Mary Hoffman's Blog, page 11

What's a weekend?

Photo by Janine from Mililani, Hawaii, United States
I started this weekend thinking I had three major tasks to do before Monday and then got an email adding a fourth that had to be completed too.And that got me wondering when I last had a weekend off.

I'm not complaining; it is the way of life of most freelance, self-employed people. And we willingly trade it off against a packed commute in all weathers to a workplace where we have to do as we are told.

Next weekend I'm off to Bologna for three days at the Children's Books Rights Fair, which is one of the reasons my tasks for this weekend have been urgent. I'll be writing about the Fair here, on Bookbrunch and for Armadillo magazine.

Most children's writers and illustrators are aware of how the book fairs - Bologna and the London Book Fair in the spring and Frankfurt in the autumn - impinge on the working lives of our Editors, Art Directors and Rights managers. Increasingly they affect our own work patterns too, working towards having texts, mock-ups, covers and proposals ready to show to foreign publishers.

But the day-to-day work also has to continue. I've been doing a fair bit of work on my new website, which goes live next week. But no-where near as much as my web-designer, obviously. And whatever book I am working on (usually more than one - currently five, I think), new things crop up all the time.

Just this week I've had an approach for permission to turn a play based on Amazing Grace into an ebook; ongoing edits on the short graphic novel I surprised myself by writing to commission; submitting a picture book text and getting feedback on it; dealing with my other blog The History Girls; fixing and altering Bologna appointments ... the list goes on. I expect everyone's life is like this really.

What I HOPED to be blogging about this weekend was the launch party for Tracy Chevalier's new novel The Last Runaway. But thanks to an overturned lorry on the M40, I didn't get to London until the party would have been finishing. Here is a picture of the cover to console you:


This time next week I'll be in Italy - yay! (I wonder if it will be snowing?)

All the things that aren't writing

I'm sure I've written about this before but as a professional writer I do spend a great deal of my time not writing. I'm not talking about writer's block or lack of inspiration (a commodity I don't really deal in) or lack of commissions. I mean all the other things I, and other writers, do that are essential or desirable but not the core of our working life.

Since I last posted here I have been to two conferences/retreats for writers. The first was the SAS annual meet-up in what-used-to-be-Coventry-but-is-now-Peterborough. Stroppy and Crabbit were there again (and still my favourite firm of solicitors) giving talks in Orton Hall.






Stroppy, a.k.a. Anne Rooney, had been asked to contribute to a panel on "Ups and Downs of my writing year" and in spite of some relatively shallow troughs had managed to write or at least do work on 34 books. That made us all gasp a bit as there were also websites, trailers and more.

Crabbit, a.k.a. Nicola Morgan gave TWO talks, one about changing writing habits and ending "Write or die!" (I know she said that because I put it in my notes). The other was also full of excellent advice about customising one's Facebook Author Pages. I will definitely do that but it is yet another "thing that is not writing."

We had lots of wonderful contributions but, seeing as it's the SAS, I'm not allowed to go public with most of them. I can tell you however that this year I manged to swim in the spa and that next year I am organising the weekend with Stroppy. For some reason, people seemed to feel a bit sorry for the hotel managers.

Last weekend I was at another conference, on  "Women and the Novel" at my old Alma Mater, Newnham College Cambridge.


Newnham is so rich in literary Alumnae that we had talks by Margaret Drabble, Patricia Duncker and Jenn Ashworth and I spotted Elaine Feinstein and Nicola Baumann (founder of Persephone Books) as well as fellow children's author and History Girl, Caroline Lawrence. Ones not present were Sarah Dunant and Sally Vickers.

Margaret Drabble learned a lot about a lot of things, including how to cook various recipes, from three key texts: Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook, Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and Mary McCarthy's The Group, not too mention Edna O'Brien's advice on how to cut carrots, Gertrude Stein's on omelettes and Iris Murdoch's strange enthusiasm for Vesta curry in The Sea, The Sea.

But more importantly, she took away Plath's determination not to "dwindle into a wife." And she championed Berdardine Bishop'sUnexpected Lessons in Love so convincingly that I'm sure Bishop's Amazon rankings must have shot up. I inwardly cheered when she ended the question session by saying she loved the novel for "its thingness." Me too!


It was wonderful to be back and when Patricia Duncker mentioned Moses and "God's hinderparts" which I first heard about in John Broadbent's English lectures in the '60s I felt quite nostalgic. The enthusiasm for D. H.Lawrence also brought back my time at Newnham very powerfully.

In between conferences, I have been to London, whither I am also bound this afternoon, for a research trip to the Tower of London, followed by meetings on three separate projects with the same publisher. Just as vital as writing, since we looked at roughs, finished artwork, dummy books etc. etc.

I've also done a school Skype visit, written a graphic novel version of a classic story (oops, no - doesn't count as was writing!) continued to organise my appointment schedule for Bologna, worked on my new website (watch this space), dealt with emails from four publishers, one agent, two illustrators etc etc.

And I expect I am not untypical. It's just that non-writers, especially would-be writers, think in terms of our spending all day and every day at the computer producing great works and there is so much more than that.

Meanwhile, here is my latest book, just to prove I do actually sometimes get the words on to the page!

Published this month by Frances Lincoln and illustrated by Ros Asquith

Quick footnote to last post

This however seems to be a genuine Writing Competition for Children: http://www.britishgas.co.uk/blog/articles/have-you-entered-generation-greens-latest-competition

Not what it seems

Copyright Ad Meskens


A nine-year-old girl called Millie wrote the following rather charming story at school:

“The Fear of the Loch Ness Monster”

I was in the Loch Ness Monster’s lair. Scared stiff, frozen to the spot, worrying his beaming black eyes would be glaring at me. I saw a sudden movement in the water. I stood as still as a statue in the Museum of London, staring, feeling paralysed. I desperately wanted to rush straight home. But I was too intrigued to get a glimpse of the amazing Loch Ness monster. Just then I saw it. Wow! I rushed home very proud.



And "very proud" was how Millie's Mum felt when she learned this story was to be published, had in fact won a competition to be published.


The school had encouraged Millie and many of her friends to write and submit work to this website.

The exciting news about publication was the first Millie's Mum knew about it; like many a modern woman, she posted it on Facebook. Admiring comments duly followed.


But Millie's mother is a published writer herself and a journalist. She smelt a rat and within minutes had posted the truth of the matter. It is shocking that Jill Papworth's article about this scheme was published nearly four years ago and that schools are still encouraging children to send work to this organisation. 60-80% of the submissions will be chosen, children will be sent exciting certificates and parents encouraged to spend £15.99 plus postage to buy an anthology with their offspring's 50 words in.



It reminds me of the time my youngest daughter, then aged about thirteen, "won" a glamour shoot at a supposed model agency. We duly went, she was coiffed and made up and we were then shown a portfolio of photos I could buy. They were very glamorous, she was heartbroken at the idea that we might go home empty-handed and I shelled out squillions of pounds, feeling pretty sick about it.

What it seems to be is an early introduction to vanity publishing. Schools really should know better and children like Millie deserve better

Jan Ormerod - a bright flame snuffed out

Once again a post determined by a death. I heard with great sadness that Jan Ormerod had died. She won the Mother Goose Award with her first picture book, Sunshine, in 1980 and I met her soon afterwards. She had two little girls and I had three and for a while the two families mingled but then Jan's moved to Cambridge and we lost touch.

Years later she came back into my life as the suggested illustrator for the book that became A Twist in the Tail (see above). I remember going to meet her at Frances Lincoln's offices in Kentish Town and finding her rather jumpy and nervous. Only after I, our Editor, Janetta, and Art Director, Judith had exclaimed over the utter wonderfulness of her animal paintings, did she admit that she had been worried about whether we would like them!

Goodness knows how many books she had published by then but Jan never became in the slightest degree immodest. The early books, Sunshine and Moonlight, used her daughters as models and her husband Paul. Their marriage did not last but I could tell from her posts on Facebook how thrilled she was by the arrival of two grandchildren: Miles and Adelaide.

Facebook and occasional meeting at conferences - that's how I encountered Jan in recent years. So it was appropriate, though shocking, to find out about her death through a notice posted on Facebook. The memorial service for Jan is in Rutland next Tuesday and I shan't be able to go. But I shall think of her.

If you have been touched by Jan's work or life, you might want to visit https://www.justgiving.com/JanOrmerod to make a small donation to the hospice that enabled her to die with dignity and in peace.

Versatile Blogger Award

A lovely message on Twitter from Elizabeth Hopkinson told me she had nominated me for this award.

There are rules to be followed if you accept the nomination, so here goes:

1 must present 15 awards to deserving bloggers, so they are:

http://steelthistles.blogspot.co.uk
http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.co.uk
http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk
http://stroppyauthor.blogspot.co.uk
http://scribblecitycentral.blogspot.co.uk
http://reclusivemuse.blogspot.co.uk
http://bookwitch.wordpress.com
http://notesfromtheslushpile.blogspot.co.uk
http://behlerblog.com
http://www.rachellegardner.com
http://victoriamixon.com
http://proactivewriter.com/blog
http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting
http://picturebookden.blogspot.co.uk
http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk


7 things about me:


1. I have written nearly a hundred books
2. I love peacocks and ravens
3. I always have Burmese cats (which is not compatible with 1.)
4. I love grammar, punctuation and spelling and am a bit of a language Nazi.
5. I am going to Mexico for the first time this year
6. I speak Italian (which won't be much use in Mexico)
7. I can do cryptic crosswords

You can read about the Versatile Blogger Award and I do hope you'll follow my nominees if you don't already; they are very good, informative and entertaining.

The Hobbit - an Unexpected Movie

'Well, I'm not going!" I said, as soon as I heard Peter Jackson was going to divide Tolkien's The Hobbit into two films. "If he could make The Return of the King in one film," I fulminated, "he can certainly give us The Hobbit in one."

Then we heard it was going to be THREE movies! "No," I groaned. "I'm NOT going! I'll wait for the director's cut box set of all three and watch them on DVD."

So, on Sunday 23rd December, off I trotted to the local multiplex with husband, sister, middle daughter, son-in-law and two huge bags of salted popcorn (and some chocolates, if truth be told).

You see, going to watch Peter Jackson's take on Tolkien was a Christmas tradition for three years during the LoTR era and we were just swept up in the pleasure of returning to PJ's vision of Middle Earth (and Richard Taylor's and WETA's and Alan Lee's and Howard Shore's and many other people's). We wanted to see Hobbition again and Ian McKellen's Gandalf and Hugo Weaving's Elrond and Andy Serkis's Gollum. And there was Richard Armitage, of whom more anon.


We knew it would be long - nearly three hours - but we have stamina and form, especially for popcorn. We knew it would be padded out (with material from the LoTR appendices) but I'd read those. And I knew it would have Richard Armitage.

It began very pleasantly in Bag End, with Ian Holm and Elijah Wood reprising their just pre-Surprise Party scene and Frodo running off to find Gandalf. Then we were into flashback with the young Bilbo (Martin Freeman) meeting the wizard on the much earlier occasion that led to the mark on the door, the invasion of thirteen dwarves, and setting off on a journey "There and Back Again."

Of course this first episode doesn't even reach There. It covers the first six chapters of Tolkien's 1937 novel, which I immediately re-read in the rather handsome fiftieth anniversary edition, which looks like this plus a red flash and a red sun (which was what Tolkien wanted - the red sun, that is):


The opening chapter with its visit of demanding and greedy dwarves, who make inroads into Bilbo's larder, is very true to the book. But then there is a lot of back-story about how the dragon Smaug (pronounced "Smowg", which is apparently how Tolkien said it) laid waste to Erebor nearly 200 years before.

Now, I don't mind this kind of thing but some reviewers have found it slows down the pace. What I thought made this movie less good than LoTR was the reprising of several episodes and special effects from the trilogy. Giant eagles sweeping to the rescue when all seems lost, Gollum and Sméagol in dialogue with each other, our heroes overcoming terrific odds in underground battles, and so on, and so on.

But of course all those things (or most of them) are there in the book so it's Tolkien using the same tropes in the trilogy that have already worked well in the previous book. And it's not as if the pacing in the book is perfect.


                                                  SPOILER ALERT

In The Hobbit the dragon is dispatched with very little sense of jeopardy 44 pages before the end, with one well-placed arrow, and the rest of the story becomes more or less a squabble over the division of the spoils. Yes, there's a battle and yes, an important character dies but I'm amazed at how un-child-friendly the action is. Surely a fight with a huge terrifying dragon is more thrilling than how the treasure is divvied up - even though treasure itself is mildly exciting?

I'm sure that is something Peter Jackson will handle better in the movies.

We watched in 3D though not in 48 fps - how amazed Professor Tolkien would have been by all these options. What this brought home was how very much it is a movie for the computer games generation. That won't be a negative for many viewers but it was for me.

Scene after scene of hobbit and dwarves conquering impossible odds as swarmed over by hundreds of goblins or orcs just feels too lacking in real threat. An Agincourt happens rarely in real life and it just seems too incredible that fourteen questers - fifteen if you count Gandalf - survive to the end of the movie with not even one broken bone!

And yes, fantasy does need to be in some sense credible.

Well what of Richard Armitage then? One of his many charms is his height and yet he is cast as a dwarf, albeit the Leader of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield. Most of the actors playing dwarves have a great deal of prosthesis about them but Thorin's dwarvishness is suggested only by a slight nose-extension (and the fact that he appears to be standing in a ditch). This gives an unpleasantly eugenics feel to kingship for me.

And the only moment that moved me was between Thorin and Bilbo, one that doesn't happen in the book and is characterised in the very good TLS review by Tom Shippey as "a final Hollywood-sentiment scene" in which Bilbo explains that he wants to help the dwarves because he has a home and they have lost theirs. And afterwards I felt my emotions had been manipulated by something not genuinely Tolkien.

And I'm afraid Radgast's bunny sled is unforgiveable!

So I'll probably be off to see it again soon - damn you, Peter Jackson.

No Year Resolutions

I think I might have a gene missing. Lots of Bloggers are putting up their New Year Resolutions - and good luck to them - but I won't be doing that because I don't have any.


You see, the trouble is, as a novelist, I always see the consequences to any action or statement. So I see the old man in the baby and the danger of failure and disappointment in any public plan to lose weight, take more exercise, read more improving books or whatever the list of resolutions contains.

I'd rather make private pacts with myself and then I'm the only one who can sigh and shake her head at the end of the year. But then I don't really like New Year. December 31st is the day my mother died so it always feels unnatural to be partying and celebrating.

Oh dear; this is all beginning to sound rather curmudgeonly and I don't mean it to. I think it's partly that for me, the year really begins in October, the academic New Year. Maybe it's because at 19 I was the oldest girl in my secondary school (I stayed on an extra year to take Greek A Level - how geeky is that?). Then there was university and postgrad and more than 25 years of the girls' education from nursery school for the oldest till the extended end of the youngest's second undergraduate degree in 2009.






I can understand making resolutions in October; it all goes with bundles of new pens, pristine notebooks, lined pads and a fresh haul of books to study.

January is a good time to think of beginnings, as well. I always feel hopeful once we are past the shortest day and the year is turning on its upward curve, like Fortune's Wheel or the London Eye, on the way up to the giddy heights of summer.

I just know that most of the things I want to happen in 2013 are not in my control - maybe I should make a list of New Year Wishes instead?

Whether you make resolutions or wishes or not, I wish all you who kindly read this blog a very Happy New Year and all the things you wish or resolve for yourselves.

What not to write in your Christmas card

The entire hand-written text of a card just received from an old school friend reads, "Any grand-children yet?" (Well, there's the usual printed "Season's Greetings" or whatever, but I was so startled I didn't notice that).

I'm sure she didn't mean to be rude or upsetting in any way but the measure of my reaction can be gauged by my reply in my card to her: "No, not yet!"

The exchange just made we wonder what is acceptable to put in a card. In another one, a different schoolfriend (these are the only two I have kept up with) mentioned how she and her husband were feeling really old but, by definition, she is the same age as me and I don't.

Most people don't just write "Good wishes" or "With love" and I admit to feeling just a tad disappointed if they do. If you hear from someone only once a year, you sort of want to know what they've been up to in the last twelve months. But when you have several children and a busy career, you get tired of writing all the same words in a hundred cards: hence the dreaded Christmas newsletter.





Such things led to Simon Hoggart's first book on the Round Robin, The Cat that could open the Fridge. Followed later by The Hamster that Loved Puccini.

 
It's apparently a middle class phenomenon, the Christmas newsletter and I am guilty as charged on both counts. Wikipedia says "While a practical notion, Christmas letters meet with a mixed reception; recipients may take it as boring minutiae, bragging, or a combination of the two, whereas other people appreciate Christmas letters as more personal than mass produced cards with a generic missive and an opportunity to "catch up" with the lives of family and friends who are rarely seen or communicated with."
Lynne Truss is currently producing "Six replies to the Christmas newsletter" on the Today programme on Radio 4 and this morning's episode saw her get her revenge by correcting the family's punctuation and telling the wife her husband was a secret adulterer! Clearly she hates them.
The first Christmas card was produced in 1843, only 170 years ago and got the creator into a bit of trouble, since it showed parents drinking wine with young children:
by John Callcott Horsley


Bizarrely, it came out in May. I wonder what message people put in them? "Have a great time in seven months from now!"?
Do you send lots of Christmas cards, a few or none? And what do you write in them? Do you hate round robins or find them interesting?
And have you got any grandchildren yet?

The durability of myth

Pandora's box, the Midas Touch, Titanic, tantalising - you can't live long in Western culture without stumbling across references to these and many other Greek myths. They seem indestructible. The latest re-telling for children is written by experienced storyteller Sally "Pomme" Clayton and illustrated beautifully by Jane Ray (Frances Lincoln).

It contains ten stories "of sun, stone and sea," which sums up some of the appeal of tales set in Greece, blessed in its climate if not in its economy. Pandora releasing a swarm of stinging insects, Medusa, not just snake-haired but tusked like a boar, Pegasus, the Chimaera, Midas with his ass's ears, Atalanta running - they are all here, bringing their familiar magic. It's a good introduction for a child who hasn't met these stories before too.

An earlier re-telling was Lucy Coats' Atticus the Storyteller's 100 Greek Myths, illustrated by Anthony Lewis (Orion).


They were re-issued in 2009/10 as a series of 12 story books, Greek Beasts and Heroes, but earlier this month they had an even more up-to-date incarnation as Lucy used them as the basis for writing a hundred Greek Myths in 140 characters as, yes, you've guessed it, Twitter Fiction!

Here's an example:
Sulky Cronos swallows 5 godlets! Wife Rhea devastated! Gran Gaia’s secret stone supper saves baby Zeus from dad’s greedy gob

That one was read by Lucy to Martha Kearney on radio 4's World at One and is the second of the abbreviated Creation Myths.

Amazing, isn't it? Millennia since the Heroic Age and now a version for the nimble-thumbed smartphone generation makes the radio News.  Just notice the next time you meet an allusion to one of these enduring stories. There is no truth more durable than myth.

You can read them all on Lucy's blog Scribble City Central.estival-100-myths-in.html