Monthly Archives: July 2017

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BOOK PEOPLE REVEALS CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN AS HEAD JUDGE OF 2017 BEDTIME STORY COMPETITION

  • TV star set to front campaign encouraging entries to second edition of nationwide Bedtime Story competition
  • Book People will once again ask children to create a picture book of 200-800 words for a perfect bedtime read
  • Claudia will host with a live video event on Book People’s Facebook page on 19 July
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    Leading direct bookseller Book People has revealed that one of the UK’s best known broadcasters, Claudia Winkleman, will be the head judge for its latest Bedtime Story competition. Accompanying Claudia on the judging panel will be broadcaster and children’s book author, Christian O’Connell and top illustrator Alison Brown.
     
    The nationwide competition challenges young authors aged between five and 11 to create a picture book on the theme of friendship. The winner will become a published author, with their book illustrated by Alison Brown, and published by Little Tiger.
     
    This summer the competition returns with Claudia Winkleman fronting the campaign to encourage primary school aged children to create their own stories on the theme of friendship. The Strictly presenter will host a live video event with illustrator Alison Brown on Book People’s Facebook page on Wednesday 19 July, and will lead the judging panel that picks the overall competition winner.
     
    The Bedtime Story competition is now in its second year, and follows the June publication of London schoolgirl Isabel Harris’ book, The Moon Man, which won the inaugural contest after being chosen from more than 1,000 entries last year. Since going on sale on 1 June, the book has also become Book People’s fastest selling title of 2017 so far.
     
    On becoming head judge for this year’s Bedtime Story campaign, Claudia said:
    I’m delighted to be involved in Book People’s fantastic Bedtime Story competition. I have always made a special effort to instil a love of books in my children, and encourage their imagination and creativity through reading and writing. This competition is a brilliant chance for children to let their imaginations run wild and immerse themselves in a fun and exciting project. I can’t wait to help encourage lots of kids to get involved and see the stories they create.
     
    Speaking about his involvement in this year’s campaign, Christian O’Connell said:
    I’m really looking forward to being on the judging panel for the upcoming Bedtime Story Competition. Having my own children’s book published was an amazing moment in my career, so to be able to be involved in helping a budding young author have their work come to life makes this a brilliant project to be a part of.
     
    Sarah Walden, Book People Group Buying and Merchandising Director, commented:
    We’re very pleased to launch Bedtime Story competition once more with Claudia and Christian on board as our ambassadors. We were blown away by the quality of the writing and imagination shown in last year’s Bedtime Story competition and we’re looking forward to making this year’s version even bigger and better.
     
    Book People will launch 2017’s Bedtime Story Competition on 10 July with entries open until 2 October this year. To register your interest in entering this year’s competition please visit thebookpeople.co.uk/bedtimestory.

    Bravereader: Celebrating the News about the Scottish School Library Development Strategy

    Today the news broke that owing to a sustained campaign by dedicated school library campaigners, the Scottish government has agreed to work on developing a school library strategy.

    Full details are available on the CILIP Scotland site here:
    http://www.cilips.org.uk/development-school-library-strategy-begin-autumn/

    To celebrate I threw together this poster riffing off Braveheart:

    If you wish to download a pdf, click on the image above.

    Get Ahead as an Author – Get a Dog

    Dogs make the very best muses. I know because I wrote a book about a boy and a dog, with two of my own fur babies constantly by my side. Goodnight, Boy is written to and about a dog, and it explores how, even in the very worst circumstances, a dog will keep you going. Any authors reading this will know that I’m only exaggerating slightly when I say that the badlands of 20,000 words into a first draft is a pretty bad place to find yourself. As is sitting down to the smell of freshly-sent editorial notes.

    So here is a rundown of why, if you want to get ahead in publishing, you should most definitely get a dog.

    1. Basics

    The only indispensable rule I know for writing is that you must have your bum on a seat, and your fingers on the keyboard to produce anything. So, if, as a dog owner, you’re forced to spend more time at home, this is a good start. If you also have a dog keeping your toes warm (as Edith Wharton put it, ‘a heartbeat at my feet’), it really does discourage you from wandering off and doing housework.

    1. Distractions

    Talking of housework, once you’re a dog owner, I can guarantee you’ll spend less time on housework, redecorating and the general maintenance of what is normally seen as an acceptable standard of hygiene because keeping up with the mess dogs create is pretty much futile. One of my dogs sheds like a dandelion clock mid blow, 24 hours a day. This may sound like a negative, but actually time spent not hoovering can be diverted into words, paragraphs, chapters, and head stroking.

     

    1. Hobbies

    Forget hobbies. Writing takes time; for thinking, drafting, editing, and Twitter stalking writers more successful than yourself. So the last thing you need is an interesting pastime, such as badminton or medieval battle enactment. It won’t matter though, because, as a writer you get to experience any number of strange locations and events in your head. And, if you’re ever asked at a publishing party what else you do, just say you have a dog because a dog is a hobby, and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees.

     

    1. Health and fitness

    There’s a syndrome, coined by the incomparable author Pip Jones, known as SAAD: Spreading Author Arse Disorder. Sedentary hours make SAAD pretty much inevitable, so you’re going to have to get some exercise in somehow. Dogs like walks even though they don’t have Fitbit buddies to impress. The longer and more frequent the better, and in absolutely any weather (unless they’re like one of mine, who is half cat, and won’t go out if showers are forecast). On walkies your dog will meet up with their mates and you’ll make friends with their owners too (think, park scene in 101 Dalmations, but, in my experience, less romantic). If you’re lucky, these humans will be the sort who don’t mind you bouncing book ideas off them or moaning about writing. Even if they do, they’re a lot more polite about it than your family are. And when you’re not exploiting the personal generosity of strangers, you get to spend time walking alone listening to music and audio books (consuming other people’s books is part of the job) or just walking in silence, which sometimes allows you hear those really shy, difficult voices that lurk at the back of your brain.

     

    1. Mental health

    Being a writer can be wonderful but, contrary to popular belief, it’s probably not the way to

    everlasting happiness. Granted, writing can be cathartic at times, but once you’ve catharted you have to live with the fact that other people, thousands of them, will be reading, judging, maybe even hurling across the room in disgust, the product of said catharsis. Fortunately, dogs probably can’t read – though, as the first draft of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men was eaten by his dog, Max, you have to wonder. Generally speaking, however, your dog will not mind how bad your first draft is. They equally won’t care about reviews, prizes, foreign rights sales, or if you’re even any good or hopelessly derivative and commercially out of kilter. Dogs are all about here and now. And, as writers, if we can try to be more dog, and concentrate on the process rather than the product, I have a feeling that we’d not only be a lot happier, but better writers too.

     

    1. Love

    People worry about being lonely if they work from home, but I never feel alone. I work with fantastic colleagues who can’t talk to me. This means they can’t discuss the project they’re working on, ask what’s for dinner, or chat about school. They never disagree with me, or storm off to their bedroom, and they don’t judge me when I get in a strop because Scrivener is stupid. (It is – fact). Dogs take tolerance and unconditional love to saintly levels, and like nothing better than to soothe the furrowed brow of the needy writer with a lick, a well-placed head on the lap, or a paw in the hand. They’re philosophers, therapists, personal trainers, and friends. And that’s why authors need dogs.

     

    One last historical note; George Eliot’s publisher sent her a pug as part payment for one of her novels. A practice that, I hope my publisher will agree, should definitely be revived for 2017.

     

     

    Mother and daughter Labradoodles, Tinker (left) and Coco

     

    Nikki and Tinker


    Coco and Tinker playing with their friend, Snowy, at Brighton Beach

    Sex & Sexuality: 11 Books for Teens

    There are few things more squirm-inducing for teenagers (and adults) than sitting down for a discussion on what is going on with their bodies and why they are having certain feelings, I have sat through PSHE and well-being lessons that have resembled Dante’s Inferno with damned souls writhing in what seems to be (for them) an eternity of torment.

    Having worked in libraries for ages I have come to learn that sometimes it is preferable (for young people anyway) to have a decent collection of books on puberty, sex and sexuality that they can borrow unofficially and return later in secret.

    The books below are nine of the most popular books on this subject that I have in my collection (inasmuch they disappear with great frequency) and two recently published books that I think will be as popular.

    The Girl Files All about Puberty and Growing Up– Jacqui Bailey
    The Girl Files
    This is Not a Sex Book – Chusita & Maria Llovet
    this is not a sex book
    This Book is Gay – Juno Dawson
    this book is gay
    Being a Boy – Juno Dawson illus. Spike Gerrel
    being a boy
    The Gender Games – Juno Dawson
    the gender games
    Being a Girl – Hayley Long, illustrated by Gemma Correll
    being a girl
    The Boy Files: Puberty, Growing Up and All That Stuff – Alex Hooper-Hodgson
    the boy files
    Sex, Snogs, Dates and Mates – Anita Naik
    sex snogs dates
    How to Be a Girl the common Sense Guide to Girlhood – Anita Naik
    how to be a girl
    Periods, Zits and Other Bits – Charlotte Owen
    periods-zits-and-other-bits
    Doing It: Let’s Talk About Sex… – Hannah Witton
    doing it

    As with all book lists this is not meant to be exhaustive, if colleagues reading this have other books they would like to suggest please do so in the comments below.

    This Is Not A Sex Book


    What? The Uncensored Manual for All Things Intimate

    Who? Chusita Fashion Fever is the pseudonym of Spanish YouTube sensation Maria Jesús Cama. She speaks vry openly and honestly to teens about a range of topics on her popular channel. With illustrations by Maria Llovet, comic author and illustrator.

    Where? In all good bookshops, libraries and other places where books are found.

    When? This Is Not A Sex Book is published on the 13th July.

    The first thing you notice about This Is Not A Sex Book is that it is incredibly, almost retina-damaging fluorescent, this makes the title in white caps jump out at you, then you notice the two teens subtly looking at each other and you can almost feel their desire!

    Books about sex and sexuality have come along in leaps and bounds sine I was a teen and this book is one of the best I have come across!

    Aimed squarely at a teen/young adult readership This Is Not A Sex Book does not talk down to the reader but takes a no nonsense approach to educating them about sex and their growing sexuality. Chusita has taken the questions she has been asked via her YouTube channel and has created a book that is open, honest, sexy but never feels prurient or needlessly raunchy! It covers dating, sex, hooking up, breaking up discovering who you might be sexually and many of the other hurdles young people face when going through puberty.

    I would like to make special mention on the art, by comic artist Maria Llovet she makes use of sequential art showing both vignettes and static scenes. the art is imbued with a sensuality that I have rarely encountered in a book of this nature.

    From a Librarian perspective I think that although this book will be incredibly popular, it will not be officially borrowed that often. Instead I expect that it will disappear periodically and turn up in strange places and may even never be found again. I will make sure that there are multiple copies to make up for any disappearances because this book is important and should be made available to all teen readers.

    Including it in a school library collection may be contentious and I am sure that some staff and parents may take umbrage at its inclusion but hey I may be wrong!

    Highly recommended!

    Further viewing: https://www.youtube.com/user/Chusitafashionfever