Coming Soon... Sally Murphy's Blog Tour Stop

Hi, everyone! On March 7th, Spinning Pearls will be meeting Sally Murphy as part of her blog tour for her new picture book, DO NOT FORGET AUSTRALIA.

You can follow the tour at these venues.

1st March 2012	Let's Have Words	http://letshavewords.blogspot.com.au/
2nd March 2012	Kids Book Capers	http://content.boomerangbooks.com.au/kids-book-capers-blog/
3rd March 2012	Running With Pens	http://kerrilane.wordpress.com/
4th march 2012	Read and Write with Dale	http://orangedale.livejournal.com/
5th March 2012	Karen Tyrrell	http://karentyrrell.com/
6th March 2012	Writing for Children	http://writing-for-children.blogspot.com.au/
7th March 2012	Spinning Pearls	http://spinningpearls.blogspot.com.au/
8th March 2012	Katwhiskers	http://katswhiskers.wordpress.com/
12th March 2012	Pass It On	http://www.pass-it-on-blog.blogspot.com.au/
12th March 2012	Kids Book Review	http://www.kids-bookreview.com/
13th March 2012	Under the Apple Tree	http://angelasunde.blogspot.com.au/
14th March 2012	Lorraine Marwood. Words into Writing	http://lorrainemarwoodwordsintowriting.blogspot.com.au/

The Goanna Island Mystery Tour

Today I'm happy to welcome Dale Harcombe to Spinning Pearls as she stops by on her Goanna Island Mystery Blog Tour. Read on after my interview with Dale to see the other stops on the tour.

1. Hi, Dale! Seeing Goanna Island on your book reminded me of an old favourite - Dolphin Island by Arthur C Clarke. Dolphin Island was based on the real life Lizard Island. Is Goanna Island based on a real place?

Dale: I have to admit I have not read Dolphin Island. Is it shaped like a dolphin or because there are dolphins there? I didn’t know there was a Lizard Island. To the best of my knowledge there is not such place as Goanna Island. Imagination called it into being after seeing two other small islands at varying times that evoked a response in me. One was in Sydney Harbour. The other up near Fingal Bay. But in The Goanna Island Mystery the editor chose to move it away from the NSW coast to place it near The Great Australian Bite. Not sure why unless she knows something I don’t know.

2. If someone blindfolded you and whisked you off to Goanna Island and ripped off the blindfold, what would you expect to see first?

Dale: Scrub everywhere. Spindly dull grey-green scrub and little black crabs that look like spiders scuttling for cover back towards the black rocks. Behind that I'd see the dilapidated house flaking green paint.

3. What comes first when you're writing - character, setting or plot or theme?

Dale: Nearly always charcter. The rest gets worked out or just appears as I go along and discover more about the character and where the story is leading. With The Goanna Island Mystery that was not the case as it started with the setting and a character that arrived at about the same time. As a child I loved mystery books so that’s probably how the mystery got in the act.

4. Did you consider other titles for this book, and if so, what?

Dale: It actually started life as The Pirate Ghost. I suspect the editor decided to take ghost out of the title because some schools get a bit peculiar about such things. The editor asked for other suggestions from me. After tossing around several, it became The Goanna Island Mystery.
I mostly find titles a bit of a problem. A manuscript I’m working on at present is untitled and probably will reman so till something leaps out of the text. Even with poems, which I also write, the title is invariably last.

5. Any funny stories about the genesis of Goanna Island?

Dale: Don’t know that it’s al that funny but the goanna idea wasn’t originally part of the story. The name refers not so much to inhabitants of the island but to the shape of it. It was a later addition to the story because I was looking for something else to call it other than The Pirate Ghost, so I hit on that idea of having the island in a goanna shape. I decided I liked that idea and so then wrote the goanna shape into the text.
It became The Goanna Island Mystery. This doesn’t give away as much of the plot in the title.
The last short chapter was also a late addition as, even though the manuscript had already been accepted for publication, I wasn't completely happy with the ending. This ending the editor and I both agreed was more satisfying.

Thanks for stopping by, Dale, and all the best with The Goanna Island Mystery.

Catch up with Dale at her earlier stops...

Monday 25th Dee White at http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com

Tuesday 26th Sally Murphy at http://aussiereviews.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 27th Mabel Kaplan at http://belka37.blogspot.com

Thursday 28th Claire Saxby at www.letshavewords.blogspot.com

Friday 29th Sandy Fussell at www.sandyfussell.blogspot.com

If you want to buy copies of The Goanna Island Mystery they are $9.95 from Blake Education http://www.blake.com.au/Aussie-Aussie-Aussie-Set-2-The-Goanna-Island-p/9781921255199.htm

Brenton's on Tour!

Today I'm happy to welcome young author Brenton Cullen back to Spinning Pearls as one stop on his blog tour. If you want to track Brenton's tour, check out the following stops.

Day 1, Saturday 21st Feb. http://www.sallymurphy.blogspot.com/
Day 2, Sunday 22nd Feb. Here at Spinning Pearls.
Day 3, Monday 23rd Feb. http://tips4youngwriters.wordpress.com/

Brenton’s book The Writers: A Collection of Australian Writers' Biographies, can be purchased as a download or in paperback or hardcover versions from Lulu by visiting http://www.lulu.com/content/2377107

Hi, Brenton;

I’ve already done an interview with you at Spinning Pearls, but I’ve come up with some questions for the blog tour.

Q. Young writers often find themselves categorized as “different” from other kids. Is this something you accept, or even enjoy, or do you prefer to see yourself as an ordinary writer who happens to be younger than most? (Or as an ordinary teenager who happens to be a writer.)

A. Well, I am not ordinary, but very different from the other kids in my classes. But I do think that people come down a bit too much on teenage authors. Sonya Hartnett hated being referred to as "the teen writer". I feel sort of the same way, as people do not take me as seriously as they would take a 35 yr old author.

Q. You write non fiction (in your biographies of Australian writers) and also fiction. Which style of writing comes more naturally to you?

A. This is hard to say. Non-fiction is easier but I prefer fiction and fiction is harder but I prefer to not do nonfiction all the time!

Q. Do you have other creative talents, such as music or drawing?

A. I am not fond of music, except for listening to it! My drawings would, put it this way, want to make you throw them in the bin! I enjoy some art, but am terrible at it, especially painting!

Q. Do any of your peers at school like writing too?

A. Yes, my best friend and I co-wrote a novel in 6th Grade.

Q. If you could interview any writer, living or dead, and write his or her biography, which one would you pick, and why?

A. I love this question!! I would love to fly to their house and sit down for a two hour interview or something with J.K. Rowling, or, much more likely(!) my mentor, Sally Odgers.

Thanks for answering my inquisitive questions, Brenton. Good luck with the rest of your tour.

Day 7 of the Squeezy Tour

I'm delighted to welcome Jacqui Grantford, illustrator of "Squeezy Cuddle Dangly Legs" on this, Day 7 of her blog book tour. Here are some of the questions I really wanted answered!

Me: Squeezy Cuddle Dangly Legs is an intriguing book title. When you are approached to illustrate, do you react more to the title, the concept or the writing style? To clarify, what "triggers" you?

J: It's a combination. All of them need to work to make a great book. I guess I react in order of appearance which is normally - title, concept and then writing style - but to me the most important of all three is concept. The idea and message need to be worthwhile and relevant to kids.

Me: Do you need to roll a concept around to get an "angle" before you can start,or do you read it through and start straight out?

J: There's definitely a lot of rolling around. I like to sit with a text for a while before doing anything to get a feel for it (deadline willing). I then do very rough thumbnails and a lot of talking to my family. Their input is crucial and quite often a lot of the ideas I get are as much theirs as mine. It all gets reworked a lot before I'm happy with the end result.

Me: Writers always hate it when illustrators nick off on holiday or are inconsiderate enough to get sick or move house halfway through a job. What do authors do that annoys illustrators?

J: I think authors are Fabulous!!! (Especially the ones on this blog tour.)Illustrators don't often have contact with the authors, so they don't get much of an opportunity to be annoyed. I'm pretty sure, however, if authors were involved the illustration process it would be very frustrating as we would undoubtedly see things differently to their original imaginings. I'm always incredibly nervous before the author sees the illustrations for the first time. It's so important for me that they love the pics.

Me: Being a writer yourself, do you ever get an itch to reword the things you illustrate?

J: Oooh, good question. I have to say I do. I've hinted at it a couple of times with the publisher, but figure that it's the editor's job and that if I'm sensible I'll just but out. Usually anything I notice ends up getting changed through the natural editing process. Gotta love a good editor.

Me: New Frontier, the publisher of "Squeezy Cuddle" produces visually-delightful books. How much of the design comes from you and other illustrators, and how much is decreed in-house?

J: New Frontier are gives lots of creative freedom which is fantastic. They always let you come with the whole design and only step in if they think something isn't quite working. It's a good level of involvement. I heard Ann James saying that with one of her latest books she had an art director working with her in much the same way as an editor does with the author. This is done more commonly in the US. I think that's a great idea.

Me: How does your illustrating style, which is positive, fluid and joyful, reflect your character?

J: I guess I'm positive, fluid and joyful? I'm having to do a little soul searching to answer this one. I do like to find joy in things and I especially love showing a bond and connection between characters. I don't feel that my character is fluid. I sometimes focus too much on details. But maybe in our art we sometimes try to express what we haven't quite let out yet. It's always much safer to express it in creative pursuits before applying it to our lives.

Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog, Sally. I've had an absolute hoot.

Thank you Jacqui!

So, there you have it... Jacqui's view of illustrating "Squeezy Cuddle Dangly Legs" by Peter Whitfield, published by New Frontier. Of course, if you're an author, you're probably already hoping (like me) that one day you'll get the chance to work with Jacqui. Maybe you already have! To see where Jacqui has been, follow the trail!

Day 1 - Sat 10 Nov -- Bren MacDibble's "Beast of Moogill" Day 2 - Sun 11 Nov - Sally Murphy's "Scribblings" Day 3 - Mon 12 Nov - Robyn Opie's "Writing Children's Books" Day 4 - Tue 13 Nov - Pemberthy Bear's "Pemberthy's Ponderings"Day 5 - Wed 14 Nov - Claire Saxby's "Let's Have Words" Day 6 - Thu 15 Nov - Tina Marie Clark's "What's Happening in my Office?"

To buy the book - Purchase page link: http://shop.newfrontier.com.au/shop/products/detail.html?Product__product_id=139 )