Celine Kiernan's Blog, page 27

Dee Snider defends Heavy Metal at the 1985 Senate hearings.

Thanks to my son for reminding me of this. I love Dee Snider's articulate and considered response to the 1980′s PMRC inspired panic re Heavy Metal and its influence on teens/society – its also quite timely considering the recent YA censorship furore

Download The Fiction Writers first single for free

Get free music!

You may recall my songs of love and praise for the lovely Kate Rudd and the terrific job she did narrating the Moorehawke Audiobooks.Well Kate's band, The Fiction Writers, are in the process of recording their first EP!

As nice bit of promotion they're releasing their first single 'Mile a Minute' for free. To download it just go HERE. I really like Kate's smokey vocals and the band's sound is all the things I love (kinda indie/trad – bit Mumford and Sons, bit Iron and Wine, bit The Decemberists – but all The Fiction Writers at the same time if you know what I mean!)

The song is genuinely free – there's no catch – but if you fancy donating to the production costs you can also do this via the download page ( even if you gave 1 dollar it would help right?) They have 30 days to raise 1500 dollars. I think they can do it if everyone who likes their sound gives a little

Good luck Kate and The Fiction Writers.

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won't somebody pleaaase think of the fragile teen…

I linked to this Wall Street Journal Article over on my facebook page, and made the following comment: I don't know which is more insulting to the teenage reader, this article about how they need to be protected from harshness, or the fact that it is accompanied by a list of books 'for boys' and books 'for girls'. It (also) stuns me that this reviewer doesn't fully acknowledge the time when children moved straight from children's fic to adult fic. I clearly remember girls wandering around my primary school reading Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins. Those who gravitated to fantasy and horror went straight to adult fantasy and horror (I went straight to Stephen King and Ray Bradbury etc) Kids will read what draws them, and the YA books today are a reflection of that diversity of tastes. At least they are mostly written with some sort of focus on teenhood and the stresses/consequences of teen life (as opposed to the adult books we used to read)

If you ask me this is nothing more than a case of 'if it can be controlled, it must be controlled.'

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 The conversation that this generated on my facebook page is too interesting not to share so here it is:

John: The world is full of people who feel that moral rectitude is something that has to be imposed on people through tight control of behaviour and the material you are permitted to think with. They lack trust in what's inherently good in human nature and are afraid of what's bad but in us all anyway.

Marleen: There used to be very little if any YA material available when we were that age, although I seem to remember the Dutch being better at that than the English languages countries apparently were. I did read some books about teenagers getting pregnant, drugs and shock-horror even sex and violence, and my parents actively encouraged me reading them. They seemed to think that it would be good for me to know about the world and the issues I might come up against. Strange thing for parents to do, prepare their kids for the less nice sides of life…..

Anna: There's no shame in acknowledging the darkness in life in books for young people; there's plenty of it around and it's a spectrum, not a binary thing. Also, it can be a good way to broach topics not arising spontaneously in a household.

However, as a bookseller from 2002-2009, I did see, loosely grouped, three major trends take off in YA literature: the resurgence of magic, a la Harry Potter; themes of vampires and other paranormal creatures, usually with a emo-romance element; and powerful social dystopias. All with some absolute gems as well as some less first-rate stuff. Unfortunately though, these were so commercially dominant that they squeezed out equally well-crafted and worthy contenders in terms of bookshop space, and it became apparent that we the booksellers needed to have, at the least, a mental list of quality reads for young adults that fit into none of the above categories – because both they and parents specifically asked for such books. Ultimately, the reader will determine by themselves, by trial and error, what feeds and satisfies them, and our responsibility is to provide that variety on the shelves, listen well and keep the love affair with books alive.

I should add that by the age of 13 I wanted to know EVERYTHING about the world and the workings of the human heart, and so I borrowed books from friends with older siblings and rummaged around in the spaces behind my parents' bookshelves until I'd found the likes of Henry Miller, Leonard Cohen, Jack Keroauc, Erica Jong. Nothing will stop a curious bookworm in her tracks. The only crime, as far as I'm concerned, is to let the curiosity wither.

Me: Anna, long live curious bookworms! Can you imagine how this article would have portrayed Keroauc, Miller and JOng had they chosen to included them in their list of 'authors who are sullying our children's psyches'? It's a separate conversation , but I do agree entirely that the derivative dross is crowding out the more thoughtful and nuanced works on the YA bookshelves. I think the two subjects are related though, as I think the tide of pale imitations is the other side of the 'kids don't know what they want' coin. If something is a success, the publishing industry will CHURN out lesser knock offs while sending more challenging/different works back to the author with a rejection slip or not advertise them enough to get them known. I think, in that case, it really is the booksellers, librarians* and teachers who are at the forefrount of pushing the subtler and more challenging works – which leads to the question of where those guiding voices will go if the hard copy book dies?

(*though saying that re librarians/teachers I still recall with grit teeth the school librarian who commented that my work would only appeal to 'the most literate' of girls (girls, mind you!!!!) and so she wouldn't bother reccommending them to any of her students. ARGH!!!)

Anna: There's a librarian sans vocation for you. And tact. The 'guiding voices' are crucial to continued diversity and to fitting readers with books as good as bespoke.

I really think that unless reading itself suffers enormous blows, the hard copy book may be slightly diminished but won't die out. There are too many booklovers who love to touch and smell the books, flick through, see them stacked high, bring them home to display and admire on shelves… for so many of us, they're objects of beauty.

Rory: throughout the course of that assault on reason, does she actually say (paraphrasing here) that reading about murder wont make teenagers murderers, then later say that it probably will?

Angela: Hmm, that was a scary article, and yes, it does seem to imply that if a kid reads about something horrific or should I say, 'depraved', they may be tempted to try it: 'hey, drinking blood is cool! Where can I get some 'Uhh, NOT! This line in particular really gave me pause: 'Entertainment does not merely gratify taste, after all, but creates it.' Say what?? Should we not give our kids more credit for having free will and minds of their own?? Now, I remember reading YA novels when I was aged 10-12 on everything from teen pregnancy, alcoholism, drug addiction and abuse, mental illness, teens being wrongly institutionalized, runaways, gangs, etc. (yes, they did write about dark things in the 70′s and 80′s too), alongside S.E. Hinton and Judy Blume. I was a curious kid, and like most kids, wanted to know more about the world, and reading about such things did not, in any way whatsoever make me want to try any of them, in fact, many of these novels served as a good warning. Granted, the supernatural element of current novels 'darks them up' considerably, but again, give kids some credit for being able to separate fiction from reality, entertainment from normal behavior.

Me: I was just hopping back after re-reading to say just that Ang! Yes, Rory, she certainly does imply that reading 'dark stuff' will lead to the performance of dark deeds. I didn't turn into a weird, blood-drinking, self-mutilating emo, despite my having read some weird shite when a kid. Indeed I recall my best friend reading the most horrific horror stories back then – I couldn't even stomach them (the few I read still remain lodged in my mind as vivid and disgusting beacons of the disturbing) – but she was and still is the kindest, gentlest person I know. Environment makes monsters – not fiction. (BTW isn't this the same conversation that happened re rock&roll and heavy metal and punk? The same that rose up in the eighties re horror on video and the upsurge of the so called 'video nasty'? Somehow we all managed to survive those things with our moral compasses semi-intact)

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So there you have it. A pretty varied (and slightly off topic in places) set of opinions which I found just too interesting to keep on FB. (ETA I would also suggest that it is a strangely near sighted ( or perhaps too narrowly focused??) mother who could walk into a book shop and not find one single book suitable for her 12 yr old – or is Ireland some kind of literary paradise with an unusually varied cornucopia of books available to the teen reader?)

Moorehawke Covers Win Aussie Book Design Awards!

The Poison Throne The Crowded Shadows The Rebel Prince

Congratulations to Designer Bruno Herfst and illustrator Elise Hurst who danced away as winners of the Best Designed Children's Series at the 59th Annual Book Design Awards last night*! No-one need reminding of my adoration for the marvellous, wonderful, mindblowingly awesome Miss Elise Hurst at this stage so I shall just leap up and down like a mad thing and shout yeay yeay YEAY at the top of my lungs. I'm so happy that she and Bruno have been recognised for the incredible work they've done on the trilogy.

Congratulations too, to the amazing team at Allen & Unwin. I adore those guys and its terrific to see them walk, skoot, skate and saunter off with so many well deserved accolades this year.

GO BRUNO AND ELISE! GO MOOREHAWKE! GO TEAM ONION!

*and as finalists in best book for The Rebel Prince

Fur Jule.

I don't normally draw book plates any more, as the demand simply got too great and my time too limited. But I couldn't refuse the little sister of my beloved German translator. Again, forgive the lack of proper lettering – I know that one of you guys contacted me years ago to show me how to do them with key-strokes, but photoshop wouldn't recognise those codes – I'll be drawing in all the double dots and funny S B combos on the print

For non German speakers, the text is a translation of 'Honestly,' it hissed, showing all its needle teeth. 'Your species! So utterly dependant on its props'

Your species!

(you can find a higher res version on my DA account)

These books aren't Irish enough!

Good book?

This is something I've been told (in so many words) quite a few times over the course of the past four years. It's an observation that I'm always surprised and saddened by. This is perhaps due to my very first encounter with a professional reviewer having been a celebration of the exact opposite. I'm referring to a conversation I had with that great champion of childrens' literature, and respected book reviewer, Robert Dunbarr. We met at a childrens' literary conference(?) in 2008. I was still very timid in such situations and lost in the sea of folks who all seemed to have known each other since birth. Robert was lovely – putting me at my ease and speaking with his usual enthusiasm about childrens' literature. I couldn't help but fall in love a little. He told me one of the things he had loved about The Poison Throne was its step away from the usual parochial flavour of Irish publications. He felt this was a strength. He was excited by it.

I was delighted, but to be honest, I never made a conscious effort to step away from the usual localised themes and settings of the Irish Children's lit scene. HadIrelandoffered me fertile ground in which to explore the trilogy themes, then I might have set the books here. But the truth is, the story demanded otherwise. It was the themes of Moorehawke that dictated the setting, the themes that dictated the characters, and the themes that dictated the plot. And so we end up in a small, militarily vulnerable European country, populated with an ever shifting mix of different nationalities and creeds, surrounded by grudgingly allied hostile forces, connected toNorth Africavia diplomacy and location. We end up, in other words, in the Southlands. We have its ruling family The Kingsson's. And we have their enemies and allies and dependants, all laid out like a chess board for me to play my intricate games with.

DidIrelandever once cross my mind as a location for this story. No.

Should it have? Hell no.

Why should any author, based on their nationality/religion/race/sexual orientation* be required to stay with certain boundaries of expression? As a reader, is it right to approach a novel with an idea in your head of what it should offer you based on the nationality/religion/race/sexual orientation of its author? Should you not, first and foremost, read from page one with an open mind, and so interpret the novel as a distinct unit, judging it on how well or how poorly it affects you as a piece of work?

ON the other hand. Did I bring my national identity to this story? Did I bring that uniquely Irish voice and particularly Irish use of English? (thankfully not edited to death as sometimes can happen to writers who use a more dialectical form of prose) Did I bring the Irish understanding of grey areas and shifting moralities? Did I bring the sensibilities of a nation who knows what it is to eat itself alive over differing ideals. Boy yes, did I ever. In this way – more than any other – these books are more than Irish enough.

My next two novels are about death and loss and trying to find a place in a world that's decided you're not worth much. Big big themes. They are both also set in Ireland.

I'm already wondering how many times I'll be told they're too parochial

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*I'm expanding this beyond nationality, partially to show how limiting what I've come to think of as the 'perceived responsibility to depict' is.

Rebel Prince Top Ten

Top Ten e-book.

Apparently The Rebel Prince is one of the top ten best selling e-books this week. Woot! Go Albi!

Karleen, over at Kids' Ebook Bestseller's asked me what I thought about that, if you want to read the interview you can find it HERE

Aussie cover for the Ghost Book!!!

Australian cover for Taken Away.

Honest to God how amazing is this draft cover for Taken Away*? Once again the Allen and Unwin design team have just blown my mind. So many thanks to Ruth Gruener who designed this seriously lovely bit of shelf fodder.

Speaking Allen and Unwin and their wonderful covers, cancer support charity MakeForMacmillan are having their annual YA/Children's book week auction soon. As you know I lost my lovely dad to cancer this month, so it is a cause close to my heart. I'll be putting a signed set of all three Moorehawke books up for auction ( the much coveted Australian covers!) PLUS my lovely Irish and Aussie publishers have agreed to let me auction off an advance copy of Taken Away*! Whoever wins it will be one of the very first folks ever to get their hands on the book Dates for the auction have yet to be announced but I'll let you know as soon as the details are in.

*AKA Into The Grey in Ireland.

If Ever There Was A How To…

I totally love this video. Everyone's coming out is different and no-one can write the manual, but I love how this young man has analysed step by step his process of coming out, first  to himself and then his loved ones. I love how much he's thought about this, and how practical and honest and graceful he is about every aspect of coming out.

Goodnight Dad, sweet dreams. We'll miss you.

Eoghan Cahill and some of the folks who loved him.

My dad's favourite saying was 'feck the begrudgers'. He said there were far too many people in this world willing to point a finger and laugh and put others down. Dad wasn't one of those people. If my brother Fergus and I said we wanted to build a ship and fly to the moon, Dad would have been out the back garden welding on the rockets. He'd have opened his encyclopaedia of a brain and come up with the formula for rocket fuel. He'd have gone on to Google and looked up the route.

Fergus and I spent our whole lives clutching our heads and whining 'Daad, shut uup'. Because Dad was so proud of us, and he was determined that every one would know just how proud. But we weren't the only ones. In the four days since Dad's death, the phone and the internet have been abuzz with kids of all ages getting in touch to let us know how much he meant to them. Some of them hadn't seen or talked to Dad since they were in school, but they'd never forgotten him or how he had influenced the way they felt about themselves. It turned out he had, in so many words, told them all to 'feck the begrudgers.'

Dad's four grandchildren, Emmet, Grace, Luke and Carl, called him and Mam 'the hedgehogs'. They also called their grandad 'epic'. I'm glad they know how lucky they were to have had someone like Eoghan Cahill on their side.

Dad, you were always small – even more so as the cancer you fought for two decades wore you down – but anyone who knew you will attest that you cast a giant shadow. You were a tiny, hedgehog-shaped little man, but you have left an huge legacy of positivity behind you. We love you Dad. We'll miss you. You made the world a better place.

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Twenty years ago, appalled by the lack of support for men with cancer, Dad changed the lives of fellow suffers by setting up the support group Men Against Cancer. If you would like to support MAC and other amazing organisations like it, please please please donate to the Irish Cancer Society. Thank you.