Author of the Month - January 2011

Happy New Year! I hope you're having a great start to the new year, and I wish you a happy, healthy, successful 2011.

To start the year off, I'm "Author of the Month" at Bug in a Book. What's Bug in a Book?

"Bug in a Book is an Australian/New Zealand literacy website. Supporting Authors, Illustrators and Publishers and promoting our great children's books to the parent and teacher market." To find out more about Bug in a Book, please visit: http://www.buginabook.com

Here is a sample of my "Author of the Month" interview at Bug in a Book:

1) You have a long list of published books and even a couple of books on how to write. What was it that made you decide to write books that help others?

My partner owns and operates a website: http://www.easywaytowrite.com. From this website, he provides articles and resources for writers. The one genre he hadn’t covered was writing for children, so he asked me if I’d like to write an e-book on how to write children’s books. It was a request I couldn’t refuse. When I started writing children’s books, I read every “how to” book I could find in my local library. I also did every course I could find. The internet was nothing like it is today and access to information was limited. Nevertheless, I learned everything I could in my endeavors to write publishable children’s books, and because I understand the importance of information and knowledge, I decided to write an e-book on how to write children’s books based on everything I had learned over the years from my own experience of writing and working with publishers. Since then, I’ve had requests from people around the world to write other resources, such as my Writing for Children course, and also to mentor writers. I love helping people and nowadays I balance my time between my own writing and tutoring other writers.

You can find out more by visiting my website:
http://www.robynopie.com/howtowriteagreatchildrensbook.html
http://www.robynopie.com/howtowriteagreatpicturebook.html
http://www.robynopie.com/writingforchildrencourse.html
http://www.robynopie.com/showdonttellstudypack.html

2) What do you feel is the single best piece of advice for writers looking to be published?

The best advice is...

To read more of my "Author of the Month" interview at Bug in a Book, please go here:
http://www.buginabook.com/#/robyn-opie-12011/4547002190

I look forward to sharing more book news and writing tips with you in 2011. All the best with your activities. Remember to keep positive.

Being happy is a decision. Decide to be happy - and you will be happy!

Warm regards,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. We have a special guest today. Oooh, I love special guests! Dee White is visiting on her Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour. She's here to talk to me about my book, Black Baron - and how to write bigger stories.

Robyn: Thanks, Dee.

Dee: Hi Robyn, I loved your book, Black Baron and my boys did too. We are so pleased to be here today to find out how you wrote it. Could you start by giving us a brief summary of what the book is about?

Robyn: Hi Dee. Thank you for including me in your Tuesday Writing Tips blog tour. I'm pleased to have you here. And thank you for your kind words about Black Baron. I'm glad you and your boys loved it. I decided I wouldn't re-invent the wheel and create a new summary. So here is the blurb from the Walker Books Australia website: "Black Baron, Jake's champion racing cockroach, hasn't lost a race and Jake is on top of the world. But then his mum decides to clean up his bedroom and discovers Black Baron in a shoebox under Jake’s bed. Mum is aghast -- how could Jake keep such a filthy pest? But Black Baron escapes and Jake's Mum calls the pest exterminator and a humorous slapstick tale ensues."

Dee: I understand that Black Baron was longer than any previous book you had written. Did you find that daunting when you started writing it – knowing it had to be a lot longer?

Robyn: I'd been writing short texts for school readers. When I started Black Baron, the longest story I'd written in recent years was probably around 1,200 words. I didn't think about it at the time. I knew Black Baron was going to be a novel and that the manuscript had to be longer than my recent works. I hadn't written a novel greater than 4,500 words at this point and not for several years. I can't say that I was daunted because I didn't know that I was going to find the task difficult or challenging. But when I started writing Black Baron, I discovered that years of writing short texts for school readers had taught me to write concisely. That is good, of course. But one can write too concisely. I realised that I left out a lot of information, like action and setting. In a way, I wrote skeletons and this skeleton, Black Baron, needed fleshing out.

Dee: Why did Black Baron have to be longer?

Robyn: The simple answer is to fit the market, so I had a chance of Black Baron being published by a trade publisher. There is a limited market for stories less than 1,200 words, which I was used to writing. Black Baron had to be novel-length, or at least somewhere in the vicinity. Several publishers had told me that they didn't publish children's books under 15,000 words - 15,000 was their minimum, though they preferred upwards of 20,000. These publishers publish shorter books now but that was what I was told several years ago. I guess I was ready for the challenge, too, to write a longer work and broaden my horizons.

Dee: Did you plot it all out and the book came out to be the ‘right’ length or did you have to add things along the way?

Robyn: I did a plot outline for Black Baron. I don't like to start writing unless I know the ending to a story. I feel as if I need something to aim for, or else I might get lost on the way and never reach the end. I hated cockroaches and thought of them as "stinking, rotten cockroaches", rather like Jake's parents feel in the book. As far as I was concerned Black Baron was going to die. But as I wrote the story, I fell in love with Black Baron. He's my character, after all, and I brought him to life, and pretty soon he had a place in my heart. Needless to say, I decided on a new ending to my story. Long live the champ! The story was too short, nowhere near the right length. As I mentioned above, I realised that I wrote too concisely and left information out, about the characters, the action and the setting. I had to keep going back and inserting that extra information. I needed to add muscles and flesh to the skeleton's bones. I probably ended up going through the manuscript four or five times (at least!), adding more and more layers. That's the way I feel about Black Baron, as if I wrote it in layers. All of my previous books, the school readers, were illustrated so the pictures told a lot of the story and they were also limited in terms of characterisation, action and setting. Black Baron needed more to be explained or experienced through the text.

Dee: When you added layers to your story, did this involve developing characters, adding more description or creating more action? Or a combination of all three? Can you tell us how you did it?

Robyn: It involved all three. In the school readers, I'd been writing in recent years, I didn't need any characterisation at all. No details about the characters or their relationships. So I had to focus on the extra bits that would make Jake, his parents and Black Baron seem real. I also had to add more thoughts and feelings from Jake, my point of view main character. I had to work on adding more description and action, but only what seemed necessary. Each time I went through the manuscript, at least four or five times (maybe more), I added more to make the story seem realistic and believable. I thought about the descriptions, settings and action. Initially, I'd left a lot out and could expand on these areas. And I should also mention that I initially wrote Black Baron in third person point of view. I changed the manuscript to first person, to see what would happen. I managed to connect with Jake, as if I was him. In fact, I probably became Jake because I was writing from the "I" point of view. Black Baron helped me learn how to "show, don't tell". I often suggest to people who are having trouble with "show, don't tell" to write from the "I" point of view and pretend that they are the main character. You're not a writer, you're the main character. That way, it's easier to "show" everything from the main character's point of view by imagining you're that character and including what you can see, hear, think and feel.

Dee: Did you have to go back and re-plot parts of the story to make it longer?

Robyn: As I mentioned above, I went back and re-plotted the ending, after falling in love with my character Black Baron. I also had to add extra scenes or events to the story. I guess it's a bit like going straight from A to E. I can go straight there, A to E, or I can include B, C, and D on the way. I hope that makes sense. My first draft of Black Baron involved the plot I wanted to write. Start to finish, getting there as easily and as simply - or concisely - as possible. But the manuscript was too short, around 4,000 to 5,000 words. Knowing I needed to make it longer, I returned to the manuscript and thought about the existing scenes. Then I thought about what these existing scenes meant in regards to cause and effect. You know the idea of cause and effect - one event causes something to happen which causes something to happen and so forth. What else could happen? I realised that there were more opportunities with the story. I didn't have to get to the end so quickly. I could enjoy the journey on the way, draw it out, as long as everything seemed to be in the story because of cause and effect. Plus, I was now Jake, the main character, and not a writer. I could imagine what "I" did and how "I" reacted, thus making it easier to create new cause and effort scenes.

Dee: So, Robyn, can you give us a tip for fellow writers who are trying to increase their word count to meet a publisher or competition requirement?

Robyn: Please visit Dee White's blog - http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com - for my final answer and tip of the day.


For more information about Black Baron, please check out:
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Lightning-Strikes-Black-Baron-9781921150586

http://www.walker.co.uk/Black-Baron-9781406322163.aspx

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Baron-Robyn-Opie/dp/1406322164

And for more of Dee White's Tuesday Writing Tips Blog Tour, here are the dates:

2nd February 2010
Claire Saxby’s blog
http://letshavewords.blogspot.com
Writing Picture Books - Leaving room for the illustrator.

9th February 2010
Dee White’s blog
http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com
Reviewing ‘There Was an Old Sailor’ - Reviewing vs Editing skills.

16th February 2010
Sandy Fussell’s blog
http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com
Writers Need to be avid free range readers

23rd February 2010
Robyn Opie’s blog
http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com
How to make your story longer – adding layers

2nd March 2010
Angela Sunde’s blog
http://www.angelasunde.blogspot.com
More about Point of View – head hopping

Character Archetypes by Dan Acuff Ph.D.

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, I'm proud to have a guest blogger, Dr. Dan Acuff, an expert in products and programs for kids and youth, who wrote an article for us with tips to help create characters for stories.

Character Archetypes
by Dan Acuff Ph.D.
stories-toys-games.com

“Great characters make great stories”.

For sure you’ve heard this slice of storytelling wisdom. Quite true. Great characters married with a unique and compelling plotline and effective writing can be your ticket into the world of published authors.

Now let’s up the odds. Let’s add an important element into the character mix: character ARCHETYPES. Character archetypes are character types that have remained constant down through the ages. There has always been a king, for example, along with his queen and cadre of princes, princesses and warriors. There have always been heroes and villains and jesters.

Here is a listing of most all the possible archetypes:

___HERO
___REBEL
___VILLAIN
___HEROINE
___VICTIM
___UNDERDOG
___MOTHER
___SEEKER
___BUFFOON
___FATHER
___CREATOR
___JESTER
___RULER
___INNOCENT
___SIDEKICK
___WARRIOR
___CHILD
___ORPHAN
___QUEEN
___TEACHER
___MAGICIAN
___KING
___CAREGIVER
___DARKSIDE
___PRINCE
___GIANT
___WITCH
___PRINCESS
___MIDGET
___DESTROYER
___WISE OLD WOMAN
___WISE OLD MAN
___MYTHOLOGICAL, eg: TROLL, GHOST

An examination of the character archetypes in the hugely successful Star Wars series reveals a brilliant use of archetypes. We have two wise old men in Yoda and Obie Wan Kenobi. We have the hero (prince) Luke Skywalker and his Princess Leia. There is one of the greatest villains of all time in Darth Vader and a quite attractive rebel in Hans Solo. Add to this the jester, C3PO and the genius R2D2 along with the brute/beast archetype of Chewbaca and great character archetypes abound.

In the children’s story arena, look at Winnie the Pooh. Pooh is a loveable and innocent buffoon mixed with a bit of the unlikely not quite hero. Piglet is a great innocent also and sidekick. Owl is wise – questionably - and Eeyore is the nay-saying simpleton.

The enduring successes of many Disney stories is in large part due to effective character types. Mickey Mouse is heroic – and this quality is combined with a certain innocence. Goofy is aptly named as a jester, and Huey, Louie and Dewey are the mischievous kids. Oilcan Harry stands out as a villain in early Disney. Heralded as one of the greatest Disney stories is the Lion King. All the archetypical pieces are in place here. The innocent lion cub, Simba, the murdered king and father archetype, Mufasa, the loving mother Sarabi, the treacherous villain uncle Scar, the wise advisor baboon, Rafiki, and the jesters in Timon and Pumbaa.

When you sit down to first put pen to paper, characters and character archetypes are a solid place to start. Most stories have a central character. What archetype? Hero? Innocent? Warrior like Max in Where the Wild Things Are? What is the central character’s goal and what character archetype stands in his way if any? Can you bring in the fun that a jester archetype provides?

It’s all about identification, drama/conflict and fun. There are essentially five types of identification – or ways that readers relate to characters:

* Nurturing Identification: The reader is drawn to nurture or be nurtured by a character.
* Like Me: The reader experiences a character to be like himself/herself.
* Emulatory: The reader wants to be like the character in some ways.
* Entertaining: The reader is simply entertained by this archetype.
* Disidentification: The reader is attracted to or repelled by (or both) a villain character.

Given the central idea and theme of your story, a key is to determine which character archetypes will bring about which kinds of identification.

Children’s stories often have only a few characters. The dynamic between these characters, that is how they interrelate with each other, is largely a function of their archetypes. Using the chart above, think your archetypes through and create your cast of characters with the archetypes firmly in mind.

All rights reserved Dr. Dan Acuff

Note: Dr. Dan Acuff is a globally recognized expert on products and programs for kids and youth. As a consultant he has worked with over 50 major corporations such as Disney, Mattel, Hasbro, Scholastic, Western Publishing, Lucas Film, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Nickelodeon. He is author of What Kids buy and Why – The Psychology of Marketing to Kids.

He is now offering a variety of services for child and youth authors and inventors of toys and games. Services include viability evaluations, maximization work, artwork and prototype making. His website is: stories-toys-games.com

Thanks for the article, Dan. We appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience.

Until next time, merry Christmas to all!

Best wishes,

Robyn Opie

www.robynopie.com

Snowy's Christmas Upcoming Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie.

Today, I'm announcing the blog tour for a newly released picture book by Sally Murphy, illustrated by David Murphy, and published by Random House Australia. The picture book is called Snowy's Christmas.

Here is a little teaser for Snowy's Christmas:

Snowy’s Christmas tells the tale of a young kangaroo who doesn’t like being different, until Christmas arrives and, with it, a surprise for Snowy. There is something that only Snowy can do to help Santa – and suddenly he knows that being different can be a good thing. Available as a hard cover picture book, Snowy’s Christmas is a gentle Christmas story suitable for kids of all ages. You can learn a little more about the book by visiting the website of publisher Random House Australia.

Sally Murphy lives in Western Australia and has many roles - author, teacher, mother and book reviewer. She's been writing all her life and Snowy is her twenty ninth published book. David Murphy is Sally's brother in law, but more importantly he has illustrated comics, graphic novels, newspapers, picture books, arts publications, commercial commissions, and fine art pieces.

Now to the blog tour dates:

Week One: October 4 2009
Deescribe Writing Blog - http://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Week Two: October 11 2009
Write and Read With Dale - http://livejournal.com/users/orangedale/

Week three: October 18 2009
Alphabet Soup Blog - http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Week Four: October 25 2009
Let’s Have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot..com

Week Five: November 1 2009
Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children Blog - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Week 6 November 8 2009
Aussiereviews Blog - http://aussiereviews.blogspot..com/

Week 7 November 15 2009
Samantha Hughes’ Blog - http://samantha-hughes.blogspot.com/

Week 8 November 22 2009
Robyn Opie’s Writing Children’s Books Blog - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Week 9 November 29 2009
Stories are Light - http://sandyfussellblogspot.com/

Week 10 6 December 2009
The Aussie Christmas Blog - http://aussiechristmas.wordpress.com/

Week 11 13 December 2009
Tales I Tell - http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting my blog. I hope you enjoy the Snowy's Christmas blog tour with Sally Murphy and David Murphy. Plus, the other bits and pieces you'll find on my blog between now and Christmas. Ooh, the festive season is getting scarily close. Maybe soon I'll be able to share some information on the movie my partner and I are working on with a producer and director. Please wish us luck.

Best wishes,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

An Interview with Me, Robyn Opie

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, I feature a recent interview I did for Trish Puddle's Molly Gumnut blog, at http://trish-mollygumnut.blogspot.com. I hope you enjoy reading the interview. Please email me if you have any questions. And thanks again for visiting.


Welcome to my blog Robyn. It’s wonderful that you’ve taken time out from your busy schedule. Could you tell us how old you were when you started writing, and what inspired you to write?

Hi Trish. Thanks for having me here. It's a pleasure to visit your blog. I was fifteen when I wrote my first novel. It's my English teacher's fault. He used to give me top marks every time I wrote an essay or a story. You have to love this wise man! One day, he handed me back an assignment and told me, "You should be a writer." I love books and have always been an avid reader but up until this point I hadn't thought about people writing books. My English teacher made me think about it and I went home to write my first novel.

Wow! I wish I had a teacher like that, Robyn. I’m sure the readers would love to know about your first published book? And who published it?

I had 3 books published at the same time - Jen Stays Inside, People Need Trucks and My Bike. They were published by Barrie Publishing in 1999. I heard about the call for submissions from a writers' group I attend. I already had 30 short children's books written, so I sent them all off. I got 3 accepted, which I thought was a great result.

All of my books can be viewed on my website:
http://www.robynopie.com.au/books.html

That’s fantastic, Robyn. Tell me, what type of children’s book do you prefer to write?

Good ones. LOL. I write for my own pleasure, so I explore subjects that interest me. I enjoy seeing how characters react to situations. Sometimes I put characters into situations I don't want to be in, which gives me a chance to experience the situation from the safety of my laptop. For example, in my book Caught in a Cyclone, I wrote about Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Day in 1974. My book Backstage Betrayal is about a girl who gets locked in an old dark theater overnight. Our Secret Place is based on a true story of a group of boys accidentally burning down an abandoned house. I got to experience these things, as if it was me, as if I was there. But none of these things happened to me. I also love humor in stories. Even my serious books have some humor in them. I believe if I write for myself, for my own fun, then readers will enjoy the books too. I guess it's about being authentic and writing with passion - what you're passionate about.

I think it’s amazing that you’ve written and published more than seventy-five books, Robyn. How many hours a day do you write?

I usually work on my own stories from about 9am to 1pm every day. Then I take some time out to meditate, relax and visualize my goals. Next, I answer emails and respond to homework from my students. I run a writing for children's course through my website and mentor new writers. The latter part of the day is usually for business type stuff, like submissions, interviews, website maintenance etc.

For more information on my writing for children course:
http://www.robynopie.com.au/writingforchildrencourse.html

That’s a busy schedule, Robyn. How long does it take you to complete a children’s book?

There's no easy answer to this question, Trish. It depends on the length of the book, for starters. I usually write anywhere from 1000 to 2000 words a day. I can write a book of 1000 to 2000 words in a day. Editing will likely take another day or two. Recently, I wrote a non-fiction book of 27,000 words in 14 days. I spent the next 14 days editing it. A novel of around the same length can take me 3 months to write. It depends whether I need to rewrite too. Sometimes I'll return to a novel, after a break to distance myself, and rewrite then edit again. I've been published for 10 years and obviously writing much longer than that. Practice and experience means I can write fairly quickly nowadays. Rewriting and editing is the unknown quantity. But my stories tend to need less editing nowadays too because of all those years of practice and experience.

Gosh, that’s a heck of a speed. No wonder you’ve written so many. Are you planning many more books?

Hundreds. I'm planning to still be writing when I'm in my eighties. I've submitted a manuscript to 2 publishers. I'm hoping it's the first book in a series. I have another manuscript ready to be submitted. Again, I'm hoping this is the first in a series. Fingers crossed! I have an idea for a book. It's my biggest project to date because it will take some research and education on my behalf to make it convincing and believable. At this stage, I haven't had time to start working on it because my partner and I wrote a screenplay. We've been working with an Australian producer and he managed to get another producer and director interested in making our movie. Right now, we're rewriting to incorporate the director's vision and the actors the director wants for the main roles. It's an interesting learning experience and we're grateful for the opportunity. It's one thing to write about what's in your own head and another to try to write about what's in another person's head.

Now that’s something I would love to do, screenplays. That sounds so exciting. Well, I can dream can’t I? Do you have a favorite book that you’ve written?

My favorite published book is Black Baron published by Walker Books Australia in May 2008 and Walker Books UK in May 2009. I like this book because it was the first longer novel I wrote. Up until this point, I'd been writing short books for Era Publications. Writing a longer book was a great challenge. I also fell in love with Black Baron. For anyone who doesn't know, Black Baron is a champion racing cockroach. When I started writing the book, Black Baron was going to die. After all, he's a stinking rotten cockroach. As I wrote, I got to know all the characters, including Black Baron. He came alive for me and I fell in love with him. It might seem weird loving a cockroach. I think this is a good example of how writers care about their characters as if they are real. Black Baron is very real to me and I haven't been able to kill a cockroach since I started writing the book. Long live the champ!

Black Baron can be purchased from:
http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Lightning-Strikes-Black-Baron-9781921150586
http://www.walker.co.uk/Black-Baron-9781406322163.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Baron-Robyn-Opie/dp/1406322164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245297385&sr=1-1

Yes, as you know, I loved Black Baron too Robyn. I didn’t put it down until I’d finished it. Are there any authors that have inspired your writing?

I love reading children's books and most books and writers inspire me. I don't like saying specific names because I know many writers and I don't want to pick favorites and offend anyone. Besides, there are a lot of good books and good writers. It would be a long list and I'd hate to forget any wonderful authors.

I can understand that. Do you think you will ever write an adult novel?

I started an adult novel once. I spent a day on it. The next day I received an email from Era Publications asking me to write more fiction and non-fiction children's books. By the end of the week, I'd received an email from Walker Books about Black Baron. I got the hint. I decided the Universe was telling me to stop the adult novel and continue with my children's books. I don't think I'll write an adult novel but it's likely I'll write film screenplays for adults.

That’s good. More books for kids. Do you prefer writing or teaching? Or both the same?

I prefer writing, though teaching is rewarding too. I have to write. I don't know how to do anything else. Writing has become a big part of who I am. I don't think I could teach if I wasn't writing. I need to be creative and I can't let my students have all the fun. I think I'd get jealous if they were writing and I wasn't. I'm not sure I'd be such a good teacher if I wasn't writing. It's my passion for writing that makes me a good teacher.

I know what you mean. Writing can be so addictive. I know it gives me a buzz. How do you manage to fit in all the courses, traveling, lectures, school visits and author signings?

Sometimes it is hard to fit everything in. Every now and then, I have to take a day off of writing my own stories to catch up on emails and students' homework. I prefer to not do this, of course. I prefer to write every day from 9am to 1pm. But there are times when I get overwhelmed. I use a "Things to Do" list and prioritize what I need to do. This helps. I think you need a clear plan of action when you're busy. During Book Week, when I spend the week doing school visits, I don't have the time or energy to write. I'm glad it's only a week. Naturally, it's hard to write when you're traveling. I do try to answer important emails, though.

Wow! What a schedule. Do you ever burn out and need a rest?

Yes, I most definitely burn out. I've learned to listen to my body. I used to get sick when I overdid it. I also used to work 7 days a week. Now, I try to rest when I feel the exhaustion hitting. I do my meditation, relaxation and visualization every day. I also take time out on the weekends to do other things and spend time with nature. I've noticed the difference. The good thing about being a writer is that you can read and you're still working. As a screenwriter, I can read screenplays or watch movies and I'm still working. It's brilliant!

I know what you mean. It’s a real luxury to sit and read if you're a writer. It’s just finding the time and reading is all part of the learning. It must make you feel good though when you receive great feedback from writers who’ve completed one of your courses, or bought one of your eBooks.

You're right, Trish. It's wonderful to be able to help people. I love it. It's rewarding and satisfying. When I receive great feedback, it's a thrill to know I've been able to help and I'm doing a good job. I hope to make a difference for new writers. It's exciting when you get one of your own books accepted by a publisher. It's just as exciting, at least for me, to hear about a new writer getting published and knowing I've helped make it happen. In a way, it's almost more exciting (if that's possible). I received an email from a girl in the 7th grade asking for help on a school project. She didn't know how to start her story, so I sent her a copy of my article on story beginnings - Begin with a Bang - from my website. Yesterday, she emailed me to say thank you, she'd received an A and the teacher was keeping her story as a good example. I was thrilled. If you help people, you never know where it will lead. Anything could happen!

To read my free articles on writing for children:
http://www.robynopie.com.au/freewritingtips.html

To purchase my eBook on "How to Write a Great Children's Book"
http://www.robynopie.com.au/howtowriteagreatchildrensbook.html


Well you certainly helped me with my questions, Robyn. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. I feel quite privileged that you've taken time from your busy schedule to visit my blog.

I highly recommend Robyn Opie’s books especially, How to Write a Great Children’s Book and I loved Black Baron and Mr. Fix-It, Not! the best.

Here is a link to Robyn Opie’s webpage: http://www.robynopie.com/

Thanks for interviewing me, Trish.

And thanks for reading.

I wish you all the best,
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Claire Saxby's "Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate" Blog Tour

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. Today, we have a special guest, Claire Saxby, as she nears the end of her blog tour for her fabulous new picture book, Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate. To keep with the subject of picture books, Claire is here to discuss the differences between picture books and school readers. Thanks, Claire.



The Difference Between School Readers and Picture Books by Claire Saxby

I started writing for children about a decade ago. I loved story and I loved children’s stories. My first published book was a 5000-word story for an educational publisher. They had a series of leveled readers and wanted some longer but no more linguistically complex stories for children who had mastered the language at that level but needed something at the same developmental level. Clear?

I’m not sure I understood completely at the time. But I had a story that was the right word length and pitched at the appropriate age group, so I submitted it. It was accepted.

In the years since, I’ve honed (and continue to hone) my understanding of the differences between short illustrated texts for educational publishers and magazines, and picture book texts. This is not about their relative merits, but about the differences between them.

It’s not as easy as saying the education texts have black and white illustrations and picture books color, because many early education texts are now in full color (and some picture books are illustrated in black and white). It’s not that picture books are bigger, although they are, mostly. It’s not that the intended audience is different, because in many ways it isn’t. In both, the story has to engage with the reader; both have to have a beginning, middle and ending – so what is the difference?

Language
An illustrated text for an education publisher (let’s call it a "reader") will have text designed to be read BY a child learning to read. A picture book text may often be read TO or WITH a child and so the language can be more sophisticated. An adult can explain words that may not be familiar to a child, or they may be words that a child has heard, but is not ready to decipher on the page. A reader may focus on a particular sound or use repetition in a particular way. This is seldom the case in a picture book, even when the picture book is in rhyme. The reader, particularly the earliest ones, are often very "concrete" in that the images will help the reader to interpret the text, eg, the words "A cow eats grass" would be accompanied by an illustration of a cow eating grass. In a picture book, the pictured cow may be accompanied by text that indicates the cow is lonely, or tired of eating the same thing every day.

Length
Both picture book (and I’m talking about picture books for the young, rather than picture books for older children here) and the reader will tell "simple" stories (one or two main characters, linear plot, single tense and narrator), but the picture book is likely to be longer. A reader will be short enough for a child to be able to master on their own. There is a purpose in mind. A child will "succeed" at reading this book and be encouraged to read more. They may be eight-, twelve-, sixteen- or twenty-four-pages. A picture book, as a general rule, is 32 pages.

Target Audience
The majority of picture books are targeted at 4-7 year olds, but the audience for a picture book is changing, because picture books are changing. There are now picture books for all ages. Some are studied at senior secondary level and others are bought by adults for their art value. Picture books are available as individual titles in bookshops. Readers are marketed directly to schools and are not as readily available to the general book-buying public.

Marriage of Text and Illustration
A publisher once told me that picture books are a collaboration. Nothing new there. But I liked her definition. 40% words, 40% illustration, and 20 % was an "X-factor" – how the words and images worked together to produce the picture book. In a picture book, the illustrations have to work much harder than just illustrating the text. They need to have their own story as well. Look at your favorite picture books – there is a whole other story in the illustrations. It doesn’t contradict the text, rather extends and enriches it, to make something that can no longer be separated.

I think of writing picture books as being like writing poetry. There are so very few words and each one has to work hard to earn it’s place. It’s as much about the words that are left out, as about the words included. I like writing readers, meeting the challenge of writing an interesting story in a tight frame. Basically, I just like stories.


Thank you, Claire, for visiting my blog and sharing your experience with picture books and readers.

Here is a complete list of the dates so you can join Claire on her blog tour:

Monday 17August 2009
Dee White: http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com

Tuesday 18 August 2009
Rebecca Newman: http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Wednesday 19 August 2009
Mabel Kaplan: http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thursday 20 August 2009
Sandy Fussell: http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com

Friday 21 August 2009
Dale Harcombe: http://orangedale.livejournal.com/

Saturday 22 August 2009
Sally Murphy: http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

Sunday 23 August 2009
Robyn Opie: http://robynopie.blogspot.com

Monday 24 August 2009
Sally Odgers: http://spinningearls.blogspot.com

If you'd like to find out more about
"How to Write a Great Picture Book", please visit
http://www.robynopie.com/howtowriteagreatpicturebook.html

I hope you come back soon. In the next few days, you'll be able to read an interview I did for Trish Puddle's blog
http://trish-mollygumnut.blogspot.com.

Happy writing!
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Blog Tour with Claire Saxby, author of the fabulous new picture book Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. This week is the official release of Claire Saxby's new picture book Sheep, Goat and the Creaking Gate, illustrated by Judith Rossell and published by Windy Hollow books.

As part of the official release and launch, Claire is doing a blog tour. On Sunday, 23rd August, Claire will be visiting this blog to discuss the differences in writing picture books and school readers.

Thanks, Claire. I'm looking forward to your guest blog. I'm sure others are, too.

Here is a complete list of the blog tour dates so you can join Claire and learn more about Claire's experiences in writing children's books:


Monday 17August 2009

Dee White: http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com

Tuesday 18 August 2009

Rebecca Newman: http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Mabel Kaplan: http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thursday 20 August 2009

Sandy Fussell: http://www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com

Friday 21 August 2009

Dale Harcombe: http://orangedale.livejournal.com/

Saturday 22 August 2009

Sally Murphy: http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

Sunday 23 August 2009

Robyn Opie: http://robynopie.blogspot.com

Monday 24 August 2009

Sally Odgers: http://spinningearls.blogspot.com

I hope you come back soon.

Happy writing!

Robyn Opie

http://www.robynopie.com

Monkey Fist Blog Tour with Sandy Fussell

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie and my special guest Sandy Fussell. Sandy is the author of the popular Samurai Kids series. This week the fourth book in the series, Monkey Fist, was released by Sandy's publisher Walker Books and Sandy has been busy touring. We are honored to have Sandy here today to talk about her experiences with Samurai Kids and Monkey Fist. So over to Sandy, my fabulous guest blogger.



Zen and the Art of Writing for Children by Sandy Fussell

In the beginning there was just one story – Samurai Kids. Sixteen months later, Samurai Kids is a series and the fourth book, Monkey Fist, has just been released. Two more titles are scheduled. I get emails from readers immersed in the story and anxious to know when the next instalment is coming.

So why has the series been so successful?

Samurai and ninja make great action heroes. There’s a sense of Cowboys and Indians happening here. The sort of action that makes kids want to swing their swords and throw shuriken stars. Kids want to dress up, to swagger like samurai or sneak like ninjas. One Mum told me after the nightly reading of Samurai Kids, her boys would pretend their dressing gowns were kimonos, brandish cardboard swords and jump from bed to bed. They even broke the bedside lamp. When I tried to apologize, she grabbed my arm and interrupted: “I don’t care about the lamp. This is the first time ever my boys have wanted to have a book read to them. They can’t wait for the next one."

Eastern culture is very popular with kids. Children’s television programming has a high proportion of Japanese cartoons ranging from Samurai Jack to American Dragon and Ang, The Last Avatar. Recent movies set in China, such as Kung Fu Panda and Mulan, have been box office successes. Samurai Kids taps into this trend.

Martial arts is one of the top ten sports for children in Australia and has been for years. The Samurai Kids learn many martial art skills - not only traditional samurai swordsmanship, wrestling, archery, horsemanship, haiku poetry and flower arranging but also the ninja arts of poison and stealth. They travel to China to learn shaolin fighting and later books will see them in Korea when tai kwon do was first emerging.

Kids can see the funny side of Zen, where pure contemplation of nothing is the ultimate enlightenment. It’s an irony that makes kids laugh. As Sensei says: “In Zen, NOTHING is important” and the Samurai Kids learn a lot of NOTHING. Young readers love the puzzle of koans such as “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” and have no trouble suggesting the most zen-like of answers.

They identify with the characters. Kids love the fact that the Samurai Kids achieve despite the physical and mental obstacles in their way. They admire blind Taji and one-legged Niya. Big, gentle Yoshi is a favorite. It was my intention initially to leave Yoshi in Japan when they left for China in Shaolin Tiger but from school visits and emails it quickly became obvious readers had a strong attachment to the original group of kids so it was the newcomer, Nezume, who stayed behind to teach swordsmanship to the Emperor’s son.

Readers actively engage with the idea of spirit guides. From their feedback I created two quizzes for the Samurai Kids website: Which Samurai Kid Are You? and Which Spirit Are You? These are two of the most popular pages on the site. Children regularly approach me with “I’m Yoshi and my spirit is the Tiger” Sometimes they even roar to prove their point. I get emails suggesting new animal spirits in case I decide to introduce more characters.

So now that I’ve worked out why I think the series is successful, I just need to know how to do it again, in a different place and time.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy the latest installment in the Samurai Kids series, Monkey Fist.

Please visit the following link for more information on Monkey Fist: http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Samurai-Kids-Book-4-Monkey-Fist-9781921150913

Sandy's Monkey Fist Blog Tour Dates:

1/8/09 - http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com
Dee Scribe Writing – Dee White, author of the recently released YA novel, Letters to Leonardo will be interviewing the narrator Niya Moto to find out what it’s really like to be a Samurai Kid.

2/8/09 - http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
Orangedale Journal – Dale Harcombe, poet and children’s author (latest release The Mystery of Goanna Island) will be interviewing Sandy about writing Samurai Kids.

3/8/09 - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
Lets’ Have Words – Sandy will be visiting Claire Saxby, children’s author (latest release Sheep, Goat and the creaking gate August 2009) to talk about the unique challenge in writing a historical novel about a group of children with disabilities.

4/8/09 - http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com
Spinning Pearls – Sandy will be visiting author and manuscript assessor Sally Odgers (too many books to name but the Jack Russell Dog detective series and the e-Manual (Giving our Kids) A Reason to Write are just two examples) to discuss ‘the hour of the rat’ and how she gets to Japan and China inside her head.

5/8/09 - http://belka37.blogspot.com
Tales I Tell – Storyteller and author Mabel Kaplan interviews Sandy about how her interest in Japanese and Chinese history has influenced the series. Mabel uncovers the meaning of Monkey Fist.

6/8/09 - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com
Sally Murphy’s Writing For Children Blog – Sandy will be visiting Sally Murphy (author of many books for children including the verse novel, Pearl Verses the World) to talk about book promotion and how to harness cyber resources.

7/8/09 - http://robynopie.blogspot.com
Writing Children’s Book with Robyn Opie – Sandy will be visiting Robyn Opie, author of more than 75 books including "How to Write a Great Children's Book" and the novel “Black Baron”. Sandy will be discussing Zen and the Art of Writing for Children – her view on why the series has been so successful.

8/8/09 - http://www.soupblog.wordpress.com
Alphabet Soup – Magazine editor Rebecca Newman will be interviewing Sandy about her research techniques and asking questions to discover whether all that historical research is really any fun.

9/8/09 - http://thebookchook.blogspot.com
The Book Chook – Writer, reviewer and children’s literature advocate Sue Stephenson will be interviewing Sandy about how her own children’s reading experiences have influenced her writing.

10/08/09 - http://jefferyedoherty.blogspot.com/
Words and Pictures – Writer and artist Jefferey E Doherty will be interviewing Sandy writing illustrated novels – the artwork, graphics and working with an illustrator.

I hope you enjoy Sandy's Monkey Fist blog tour.

Happy writing!
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

Monkey Fist Blog Tour with Sandy Fussell

Welcome to Writing Children's Books with Robyn Opie. I have the pleasure of being involved with Sandy Fussell's Monkey Fist blog tour this week. Monkey Fist is the fourth book in the popular Samurai Kids series, written by Sandy Fussell and published by Walker Books.

I hope you can join Sandy on her international blog tour.

Please visit the following link for more information on Monkey Fist: http://www.walkerbooks.com.au/Books/Samurai-Kids-Book-4-Monkey-Fist-9781921150913

Blog Tour Dates:

1/8/09 - http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com
Dee Scribe Writing – Dee White, author of the recently released YA novel, Letters to Leonardo will be interviewing the narrator Niya Moto to find out what it’s really like to be a Samurai Kid.

2/8/09 - http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale
Orangedale Journal – Dale Harcombe, poet and children’s author (latest release The Mystery of Goanna Island) will be interviewing Sandy about writing Samurai Kids.

3/8/09 - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com
Lets’ Have Words – Sandy will be visiting Claire Saxby, children’s author (latest release Sheep, Goat and the creaking gate August 2009) to talk about the unique challenge in writing a historical novel about a group of children with disabilities.

4/8/09 - http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com
Spinning Pearls – Sandy will be visiting author and manuscript assessor Sally Odgers (too many books to name but the Jack Russell Dog detective series and the e-Manual (Giving our Kids) A Reason to Write are just two examples) to discuss ‘the hour of the rat’ and how she gets to Japan and China inside her head.

5/8/09 - http://belka37.blogspot.com
Tales I Tell – Storyteller and author Mabel Kaplan interviews Sandy about how her interest in Japanese and Chinese history has influenced the series. Mabel uncovers the meaning of Monkey Fist.

6/8/09 - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com
Sally Murphy’s Writing For Children Blog – Sandy will be visiting Sally Murphy (author of many books for children including the verse novel, Pearl Verses the World) to talk about book promotion and how to harness cyber resources.

7/8/09 - http://robynopie.blogspot.com
Writing Children’s Book with Robyn Opie – Sandy will be visiting Robyn Opie, author of more than 75 books including "How to Write a Great Children's Book" and the novel “Black Baron”. Sandy will be discussing Zen and the Art of Writing for Children – her view on why the series has been so successful.

8/8/09 - www.soupblog.wordpress.com
Alphabet Soup – Magazine editor Rebecca Newman will be interviewing Sandy about her research techniques and asking questions to discover whether all that historical research is really any fun.

9/8/09 - http://thebookchook.blogspot.com
The Book Chook – Writer, reviewer and children’s literature advocate Sue Stephenson will be interviewing Sandy about how her own children’s reading experiences have influenced her writing.

10/08/09 - http://jefferyedoherty.blogspot.com/
Words and Pictures – Writer and artist Jefferey E Doherty will be interviewing Sandy writing illustrated novels – the artwork, graphics and working with an illustrator.

See you soon,
Happy writing!
Robyn Opie
http://www.robynopie.com

A Blog Tour with Dee White, Author of Letters to Leonardo

Today, as part of her international blog tour, we welcome wonderful Australian children's author Dee White to my blog.

Welcome to my blog, Dee. Thank you for visiting. I know you and Matt have been busy touring the Internet, so we're thrilled to have you here today. Dee has offered to share her experiences as a new writer journeying to publication. Her newly released book, Letters to Leonardo, took ten years from idea to printed book. I'll let Dee tell you more. Thanks Dee, now over to you.

‘LETTERS TO LEONARDO’ - WHERE THE CHARACTERS AND IDEAS CAME FROM THE STORY IDEA

Letters to Leonardo was inspired by a true story of a man who received a letter on his 21st birthday from the mother he had been told was dead.

As a writer, I thought, what an amazing story. I knew I had to write it down. But I didn’t know the person it had happened to – he was someone who worked with a friend. So I had no idea what happened next. In a way, this made it easier for me – my story would be limited only by my imagination.

I started thinking about the man who received the letter and how he must have felt. Imagine finding out that everyone has lied to you for most of your life. How betrayed would you feel?

I decided that how someone reacted to something like that would depend on their personality. Some would seek out the people who had lied to them and demand to know the truth straight away. People like me on the other hand, would be more cautious – and wonder whether this would only lead to more lies. I would want to do my research - get information from other sources to verify that this time I was being told the truth. But to cope with keeping this under wraps, I would need someone to vent to – Matt chooses Leonardo da Vinci to express his anger and hurt to.

Matt isn’t based on anyone I know but I think he reacts to his mother’s letter in much the same way as I would have.

Once I’d decided on my story idea, I had to come up with an explanation for Matt’s mother’s absence. Mental illness seemed like a plausible scenario.

To develop her character, I drew on real life incidents that had been told to me by my friend whose mother is bipolar. In addition to this, I did a lot of research to help me understand more about bipolar and how it affects sufferers and their families.

OBSTACLES TO PUBLICATION

Writing Letters to Leonardo has taken more than ten years from initial idea to publication.

In 2002, I was awarded a mentorship. This meant that I worked with an established writer whose brief was to address the things I was having problems with in the manuscript.

My mentor had her own set of issues with my manuscript. She didn’t like the fact that the book had been written in first person because she felt it was harder to build up the suspense when you are writing from this point of view. And she told me to ditch Leonardo da Vinci as YA readers wouldn’t know who he was.

Being a very inexperienced writer at the time, I bowed to her greater wisdom, and Letters to Leonardo (my original story about an artistic boy who writers letters to Leonardo da Vinci) became Space (a novel about an astronomy geek who writes letters to Buzz Aldrin.)

I wasn’t happy with Space. Even though every word was mine, it didn’t feel like my story anymore. Even my main character was no longer the person I thought he was. It was a real dilemma for me. I had a completed manuscript – supposedly better because it had been mentored, but I wasn’t happy with it. So it sat in my bottom drawer while I hoped that someone would advise me what to do next.

In 2003, as part of my Professional Writing and Editing course at VUT, I was lucky enough to do work placement with a fantastic publisher who was willing to read my novel, and give me objective advice.

She thought that Space had ‘a compelling theme, evocative imagery and strong narrative drive’, but felt that there was something missing – that’s when I realised there was; what was missing, was ‘me’. My story had been taken over by my mentor.

The publisher suggested I go back and write the story that I originally intended to write. It was good advice. And I was so excited that someone had given me ‘permission’ to go back and ‘do my own thing’.

I was happy to be ditching Buzz Aldrin (sorry Buzz) because he had never inspired me. Having Leonardo da Vinci back in my life on the other hand was like welcoming back an old friend.

With great motivation and purpose, I re-wrote Letters to Leonardo – and spent the next four years getting it to a standard where I thought it might be publishable - that’s the story that’s being released by Walker books today (1st July).

Another reason that the book took so long to write was that I’d had a lot of trouble coming up with an ending that wasn’t weak and predictable. My problem was, I’d become so attached to my characters that I didn’t want anything bad happening to them. But with the escalation in Matt’s mothers behaviour; I really had no choice.

My son read the book, and he was very blunt and said it definitely needed a stronger ending. We discussed a couple of alternatives – and eventually I was able to finish my story.

In 2006 I came 3rd in the YA section at the CYA conference competition in Brisbane, and the judges were very positive about the book. This gave me the confidence to keep going – and eventually in 2008, I felt the book might be ready for a publisher to look at.

I went to the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators) conference in Sydney in 2008, and had a manuscript assessment with Margaret Hamilton who was extremely positive and encouraging – and could even visualise the cover for the book. As a result of the conference, Walker Books asked to see the manuscript, and decided to publish it.

As a writer, I have learned so much on this journey; and although I went off track for a while, the whole experience has taught me the importance of believing in, and sticking with your story.

Thanks Dee. What an amazing story of persistence. I'm glad you never gave up because Letters to Leonardo is a fabulous book. I'm reading it at the moment and loving it. Anyone who loves a good book will love Letters to Leonardo. Congratulations and well done, Dee!

Please visit the following blogs to join Dee and Matt on their worldwide tour:


24th June 2009

http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com

Dee and Matt talk about promoting Letters to Leonardo online.

25th June 2009

http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com

Author interview

26^th June 2009

http://thebookchook.blogspot.com

How art has been used in Letters to Leonardo

27^th June 2009

http://belka37.blogspot.com

The research process involved in writing Letters to Leonardo

28^th June 2009

http://weloveya.wordpress.com

Guest blogger – talking with Vanessa Barneveld – interactive discussion with bloggers

29^th June 2009

http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale

An author interview covering things like inspiration and perspective

30^th June 2009

http://letshavewords.blogspot.com

Mentors in YA fiction, and Leonardo da Vinci’s involvement in the book

1^st July 2009

Cyber launch http://deescribewriting.wordpress.com

including cross to Robyn Opie’s blog http://robynopie.blogspot.com

hurdles overcome on the way to publication.

2^nd July 2009

http://persnicketysnark.blogspot.com

How the author’s life paralleled Matt’s – her growing obsession with Leonardo da Vinci

3^rd July 2009

http://bjcullen.blogspot.com

Working with a publisher and the editing process

4^th July 2009

http://sandyfussell.blogspot.com

Interview with the elusive Matt Hudson

5^th July 2009

http://teacherswritinghelper.wordpress.com

Class writing activities based on Letters to Leonardo

6^th July 2009

http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com

Tips 4 young writers on how Letters to Leonardo was written

7^th July 2009

http://www.JenniferBrownYA.com

Our US stop – and final destination before we head back home.

You can purchase Letters to Leonardo from the following websites:

http://booktopia.com.au

http://boomerangbooks.com.au

http://collinsbooks.com.au

http://thebookabyss.com.au