David Seow's Blog, page 38

International School Singapore visit 2014, Day One

With my hosts Susan and Graham Grant
With my captive audience
Graham Grant of the International School Singapore very kindly invited Emma Nicholson and me to conduct talks and workshops at the school during Book Week. Of course we were thrilled to have been asked and we immediately got down to planning our joint workshops and our individual talks.
If you've had look at some of my previous posts, you'll know that Emma recently published her awesome middle grade book Princess Petunia's Dragon and she was looking forward to seeing what her audience thought of it. So a couple of weeks before our visit we took about six hours to work out what we were going to say and do to hopefully inspire kids to write their own stories.


Emma's Book Palace of copies of Princess Petunia's Dragon
Writers basically work alone for the most part so I like doing workshops and talks with friends who are writers as well. It gives us a chance to bounce ideas off one another and, truth be told, I need someone to rein me in at times and Emma's really good at that. On more than one occasion, she's told me when I should be quiet! But that doesn't mean I always listen to her.

Emma at the printers!
By the time of our school visit, we were all set. I was scheduled to do two talks and two joint workshops with Emma. An hour before my talk I received a call from my distributor Denise from Closetful of Books who fretted: "You're still at home? Why are you still at home?" 

By the tone of her voice I realised I should jump into a taxi as fast as possible. Thankfully I live about 10 minutes away from the school and so I was there in no time. The guard at the school took down my particulars and handed me a pass that I had to make sure I did not lose. 


Caught trying to add a few illustrations to Sarah Mounsey's
 poster


 Denise met me at the main gate and escorted me to the library and introduced me to Susan and Graham who could not have been more warm and welcoming. Oh and Emma was also there  to support my individual talks that day. My fellow picture book author, Sarah Mounsey, aka the competition, messaged me to say that she was on her way there too. Kelvin, my other distributor, was already at a table piled high with copies of our books, ready for sale. So with time to spare I showed Denise my presentation.  After assessing what I had prepared --BTW I was up till two in the morning finalising it-- Denise looked at me and said: "Just make sure you don't go off topic!"

"What? What do you mean?" I responded. 
Denise sighed: "I know you, David, and you are capable of going off topic." 


Denise and SarahNow in my defence, I only go off topic when people, and when I say people, I mean Denise and other grown-ups, start talking about topics I don't want to listen to. Nevertheless, when it was time to go up to the multi-purpose hall where my talks were to talk place, I repeated this mantra: "Don't go off topic, don't go off topic, don't go off topic."

We plugged the projector into my computer and then the kids streamed in class by class. I handed my camera to Denise and asked her to take photos. 


Marilu Burden, Emma and Susan GrantThen I met another of our hosts, the gracious and welcoming Marilu Burden, the Elementary School Literacy Coordinator before the students started streaming in.

The kidsI kicked off my talk by telling the kids about my earliest memories of reading and about what inspired me to start writing and why my school report card always looked like it had been fatally injured in a combat zone. 
RIP: My report card from school.
It sustained fatal injuries during my school years

Me
I have to say the kids were so well behaved, welcoming, and so, so smart. They're a lot smarter than I was at their age and I'm sure Denise would say that they are a lot smarter than me now, right, Denise?


After my first session, Sarah had to head off to pick up her children from school and Emma bought me a very nice lunch at Takashimaya before I headed back for my next session. Having heard me speak once, Emma decided she would rather spend the afternoon shopping than listen to me again. Denise was not so lucky and she had to listen to me all over again and try to sell some of my books.



The kids at my second talk were just as fun, smart and interesting as the kids at my first talk. Then it was time to pack up, go home and get ready for another day at school. 
You know the funny thing is that when I was in school I couldn't wait to leave and now that I'm a grown-up, a fact that is quite possibly open for debate, I can't wait to go back. Why is school now so much more fun than when it was back then?

As I left, Denise paid me a priceless compliment. She said: "It was good. I underestimated you."  Thanks, Denise! And thanks to Susan, Marilu and Graham for arranging a terrific first day!

Chinese New Year's Day lunch

Gong Xi Fa Chai, Happy Prosperous New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Chai! Happy Prosperous Chinese New Year! It's that time of year when you and your extended family reunite for a day of feasting on New Year goodies, goodies and more goodies. My extended family meets about once a year and each year there seems to be a new addition! If you can compare Chinese New Year to an event in the US it would be comparable to Thanksgiving or Christmas. While there are 12 days of Christmas, Chinese New Year lasts two weeks.

Celebrations start with the traditonal reunion dinner when relatives gather at a home or a restaurant to kick off the festivties. My sister-in-law and brother have always hosted the dinner and they always do a great job.  Mum spent the whole day making her Roti Jala (Weblike pancakes) and Chap Chye (a chinese soup with pork and vegetables).


Mum's roti jala

This year, like every year,  we started dinner with Yu Sheng, a traditional raw fish salad with a variety of ingredients, which everyone has  to toss  for good luck, health, wealth and prosperity.






Yu sheng  before it is tossed


Roast suckling pig




Ngor hiang





Chicken curry wh







After stuffing myself silly at dinner, I hit bed at about 10:30pm and didn't wake until about 8:00am on New Year's morning.

To be continued....

SCBWI, NBDCS, AFCC, and Children's Publishing in Singapore.

Dinner with Linda Sue Park in 2011
SCBWI Singapore is  relatively small in terms of how big most SCBWI regions are, but in three years it's grown from a core group of six members, including RA Kenneth Quek and coordinator Catherine Carvell, into a group of about 40 members with an average of 17-18 members attending the monthly critique meetings.

In a span of three years, our authors have won awards, published books and have been signed to literary agencies. Even the most jaded publishing type will have to admit that this has been quite a feat for a country where children's publishing is still in its relative infancy.


SCBWI members at AFCC 2012

Speaking with Shamini Flint and Emily Lim at AFCC 2012

On the SWF panel with David Almond, Emily Lim, and John Dougherty


Our  group has been lucky enough to have dined with Linda Sue Park, Wendy Orr, Jacqueline Harvey, and Lisa Yee to name a few. 


Dinner with Ian and Jacqueline, and Lisa Yee Dinner with Tom and Wendy @ AFCC 2013

Dinner with Jacqueline Harvey
Some of us have been to the Bologna Children's Book Fair and The London Book Fair. We've been asked to speak at festivals and we've attended them too. 

At the Bologna Children's Book Fair
Kenneth dining with Leonard Marcus @ Rules in London

I credit the growth of our group down to two key members: RA Kenneth and  group coordinator, Catherine, our leaders. They are extremely passionate about children's books. Kenneth is also the Deputy Director of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and one of the festivals under his portfolio is the Asian Festival of Children's Content.


Catherine, Sarah, Emma and Kenneth @ AFCC 2012

Mr Rama Evelyn Sue Wong, Ruhksana Khan and Trevor Kew
Conceived by Mr Rama, Director of the NBDCS, the festival has grown exponentially in recent years. The glitterati of children's literati  that have graced the event include: Wendy Orr, Candy Gourlay, Susanne Gervay, Naomi Kojima, Kathleen Ahrens, Dianne Wolfer, Vivian Kirkfield, Ruhksana Khan, Sarah Odedina,  Helen McAleer, Andrea Pasion-Flores, Helen Mangham, Jayapriya Vasudevan, Cynthea Liu, Alvina Ling, Mio Debnam, Linda Lingard,  Holly Thompson, Leonard Marcus, Steve Mooser,  Norman Jorgensen, Chris, Cheng, Edmund Wee, Yusof Gajah, James Foley, Trevor Kew and many, many more.  It's a great place to meet publishing professionals-- from authors and editors to agents and publishers - and learn more about the industry.



Susanne Gervay @ AFCC 2013

Book signing for Emma's Elephant.

Emma and Wendy Orr
Naomi, Mio and Kenneth @ AFCC 2013

Tuting Hernandez, Myra Garces Bascal, Susanna Goho-Quek, Chris Cheng
and Mr Rama at the joint book launches of ' Water' and 'Beyond Legends, Folktales and Myths'.
The AFCC/Book Council team 2013


CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER FOR AFCC






Now this year's AFCC is going to be bigger than ever before and will span five whole days including a media summit, seminars for parents and teachers, talks, workshops, manuscript and illustration critiques, book launches and much, much more.

Now a few friendly words of advice for any first time authors and illustrators out there who will be attending this MUST-GO-TO event.

1. Don't approach editors, publishers and agents with your manuscripts. This is neither the time nor the place to do so. Instead you can submit your manuscripts or artwork for the First Look and First Pages critiques or the pitch session.


2.  Watch, listen and learn. Watch, listen and learn. Watch, listen and learn.

3.   As the sessions run concurrently, pick and choose your sessions wisely. 

4. Enjoy the festival.

Over the Moon with Darcy Moon!

Today my dear friend, Catherine Carvell,  just received a special package in the mail - an advance copy of her debut MG novel Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs! 


Catherine's over the moon with her first copy of Darcy!
Mark my words, people, Catherine's book is destined to be a best-seller. I was fortunate enough to read the early drafts of the story and I loved it. The story is gut-busting funny and it's green in every sense of the word.  Catherine's been working on it for a very long time and so this is an especially thrilling day for her and I think we can all understand why.

Catherine, congratulations, you've done an amazing job! We're proud of you. Now onto those best-seller lists!  Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs is published by Fremantle Press and will be available in all good bookstores in March.

First SCBWI Meeting of the Year

Last night we had a huge turn out at the first SCBWI meeting of the year -17 members were in attendance - and it marked award-winning author, Emily Lim's first session with us. Kristina, Sarah, Simon, Malavika and Rani handed in manuscripts for critiquing and the ever diplomatic Catherine Carvell, fresh off the plane from her month-long camping tour of New Zealand, moderated the session.


Emily and Catherine


Anu and Vidhya


Simon wowed us again with his amazing rhyming skills with his story Astronaut Jack.  Sarah shared the third story in her much-loved Purple Paw Print series and, like the first two, looks set to be a hit and will have you laughing until you 'itch'. Malavika did a brilliant job with her original fable Lela and the Rabbit in the Moon. Rani, the only author/illustrator in the group, shared her amazing illustrations for her book Summer Holidays Around the World. And Kristina surprised us with her deft use of rhyme in her story Once Upon a Tide.



Simon and Grant


Sarah and Kristina


Rani and friend

Now, lots has been going on with our members since we last met in November. Emma published her brilliant book Princess Petunia's Dragon  in December and is now currently available in all good book stores around Singapore. Catherine's book Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs will be released in March and she recently conducted her first interview; Evelyn just won her second bilingual picture book award for her story The Naughty Mynah Bird. Congratulations to all three ladies, well done!


Emma and Petunia




Linda, Evelyn and Kenneth


In other news, Kristina is launching the second book in her Shabu Shabu series and she's also in the midst of working on another picture book. Grant is working on his mega-successful Monkey Magic series. Simon has meetings lined up with potential agents. Kenneth and Evelyn will be off to the New Delhi International Book Fair next month. I was invited to go along, but I won't be able to make this trip as Emma and I will be conducting a series of talks and workshops at some schools here and I'm really looking forward to them. Sebbie's First Day of School will be out next week and the NLB has already ordered 70 copies for the libraries here and my illustrator Soefara is already working on the next book A Day with the Duchess.

So that's it for our first meeting of the year. Hopefully we'll have lots more good news next month! 

Rough Sketches for A Day with the Duchess

As you may or may not know, the fourth book in the Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di series, A Day with the Duchess, is in the works and this is the first samples of rough sketches from the mega talented Soefara Jafney.
I'm so excited about this book, more excited than I've been about any book in a very long time. I can't wait for it to be published.

FULL STEAM AHEAD

Last week, Emma and I were honoured to meet  Linsay and John Knight who have started their own poetry publishing house, Pitt-Street Poetry.  Linsay used to work with Random House and was the publisher of my good friend Jacqueline Harvey's  brilliant, bestselling, super-popular  Alice Miranda and Clementine Rose books. 







John, Linsay, Emma and me
Emma and I met up with Linday and John at the super posh Fullerton Hotel before we deciding to lunch at the nearby Indochine. Over a lunch of springrolls and Vietnamese pho, we discussed our experiences in publishing. Linsay has had a wealth of experience in the publishing field, having worked for the likes  Scholastic and  Random House. John's a medical doctor who runs Pitt-Street Poetry with Linsay.  Their younger son, Jasper, is an artist who is one of the directors of the Singapore Gallery, Future Perfect and their older  son Dominic is a broadcaster with ABC. What a treat it was to hear about their journey in publishing and what a talented family. Thank you for the time to meet with us, Linsay and John, and thank you for the books!


Helen and Emma with Princess Petunia
After lunch we cabbed it to Tanglin Mall to meet with Helen, one of my agents from Jacaranda to discuss a project we're working on.
Best-selling and award-winning picture book Emily Lim joined us as well for our tea-time meeting at Brunetti at Tanglin Mall. I have three manuscripts due for Jacaranda and I've got to get at least one of them ready in time for the Bologna Children's Book Fair. PRESSURE!


Denise and Sarah
Then a few days later I caught up with my new distributor Denise from Closetful of Books to sign my contract over coffee at Starbucks.  I've known Denise for some time and she's was fantastic when she was with Bookaburra so I know she'll do a great job distributing my books. Sarah Mounsey, who I affectionately call Competition, also signed with Denise. 

My latest book Sebbie's First Day of School is set to be hot off the press this week and my wonderful, talented and super fast illustrator Soefara is hard at work on our next book A Day with the Duchess. I can't wait to see the first illustrations.

I'll Write For Cookies

Vivian Kirkfield very kindly invited me to answer a few questions on her blog. Thank you so much Vivian! Please click on the link below to head on over to Vivian's blog!



Will Write For Cookies

Story Book Theatre - There's Soup On My Fly! Trailer