David Seow's Blog, page 37

Prayers for the Families and Victims of Flight MH370

It's been a very sad and tragic weekend. Please pray for the families of the victims of Malaysian Airlines. And for the passengers themselves. 

The Making of 'A Day with the Duchess'

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's itinerary for the tour to New Zealand and Australia has just been released  and my new book A Day with the Duchess is scheduled to be published this  month! At long last! It's almost been two years in the making. 

When it was announced that Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were set to visit Singapore, I wanted to do something that would commemorate their visit and the idea of a book began to percolate in my mind.





But I had trouble formulating a storyline. It was tough to say the least. I wanted something engaging and something that
was not too predictable. But one thing was for sure, I had to meet the Duke and Duchess! So I headed down to Gardens by the Bay with my mum, niece and family friend Chantal to meet them. We weren't able to meet the Duke but we were thrilled when the Duchess walked over to us.  She was so charming and down to earth. She's a really lovely, lovely lady. And even more stunning in person than her photographs.





While waiting for the Duke and Duchess, we met Vicky Adeney, mum of royal fans Alice and Mikey. As we had two bouquets of flowers, so my mum gave one to Alice, and sure enough when the Duchess saw little Alice she came right over to speak to her. By the way, A Day with the Duchess is dedicated to Alice and Mikey, who were the inspiration for the story.


The Duchess and my thumb
So at the end of 2012, I came up with  a story and then  planned on self publishing the book in time for the 2013 London Book Fair.  

Now the thing with picture books is that the illustrations have to be spot on. They are what attract the readers and they've got to be just right. So I asked my illustrator to start drafting concept sketches.  We experimented with several styles and agreed that none of them were as appealing as they could be. The process was taking far longer than we would have liked, and truth be told, it was getting slightly frustrating.


Early concept sketches A Disney Duchess? An early conceptThen just before the London Book Fair last year, we managed to come up with a cover image that we were relatively satisfied with. We didn't have any other illustrations  other than the cover art, but it would have to do.


Concept cover of the book that might have been...
We showed the cover art to some publishers and distributors, and there were nibbles but they wanted to see the whole mock-up,  not just the cover.  

When I returned home, I decided to submit the story to my editor, Sheri, and after an editorial meeting with the team, they offered me a publishing contract with the caveat that it become part of my Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di series, which was already underway.  Sadly that meant parting ways with my longtime collaborator, the talented Enrico.

But when I saw Soefara's concept sketches for the story, I was thrilled! Not only were the sketches beautiful, but she captured the essence of the story. She's a brilliant illustrator and it's hard to believe this is her first series of books.



Soefara's Concept Art
A Day with the Duchess is the fifth book in the series. Now my brilliant illustrator Soefara is putting the finishing touches on the final arwork and I'm beside myself with anticipation. I haven't been this excited a book since my first book came out. hopefully it will be hot off the press in time for the Bologna Children's Book Fair and the London Book Fair.


The London and Bologna Book Fair Catalogue

Wind, Wrinkled Bottoms and the Old Man of Lochnaggar

I judge a good book by its author's ability not to take him/herself too seriously and by Maurice Sendak, he's done it. I'm talking of course of the children's picture book 'The Old Man of Lochnaggar', written by HRH the Prince of Wales.

It's said that he wrote the story to entertain his two younger brothers TRH the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex, so it was written way before I was born - and it was first published in 1980 and then later republished in 1990.



Though it was written decades ago, kids will find this as engaging and entertaining today as they did back then. The nameless old man of the story is a loner who embarks on adventures in each of the chapters of this charming book from the depths of the loch to high over Balmoral and the hills of Scotland. He encounters a host of incredible characters from lagopus Scoticus, a kind of Scottish King Neptune, to the gorms and their king; and a formidable old lady on a train.
Anyone who knows me knows that I've got a penchant for anything scatological - yes, I haven't grown up, but that's been long established- so some of the things that were nicely incorporated into the story were references to wind, wrinkled bottoms and the description of the old man's loo--HILARIOUS!!
I really enjoyed this book and the author really knows how to write a good children's picture book! And that is no easy task! A lot of people in the public eye -and a lot more private individuals - think they can write a good children's book, but a few actually accomplish that. The illustrations by Sir Hugh Casson are brilliant and are perfect for this story.
It's been 34 years since the last print of the book, and I think it would be fantastic if a special anniversary edition book was published, especially now that there's a new member of the family who will definitely enjoy it. A big thanks goes to HRH the Duchess of Cornwall for sending me a copy. It's brill. Thank you, Ma'am!

Rolla Rhino by Claire Sharminni Thamboo

My friend Claire Sharminni Thamboo and I came up with an idea for a series of picture book stories about endangered animals in Africa and the plight they face. And so I wrote and published Emma's Elephant and Claire wrote Rolla Rhino. I'm sharing Claire's story here  with her permission. I'm also posting a concept sketch that Enrico Sallustio did to accompany her story.

We're still hoping to get Rolla Rhino published, but till then we'll share her story her.



Rolla Rhino
By Claire Sharminni Thamboo


The bush moves again.
A man pops out the top.
He’s got a gun.
The gun is pointed at Daddy Ralph.
‘Dad’s in trouble!’ gasps Rolla.
‘I’ll stop the hunter,’ says Penelope Python.
She coils around his leg.

The man drops his rifle and fearlessly yanks Penelope off.
‘Piddling python!’ he says, tying Penelope in a knot.
‘Hang on Penelope! I’ll rescue you!’ says Sally Shorebird.
She flaps her wings in the man’s face.

The man catches her by the feet.
‘Scraggly shorebird!’ he says, stuffing Sally into his bag.
‘Attack!’ cries Dorothy, rolling a giant dung ball up to the man.
‘Dumb dung beetle!’ he says, flicking his finger at her.
The dung ball and Dorothy launch into the air and land on top of a tree.
‘Don’t you hurt my daddy and my friends!’
Rolla charges at the man.
He picks up his rifle.
Rolla’s jaws open wide.
Bang!
Snap!
Crunch!
Owwww! Ow! Ow! Ow! 
‘Stop biting! Stop biting! Stop biting!’ yells the hunter.
‘Don’t stop biting! Don’t stop biting! Don’t stop biting!’ yells everyone else.
Daddy Ralph looks up, surprised.
‘What are you doing, Rolla?’

‘Um…nothing?’ says Rolla,
‘Biting!’ says everyone else.
‘Biting me!’ says the hunter, running away.
Daddy Ralph gives Rolla the biggest nudge ever.
‘That’s my girl, Rolla,’ Daddy Rhino says.
‘That’s my girl!’
Rolla, biting is bad but sometimes …
you just have to do it.
‘O…K…,’ says Rolla.
‘Stop biting, Rolla!’
‘But YOU SAID you’ve got to do it sometimes!’

All in Young Writers Festival

The National Book Development Council of Singapore's All in Young Writers Festival was held last weekend and Emma and I made it a point to attend at least a few of the sessions.

The festival is basically for young adults, of which I most definitely am not,  to learn more about the business of writing in all its forms: play writing, scriptwriting, non-fiction, novel, journalistic etc. Though its primarily targeted towards young writers, I would recommend it for aspiring writers of all ages.

The Arts House
Held at the Old Arts House, where the government use to hold its parliamentary sessions, it's one of the nicest places to host any kind of private party of literary event. I held the book launch of Blue Kangaroo there two years ago.
Emma arrived shortly after I did  and Ovidia Yu,  Singapore's literary treasure and a good friend, joined Kenneth, Emma and I for lunch before her panel discussion with her fellow authors Joshua Ip and Felix Cheong. It's always great catching up with Ovidia. She's so kind, gracious and encouraging. I wish I had an ounce of her incredible talent. 
Joshua Ip, Ovidia, Felix
After lunch, Emma and I attended Ovidia's session, ''Shifting Genres: from Plays, Poetry to Prose. It was really informative and extremely entertaining. Great panel!!


Ovidia Yu
Felix Cheong
The next session was 'Writing and Developing a Documentary' with Mark Checkley, who was surprised that there were people of all ages in his session. I think he was referring to Emma and me! 

Mark regaled us with his adventures in documentary making and he kept us all entertained and engaged. We watched a couple of minutes of a documentary, then he explained the different kinds of documentaries and he shared tips on how to get your interview subjects to open up and I'm really looking forward to his upcoming documentary about Enid Blyton's Famous Five. On a side note, he also told us he collects Star Wars action figures!


Mark Checkley
Add captionWith that Emma and I headed out for tea, but not before stopping by the Closetful of Books booth to pick up a couple of books. It was a writers festival after all, so of course we had to buy some books!

School visit to Overseas Family School

So after a few days at the ISS, Emma and I headed next door to the Overseas Family School for two days of joint talks before an audience of over 120 second graders. Now I've paid visits to OFS for the past four years, but it's always been to invididual classes but this year it was very different as neither of us have spoken before such a large group, and while it was slightly nerve-wracking, it was still fun.
The kids were great, as always. Denise was on hand to snap a couple of snapshots and of the session. Then with that our talks for book week were over. Thanks to Kavita and Shalini for very kindly arranging the school visit. It was great! So thanks so much, ladies.
While Emma is off to the UK late next month a head of the Bologna and London Book Fairs, I'll be making my next school visit to Quayside Prep School at Sentosa Cove and I'm really looking forward to it!

There's Soup on My Fly at the Alliance Franchaise

So after lots of planning, months of rehearsals and one author, who to put it mildly can be rather crotchety at times, Storybook Theatre's production of There's Soup on My Fly! was ready to go.

Juliet kindly invited me to one of the shows and let me bring whomever I liked. So Emma, Soefara, Denise and Kelvin all joined me on my big day out. Evelyn, Sarah and Kenneth saw it earlier in the week and Catherine had watched it during a dress rehearsal at one of the schools, but this was entirely different as it was going to be performed in an actual theatre!

So with tickets in hand, we all traipsed our way down to the Alliance Franchaise. Denise and Kelvin were late but that's ok because Denise brought Valentine's Day candy, which Emma proceeded to much on during the production. She even munched on mine!

Anyway, I was really happy to see that there were so many kids waiting at the lobby for the next showing when we showed up. Juliet was busy so after a quick hello and introductions to some of the other guests, I tried to stay out of the way and not get into any trouble.


At the theatre with my public who had absolutely no idea that I wrote the story!
BTW Emma and Denise told me to behave!Elaine and Melissa were busy in the theatre with the previous performance, which was wrapping up at that point. Then the doors opened and groups of kids streamed out. 

Juliet led us to our seats and my fellow author Emily Lim was there with her family and another fellow author Shekinah Linn was hiding somewhere at the  back of the theatre, avoiding my wrath for being late! I tried to be a bad influence on Emily's son, Caleb, but there was no chance of being influenced by me at all! And in the end, Shekinah avoided my wrath because she actually showed up. Thanks, Emily and Shekinah!

Then it was time for the show to start. The whole team did a tremendous job and they had the kids and adults in stitches. Thanks to Juliet, Elaine, Melissa and the whole team! 


Famished, we made the short walk to Newton Hawker Centre for lunch before Emma and I got to work on our school presentation for the Overseas Family School the following week. All in all, I would say it was one of the most memorable Valentine's Days I've ever had.

The International School Singapore, Day Two

So after a really enjoyable first day at the International School Singapore, I headed back there for a morning of conducting workshops with third and second graders with Emma Nicholson.

Again I am amazed at how bright and well-mannered the children are, much more than I was when I was back in school. They caught on really quickly and they came up with some amazing ideas.


Emma with two students reading their ideas out


After a brief break, we were ready for the group of second graders.  Denise had to go off for a meeting so she couldn't hang around to take pictures, but that's OK. I feel our second workshop was ran more smoothly than the first one, but maybe that's because we were feeling more relaxed than the first one. Both Emma and I haven't conducted workshops together before and it was our first time doing one together, but I had a lot of fun and I hope she did too. More importantly I hope the kids learnt something and had fun doing so.
With that, my official part of my visit to ISS had come to an end. Emma was still had one more talk after lunch and so we made a quick dash to the Ion food court before high-tailing it back to her school for her talk with fourth graders.
Now Emma says that she's never conducted school talks before but she is a pro. Her talk was effortless, or I should say seemed effortless because I know she put a  lot of work into it.
She had the kids enthralled and engaged from the get go.  And then as he session drew to a close, the kids got in line to for her all important autograph.



With that our time at ISS was done. I have to say that we both had a tremendous time and once again I have to say a tremendous thanks  to Susan, Marilu and Graham.

A Parcel from the Palace!

Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a big royal supporter and I have been incredibly lucky to have had the honour of meeting a few royals over the years, but I have to say that I got the biggest surprise when I received a parcel from the royal post late last week.


the envelope
Now maybe I'm a huge supporter because I'm a children's book author and I've always liked listening to stories about kings and queens, or maybe it's because  support for the monarchy was passed down to me genetically via my British grandmother, but I digress.

I recently  wrote to HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, saying that as a children's book author, I appreciated her championing children's literarcy and that I remembered that HRH the Prince of Wales wrote The Old Man of Lochnaggar, but I had never been able to get my hands on a copy of it. I sent her two copies of my self- published books  If I were a Blue Kangaroo which is about the importance of friendship and Emma's Elephant, which is about a girl and her invisible pet elephant's efforts to thwart poachers in Africa for her to read to her grandchildren.




Then late last week I received a registered package in the royal post and I puzzled for a moment and then it struck me. I ripped it open and out fell a copy of The Old Man of Lochaggar! Then I pulled out a small envelope that was embossed with a "C".



I grabbed the letter opener and I found a letter which was addressed to me and I would tell you what the Duchess wrote but that's private and confidential - I know I'm bad, aren't I? Ok, the gist of it was that she thanked me for the books and said she looked forward to reading them and that she was sending a copy of The Old Man of Lochnaggar because I hadn't been able to get one here.


The salutation written by the Duchess herself
I was floored! Gobsmacked! shocked and very, very touched and humbled  that she would take the time to write back and furthermore take time to send me a copy of the book. It's needless to say that I'm thrilled.


and signed by her too!!
So here's a big thank you to HRH The Duchess of Cornwall for her very kind and thoughtful gesture. It is much appreciated. I look forward to reading HRH's book and will be discussing it on my blog right here! Stay tuned.

A Big Thank You to HRH The Duchess of Cornwall

I would just like to say a Big Huge Thank You to HRH Duchess of Cornwall. She just made my day, my week, my month, my year.  Have I whet your appetite? Stay tuned for more details.... Coming soon...:)