always try to leave plenty of time for questions. It is the most interesting part for me and I suspect for other people, so when a writer asks 'Any questions?', don't be shy.

2010-04-06T16:03:00.004+01:00

Yesterday was publication day for The Fool's Girl . Easter Bank Holiday - a bit of an odd choice of day. I didn't do anything special to mark the book's entrance into the world. It is already 'out there' anyway, or as 'out there' as it is going to be. I did have a nice surprise, however, when I discovered a wonderful review on a web site
Rhiana Reads at http://rhiana-reads.blogspot.com/ This is an excellent site, with loads of reviews, comments and recommended reads. My fellow writer, Kath Langrish, has also posted a review and interview on her site Seven Miles of Steel Thistles http://steelthistles.blogspot.com/ . I'd like to thank these two and all the other bloggers who take the time and trouble to read and review books and share their opinions with others. It seems to me that this is the way to keep reading dynamic and vibrant. It means that readers can find books that they might otherwise miss, as well as getting the chance to say what they think. It is good for writers, too. We all want our work to be recognised. There is nothing worse than having a book published and for there to be absolutely no reaction. Now, thanks to the internet, that doesn't have to happen.

Message from the gods...

2010-04-01T20:58:00.002+01:00

If they do come through, then they come in mysterious ways. On Tuesday, I was at the Society of Authors for a talk about blogging, given byRhiannon Lassiter and Mary Hoffman (seen here with me on the left - photo c/o Helena Pielichaty, who was chairing the meeting). The talk was entitled To Blog or Not to Blog - the worse thing you can do is to half do it - I was in the front row looking shifty. The message was encouraging rather than daunting and I went away feeling suitably chastised for having a blog and not keeping it up (or keeping it up fitfully and from the guilty looks about - I'm not alone in this) but also energised, determined to do better. Then I got a message from my publisher saying that they had nominated me for a blog award at: http://www.completelynovel.com/author-blog-awards . My first reaction was, 'you've got to be joking!' there are real bloggers out there - like Mary and Rhiannon and Helena - go to their sites, look them up. They are proper bloggers - I'm not - but you can't be unnominated, apparently, so my next thought was maybe it is message from whoever the god of the internet may be (my money is on Hermes). A message to me to keep it up and now's a good time. I've got a book coming out on Monday and some visits lined up, so I should have something to blog about. Even if I stand no chance of winning (that's a given) at least I can have a go and take on board what Rhiannon and Mary taught me - blogging and following other people's blogs - can be fascinating fun.

Books and Ice Cream

2010-02-19T17:11:00.002Z

I often buy books now via the Internet, from Amazon or Abebooks, but I was in Hay-on-Wye the other day and re-descovered the joy of browsing. The last time I was in Hay was for the Festival and the town looked very different from those heady days in May. The Festival field was just that, a muddy field, and there weren't many tourists about, but the bookshops were still there, still open, and I really enjoyed spending a few hours just looking, picking up books, attracted by the cover, the subject matter, discovering books that I knew nothing about, but found interesting.

Today, I went to the library. I went in for one thing and came out an hour later with an armful of books that I had not planned to read but which sparked my interest and took my attention. The internet is great - if you know what you want - but you still can't beat a real bookshop, or a library, for those random discoveries that will set off a new idea or introduce you to a writer you did not know before. And Hay has better ice cream!

2010-02-01T16:46:00.002Z

It's always hard to decide when it is time for a new book to be 'out there'. In the old days, it was easy. A book 'came out', when it came out, but now, with web sites, internet, Amazon, etc. a book has a life long before it hits the book shops (those that are left). So, this is my new book, The Fool's Girl. Its official publication date is 5th April. It is based on Shakespeare's play, Twelfth Night, but is not a straight re-working. Rather, it is about what could have happened after the play ended and how Shakespeare might have got to hear the story. He is, in fact, a character in the novel. I normally avoid having real people in my books, especially any as famous as Mr WS, but rules are there to be broken, especially rules about writing. Once I saw him as Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love, not the bald bloke in the Folio engraving, I found him much easier to write about.

Thank you to all the people who have offered me advice about blogging. Clearly, there are some people out there who read this. I've taken a break from it, partly because I was really busy getting Fool's Girl ready for publication, but I'm hoping to keep the blog up to date from now on!

2009-11-09T14:31:00.003Z

A bit of a gap in blogging. Nothing in the summer because nothing was happening. then too much happening and no time to blog. That's if blogging is worthwhile anyway. From the number of responses, one does wonder. A lot of my writer friends blog and twitter all the time, but are we all talking to no-one about nothing? I'll go by the comments.

I've been busy editing (or trying to edit) my new book, now called The Fool's Girl. It's got a cover, and everything, just the writing isn't finished yet. It landed on my desk just as I had go on school visits and to festivals, here and in Germany. It's all done now and I've just sent it off, so I feel I have a right to blog.

I hope I get the edits back before I head off for Yorkshire. I'm tutoring a course with Melvin Burgess at the Arvon Centre in Lumb Bank, Yorkhire, Writing for Young People, 23 -28th November, 2009. It's a bit short notice, but if you fancy it, there are a few places left. Anyone interested book through Arvon www.arvonfoundation.org

Book sent off and blog done. How virtuous am I?

2009-08-14T14:45:00.003+01:00

I'm really happy that Scholastic are re-issuing my vampire novel, Blood Sinister, this month. I wrote it a while ago now, and it has had various incarnations with various different covers, but I like the look they have given it and it is good to see it out now.

I've always loved vampires, I'm glad the rest of the world is catching up with me. My interest goes way back to the days of the old Hammer Horror films and Christopher Lee as Count Dracula. I read Bram Stoker's Dracula when I was a teenager and it is still one of my favourite books in the horror genre. More recently, I was an avid watcher of Buffy and really liked Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire and her vampire Lestat. I'm not sure about this new generation, I like my vampires to have a bit of bite, but if they direct new readers to some of the classics in the genre, that has to be a good thing.

2009-07-19T12:44:00.003+01:00

July is a busy time for school visits, and I was out and about quite a lot at the beginning of the month. I did a mini tour in Worcestershire, visiting Stourport High School, where the students were joined by pupils from King Charles 1 High School and Wolverley High School. I also visited Christopher Whitehead Language College, and talked to students from Chantry High School, Tenbury High School and Hanley Castle High School. The next day I was in Redditch, at Arrowvale Community High School, and in Birmingham at Woodrush Community High School. Then I was off to Nottingham High School for Girls. I don't go out to schools as often as I used to but it is always good to meet and talk to readers. I hope that everyone I spoke to enjoyed my talks and that a few, at least, went on to read one of my books.

July is also the time when I go to Charney Manor in Oxfordshire (see pic above) on a kind of writers' retreat. A bunch of us get together to talk, discuss, write or just hang out in the lovely grounds. I've been going for about eight years now and always have a wonderful time. It is a great way to unwind (even if my team was trounced in the quiz this year).

I'm off to Greece for a couple of weeks (a different kind of unwinding). I'm being strict about books to take because of weight restrictions, and am not taking a laptop. I might do some writing, but in longhand, which will be odd, because I always use a computer, but sometimes it's good to work in a different way.

Campaign for the Book

2009-06-29T12:42:00.003+01:00

I had the honour of opening the Campaign for the Book Conference in Birmingham on Saturday. Some 200 delegates: public and school librarians, School Library Service staff, authors, publishers, library campaigners, academics, teachers, book bloggers and book lovers, assembled in King Edward’s School to hear inspirational speeches, evidence-based research and to join in through workshops and debate. The conference was a great success and we all came away inspired and elated.

Author, Alan Gibbons, started the Campaign a year ago now, as a personal response to the outrage he felt at how both the schools and public library services were being attacked and eroded. Sometimes one story, one incident, can act as a catalyst, pushing the individual over from concern to action. For Alan, it was the sacking of a young school librarian in Chesterfield, and the closing of her library, for no other reason than the school's desire to save money. She told her story at the Conference and received a standing ovation from delegates. Another catalyst was the news from the Wirral that the council were planning to axe over half their branch libraries, a number of them in some of the poorest, most deprived areas in the country. If this council succeeds, their lead will be followed by any council wanting to save money. It is something that should concern us all. To find out more about the Campaign for the Book and find out how you can help, go to http://www.alangibbons.net . It is up to all of us who value books and libraries to act now.

In the words of Joni Mitchell, 'Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.' So join the campaign, support your local library service, your school library, and your school library service, before it is too late.

2009-06-11T09:25:00.002+01:00

I've had a busy couple of days in London. On Tuesday, I went to the reception for the new Children's Laureate. It was all a very well kept secret, but if I'd spotted the gent in question, I would have known it was him. I could not have been more pleased when we finally got to the 'without further ado' moment and the new laureate was announced. Anthony Browne. He is an immensely talented and distinguished illustrator, astonishingly creative, genuinely inspirational and a really nice guy. His picture books are extraordinarily clever, but instantly accessible; full of detail that re-pays looking and re-looking. Part of his success lies in the fact that adults and children both quickly become absorbed by his work, stepping into the immensely rich world he creates in his books. He has an enormous reputation abroad, and I hope that he can get the British to finally appreciate the great wealth of artists and illustrators that we have in this country. I also hope that he gets everybody to play the Shape Game!

Yesterday, I was helping to chair a quite extraordinary meeting of all sorts of people: authors, illustrators, publishers, agents, librarians, teachers, teacher trainers, journalists, critics, representatives from organisations involved in promoting reading and literacy, booksellers, and others involved in the world of children's books. We were all there to hear Michael Rosen talk about how we can get reading for pleasure, for fun, for enjoyment back into our schools. All those terms don't really work. Independent reading is all those things, but much more. It is the way to independent thought and full intellectual maturity. There was much discussion and a lot of points raised. I'm not sure what will happen next, but something will. With Arnold Shwarzenegger wanting to rid schools of books altogether, something has to happen. Watch this space.

Hay Festival

2009-05-31T15:36:00.004+01:00

I haven't blogged for a while. Not because I've had nothing to blog about, more because blogging is a bit like keeping New Year's Resolutions - I'll start tomorrow. Also, this is my third attempt (and counting) at getting this up on the website. Anyway, this is a pic of me holding forth at Hay. I was on a panel with Sally Gardner, chaired by Julia Eccleshare, Children's Fiction Editor for The Guardian, discussing the French Revolution (note the tricolor rosette I bought in a costume shop near the Opera in Paris). We were talking about my novel, Sovay, and Sally's novel The Silver Blade, the sequel to The Red Necklace. It always interests me that two writers can choose the same time and the same place almost exactly, two of our characters would have been in the same prison on the same day, but will end up writing something completely different. Sally's novel is on this year's Guardian Children's Fiction Prize Longlist. I was one of the judges and it deserves its place. One never knows how many people will turn up, so it was a relief to see that the tent so full (maybe some of your were there, if so, let me know!). Afterwards, we signed lots of books and were all very happy that it went so well.

I'm always thrilled to be invited to go to Hay. It is such a great festival, full of people who love books and reading. I first went in 1990, as a wannerbe writer, never dreaming (OK dreaming) that one day I'd be there on the platform. If I'm at Hay, I always try to go and see other writers. Just like all the other readers there, I'm interested in what they have to say about their books, and I'm a big believer that writers can learn from each other. This year I went to see Patrick Ness, one of my fellow Guardian Judges, talking about his books, The Knife of Never Letting Go, and the new one, The Ask and The Answer. I'm not a big fan of dystopian novels, unless they are very good, and his are very good. He's an exciting writer, not afraid to do something very different. I thoroughly enjoyed his session, and meeting him on the judging panel. It is easy to get complacent about one's own writing and he's a reminder not to do that. I went back to Hay on Saturday, especially to see Sarah Waters. I am a huge fan of her historical novels and had to go and see her speaking. I also bought her new book, The Little Stranger, and she was gracious enough to sign it for me in the Green Room before she went on stage.

The Festival is over now, soon the site will be just a muddy field. Time to get back to my current book (more about that in the next blog). The book is not even finished yet, but if I'm there next year that is the one I'll be talking about, so I'd better get on with it!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-15T09:51:00.003Z

I've got quite a bit of writing done since New Year (didn't get much done before - best intentions and all that). Sovay is being published in Germany, so on Monday I'm going there for a week's tour and a Festival in Berlin. From there, I'm going to Athens for a British Council Fair. Foreign visits are like buses - nothing then two at once. There will be lots of other writers going, like Catherine Johnson, Keith Gray and Theresa Breslin, so it will be good to catch up with them. After that, I don't have much on, so I'll be back at my desk. If Claire is reading this, I could be tempted to go for a coffee...

Christmas is coming...

2008-12-05T12:52:00.002Z

and I'm finally getting a bit of time to do some writing. I've more or less finished with visits and meetings for this year. I really enjoyed the The Literlund Festival in Sweden. It was wonderful to be able to meet and talk to Swedish readers and to meet other writers from different countries. I also had a great time recently at Highgate School in London, who had organised a Gothic Day for their Year 8 students. Linda Newbery, Adele Geras and Sarah Singleton were also there, but I got to visit Highgate's famous West Cemetery (the setting for much of Blood Sinister) with my group of students. We had a guided tour, took lots of photographs, and then went back to the school to do some writing. My perfect workshop!

Events

2008-10-14T16:21:00.003+01:00

In the next couple of weeks I will be at:

17th October, 2008
YLG Training Day - London

23rd & 24th October, 2008
LitteraLund Festival, Lund, Sweden.
www.litteralund.se

25th October, 2008
Perth Festival - Perth Concert Hall & Perth Theatre
Perth, Scotland
Tickets from: www.horsecross.co.uk

27th November, 2008

Gothic Day, Highgate School, Highgate, London

writing workshops, festivals and other things in between...

2008-10-14T14:58:00.002+01:00

I've had a busy couple of weeks. First, at Ty Newydd in North Wales tutoring a course with Mary Hoffman www.maryhoffman.co.uk . It was a great week, with really enthusiastic students, keen to know more about writing and hone their skills. We worked them pretty hard, but I think that they enjoyed themselves. If you want to write, then check out the courses at Ty Newydd www.tynewydd.org or at one of the centres run by the Arvon Foundation www.arvonfoundation.org . Marcus Sedgwick came along as our visiting author. It was great to see him and the students really enjoyed hearing about his next novel. When I go back from Ty Newydd, I did another writers' workshop for Warwick Words, but this time it was pretty local. The session was full of dedicated people, dedicated enough to tip up at 10:00 on a Sunday morning in the pouring rain. It was lovely to see some old friends there and nice to meet Claire who has her own blog and has already been in touch via mine, so somebody is reading this! Joe, the book that I was trying to remember was The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

On Saturday, 11th October, I was at the Cheltenham Festival - 'hi' to everyone who came along, especially the Bookwitch, who was there with her daughter and came up afterwards to have her book signed. She's one of the best of the book bloggers, who are getting to be quite a power in the land. You can find her at: www.bookwitch.wordpress.com .

I'm nearly at the end of quite a busy time, so now I'm going to try and get some writing done...

update

2008-09-25T15:43:00.003+01:00

Thought it was about time for an update. I've had a pretty busy summer. I spent the early part of it visiting schools, like Faringdon (see picture of keen readers), talking about my books, especially Sovay. I went on holiday to France for a week and spent another week at a writers' retreat at Charney Manor in Oxfordshire. I was supposed to be getting on with a new book, Illyria, but didn't get all that much done. I don't think that I'm very good at retreating - I enjoy other people's company too much.

I'm Chair of the Society of Authors' Children's Writers and Illustrators Group this year and we had our Conference at the end of August. That went very well, but it took a lot of organising. The hot topic was Age Ranging - whether it is right to put a suggested age on the back of books. Publishers are for it, but a lot of writers (as well as teachers and librarians) are against it, so feelings were running high. I had a bit of a break at the beginning of September, but I was at the Bath Festival last week, and this Monday I was at North London Collegiate School in Edgeware, the oldest girls' school in the country. I had a lovely time there and was especially honoured that their readers' group decided to have a Celia Rees Week later this term.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Saffron Walden Festival and then next week I'm at Ty Newydd in North Wales, acting as co-tutor with Mary Hoffman on a course for people who want to write for children and teenagers. Marcus Sedgwick is our guest writer. I've just finished his latest book The Kiss of Death (what a great title) about vampires in Venice (what's not to like?), so I'm looking forward to talking to him about that.

When I get back, I'm at the Warwick Words Festival on Sunday, 5th October, doing a Writing Workshop. After a whole week of it, I should be full of ideas. The next weekend, I'll be at the Cheltenham Festival. My event is on Saturday 11th October at 5:30, so if any of you want to come along, it will be great to see you there.

book world's most useless blogger

2008-06-25T17:55:00.002+01:00

I've been meaning to keep the blog up to date, but failing dismally. My excuse is that I've been travelling about for the last few weeks visiting schools, bookshops and libraries promoting Sovay. I was going to have a kind of roll call of where I've been and who I've met as I went along, but the list just kept getting longer and longer, and would have ended up looking like a telephone directory. Hence, the world's most useless blogger. Anyway, I'd like to say 'Hi' to everybody I've met in the last few weeks.

One other thing, I'm always astonished that people are brave enough to ask questions, I know I wouldn't have the courage, but if you had a question, and were too shy to ask it, here's the place.

Sovay - out next week!

2008-05-28T20:49:00.003+01:00

Sovay is being published next week - which is very exciting. The launch is tomorrow and after that I will be out and about for a week or so promoting the book. I'm going to be in Norfolk at the Norfolk Children's Book Centre on Monday. I will be talking to pupils at Thorpe St Andrew High School and attending an evening event at the Aylsham Lodge Hotel. There is another school event on Tuesday, at Northgate High School, Dereham and then I'll be in Heffer's Book Shop, Cambridge, to meet girls from St Mary's School. I remember that they really liked Pirates! when that was published, so I'm hoping they will like Sovay, too.

I'm going to be at Kent College, Tunbridge Wells on Wednesday, then back to the Midlands for an evening event in Birmingham organised by the Federation of Children's Book Groups.

In between the events there are interviews and signings, so it will be a busy week. I'll let you know how I got on!

Sovay - advanced copies

2008-05-05T15:23:00.000+01:00

Sovay is not officially published and in the shops until the beginning of June (although you can order in advance on Amazon), but I've just received my advanced copies, which is always a thrill. Very handsome it looks, too.

When I'm working on a book I keep a noticeboard on the wall in front of my desk and I pin up pix to do with the novel I'm writing. This is the noticeboard for Sovay. When I've finished, I take a photograph before clearing the board in preparation for the images I have been collecting for my next book. The noticeboard looks quite different now, but I thought you might like to see some of the images that inspired me while I was writing Sovay. You might also pick up some clues as to what the book is about!

Web site updates, Sovay and The Stone Testament

2008-05-03T14:42:00.003+01:00

Sorry about the blog silence. I didn't quite get to grips with that part of my web site, but I hope to put that right now. I've been up dating my web site with the help of a friend of Rhiannon's, Mo Holkar, and between us we hope to keep you informed. We've been busy putting up info about my new book Sovay, which comes out at the beginning of June, and we hope to add some more to The Stone Testament area before the paperback comes out in July.

Other than that, I'm not doing too many visits at the moment as I'm busy writing a new book. I don’t want to say too much about that right now as it is early stages, but I'll tell you more as time goes on.

Celia's diary is now active

2007-10-05T16:34:00.000+01:00

Hi, this is Rhiannon here. I've been helping Celia put her website together and the very newest part is this weblog. As Celia's web designer I'm able to log in to post messages but most of the content will be written by Celia herself.

If you'd like to comment on a post or ask a question, please feel free. You don't need a Blogger account to comment.

I hope you enjoy the updated website!