My May Gibbs Fellowship Adventures in Adelaide - Week 1! (March 3rd to March 10th)

2023 MAY GIBBS  IAN WILSON MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP 

my WEEK ONE in review

What an amazing week already! Mary Wilson greeted me at The Burrow and turned my nerves of being in a strange city, with anxiety about how I would begin, into dust with her ability to welcome me so warmly and put me at ease. Mary and I had a great chat about her involvement with the Trust, her history with saving Nutcote (May Gibbs' house in Sydney), and what the Fellowship was like. Then Mary drove me around so I could get my bearings - and even stopped at her gorgeous house on the hill, where I learned some cool facts about the incredible history of her home - I even got a sneak peak at Mary's 'May Gibbs Room' which was beautiful!

I settled in that night with impostor syndrome and a side of homesickness, missing my partner terribly, but soon eased into the place after realising, from the entries by previous Fellows in the apartment journal, that I was not alone in my thoughts....

WHAT I'VE LEARNED DURING MY FELLOWSHIP - Week One

From reading the Fellow Journals (from 2000 to 2021!), every other creator who has stayed in this apartment like me had the same qualms, anxieties, nerves, and insecurities that I had about being here. They all were unsure of where to begin their wriitng or illustrating project, or else got half-way through a project and felt stuck, or else went through impostor syndrome (My first couple days I kept thinking, 'Do I really deserve to be here?')

I must stress how reassuring and warm and welcoming the May Gibbs Trust and the ladies in the support group have been: Julie, Mary, Elizabeth, and many more of the group who I am meeting for a 'Welcome Dinner' this weekend. The Burrow is the perfect spot for thinking time, writing time, resting time, and reading time and I am treasuring every scrap of glorious moment of my time here. 

WHERE I'VE BEEN - Week One

-after being met by lovely Mary Wilson who gave me the tour of Norwood and The Burrow and even a sneak peek at her amazing house (she has a May Gibbs Room!), my first full day on Saturday was spent, accompanied by Elizabeth Hutchins, at the Kids Day at Writers Week Festival,  I enjoyed immensely the chance to hear Elizabeth's stories of her publishing career (I read several of her books when I was about 8-11 years old so it was a thrill to ask her about them). 

-it was really terrific to see three author sessions at Writers Week with Elizabeth, including Kate and Jol Temple, Mem Fox, and Kat Patrick. Later in the afternoon, after getting to grips with the city surrounds right beside the Memorial Gardens where the Writers Week was held, I went back to the Festival and caught two more talks in the afternoon. Later on in the week, I made it to the Festival to hear a session about writing biography. Although it was aimed at adults, it was a really interesting topic to hear about and I learnt a lot, as I am here working on a biographical project for children. 

-On Monday, I spent a glorious day trekking to the South Australian Museum and the State Library of SA and the dazzling Mortlock Wing. Many, many photos were taken and many gasps were had at the beauty of these places. I also had the best morning exploring the Botanic Gardens and the Museum of Economic Botany. I will defintely make return visits to the Gardens. These places were fun to sight-see but I also was performing research into environmental themes and greenhouses for my middle-grade novel I am also working on while in Adelaide. 

-Monday night, Julie Wells picked me up and we went to Burnside Library for CBCA Night of the Notables. I soaked in all the books and creativity around me and sat a bit stunned - I felt part of the community, and I loved it - I adored hearing from the authors who spoke and from the CBCA members who touted their picks for CBCA Book of the Year. I left with a long list of new books I had to read!

-Dillons Bookshop and Dymocks Rundle Mall were some bookshops I paid a visit to and came out a little worse for wear, with sagging bags filled to the brim of so many beautiful books (all in the name of 'research'...).

-lots and lots of walks around Adelaide city and around Norwood suburb with gorgeous scenery and beautiful architecture! 

WHO I'VE MET - Week One

-I have been assisted fabulously by Kate, the curator, at the UniSA Library who's been a wonderful help to me with perusing and studying the Colin Thiele Archives.

    

   

                                             working my way through the Colin Thiele archives

-I was introduced to several lovely SA authors, and had a chat with them about their work and my Fellowship experience, at several different events, like Janeen Brian, Charlie Archbold, Mem Fox, Sally Heinrich, Mike & Becky Lucas, as well as some lovely folks Lauren and Kristen from SCBWI and Writers SA, and some members of the SA Branch of the Childrens Book Council. I sometimes tend to not like doing much talking - I have always preferred to listen to other people's stories and experiences and I was in awe of the wonderful people I met who are fascinating to me, with incredible achievements of theirs in the book world. I loved listening to everyone!

WHAT I'VE WRITTEN - Week One

-despite not know where to begin, and despite knowing I had two projects to work on, my first night brough two ideas (out of the blue!) for two picture books which I began writing the first drafts of. Also on the first night, I completed a full draft, right through without stopping, of a poem. That never happens!

-later on in this first week, I have made at least ten pages of notes, and taken many photographs of records, from my visits to the Colin Thiele archives and have begun working out the structure of my biographical project on Colin.

-I also have begun editing the third draft of a chapter book I wrote last year

-I still have my second main project, a middle grade novel, to begin work on but ideas are bubbling in my head and I've taken notes and am gearing up to make that my main focus next week. 

As for what's next, I have plans to visit the legendary Pegi Williams Bookshop and I want to go to the Adelaide Zoo! Among many other places, but I look forward to the next couple days of intensive writing and then ... Bring on Week Two!

Statues, Stamps and Coins: celebrating the immortalisation of Australian children's book characters

I ordered the wombat today. Not a wombat. The wombat. This one right here. 

Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's renowned picture book 'Diary of a Wombat', published in 2003, was commemorated with this special uncirculated coin by the Royal Mint earlier this year. As a collector of classic children's books, and memorabilia pertaining to books, I had to snap a coin up for myself before they became unavailable forever. 

Produced in collaboration between the Royal Mint and the Children's Book Council of Australia, the Wombat coin has received much media attention, rightfully so, and will no doubt increase readership (if that is possible with the huge success already) of the original 'Diary of a Wombat' book. The second coin in this collaboration with CBCA (Animalia by Graeme Base being the first, as well as a $2 'Possum Magic' coin into circulation a couple years earlier), I couldn't help but think, as I entered my credit card details and wondered how long it would take for the little silver coin to be safely on my bookshelf, how huge 'Wombat' being immortalised in a coin is. 

In 2019, an array of children's authors were honoured in a series of Australia Post stamps, alongside one of their most iconic and recognisable books. To have the faces behind Australia's classic literature is a true coup and cause for celebration of all in the children's book world. Maybe another series with more authors is due? 

It is certainly a sentiment with great meaning and no doubt great honour attached for Jackie and Bruce. No book's success can be predicted: in interviews surrounding publicity regarding the launch of the coin, both creators have stated how they would never have imagined that 20 years after the book's release, an event like this would occur.

But it is fantastic that it did occur. It is wonderful to see children's books being brought into the public eye in new, innovative ways such as the Royal Mint Coin. Seeing characters and stories celebrated and honoured is important, for posterity, and to show the great impact children's book have, not just for the child reader or tight-knit literary community, but for the public at large.

And children's book characters being celebrated in this way has been happening longer than you may think. 

In 1985, in conjunction with Children's Book Council, Australia Post released several stamps featuring artwork from classic picture books. What a coup it must have been at the time! Classic Australian picture books were being sent (literally) nation-wide, no doubt inciting curiosity of 'What book is that from?' and, hopefully, eliciting new readers. Stamps go out of circulation of course, yet the following stamps have live on. They immortalise four gorgeous illustrations and brought picture books to a new type of audience, and one need only look on eBay to see these collector's items are still highly-sought after. 

It's not just the characters either: children's writers from Australia, who then write internationally, have had their fair share of commemoration in their home country. 

Before the release of 2013 film Saving Mr Banks, and the 1999 biography Out of the Sky She Came: The Life of P.L. Travers by Valerie Lawson, the fact that P.L. (Pamela) Travers, the author of the beloved Mary Poppins books, was an Australian was known to few. Born in Maryborough, and raised in Bowral, Allora, and Woollahra, Pamela left Australia behind for England in the mid 1920s, returning just once in her 60s. She never acknowledged her Australian heritage until just before her death in 1996. 

Thanks to Valerie Lawson's biography, the story of this enigmatic author was revealed, for the first time

ever. Her connection to Australia has caused several campaigns for statues, plaques, museums, and there is even an annual 'Mary Poppins Festival', as these small-town communities revel in an iconic character's local link. Alongside The Story Bank in Maryborough, QLD (which is a museum and research centre devoted to P.L. Travers' past, writing life, her books and stories, manuscript drafts, and the pop culture legacy of her famous nanny character), the town also successfully raised funds for a statue of Mary Poppins (seen below) which is a focal point in Maryborough's main street. 

And in a fun fact, the crosswalk traffic light on the same street does not show a male figurine when you press 'Go - Walk' - it shows the figure of a nanny with an umbrella and hat to indicate 'Go - Walk' (or, should that be 'Spit-Spot'?). 

Mary Poppins statue in Bowral. 

The statute of Mary Poppins in Maryborough. It is placed outside The Story Bank, a museum dedicated to the works of P.L. Travers. And in a lovely twist, guess which heritage building the bank occupies? The bank where Pamela's father worked, and where Pamela herself was born, on the top floor in 1899. 

Stamps, statues, coins... well done to children's book characters, I say! When a writer, illustrator or publisher begins that journey of birthing a book, I doubt they could possibly envisage said book being commemorated like this. With that in mind, who knows what the future holds for further ways of immortalising book characters? There's no way to predict it, but there's boundless possibilities....

a coin or statue of 'The Silver Brumby' (from Elyne Mitchell) or 'One Woolly Wombat'? 

a statue of 'Hippo Eating Cake' (Hazel Edwards) on the roof of a children's library or book museum? 

a real 13-storey treehouse monument (Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton) constructed in a park? 

playground statues or figures of Edward the Emu, Wombat Stew, or Muddle-Headed Wombat?

Or, better yet, an entire museum space to Australian book characters... imagine a display on ocean (an island and boat display for  'Nim's Island', 'Sea Country', 'You and Me: Our Place', 'Where the Forest Meets the Sea') … a display on adventure and fantasy-themed stories with tributes to 'The Rainbow Serpent' or 'Victor's Quest' or 'Deltora Quest' or 'Space Demons'  or 'Ranger's Apprentice' …. and …. well, there's too many possibilities. I'm sure you can think of titles perfect for being commemorated and immortalised whether it be in statue or stone-form, coin, artwork, or museum display. And maybe this will happen more and more. 

Maybe 'Diary of a Wombat' coin will spur more in this series of 'books to coins' and lead to new ways of celebrating book characters. Of course, only time will tell.

But I have a good feeling. 

Article by © Brenton Cullen 

Book Reviews!

 A couple old videos I made reviewing a handful of books I adored then and still adore now. 

Titles include Thunderwith (Libby Hathorn) , Leaving it to You (Wendy Orr) and Destroying Avalon (Kate McCaffrey).

Reposting there in case anyone fancies seeing young, croaky-voiced me ramble about great books! LOL

Writing Progress for 2021

I can't believe it's been 5 years since I last blogged here. So much has happened, personally and professionally, as I continue my journey of writing goals. As I have written more this year than any other year since I began writing and submitting manuscripts at the age of 9 (yes, 9), I have decided to get back into the habit of blogging my writing process this year. Even if nobody cares to read this, and it is sent out to the cosmic void, it is at least good writing practice. 

This year so far, I have written 8 picture book texts (one of them has 27 drafts, one 14 drafts, and the other only five drafts). Three of the eight texts are the ones I had been working the hardest on - revising and rewriting and setting aside for weeks at a time then revising again. The other 5 texts I have put in my 'back burner' pile (including the one with 27 drafts). Some were plain bad and didn't turn out as I hoped and others I just felt unsure what to do with anymore. 

I have 3 picture book texts currently out on submission with various literary agencies in AUS, UK and USA. I have received 34 rejections on manuscripts this year with roughly 40 more submissions still languishing on agent's desks as I wait to hear from them.

This may sound disheartening but I am proud of these numbers. It means I am actually taking that leap and TRYING! After a long time of not writing or trying to publish, from my mid-teens to about 23 or 24, I am happy to have plunged back in. I have received some nice feedback in some of the rejections too which is a good sign (I think).

Apart from the 8 picture book texts, this year so far I have also written 3 novels: 

a whimsical children's fantasy (32,000 words - 2 drafts completed), 

a comic-fantasy for 10-14 year olds (55,000 words - currently on the 3rd draft - the first book in a planned series of 5) 

a chapter book for 6-10 year olds about a little boy's adventures on a boat (10,000 words - 2 drafts completed. A standalone but part of a planned series)

an epistolary light-fantasy for 9-12 year olds (1st draft half-written)

This is all while in my second year of studying Psychology, working two jobs at a museum and library, paying attention to my partner, and reading voraciously - all I can say is, I really want this and make it a priority. Plus, getting up at 5:15am to write is so worth it!

I'm proud of myself as I've definitely picked up my pace of writing output, thanks to the planning and outlining I have found to be invaluable help to get the words flowing. 

The story ideas can live in my head for months or years; the comic fantasy is my passion project I have been planning since 2014, but did not set pen to paper to complete a first draft until 6 years later. The chapter book for 6 year olds I have been thinking about since 2016. 

My brain and ideas notebook is brimming with more ideas. As soon as I finish a two drafts of two books then revise another, I have two stories racing to be the first in line to tackle next. 

Can't wait x

First Drafts, Rewrites and New Story Ideas!

I finished the first draft of a children's novel about 8 days ago. I'm leaving it for about a month before I begin reworking it into a, hopefully, better second draft.

Stories are strange things. They really do take on a life of their own, the characters say things and make decisions that can change the course of the story completely. For this particular manuscript, I thought it would be a chapter book of about 5-7,000 words. However, it turned into a novel for slightly older readers (but still under 12) with more serious themes then intended and came out at just under 15,000 words when completed.

When I get into turning it into a second draft in mid-May, I'm hoping to add a couple more chapters, flesh out the beginning and rewrite the beginning of one particular chapter that is, currently, 'telling' more than 'showing'. If all goes according to plan, I estimate it to come in at around 20,000 words, which means extending quite a bit from the current first draft word count of 14,523.

This story surprised me in that I allotted about 6 weeks to finish the first draft and yet, miraculously, I finished it in half that time. About 19 days after beginning, the first draft was finished! I really surprised myself as that never happens when I write!

So, now this manuscript is away in my plastic box of manuscripts for a little while, I of course have some other projects going on. First of all, I am making some touch ups on a picture book manuscript that I plan on submitting to publishers shortly as well as a contest for Unpublished Manuscripts. I also have my children's fantasy novel. I have not worked on it for almost a week or so, unfortunately. Other things have bested me and I had to break my own pact of writing 2 pages a day. I have about 6 or 7 chapters remaining on that novel and it currently stands at approximately 30,000 words. I hope to have it completed by my deadline of 30th May and, as my uni assessment is almost over (for just a couple weeks of 'free time') I'm sure I will make it.

Apart from that, I am outlining several books and making notes and tenderly 'beginning' two new books. These have been very difficult. I wrote the first chapters of both and crossed it all out. Things weren't flowing, it didn't feel 'right'. I felt like a big fat failure in all honesty, because I thought the stories for both of them had worked themselves out in my head and yet when I began writing I just knew I wasn't doing it right. Luckily, the outline for one, another children's book, is going well and it is becoming clearer in my head so I think that one I sh
all write next.

The second book, for slightly older readers, is a more serious book featuring friendship, death, divorce, homelessness and death (Sounds a right laugh, I know!) is still floating around in my head, generating the 'backbone' of the story until all its pieces fall into the right place. I hope then something will 'click' and I can start that book with it feeling 'right'. This second book is the one I crossed out the first chapter to. I really think I will need to write this one a bit out of order, as the beginning is unclear to me. However, I have often written bits and pieces of a story and matched them up later so I am not worried.

I have been reading a lot of books but have not made Review videos or indeed a blog post for quite a while, so this post is to make up for that. I promised myself I would post at least twice a week to get myself into that habit but things come up just like they always seem to do.

I've just finished a couple Judy Blume books and a Jacqueline Wilson.  I have pile of 7 or 8 other library books by my bed, amongst them Lois Lowry, more Judy Blume, Katherine Paterson, Robin Klein, and a Jackie French. If I finish this piece of assessment for Uni today, I'm hoping to devote a couple days to pure reading and writing!

Until next time.

Book Reviews

Here is Episode 2 of my series of videos 'Brenton's Book Reviews' - every few days or every week I will talk about terrific books (mostly Australian books) that are new ones I have discovered and love! Sometimes it will be old books I love and also books I have found that I want to read next. Featured in this episode is Thunderwith by Libby Hathorn and Destroying Avalon by Kate McCaffrey. Plus, at the end, I show the books I will be reading next!

Ideas Are All Around ...

Having an idea for a book can either be easy or difficult for a writer. It's also the question published authors seem to be asked the most. When once asked 'Where do you get your ideas?', children's author Morris Gleitzman said he got them in the supermarket, by the shelf with the Vegemite.

As for me, I often have the problem of too many ideas! I'm closing to finishing the draft of one novel, half-way through writing a second book, and already have ideas for the next three at least. My ideas notebook is chockers with ideas: how I usually get them is the time-old way of 'What if?' Taking ordinary everyday objects or events in the real world, but putting a twist on it and looking at it from a different angle.

For an example, walking home the other day I saw a butterfly just ahead of me fluttering by a hedge. I rarely see butterflies and this particular one looked quite unusual. It was black, with what looked like white stripes on the lower part of their wings. It was fluttering around appearing confused. I looked across and saw two other butterflies in a nearby tree. Immediately my brain began turning, 'What an unusual looking butterfly. Why does it look like it is flying around so crazily? Is it scared? Is it a friend of those other two butterflies? Is it trying to run away from them? Or has it been banished by the other two butterflies?' Thanks to this butterfly I had an idea for a story title but a full idea for a plot has yet to develop.

All in all, the most common ways I get ideas is subconsciously. Things just 'drop' into my brain, whether it be a story title or character name, or a line of dialogue or just a kernel of an idea such as, "Kids start a war in the playground," or "Girl is teased for having glasses". This is not to say they develop straight away. I have unused ideas in notebooks from 2007 and 2008. Sometimes I have an idea and years later have finally found it fits into a story and insert it then. At other times I may feel stuck with a story and then the 'other shoe drops' and I realise the idea I could use that would fit in the story is one I have had squirrelled away in my notebook.

The late filmmaker and screenwriter Nora Ephron (of You've Got Mail & When Harry Met Sally fame) used to refer to something her mother told her about writing in that, 'Everything is copy." Meaning everything you see or hear or everything that happens in your life can be used as an idea for a story. I often follow this, whether I consciously realise I have taken bits from my own experiences or not.

So, to quote this title of this post (and to parody the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme tune) "Ideas are all around ..."