Long Weekend Reminiscing - Henry Lawson Festival of the Arts 2008

Tuesday morning and I'm sitting down to work after the long weekend. I have a quick check of Facebook first and discover last weekend Penelope Davie mentioned  that she had been to Henry Lawson Festival of the Arts at Grenfell and in the main street was a plaque  with my name on it. What a wonderful memory to start the week with. Thanks Penelope. I searched out the original blog post I did about how that came to be and enjoyed reminiscing so much I decided to repost it.

I've only ever reposted once before (special circumstances)  but recently I've been enjoying a series of reposts by Michael Gerard Bauer.  I missed them first time round so perhaps similarly someone else will enjoy my revisit here. You'll have to scroll down Michael's blog to find the reposts as they have inspired a spate of new new blog posts. I hope this repost works like that for me!!

Here goes:
Being a children’s author can be quite confronting. Embarrassing even. The questions some primary students ask range from jaw-dropping to ego shattering. And on other occasions they can make you feel like Master of the (Writing) Universe. I thought I’d blog about one of my MOTWU moments. I don’t want to mention the others!!!

Back in June 2008 I was guest of honour at the Henry Lawson Festival of the Arts in Grenfell. Grenfell is a tiny rural town in the central west of NSW, population 2200, the birthplace of Henry Lawson. The weekend long Festival is very prestigious. It’s the longest running arts festival in Australia and past guests of honour have included Patrick White, Di Morrissey and Thomas Keneally!

So how did I get this gig? Well, I’m not proud. I’m willing to admit I was the Guest of Honour to Be Named Later. Last Minute actually. TV actor Simon Westaway was the original choice and when he had to cancel, the rush was on to find someone arts-related who would come to no-airport Grenfell at extremely short notice. My sister, who lives on a small farm in the area, happened to mention me. Even if she wasn’t the best sister in the world this would have immediately earned her the dedication in Shaolin Tiger!‘My sister is an author,” she said. “And she visits here all the time.”

So there I was, pretending to be a famous person of literary note. Crowning the beauty queens. Cutting the ribbon. Keynote speaker at the dinner. Presenting trophies and medallions. Conducting TV interviews. Chatting with the writers from Underbelly who were accepting a scriptwriting award. Grenfell opened its heart to welcome me. I think the townspeople were sort of proud that I had a local connection. I might not have been the ilk of the previous guests yet I was an honorary ‘one of their own.”

But my really big moment was absolutely huge. It’s one of the highlights of my writing career. I was sitting on the official dais (trying to look official and literary!) watching the street parade. Around the corner came a local primary school all dressed up as my Samurai Kids. Banging gongs and waving swords and banners. They marched down the main street and when they reached the dais their teacher yelled “Stop”. “Yes Sensei,” they responded.Then they turned to face me and bowed, Japanese style.

I stood and bowed too. And I bawled my eyes out. To be honest, I bawled my eyes out again writing this. It’s still such a vivid and emotional memory.There are many times when I am asked why I don’t write proper books. Books for adults or older readers. Well one day I might write those too but in writing for kids, I am totally fulfilled. I do write proper books. The people who ask that question don’t understand the craft of writing for children. And they certainly don’t understand how wonderful young readers can make their authors feel. It’s real magic.

A Word About Word Counts

I've heard it said you shouldn't count the words. Write what you want to. Let the story do the driving. Don't be distracted by the numbers. In a perfect Utopian literary world - and we all know there's no such thing - that might work for some. I always count the words. I think the key is to be aware of the word count but not to worry about it.

Sometimes that's not as easy as it sounds. While writing my first YA novel, I was aware the words were piling up much too quickly. Painfully aware because I was writing outside my comfort zone. But I kept going. I knew if I put the complete story on the page, I could edit out what didn't need to be there and still retain the structure. If I tried to adjust the pacing would be all wrong and this is a book where the chronology of change is important. I know my writing bad habits will make it easy to reduce the number of words. I write a lot of fluff and over fill that screams to be deleted the first time I redit.

Words counts are critical to me on a maintenance basis. They establish my writing habit. I write 500 words a day. Every day. I'm not a fast writer so sometimes even that's hard. When I'm talking about output I'm happy to include anything creative I write. Even this blog post. It's not about getting the story completed, its about muscle memory for good writing habits.

AR BookFinder: Samurai Kids #2: Owl Ninja

For the first draft I like to know where I'm going word count wise even though I don't let it dictate to me. I know when I begin to redraft I will inevitably cut and add large chunks so at this stage all I need to do is head in the right direction.

How do I know what a reasonable word count is? I ask the  books I love and respect, the ones I wish I had written and occasionally, one that I did! I look up the word counts of any of these books with similar genre and target readership on the AR Bookfinder site.To find the word count search by author or title and when the book is displayed, click on the tile for more details including the word count.

Samurai Kids #8: Black tengu

My book is magical realism so I've got some leeway. Fantasy novels are often twice the word count of realistic novels and at 90,000 (after 5 edits) I'm currently sitting in between. I can go either way and no doubt I will in both directions before I am happy.

I have strategies I use when I edit. Some of these raise the word count (like upping the conflict and mending plot holes) and some whittle it away (like removing adverbs,redundancy and extraneous, tightening description and deleting unnecessary dialogue). But I never focus on any particular one for the sake of word count.

Somehow in the end it ultimately all comes together. Except once. The last Samurai Kids book, Black Tengu, was too short. I suspect I was in too much of a hurry to tell Sensei's story and I left a big chunk of it inside my head. But that meant when I had to expand, the words all there ready and waiting. Fasted 4,000 words I ever wrote!

An Excuse and a Repost: When a Series Ends

I looked at the date on my last blog post and its a very significant one - a week before my total thyroidectomy operation. I had an excellent surgeon but unfortunately there were complications and I hemorrhaged so had to have a second turn in theatre. Recovery took longer than I expected and it wasn't over then. My operation was to remedy swallowing difficulties because of right lobe nodules and the strong possibility the left lobe would cause the same  problems within a few years. After the pathology was done, cancer was found in the supposedly currently innocent left lobe. So I had radioactive iodine therapy and a week in isolation while I was "hot property".

I admit I enjoyed that week because I had time for lots of writing - no-one was allowed near me! I would have preferred a different reason of course but it was all good in the end as I am now cancer free, subject to a lifetime of annual testing for recurrence.

So that is my blogging excuse for the empty months and while I am not big on making excuses I think I had a good one this time.

To kick off a new year of better heath and blogging I am reposting a favourite piece I wrote for the now defunct Walker Book Walk-A-Book blog. I want this piece to have permanent home on the Internet because it lives in my heart every day. I never realised how it would feel when the Samurai Kids series ended. I knew the time had come but it still hurt to let go.

Even now, six months after the last book in the series was published, the Kids still talk to me.

When a Series Ends

I’m currently working on the last book in the Samurai Kids series. I feel a bit sad. Not because the series is ending. I know the timing for that is right. Samurai Kids opened doors for me as a writer, it won awards and brought me a flood of feedback from enthusiastic fans. The story – its journey and its telling -  feels complete.

So why am I sad? Because I know I’ll miss the Kids and I hate to think I’ll never hear their voices in my head again. They argue and fight all the time, but they are the best of friends and they like to gang up on me. They do as they please and have no respect for my role as the author.

Some adult readers have wondered at my choice of a modern tone for the 17^th century Samurai Kids’ voices. I think that makes history more accessible to young readers. But to be honest it wasn’t my idea, that’s how the kids speak to me.

The stories grew out of my passion for ancient history, Japan and swordsmanship. I knew that to be a samurai, you had to born into a samurai family. And the children of a samurai family had no choices – it was their destiny to bear a sword. But everyone wanted to be an elite samurai so that part didn’t matter. Or did it? What if you wanted to be a samurai but weren’t very good at it? What if no amount of training would help because it wasn’t something you could change? What if you were born with one leg?

That’s when Niya, the one-legged narrator of the Samurai Kids series, first spoke to me. See for yourself, he said. So I went into my backyard and tucked up one leg. To my surprise I had assumed  the White Crane stance, a form common to a number of martial arts. That’s right, said Niya. I am the White Crane, really good at standing on one leg. Now give it a try and see what it’s like to be me.

I accepted Niya’s challenge. I did a flying one-legged karate kick and landed flat on my face. I had found the first lines to Niya’s story.

‘Aye-eee-yah!’

I scissor kick high as I can and land on my left foot. I haven’t got another one. My name is Niya Moto and I’m the only one-legged samurai kid in Japan. Usually I miss my foot and land on my backside. Or flat on my face in the dirt.

I’m not good at exercises, but I’m great at standing on one leg. Raising my arms over my head, I pretend I am the great White Crane. ‘Look at me,’ the crane screeches across the training ground. ‘Look at him,’ the valley echoes.

Niya laughed at me sprawled on the ground. Then he began to tell me about his friends -  Mikko, Yoshi, Nezume, Kyoko and Taji – and how they all struggled to become samurai despite their disabilities. He told me about their teacher - wise, eccentric Sensei Ki-Yaga, once a legendary warrior. A man who saw their strengths and ignored their weaknesses and taught them the power of working together. Or gently rapped them over the ears with his travelling staff if they didn’t pay enough attention.

Niya confided to me that he thought Kyoko was really pretty. And that sometimes he could hear Sensei talking inside his head. Sensei would talk inside my head too. He would whisper oddly-slanted words of wisdom to make me laugh. Put it in the book, he would say. I’m really very funny. I often didn’t get to write what I wanted to. The kids had their own ideas. I wouldn’t say that. I’m much too brave, Mikko would insist. He’s right you know, Yoshi would agree. Kyoko would get cranky with me if I didn’t let her win all the wrestling matches. I’m a better samurai than those boys. Taji would patiently make suggestions, a blind kid who showed me a different way to look at things.

And when I tried to take them on a journey to India, they refused to go. They had traveled to China, Korea and Cambodia, and now they wanted to go home. That’s when I knew it was time to write the last book. The Kids want to make sure that I get this book right. Even now they’re banding together to convince me I need an epilogue. So readers will know what happened to us. And they want to make sure I reveal Sensei’s secret the way they think is best. They admire him heaps but even more importantly, they love him a lot.

As I type, I can still hear Niya’s voice. Do you think I would ever go away? What about writing a sequel? What about a series all about me? I’m going to be a teacher, just like Sensei. There’ll be a new generation of Samurai Kids. My kids. He sighs. It won’t be the same you know. The golden age of the samurai has come to an end. But I’ve got some ideas. Really big ideas…

For an author, imagination has a way of blurring into reality. Who are you calling not real? the Kids demand to know. 

When the Blogosphere Speaks, I Listen

I love it when the blogosphere speaks to me personally. Over on my good friend Di Bate's blog Writing for Children, author Sherryl Clark is writing a post for me. Not that Sherryl knows that!

The post is called When Writers Resign. It talks about the ups and downs of this writing life and why most writers keep writing  through them all because ultimately we need to create. It also talks about how, like with any other job, we really can can resign if we want to.

I have been heading further and further out into the writing wilderness for the last three years. I didn't choose for life to go that way. My youngest son became very sick with symptoms that no-one could fully explain. Everything fell in the 'diagnosis by exclusion' bucket and there's no effective for those. Some things helped but the things that constrained his life were always there. And so was I. All day and often multiple times through the night. My days were a round of specialists, medication, painkillers, home schooling and hot water bottles. Half way through I got sick too. It was hard to write with a life like that.

I'm much better now and in recent weeks my son has seen the first improvement ever. I am gradually inching my way back from the wilderness. I always had a lifeline. The Samurai Kids series had its own momentum, there were always books to be written and in the worst of times I still managed two. The last one, Black Tengu, was released on September 1 and I'm proud to say its the best of them all.

But at the same time I decided to make it even harder to walk out of the wilderness. I shot myself in the foot. I started a new manuscript. One outside my comfort zone. One that was hard to write.  But it was a story I loved and a story I believed in. I kept going. For a few weeks recently I wondered if I was in the middle of what Sherryl refers to as the story that just won't work and has to be abandoned years later.

Image from http://laughingsquid.com/

But again the blogosphere spoke to me. Over at LaughingSquid.com is a post "Hand in Hand, Writers Share Advice in Notes on Their Own Hands. It's an April 2013 post but it's been waiting there for me. First up is Neil Gaiman, an author whose writing I not only admire but whose writing about writing always strikes me with its truth. There were three points on Neil's hand. Number 2 was for me. Finish things.

I should have known this. I'd already been told. I'd even filed the wisdom away. Neil Gaiman's 8 Rules for Writing.

There's a lot of editing and rewriting involved with my current manuscript, but I'm getting closer to the finish. And I feel good.

First Day of Book Week

I love Book Week when schools turn their focus to celebrating books. Even in this National Year of Reading, Book Week remains a highlight, expecially for primary and younger readers. And their authors. Like me.

I spent the first day of Book Week at Moriah College in Bondi Junction. Wonderful school. Wonderful kids.

The day had an unusual start. Moriah College is a security-gated campus and the security guard wasn't quite sure what to make of an author toting a wooden practice sword. "Is it a weapon?" he asked. "It's a bokken. It's used for weapons practice but I use it as a prop for my talk," I explained. "I think we need to show this to the principal," he said.

Source: Moriah College Website

The great Japanese 17th century samurai Miyamoto Musashi wielded his bokken as a formidable weapon but in my hands it really is just a big stick. The principal had no concerns and the business of books began.

The kids laughed. I laughed. Great fun was had and excellent questions were raised. After I explained that Samurai Kids began as a stand-alone book and almost book-by-book evolved into a series, one boy asked: Wasn't that hard to do? When you write a series you need to have a problem at the start that isn't resolved until the end." Spot on! When a second book was mooted I had to search through White Crane looking for a thread I could weave through the subsequent books.

Luckily, I found one waiting for me! The teacher, Sensei Ki-Yaga is an ancient and eccentric, very wise man. A retired samurai warrior of once legendary fame. An almost magical figure - some people think he is a wizard. But I didn't want him to be too perfect so I told how the old women of the village muttered he might be Tengu - a samurai forced at night to assume the guise of a goblin mountain spirit until a terrible past misdeed was redeemed.

The greatest challenge in writing Samuari Kids has been taking this small thread and helping it grow and strengthen as it weaves through the books that followed. And I also had to answer the difficult question I had never intended to address - what could such a good man have once done that was so terrible. I think I have succeeded in pulling the thread tight. I get lots of emails asking me to reveal Sensei's secret.

Just before I left the college, the librarian (hello Chelsea) showed me a photo of one of the boys, listening to me talk. He looked enthralled. I felt thrilled to be able to connect like that, even more so when she said he was a student who was usually not interested in anything about books or reading.

Did I mention I love Book Week?

Nevada Young Readers Award

The best thing about writing for kids is feedback from young readers. Kids know how to make an author feel like they have written the most wonderful book in the world.

I love to hear that kids are enjoying my books so I am particulary thrilled to learn Samurai Kids: White Crane has been shortlisted for a kid's choice award in Nevada US. It is one of five titles nominated by children for the Nevada Young Readers Award  in 2013.

Keira High Iquanids

Year 8i (code name Iquanids), an all boys English class at Keira High School, is reading Samuari Kids: White Crane with their teacher. Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend an hour with the boys talking about being an author, the Samurai kids series and books in general. There were lots of insightful questions,

Look at the beautiful flowers they gave me! Japanese theme complete with two large bamboo stems that I am going to keep and use when I do samurai dress-ups in some of my Stage 2 presentations.  I also received a big, beautiful card that they all wrote messages on. And Ciaran gave me some of his haiku.

This one is my favourite. It's called The Blizzard.

Freezing cold whiteness

Blowing fiercely and strongly

Showing no remorse.

No wonder I always come away from school visits inspired all anew.

About those ninjas

I've always been interested in ninjas. I have a collection of reference books and there are ninjas in two of the Samurai Kids series books - Owl Ninja has Japanese ninjas and Monkey Fist introduces ninjas from China.

So this made me smile.

I found it via a friend ,on the FaceBook Page of Life, Love and Hiccups.

And that's one of the reasons I like Facebook. It can make me smile.

I love feedback like this *grin*

The wonderful feedback I get for the Samurai Kids series never ceases to amaze me. Sometimes it even makes me cry. I am a big sook from way back. I cry in my own books. "You are so lame, Mum," my kids say.

I couldn't help but tear up when I read this Facebook post:

"It's been a wonderful journey for us and our two boys, 9 and 7, too - your wonderfully spare, but evocative, writing, the effervescence of the characters, Sensei's wisdom, the cameraderie of the kids, the humour, the lessons on life and the dialogue. Phrases such as 'practice, more practice' already part of family lexicon and likely to be there for ever. Wonderful wonderful books. Thank you! "

In praise of Teachers

Somehow in the post family illness shambles this draft post never made it to the real world. But it's an important one to me so I am going to post it now, regardless of how untimely it is!

World Teachers Day is the 5th October - everywhere in the world except Australia. Here that date falls in the school holidays so we celebrate our appreciation for the work of teachers on 28th October.
I have long been an admirer of the teaching profession. When I was younger I considered it as a career but realised I didn't have the right skills. So it is a wonderful bonus for me as an author that I have the opportunity to visit schools and 'pseudo teach'.

Teachers can change lives. Whenever a group of my friends gather and the subjects of school (such a long time ago!) comes up, everyone has a story to tell about a teacher that made a big impression.

Cartoon courtesy of http://www.classroommanagementonline.com/

I am personally indebted to a number of teachers - as a parent and an author and a student. I was a quiet, bookish and academic kid in a home where such qualities were not valued. My teachers supported my interests and gave me a sense of self-esteem. There was Miss Mudford, my primary school principal who seemed so old to me then, but is now in her twilight years - and still remembered to ask after me at the recent reunion I couldn't attend. My high school Maths teacher of four years was a man I much admired and when I accidentally ran in to him a few years ago (amazing co-incidence, I didn't go to school anywhere near where I live now), I found my childhood opinion was well-formed. We are now friends.

English was my favourite subject and the two teachers who influenced me most, encouraging me to indulge my passion for reading and convincing me to write, are acknowledged in my first published work. I still exchange emails and letters with one of them. It was the school librarian who taught me Ancient History and introduced me to historical novels.

As a parent, teachers are an important part of my children's life. My recent novel, Samurai Kids 7: Golden Bat is dedicated to three very special teachers - they taught my children, encouraged me as an author and became valued friends. The inscription says For Jane, Kerrie and Margaret. Teachers are golden.

And they are. Shining lights.

The Plum Rain Scroll

If you enjoyed reading my Samurai Kids series you are almost certain to like The Plum Rain Scroll by Australian author Ruth Manley. This timeless tale of Old Japan, steeped in the magic of traditional folklore, was the CBCA Younger Readers Book of the Year in 1979. It is the first title in a trilogy which also includes The Dragon Lantern and The Peony Lantern.

There is an excellent series overview here on the Ensovaari Embassy portal site and my review of The Plum Rain Scroll follows below:

Plum Rain Scroll – Ruth Manley – Paperback – Junior/Young Adult $18.95 – Australian - UQP Press

The Plum Rain Scroll was first published in 1979 but will immediately appeal to today’s young fantasy lovers. This is an unusual story. While it reads like an authentic Japanese folk tale, it is a work of Western imagination. Queensland author, Ruth Manley, loved Japanese culture, history and literature, and it shows in her writing.

The hero, thirteen-year-old Taro, is an orphan odd job boy who lives with Aunt Piety and Uncle Thunder. It’s a strange household and they are living in peculiar times. Marishoten, the evil Black Iris Lord is preparing to overthrow the Mikado and enslave the world. Taro can see it in his dreams.

But first Marishoten must find the Plum Rain Scroll and uncover its secrets – immortality, the ability to turn metal into gold and the Unanswerable Word which paralyses enemies. The scroll’s whereabouts is unknown and only Aunt Piety can translate it. Then Aunt disappears too.

Taro and his companions; Prince Hachi (Lord Eight Thousand Spears), a ghost named Hiroshi, an Oni monster with a taste for poetry, a Roof Watcher creature and a young girl named Oboro and her strange dog; set off to find the scroll, rescue Aunty and save the Chrysanthemum throne.

The Plum Rain Scroll is peopled with eccentric characters such as Lord Sweet Potato, who spreads sweet potato seeds across Japan, but no-one laughs – because he’s also very good with a sword. Hiroshi is a samurai ghost – honourable and brave – except when it comes to umbrellas. He’s terrified of them.

The tone is both exotic and unfamiliar, as befits a story from another time and place. In ancient Idzumo, unusual is the usual state of affairs.

This is a wonderfully innocent tale of good triumphing over evil, of legend coming to life. Best suited to younger readers 8 -12 years and fantasy lovers, the story has a cultural sophistication that will also lure young adult and adult readers with an interest in ancient cultures and folklore.

Book Week Wrap Up

Book Week was a blast. Exciting, exhilirating, exhausting and downright dangerous. A decision to stay in Sydney overnight (to avoid six hours of travelling on each of the first two days of a busy seven day schedule) literally kick-started the great toe trauma. Which to cut a long story short (my editor would be pleased to hear I am learning to do that!) is basically a warning - do not ignore a badly stubbed toe and continue Bookweeking without even looking or you will discover how big a toe can swell, how many colours it can go and how it can hurt more than you ever imagined.

My last visit had to be cancelled and the ever patient Warrawee PS (and their wonderful librarian Bronwen) enthusiastially welcomed me a few weeks later than expected. I have to admit having surived the whirlwind Book Week proper, as I dragged myself out of bed at 5am for the three hour haul up the train line, I wondered: why am I doing this? Standing in front of all those smiling faces later in the morning and I knew my answer. Because it is fun. Because the kids. Because I love being a children's author. And I secretly wish I was a teacher librarian.

And because there are such wonderful rewards. Like this one . During question time a Warrawee Year 5 boy asked me what book I was most proud of. I started to tell how Shaolin Tiger is my favourite book then realised that wasn't the question. The book I am most pproud of is Jaguar Warrior. It took far more effort and rewrites than any other. Twice I put it aside to write more Samurai Kids books. Each time I came back to it I had to work hard to reimmerse myself. And by the time I finished enough time had transpired that I was a better writer than the one who had written most of the book. I started again.

Later that same night as I sat down to a major re-engineering of Golden Bat (Samurai Kids 6), I felt tired after a long day and a little overwhelmed by looming deadlines. Then I remembered what I had said earlier in the afternoon - how hard and how long the rewrite had been but how proud I was in the end. Suddenly I felt re-energised. It's a few weeks later and that big rewrite is well underway. I'm of proud of how it is coming together.

A little art, a little origami

During September my local art gallery, Beach Art, has been holding a local Authors and Illustrators exhibition featuring among others, the work of Sue Whiting, Donna Rawlins, Ann Lamb, Lexie Watt, Rhian Nest-James and myself.

To kick off the first day of the school holidays, I spent an hour in the gallery making origami and chatting with the kids who called in to say hello. We made samurai kabuto hats, ninja, talking dinosaurs, sumo wrestler, cups and more. Sometimes the simplest things are the most fun as we launched our twirling butterflies into the airstream of the fan (butterfly instructions here)

Celebrating Three Ways

September 1 is an important day in my household. First, it's Indigenous Literacy Day, which aims to help raise funds to raise literacy levels and improve the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Australians living in remote and isolated regions. And if you are wondering what you can do to help, check out the suggestions on Anita Heiss Blog. We can at the bare minimum buy a book today (you can never have too many books and if you think you can, buy one as a gift) or make a donation on-line. Lots of $2 add up to very worthwhile amounts.

Today is also the release of the fifth book in my Samurai Kids series, Fire Lizard, otherwise known as 'the red one'. It tells the story of the Kids adventure in the Kingdom of Joseon (now known as Korea).

Terrorised by the corrupt Governor and his cunning henchman Hyo Moon, the poeple of the NIne Valleys grow desperate. Their only hope is Sensei's former teacher, Pak Cho. Now a frail, blind man. At great risk, Sensei and the Little Cockroaches escort Pak Cho to Daejeon City to deliver a warning to the Governor.

Can the Little Cockroaches defeat Hyo Moon? Will Pak Cho's message stop the Governor from destroying the valleys?

And the first paragraph:

Chapter One: Facing the Tiger

The tiger roars. It bares its teeth and staring directly at us, bellows even louder than before.

Kyoko drops her pack in fright.

“Don’t move,” Sensei whispers.

It’s hard to follow his advice when Kyoko’s pack landed on my foot.

But then the great tiger roars a third time, deep and throaty, mouth open wide. My body stiffens. The fear in my heart is much greater than the throb in my foot. I am the White Crane whose eyes can clearly see long cruel canines for puncturing and tearing. Strong vicious jaws for ripping and chewing.

Sensei taught us about tigers. One swipe to the head is enough to kill and one bite can sever a limb or carve a chunk out of your spine.

And finally, today is the first day of the Authors & Illustrators of the Illawarra exhibition at Beach Art Gallery, featuring among others, the work of Sue Whiting, Donna Rawlins, Ann Lamb, Lexie Watt, Rhian Nest-James and myself.

Favourite Book Week Question So Far

It's day three (four more to go!) and I've met just under 750 kids from 9 different schools at 5 different libraries. I wanted to share my favourite question so far - the one that made me grin the widest:

A Year 5 boy says: I love the Samurai Kids books. They are my most favourite ever. Who inspires you to write them?

Asked and answered!

Too Close to the Heart

Why is it so hard to write well about the books and poetry I like best? Recently I wrote a review for With a Sword in My Hand, a marvellous historical tale with a truly feisty heroine and loads of medieval weaponry. What more could I ask - and the book won a swag of awards - so it's very well-written too. My first review was not. It was so bad the Editor at The Reading Stack sent it back saying "I thought you really liked this book." So I started again and even then, the end result is not one of my better reviews.

I can see a pattern here. I remember my HSC English Exam. I was expected to get full marks. A student the year before, who like me had the same teacher the previous three years, had fallen one mark short of the perfect score. But I chose to write an essay about why I liked the poetry of John Donne. Half way through I realised my mistake. Even then I could not write well about what I loved. I loved it because it sang to my heart and I couldn't convert that into carefully word paragraphs arguing its merits. I did well but no gold medal.

When I began to write I chose the fantasy genre. These books have long been my first love as a reader and I desperately wanted to write them too. But I couldn't. I liked them too much. It wasn't until I turned to my fascination with ancient history and began Samurai Kids that I found my writing centre.

But I haven't given up. I still write book reviews. I'm working on two fantasy manuscripts. And one day I'm going back to Uni to study children's literature. Sure to be lots of books and writing I love there.

I still don't understand why it is so hard to write about the books and poetry I feel most passionate about. Does anyone else have this problem?

There Was an Old Sailor Blog Tour

I'll never be a romance writer. When kids ask me 'what's the deal between Kyoko and Niya?' (two of the chracters in Samurai Kids) and 'are you ever going to write the romantic bits?' I always answer 'yuk' and the room erupts in giggles and guffaws.

So today, on Valentine's Day, I'm celebrating fish. Seems appropriate to me, after all I do love sushi. But specifically I'm celebrating the launch of Claire Saxby's beautiful new picture book, There Was an Old Sailor. The illustrations are glorious (yes, I just said glorious!) and the text is a rollicking-read-aloud.

Here's what Claire had to tell me:

How did you choose which sea creatures to include? Was it primarily about the creature or the rhyme?

Caught out! I knew I wanted to start small and end with a whale, but the in betweens were trial and error. All, except for the jelly, are single syllable. That was necessary for the rhythm as well as the rhyme. Along the way, I discovered that jellies are not fish, and not all rays have stingers. That certainly helped! Have you ever tried to rhyme anything with ‘zoo plankton’? Not easy.

Were there creatures you thought of but discarded for a reason? My under-5 co-reviewer wants to know why there aren’t any eels!

I had a huge long list of sea creatures that I compiled at the beginning. Eels were there. But I REALLY wanted seals in there and I couldn’t have two that had the same rhyme. I do use the story as a base for a writing workshop and get to use some of the other animals on my list. It includes star (not a fish) crab, snake (as in banded sea snake like the one I nearly sat on when I was a child), and cow (dugong). But no eels. I do like eels though. Perhaps I’ll adjust my workshop.

Which is your favourite illustration?

I love the page where Old Sailor is eating the ray. The ray looks only mildly surprised, and very much like a wrong-coloured pizza. I also like that Old Sailor has to open wide and show all his teeth!

Were the fishy facts at the end part of your original manuscript proposal?

No, they weren’t. And my first attempt at the information was too ‘factual’ if that makes sense. Virginia, my editor, suggested I try to echo the humour of the text and these fishy facts emerged.

Do you have an aquarium at home?

No. We have had fish in the past. And chooks. And ferrets. And guinea pigs. And hermit crabs. And now we have a dog. I grew up in Papua New Guinea watching the most gorgeous tropical fish and other reef dwellers. I like free range fish much more than aquarium ones and will happily visit water anywhere to see them. I like watching other people’s aquariums too.

Do you have a favourite ‘fishy’ dinner?

Ooh, that’s too cruel – I love all my fishy creatures and couldn’t talk about them and about eating on the same page! Shhh! They might hear.

Does An Ending Have to End?

Call me old-fashioned. Traditional even. But I think every book should have an ending. I'm not saying every thread has to be tied up or even that the reader shouldn't be allowed to choose their own resolution. What I am talking about is series books where at the end of a book, the plot is left wide open in an attempt to ensure the reader doesn't stop at that point. To me, there's more marketing than storytelling in that.

Just before Christmas I finished The Keeper of the Grail, the first book in Michael Spradlin's (YA) The Youngest Templar series. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. The writing is excellent, the action is fast, there's plenty of emotion and I already care enough about the hero to ensure that no matter how many books there are, I will be committed through to the end because I have to know what ultimately happens to Tristan.

But I have a problem with the ending of the first book. I won't ruin it for those who have yet to read it (and I think you should) but the end is literally left hanging with Tristan in a life and death situation. There's nothing to be gained from stretching out the 'will he live or die?' suspense at this point because I know he lives. Book 2: Trail of Fate is already published and the series is advertised as a trilogy. I feel a little manipulated. If a book is good enough, and this one is, I don't need the ending to try to encourage me to read on.Now I find I have to wait until I can purchase Book 2 before I feel any sense of story resolution. Where I live it's not as if I can walk into a local book store and buy it immediately, even if the constraints of life and the festive period weren't controlling how I spend my time for the next few weeks.

Perhaps it is a personal issue or something related to how I read. And even how I write. As the author of a series I have very definite views on this issue. And it could be that there is a difference in series endings dependent on reader age groups. My readers are young, generally 8-14. They don't necessarily choose where they begin and end their reading. It is not only decided by what is available to them in their libraries (and that applies to all of us) but also whether the adults around them are willing or able to buy books. So I always ensure each Samurai Kids story is a complete stand alone adventure. While one book follows another, each story is complete in itself.

I am not opposed to cliffhanger endings where the purpose is to encourage the reader to choose what they believe will happen based on the story to date and the characters they have come to know. I am all for reader latitude. But if it is a series book I am not happy about an ending that tries blatantly to dictate to me when and where I stop reading. What do others think?

Storytelling Maths: One book = One series

"What if you had to write another Samurai Kids book and you couldn't think of anything?" a Year 6 boy asked. "Oh that could never happen," I said.

Or could it?

I've always had a safety net to protect me from worrying about this. Samurai Kids White Crane began with just one sentence: "My name is Niya Moto and I'm the only one-legged samurai kid in Japan." Another one soon followed. "Famous for falling flat on my face in the dirt." And for a long time that's all I had. That and the increasing desire to tell Niya's story - his friends, his teacher, his school and his adventures. I always figured if a book could come from a sentence than surely a series could come from one book.

Because White Crane was a stand-alone story (originally titled Samurai Kids) there were no hooks in place for future stories. But I did have a rich cast to work with - six very different characters each with their own idiosyncrasies and spirit guide - and their eccentric but much loved teacher. I had the action and adventure of samurai and ninja. I had swords, shuriken stars, and a quiver full of arrows.

And then I discovered an accidental hook after all. In White Crane Niya thought Sensei might be a Tengu - a mountain goblin priest with supernatural abilities. Was he? And if he was, what did he do? A human becomes a Tengu as a result of some terrible deed. Now I had a problem - I never intended to answer this question. In fact I didn't even know the answer. But if there were more books, it was obviously the key to many things. I do know the answer now but I can't tell you or I would have to give you a Wakizashi dagger and a seppuku mat and well... if you know the rest - it's rather painful and messy. So you are better off not knowing.

In Samurai Kids: Owl Ninja the kids travelled across Japan and learn ninja skills. They faced the Dragon Master once again. The final chapter saw them standing on the shore, a greater journey about to begin. From here, the series started to tell itself. The geography of the journey dictated the next stop, the location dictated the martial arts skills that the Kids would learn and Sensei's history created obligations and risks.

When the Kids went to China in Samurai Kids: Shaolin Tiger, history put them in a time and place when the Hwang Ho River was due to flood Kaifeng, the Shaolin Temple was under threat from the Imperial army (and would soon be destroyed), the Mongols were threatening to invade and the Manchu were on the horizon. How could I not find a story there? Especially when Qing-Shen walked in. Tall dark and dangerous, Sensei's Chinese ex-student had a vendetta to carry out.

I didn't intend it to happen but although each book is told by Niya, the plot revolves around a different Kid. Probably because they are all equally good friends. Each step the Kids take into another book, the story writing process is no different. Samurai Kids: Monkey Fist is set further north, in The Forbidden City of Beijing. Like a good reporter I follow Sensei and the Kids around and write what I see. And what Niya and Sensei tell me to. Right now I'm writing Samurai Kids:Fire Lizard and we're in Korea.

Just for Fun

Ever wanted a ninja to slash your name on a wall? You can find a ninja text generator here