Every day is different!

Last week was a marathon of a week but enjoyable for all that!

I do love it when I get the chance to do a variety of things and last week was particularly interesting.

On Monday I travelled over to Glasgow to take part in the Aye Write book festival which takes place in Glasgow's magnificent Mitchell Library. This is the 10th Year of the festival.

Aye Write is in two halves and in past years I have taken part in Wee Write, the children's festival which is usually a few weeks earlier.  But this time I was asked to run a workshop for adults on Writing for Children.  I was delighted to discover that it was sold out, and it was a lovely group of interesting and interested people.

'Writing for Children' is such a wide subject that it is difficult to do it justice in a two hour workshop as those coming to it might be interested mainly in one area or another, although many writers who write for children write for more than one age group and more than one genre. It is part of what makes it so fascinating and rewarding.  I hope those who attended enjoyed it and found something that worked for them.

There were quite a few interesting questions and as always there is rarely only one way to do something so I find myself being contradictory and hoping that I can get across that this is how writing works, there were very few absolutes and almost always someone will be able to show an example of how the opposite has been done and it has worked, often spectacularly!

At the end of the week I was listening to a panel of writers being asked which is the most difficult to write, the beginning, the middle or the end of a book. Each writer had a different answer and very good reasons for them.

On Tuesday I travelled up north to Aberdeen for two days of school visits in the city.

I like Aberdeen and it is just as well as I spend quite a lot of time there!

 I was visiting primary schools on Wednesday and Thursday,  5 of them over two days so there was little time to stop in between.
All of the visits were with Hamish McHaggis books and it is always a joy to see how the schools and the children take to Hamish and his adventures,  In some schools my visit was to launch them into a period of exploring Scotland with the books which works well, especially as there are Scottish Book Trust resources for teachers and the schools seemed to know all about them.  Some of the children already had Hamish books at home and delighted in telling me which ones they had.

In one school, when I mentioned another of my books, part of a reading scheme. I wrote it some years ago, and I was delighted to discover that they were using it and two others of mine in the school. It is a favourite , part of the Rigby Stars called The Giant and the Frippit.





On the Thursday it was World Book Night and I had been invited to the Aberdeen Central Library to speak to parents and children as part of the celebrations.

It was fun!

There was also a Teddybear Sleepover in the library that evening, but Hamish decided he wanted to come home with me even though he and Library Ted were getting on fine!

Seems like they had a wild time in the library, when everyone else went home!


That night I headed home because the next morning the final day of the week was going to be more challenging than many in the recent past.

Soon it was Friday morning and the launch of Scotland's first YA (Young Adult) festival.

It had been quite a while in the making but all of a sudden it was here and I was going to be spending a good part of the day with 10 groups of teens ( anything between 5 and 15 at a time)  in a constant changeover between 6 authors.  At Cumbernauld Theatre this first celebration of Scottish YA authors was taking a fairly novel approach.  While three of the authors did big auditorium sessions the other 6 of us were to have a chance to chat to small groups. I was a bit daunted but excited by the prospect even though I wasn't sure how it was going to work.

But it did work well as you can see on my ABBA blog on 28th April  'Yay YA!  What a great day!'

http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.co.uk/

It was a great end to a very busy week. 

Now I plan to spend quite a lot more time writing!  Hopefully the weather will be kind and I can get out to my shed.

Time - a complex idea.

Time is something we take for granted.  'What time is it?' How often have you asked or been asked that question?   There are so many commonplace questions or statements relating to time. 

How long does it take?

How long do I have?

Isn't time flying.

Never enough time.

Give me time!

Time to go.

I wish time would stand still.

I could go on.  We mark time, watch it,  our lives are often ruled by the clock,  appointments and schedules. we have timepieces in our homes, in cars, on our wrists, on our phones, in public places and it is often difficult to be anywhere without knowing or being able to find out what time it is.                                                                                                                                                             Clocks through the ages have been huge and tiny, magnificent and ultra modern, even clocks made of flowers. From fashion statements to design icons they are as varied as man's imagination.

But time, and time travel, is the fabric of many stories and that is something I am thinking about at the moment.  I love playing with the idea of time, how we can or cannot change things, and in fact as a writer you are the master of time.

You can start a story at any point in time, you can jump forwards, and backwards in time, leading the reader along a winding road through lifetimes, before revealing the answer to the question that kept them reading.

But some stories use time as a main element of the plot. The ability to go back and change things is a tempting idea for all of us.  How often have you wondered what would have happened if you had said or done something differently, with the benefit of hindsight or even just enough time to make a considered decision?

I have been considering time recently and finding it an exciting concept filled with problems to solve but opportunities to explore.

Time to go now, but I will be back... 

Edinburgh Book Festival 2014 My event dates

It's almost August and that means in about 10 days or so it will be time for the Edinburgh Book Festival 2014 to open its doors.

The site is being prepared from the grassy private square at the end of Edinburgh's Geroge Street that is Charlotte Gardens, into the tented vibrant book festival complete with Spiegeletent, bookshops event and party tents and of course the wonderful author's yurt that is the green room.

This year I am going to be there for two events - one in the public programme and another for younger children in the schools programme. 

 in the main children's programme is for 14+ and is called 'Motive and Intention' and I will be appearing with fellow YA author Laura Jarrett, and chaired by Julia Eccleshare.It is on Saturday 23rd August 7-8pm. We will be discussing our latest books - 

Laura's  'Louder than Words' and my 'Don't Judge Me'

So if you are interested in reading or writing YA, why not come along and ask us some questions!

With a complete change of subject matter my second event is in the schools programme, where schools are invited to bring classes to the Book Festival to meet their favourite authors. 

On 20th August I will be speaking to school classes in Charlotte Square about Hamish McHaggis and the Skirmish at Stirling.

In the programme it shows that this event was to be with my good friend and Hamish McHaggis illustrator,, Sally J. Collins, who sadly passed away a couple of weeks ago.

She had been looking forward to this event and I will miss her involvement but intend that it will be a celebration of all things Hamish, as Sally would have wished, including bringing up some children to hold the beautiful mini beasts that Sally created.  

One of these creatures is hidden on each page, in each Hamish McHaggis book.

Hey diddle de dee -a writer's life for me

Hey diddle de dee -a writer's life for me-   is a blog post I wrote for the Awfully Big Blog Adventure blog over a year ago... in case you missed it, I thought it was a bit of fun and worth sharing again!

 We writers are emotional beings. We live in our heads but our emotions rule.

Perhaps it is because we spend so much time living our characters' lives, feeling their joys and sorrows and getting angry or sad for them.

We journey through their roads of despair and frustration when we make things go wrong in their lives - as they always must, or there would be no story to tell.
For that very reason it is only on rare occasions that we can share their elation and joy when everything is going well.  Because as soon as we do we are plotting ways to make it all go horribly wrong again.

While all these emotional roller coasters are swooping around in our heads as we play God with our characters, in the big world outside we have families, commitments and other pressures to contend with.

As if that was not enough there are the emotional highs and lows, the joys and frustrations of being a writer....

8.30am  Full of enthusiasm for the day, determined that  lots will get written which will, without doubt turn out to be a bestseller.

9.00am  Phone call from  publisher who says YES! to a new book- Celebratory wild dance around the house-  until a neighbour is looking strangely at you through the window. Make coffee and prepare to start writing.

10.00    Notice that someone has written a scathing review on Amazon - depths of despair.



11.00  An invitation arrives by email to take part in a great new project, praises abound for your  skill and expertise. no one else will do.

12.00  The morning is over and not a word written - It is surely all rubbish anyway- can't write at all, should give it all up. Decide to give it one last try and find the flow.... just as the phone rings.

1pm   It is a call from mother she is unwell and needs to be taken to the doctor, NOW!

2pm  Check email on phone while at doctor's to discover there has been a spelling error on an advertising brochure for a festival you have been invited to. Unfortunately thousands have been printed already calling you not a writer but a Best Selling WILTER!  You check the dictionary to find out what a wilter is.
  

3pm    Arrive home determined to get an hour or two of solid writing before the day becomes a complete disaster and settle down, losing yourself in the domestic mayhem that surrounds your characters following the car accident you created yesterday ' just to spice things up a bit'.  You discover you have incapacitated a main character and written yourself into a corner. Aaargh!

4pm   Stomping around the room you step on the cat's tail, knock over your half drunk cup of coffee onto a pile of new books you had forgotten to put away and an important letter you should have posted yesterday.


5pm. After clearing up the mess you decide to take your mind off it to see if your subconscious can work out the problem with the plot while you mess about on facebook, and Twitter,and read a few blogs.

5 mins to 6  You have the solution.  Elated and typing furiously you are completely lost in the best thing you have written for ages, it is really happening on the page and nothing can stop you now...

6pm    The door bangs and your partner arrives back from work tired and hungry, asking if you are ready to leave because the reservation for the restaurant is for 7 and the traffic is dreadful.

 Your characters are in limbo, half reaching for each other, in mid argument, freeze framed.

 With your head still in their world, you close down the computer and attempt to look delighted as you prepare to leave them behind for an outing that had seemed like a good idea  just a few days before.



Little wonder that at times we feel we have writer's block, that nothing will work and ideas seem to turn to dust,when every plot line rolls off uselessly, like tumble weed blowing haphazardly into the wilderness.

Perhaps, as we live in our heads this is our subconscious telling us that it is time for a rest, a break from the constant highs and lows, time to re group, to let ideas float around in the air without trying to pin them down.

Even when it seems like there will never be another idea worth chasing to the rainbow's end,  eventually, like rising from a good sleep our creative self emerges unscathed.  

It is as if nothing has happened and we are ready to dip into other worlds and explore our characters and their emotions again.

What a delight!

Hamish spotting!!! Have you spotted Hamish McHaggis?

Cuddly Hamish McHaggis toy has been out and about for a couple of months now and he is turning up all over the place.

Poppy and Hamish (Scotland)

Little Hamish fans have been spotted taking him on walks to the woods.

Libby and Hamish (New Zealand)

Taking him out shopping (Dashing out to avoid the paparazzi!)















and Zoe, who is visiting from Northern Ireland, spotted Hamish in the window of Waterstones, Princes Street, in Edinburgh



HAVE YOU SPOTTED HAMISH?

 

There are10 books in the series about Hamish McHaggis and all his adventures!

Giveaway- A copy of Writing for Children

There's a giveaway of my book about writing and it is happening as part of the 5th birthday celebrations on ABBA  the Awfully Big Blog Adventure       But you will have to be quick!
 I will be drawing the winner on Monday (15th July 2013). 

WRITING FOR CHILDREN
'... everything a beginning author could possibly need to know, in the straightforward and unassuming manner of one who has been doing it for years.'  Rosalie Warren

The winner will get a signed and dedicated copy of my book Writing For Children.  It is aimed at aspiring or newly published children's writers. So if that is you, or you know someone who would like a copy, why not drop by my birthday post on  ABBA -  P.A.R.T.Y. Time and a giveaway 


Writing for children is not just one kind of writing.  If you are writing a picture book or a book that is to be used to teach children to read they are quite different and there are things you need to know about what makes it a children's book. What is different about writing for different ages of children? What works and what doesn't? What about format and length and how to present it to a publisher? 

The beginning of this book looks in some detail at the various kinds of writing and markets you may be writing for when writing for children of all ages.
It looks at writing picture books and novels - writing books used to teach reading - writing series fiction - non fiction and what works for different ages of children. 
There are lots of great hints and tips from some amazing and successful children's writers. 

The second section is all about the craft of writing for children - such as ways to spark ideas, about plot and POV, about how to make characters come alive. At each part of this section there are exercises to try.

It looks at submitting your carefully written book.  How to approach a publisher and an agent and how to present your manuscript in a professional manner.

The final section is all about what happens when you get that all important publishing contract.  The reality behind the hype.  What it means to be a working children's writer and things you need to know about finances, contracts, publicity and promoting yourself.  It tells you about organising school visits and other events and how to make sure it all works well for both you and the organiser.

There is also a glossary and some lists of useful  information.

So if you are keen to get your hands on a copy pop along to the giveaway.  Good luck!

   

‘Linda Strachan is one of those authors who not only nails it on the page, but is also a master at explaining how and why she writes what she writes.’ Philip Ardagh (The Guardian)

Summertime catch up - 1

It is lovely to have some summery days again.  Blue skies, puffy white clouds and the windsurfers out on the water.

'Tuscany' - my shed

At the moment I am busy writing in my shed,
losing myself in a story.

It's been really hectic these last few months so perhaps it is time for a bit of a catch up!



March and April were very busy months when I was away a lot visiting schools and libraries all over the country.  You can fine out about some of my events on my website and on the two other blogs I contribute to  Awfully Big Blog Adventure.blogspot.co.uk  (ABBA) and Picturebook Den 

In February I went to watch a play Running on the Cracks in Glasgow.

It is taken from the book by Julia Donaldson and afterwards Julia and I went for a meal with some other great children's writers - Cathy McPhail, Vivian French and Theresa Breslin who have all had at least one of their books made into a play or a film- Well done, girls.  
Made me wonder about how one of my YA novels would work if it was made into a play or a film.
[Any young film makers out there, do get in touch! :) ] 

You can find out more about Running on the Cracks by reading my blog about it   When is a book not a book? on ABBA


In March I had a special delivery!  The new Hamish McHaggis Cuddly Toy - available in bookshops

Hamish 10" cuddly toy

The Hamish McHaggis series now has 10  books - 9 story books and one that is a story and activity book.

Hamish has fans all over the world and he loves to hear from them.

The books are also used in schools and there is a set of free teachers' resources Scottish Book Trust that can be downloaded from Scottish Book Trust website  Free Resources - Hamish McHaggis
 




In March I also visited the Aye Write Festival in Glasgow's wonderful Mitchell Library and along with Hamish we had a lot of fun with the school children who came to the sessions to meet Hamish and listen to the stories. You can read more about it on my website  www.lindastrachan.com

A book's journey- from idea to launch

I find that writing a book is a mixture of delight and despair, depending on which part of the process I'm at when you ask me.

I find delight in the initial idea, which is greeted with a quiet bubbling excitement that grows as I begin to see it take shape in my head. The cast of characters emerge, warts and all, as if coming out of the mist and gradually taking shape. Showing me their true nature as I slowly learn more about them.

The dismay usually comes in about half or three quarters of the way through the book when I become convinced that it is terrible and should be consigned to the bin.  Thankfully it is usually soon after that when I begin to see the end and the delight creeps back. I get all excited about the story again because I can see how it is all going to come together.
 It is a real emotional rollercoaster.

Writers approach their books in different ways and I don't think there is a right or wrong way to write a book, there is just the way that works for you.  Some plan and some don't.
I don't really plan, at least not much. I prefer to see where the book takes me.
 I knew what I wanted to do with Don't Judge Me. I wanted to look at the way we all make judgements about people around us, our friends, our family, even people we meet in the street.
I wanted to look at how these judgements can affect the way we react to people. How even family or friends will underestimate each other, or have preconceived ideas about what someone is capable of - good or bad.
These ideas people have about us might be so different to the way we feel inside; who we feel we are or could be, given the chance. It is a 'whodunnit', but for a long time while I was writing it I could not decide exactly who had done it.   I kept changing my mind.
So the book took a bit longer than I had expected, that is when you need a patient publisher.  My thanks to Keith at Strident for believing in it, and me!

Once I did get to the end the next thing was to make sure I didn't give away too much too soon- that the suspense is kept up, and basically that the book works!  That is when you need a good editor who understands what you are trying to do and keeps a clear and calm head when you are losing the plot, figuratively as well as literally!
So, my thanks to Alison, whose voice is always smiling, as she is here, standing at the back of this photo!
 
I often need to do research for the books I write and I always enjoy that part of it. When I discover just how much I don't know about the subject I am writing about, that is when I start to ask people. I go out and about, and try to find experts. 

Members of the Fire Service checking up on me!

 
 I have to say at this point no one is responsible for the way I use the information they give me, because it is after all a work of fiction! And sometimes writers have to use a bit of creative licence in interpreting reality to make it fit the plot.
The hope is that if I do my job well enough most people- aside from the aforementioned experts - will not notice or realise where I have been economical with the facts.
  
Also I hope that where I have cut corners it is not something that will misinform my young readers in any to any great extent.
 I feel there is a responsibility to give them a reasonably accurate view of the world, but most of all I hope to give them a great story that they will not want to put down, one that they will want to read, and tell their friends about.

The book is finally ready and the cover design has to be finalised.  Despite the fact that I have had some great book covers over the years, I still get nervous until I see the finished version.

With Don't Judge Me I loved the cover images the designer came up with and then it was only the choice between two or three that were similar but had slight differences.
 I was absolutely delighted with the finished cover. It is really dramatic!

The lovely thing about having a book launch is that you can have a party and CAKE and you can share the excitement of launching a new book into the world with friends and readers.
 I was especially delighted that we had so many young readers at the book launch from library and school reading groups, along with their teachers and librarians. Some had travelled quite a distance to be there.  These are the readers the book was written for and hopefully they will find something in it to interest, intrigue and engage them.



 Thank you to all the lovely readers, writers, teachers, librarians, members of the fire Service, also family, friends and neighbours, who came along to share this great evening with me - it would not have been as much fun without you!

The youngest person at the launch

Thanks also to Caroline and the great staff at Waterstones who helped to make sure everything went so smoothly.


Holding the finished book in my hand it always seems as if it is a familiar stranger.  The ideas that began this journey tossing about in the seas of my imagination have finally reached land and in doing so transformed themselves from intangibles to the physical, tactile thing that is a book.

Now you can hold it in your hand, turn the pages and read the words, hopefully turning it back into those intangible emotions and ideas.



Dip into the book and you will find out about Suzie, Jack, Jenna and Malky and the people in their lives.   But they would each ask of you - DON'T JUDGE ME!

New Hamish McHaggis adventure - Glasgow Book launch

Hamish goes to Glasgow!

The 10th Hamish McHaggis  book is being launched this weekend .

On Saturday 27th April at the wonderful Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow and on Sunday 28th April at the new Glasgow Riverside transport museum.

It's all free!


I will be there reading from the new book and Sally J. Collins, the illustrator, will be drawing with children.  There will be all sorts of activities for families all through the day. You might even catch a glimpse of Hamish himself! 

Why not come along and find out what happens when Hamish and friends try to discover clues for the Great Glasgow Treasure Hunt.
at  Kelvingrove Museum - Saturday 28th events
 
and

at Riverside Museum - Sunday 29th events


 Information about the events are on the Glasgow Life website

ALERT for everyone who is interested in picture books

There's a new blog on the block. PICTUREBOOKDEN

It is a collaborative blog all about picture books, writing,  reading and ideas for picture books.

Written by a 'scribble' (is that the correct collective noun?) of picture book writers, and there will also be  guest bloggers, and there are ideas and writing tips and all sorts of exciting things in the DEN.

So do drop in and have your say.

My first blog on the site is about how books can grow wings,(http://picturebookden.blogspot.com ) introducing the latest book in the Hamish McHaggis series, which will be launched in April 2012.

I look forward to seeing you in the DEN!

Video blog on ABBA online lit fest this weekend ..... and forever!

One of the best things about an on line Literary Festival is that it will be there all the time so you can dip in and out at anytime you like and it will still be there to enjoy.

This weekend 9th and 10th July is the ABBA  awfullybigblogadventure 3rd birthday and in case you have missed all the people talking about it on line there is new look website and there will be a fabulous line up of children's writers - blogging, running competitions and chatting on video, too.

It is one thing to write a blog but it is quite another to agree to appear in a video, quite a scary proposition.. but I do tend to jump in before thinking too hard about things.  I thought it would be an interesting idea so I spoke to my good friend and fellow writer Cathy MacPhail who I know is usually keen to have ago at something a bit different!!!

In the very early stages of my writing career I had the chance to be a student at Totleigh Barton in Devon, one of the Arvon Foundation Writing Centres, where they run creative writing courses for writers at all stages of their writing life - from beginners to more experienced writers.  I found it a fantastic experience so I was delighted when I was asked to tutor a course on Writing for Children at an Arvon Centre, hoping I could make it just as exciting an experience for the students, as I'd had myself in the past.

Cathy with one of our students

Cathy MacPhail and I had spent a week last summer at the Moniack Mhor Arvon writing centre in the north of Scotland.  I blogged about it at the time  in a post called  The Arvon Magic   We decided that we could make a video with us discussing our week and the lovely people we had as students on the course.

Making the video was a bit scary, but once we got started we just began chatting about how we approached the week as tutors, and some of the things that happened.  In the end it all went well, in fact we almost forgot to stop! 

So this weekend our video will be on the ABBA on line  Lit Fest at 5 pm on Sunday 10th July and soon after it will be available on YouTube, too-   Now that is really scary!

The great thing is if you can't make it at the weekend you can come back another time and check out all the weekend's blogs and videos etc.  because they will still be there.

Just remember the competitions will have a closing time or date, so do check that if you want to enter any of them and win some great books and giveaways.


So come along and join in the fun  and check out the  Online Festival Programme.

Crime Central Interrogation - Gillian Philip puts Linda Strachan and DEAD BOY TALKING under the spotlight

Gillian Philip put a series of interesting questions to me about Dead Boy Talking... 

here they are...
1)What made you decide on that particular and unique narrative voice?

2)The novel has a harrowing storyline and you don't shrink from the horror of events, with some brutal description. But you chose not to show the crucial moment of Josh's stabbing and to keep it  "off screen". Was that something that seemed natural from the outset or was it a deliberate choice? 

3)Skye is an original and fascinating character. Where did she come from inside your head?
We get some very vivid pictures of what goes on inside Josh's head as his life slips away. Did you research the physical and psychological aspects of the dying process, or was this something you wrote by instinct?

4)I found Gary a hard character to like (which isn't to say I didn't find him fascinating, even in his absence!) How did you feel about him and what he'd done to Josh? 

5)And the crucial question:  Were you ever tempted to make the ending different - at any point in the writing process?


For the answers to all these questions and much more - see  Crime Central Blog

ALSO

This month a giveaway competition to win  a signed copy of The Long Weekend by Savita Kalhan


and a fascinating blog about why she writes crime fiction for teens.


Find out why Peter Cocks moved form writing TV to YA
.


So  why not drop over to Crime Central and have a look!

WIN signed copies of Spider and Dead Boy Talking

Over on Crime Central all this month is the chance to  WIN

one of 3 sets of signed copies of  

both

Spider and Dead Boy Talking.

      Just answer one simple question.  clue: look on my website for the answer!  www.lindastrachan.com/teenage


Competition is open internationally and closes on 1st May 2011
Check out the Crime Central website
 http://crimereading.blogspot.com  for full details and lots of other interesting information on your favourite crime books  and authors.

Crime Central Giveaway

This month (April) on 

Crime Central blog 

there is a chance to win one of three sets of signed copies

of BOTH my teenage novels 

SPIDER and DEAD BOY TALKING.

The competition is open internationally and runs until 1st May with just one simple question to answer.


Visit  http://crimereading.blogspot.com/ A blog to celebrate crime fiction for teen readers, and read interesting blogs by a variety of writers who write about crime, read reviews and find out how crime writers minds work and have your say, too.


 CRIME CENTRAL

A blog to celebrate crime fiction for teen readers, run by authors Anne Cassidy, Keren David, Linda Strachan and Gillian Philip. Find out about new books, leave your comments and reviews, read interviews with authors.