Bookrapt does it again!

Another successful seminar was attended by 53 children's literature enthusiasts, eager to hear the three guest speakers, to browse through the selection of books on sale, and to catch up with friends or meet new ones. This year's Bookrapt seminar featured authors Philippa Werry and Jenny Hessell, and writer/illustrator Gavin Bishop. Each are talented in their own way, and it was inspirational listening to each one speak and share their ideas about writing and give us insights into their work.

(Thank you to Lee Rowe and Barbara Dobson for the reviews of the speakers, and to Angie Belcher for the photographs from the Seminar.)

Philippa Werry.

Philippa Werry talked about the extensive background research she did on her excellent children's novel Enemy at the Gate , that tells the story of a family dealing first hand with the polio epidemic of 1936-37. The novel weaves in some key historical events and people of the time - Jack Lovelock, Shirley Temple, and the Depression.

Philippa talked about the importance of including only the essence of the historical facts - otherwise the history can swamp the story. She described how her earlier writing for the School Journal had introduced her to historical research and how she had gathered and filed copious information as background to this story. While thorough research builds a rich backdrop for a story, knowing when to stop researching and start writing is important. It is, she emphasised, the story itself that is of the utmost importance - the research informs the story as the writer considers the impact of historical events on the lives of her characters.

Anyone who has read this fabulous book knows that she achieves this very well indeed.

Philippa emphasised the need to have more than one idea in order to create a novel and cited a useful website by Patrick Ness, writer in residence for the Booktrust in England . His tips for writers can be accessed on the Booktrust website.

The Wellington Children's Book Association, of which Philippa is a member, will later this year host a seminar for writers entitled Spinning Gold . While registrations are closed, she hopes it may be offered again in future years.

Gavin Bishop

Gavin Bishop spoke first of his involvement in Te Tai Tamariki - a trust set up to preserve and promote New Zealand children's literature. The vision is to provide a repository in which original copies of manuscripts, illustrations and other pertinent materials will be housed and made available for researchers, exhibitions and tours. Margaret Mahy and Joy Cowley have already promised their available works. For more information go visit the Te Tai Tamariki website.

He also promoted the Storylines Gavin Bishop Award which will provide an aspiring illustrator the chance to work with Gavin to bring a work to publication.

Gavin didn't do any research on his book Piano Rock until he'd finished it (and only to check some of the facts) - but this was appropriate as it was a personal memoir of his life as a young boy in 1950s New Zealand. In verifying the details of remembered times and events he had to deal with a young editor who questioned many of his references.

Gavin shared with us the process he used to create the illustrations for two recent books: There was an Old Woman and There was a Crooked Man , in which he used a monoprint technique, to achieve bigger, bolder images for younger children. He is, he said, influenced by his own grandchildren (and his failing eyesight!). He has been simplifying the illustrative techniques he uses, and although he made it sound easy, he has an incredible talent with a huge amount of expertise and skill. His just published board books speak of this - they are simply world class. The vertical format is intriguing and works with the board book format, story (nursery rhymes), and illustrative style.

Gavin then treated the audience to a preview of his new book Cowshed Christmas , to be released in October. Based on a story by Joy Cowley, Gavin used a variety of techniques to create the delightful images of the farm animals bringing their typically NZ gifts to the cowshed on Christmas morning.

For more information on Gavin, visit his website www.gavinbishop.com.

Jenny Hessell

Jenny Hessell spoke about the process of writing , and the importance of nurturing ideas to ensure the best possible story development. She talked about Roald Dahl's driftwood analogy, that of a piece of wood dipped into the water with a piece of string attached. Every now and again you'll pull the piece of wood out and something interesting will be attached - like a barnacle or some seaweed - and over time a story builds up from all these interesting bits and pieces. Stories are like this, and need to be left to accumulate ideas and gather layers This was not, Jenny said, what we tended to do in schools, where students are expected to write spontaneously, with no time to grow their ideas. Exposing children to the richness of language - playing with words so they develop an ear for language - is far more important than forcing children write. She believes good writing mainly comes from the subconscious.

Jenny Hessell spoke about the process of writing, and shared the wonderful metaphor from Roald Dahl about writing being like Jenny read a couple of her Grandma McGarvey books to the audience - a real treat to hear these famous and well loved stories told in the author's voice.

Jenny is best known for her Grandma McGarvey books, but in fact her first publication was of a far more serious nature. What's Wrong with Bottoms? confronted the issue of sexual abuse and received a mixed response from would be publishers - one of which told her that she would never ever be published! Jenny entertained us with readings of two Grandma stories, a real treat to hear these famous and well loved stories told in the author's voice. She also shared insights into her collaboration with illustrator Trevor Pye. She was a strong advocate for authors' rights, and the importance of negotiation with publishers to ensure control over the integrity of their work.

The three speakers shared with us their varying perspectives on writing and illustrating, and while their approaches may differ, the underlying principle is the same - that the story is of primary importance.

Click photos to see enlargements.

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"Storytellers' Secrets" was the title of the 25 th annual Bookrapt Seminar, and an eager audience of members and guests furiously scribbled down the Secrets revealed by three accomplished New Zealand storytellers – Sharon Holt, author of the popular Skipper books in the Ready to Read Series, Fifi Colston, from TVNZ's “Good Morning”, and Moira Wairama, from Wellington's Baggage Arts Charitable Trust.

Attending a Bookrapt Seminar is always exciting not only because of the high caliber of the speakers, but the fact that local authors such as Lynley Dodd, Sherryl Jordan, Angie Belcher, Jean Bennett, Alison Robertson, Etheljoy Smith, and Jenny Jenkins can be seen dotted throughout the audience.

Sharon Holt

Sharon Holt pointed out that in 2003 she had been a member of the audience, listening to inspirational talks by Joy Cowley, Pamela Allen, and Lorraine Orman. She had no idea at the time that five years later she would be a Seminar speaker.

With dreams of being an author as a child, Sharon 's eventual career path followed teaching and journalism, until rediscovering picture books with her own children rekindled the passion to write and be published.

Sharon writes from her own memories and experiences. A story published in the school journal featured the removal of a large phoenix palm from her property. Her book Off you go, Auntie Ma! was inspired by daughter Sophie's kindergarten antics, and her play Superglue resulted when Sharon needed to buy some superglue, and son Gregory asked if Superglue wears a cape.

The key to a writer's success, Sharon believes, is to follow instructions well. Locate a copy of the publisher's guidelines, write what they want, and change whatever they want changed. Skipper the Dog was originally Moose the Cat, but was changed at the publisher's request. As Sharon says, the publishers could have changed Moose the Cat to a hedgehog if they wanted to, as long as they paid her. The first play Sharon 's submitted to Learning Media was accepted, Sharon believes, because she first read their other plays, asked Learning Media what they wanted, and wrote a play that met that need.

Another of Sharon 's Secrets, which can be a little depressing for a struggling author, is that initial excitement by the publisher doesn't necessarily lead to a project achieving fruition immediately. Her Its True! You Can Make Your Own Jokes book had a list of publishers wanting it, but which was then vetoed by the sales departments at the publishers, who said it would not sell. Of course, sales teams often get it wrong, as those who rejected Harry Potter learnt to their despair. Once Sharon 's book was finally published it went on to be nominated as a finalist in the non-fiction category of the 2007 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young People, and was on the Storylines 2007 Notable Books list.

Sharon believes the most important step an author can take is to get an agent. When she mentioned having manuscripts returned with the comment "It doesn't fit our publishing programme", there were many nods of agreement throughout the audience. An agent knows the publishing programmes, and will e-mail you details of exactly what publishers are currently looking for.

Sharon's NZ Book Council page
Sharon's Learning Media Contributor Newsletter

Fifi Colston

Fifi Colston was a familiar face to many in the audience from the arts and crafts segment she presents on TVNZ's Good Morning. Fifi delighted the audience with tales, and photographs, from her childhood, which included time spent in Africa and immigrating to New Zealand on the Achille Lauro . Always a good illustrator she sold a pen and ink drawing of a pet parrot at the age of 13 for $5 – quite an impressive sum for a young teenager in 1973.

Fifi put in three years of solid graft at design school before heading to the advertising agencies for the money, which is far in excess of what one can earn as the Illustrator of children's books in New Zealand . Although Fifi joked that she became the "Blueberry Queen" when designing for a yoghurt company, was obvious that this wasn't where her passion lay. Following a move to Christchurch she became a freelance illustrator, and teamed up with Anthony Holcroft to produce The Old Man and the Cat and The Oldest Garden in China .

Fifi's first Storytellers' Secret was that publishers generally do not want writers who are also illustrators (unless their name happens to be Lynley Dodd), and neither do they want submissions from writers who have had their work illustrated by a friend or acquaintance. Fifi managed to partially circumvent this frustrating situation during her seven years working for TV3's What Now magazine – as the Art Director she could commission her own work, and that of her friends. Fifi did also mention that if you are an author and your work has been illustrated by someone else and you feel the illustrations are not up to standard, then do say something to your publisher. If you say nothing, nothing will be done.

A Secret Fifi revealed for writers is that you do not want children to read your work, you want them to feel it. She also said that budding writers and illustrators should go where writers and illustrators are – by joining organisations such as Bookrapt and Tauranga Writers.

Although it is a well known fact that writing and illustrating children's books in New Zealand is more frequently done for live and kudos than money, Fifi did reveal that Learning Media do pay reasonably well for the work they accept.

Fifi reiterated Sharon 's Secret of writing what publishers want. When opening, the then fairly new, Next magazine Fifi noted there was no poetry in the magazine. She scribbled down a “Pam Ayres style” poem, sent it off, and as a result wrote a monthly column for the magazine for eight years.

The Secret of where Fifi's ideas come from is something she calls that “What if question”. At the supermarket one day she noticed the teller's name badge said “Verity”, and thought, “What if a girl called Verity always told lies?” From this “what if question” the book, Verity's Truth was born. When watching Jamie Oliver one day, Fifi thought, “What if you were a girl, and you couldn't cook, and your name was Jan ie Olive?”, from which emerged the book Jan ie Olive – a Recipe for Disaster .

Fifi also adheres to the Storytellers' Secret of, do what your publisher asks. If they ask you to rewrite something, rewrite it, as Fifi had to do to the entire middle section of Verity's Truth . “Trust your editor”, she says, “they know what they're doing. In fact, ask them what to do.”

A final Storytellers' Secret that Fifi imparted is that while it is very important for an author to know the entire back story in their work, this doesn't necessarily have to be told in the story itself – a mistake Fifi believes many authors make.

Fifi's Blog
Fifi's NZ Book Council Page
Fifi's TVNZ page
Fifi's Christchurch City Libraries Page
Fifi's Storylines page

Moira Wairama

Moira is a member of Wellington 's Baggage Arts Charitable Trust, especially well known for their combined telling of Maori, African and Native American myths and legends. They also tell their own original stories and a range of tales from other traditions.

As a young child Moira filled her school exercise books with stories, a creative outlet that came to a grinding halt at a secondary school that frowned on fictional writing. However, the school for some reason, accepted poetry, so Moira turned to that genre, which today she knows is an excellent way to start young teenagers off as writers. Through her work as a teacher Moira has noted that poetry is very good at providing an outlet for the pent up angst of young male teenagers, and that often those who move through their angst would go on to create insightful and beautiful work.

Although not Maori herself, Moira has been speaking Maori for 12 years, and worked part time for many years at Te Ara Whanui Kura Kaupapa Maori. She is passionate about the language and culture, and about creating the caliber of books in Maori that kids will want to learn and read. Whenever Moira speaks at schools she takes both English and Maori language versions of her book The Puppet Box with her, and it is always the Maori version the kids want to hear. A Catch-22 seems to exist in New Zealand whereby publishers do not send out information about books in Maori unless schools ask for them, so the schools do not know that the books exist in order to ask for them.

Moira backed up Fifi and Sharon 's comments that Learning Media is a great organisation to write for, with good editors who provide a good way for new authors to learn about how to get their work published. A Secret that Moira shared is that, when writing picture books, you should use your illustrator to help tell the story. She points out that the illustrations in Te Pouaka Karetao (the Maori language version of The Puppet Box ) are so good, that even children who do not speak Maori can follow the story.

Another Secret is that we are all storytellers and we all want to be listened to. Find the story you want to tell, and keep working at it. Do not let rejection get you down, and keep plugging away at it. Harry Potter taught us that publishers do turn down good stories, so keep pushing. Sometimes an author needs to think outside the square to tell their story in a different place – for example, many of Moira's stories are not written down, but are told orally, or in a different way.

Moira's play Questions , about suicide, began as a poem, which she decided was not enough of a vehicle to address the issue. Picked up by a TV producer, Moira had the unique experience of turning the play into a TV script with the help of acclaimed New Zealand actor and director Ian Mune. They were told the show shouldn't be done, that it was irresponsible and that it would trigger suicides. Moira replied that being quiet about the issue wouldn't stop it, and said that, as an author, you have to know when to stand up for your story.

A Secret imparted that Moira learned during the production of Questions is that while as the author of a stage play you maintain some control over your work, as the author of a TV production you lose almost all control – something for authors who are intending to script write should consider.

Moira also stressed the importance for authors and illustrators to be surrounded by like-minded people by joining authors' groups, as fellow writers will keep you on your toes and challenge you to continually write.

And a final Secret from Moira – you can make a living as a writer or illustrator in New Zealand ; you just have to be practical about it. Do not quit full time work and throw yourself into your craft, if it means you cannot pay the mortgage. Retain enough guaranteed income to pay for rent and food, and realise that you don't need a lot of other stuff if you are to follow your passion. And do it now – you do not know what is around the corner, and you will not have more time as you get older, you will have less.

Moira's Baggage Arts Charitable Trust page
Moira's Storylines page

The 2007 seminar showcased some of New Zealand’s most successful male authors, Ken Catran, Phil Smith, and Brian Falkner, as well as the official book launches for Phyllis Johnston's new novel Dead Dan's Dee and the latest Sherryl Jordan novel in the Denzil series The Silver Dragon as part of the new box set The Adventures of Denzil.

Ken Catran

• Check the genre of publishers - it is no good trying to sell a science fiction manuscript to a publisher of romance novels
• Browse through books in the library to find out who publishes what
• Make sure the publishers you approach handle the age group you are aiming for (children/young adults/adults)
• Join a Writers' Group - the advice and support you gain from such groups is immeasureable
• Check out the Writers' Guild website.
• Write, re-write, and re-write. Ken gets the first draft of a new novel on paper within 2-3 weeks. It then sits for months before he begins the first re-write, which establishes the characters and personal relationships. The final manuscript will still require an editor.

• NZ Book Council
• Christchurch City Libraries info
• Christchurch City Libraries interview

Phil Smith

Ex-journalist Phil's first published novel The Unknown Zone was a winner in the New Zealand Post Book Awards Children and Young Adults section in 2006.

Phil began his talk by reminiscing about Randy Stone's radio show Night Beat in the mid 1950s (that produced a number of nods and "Mmm-hmmms" from the audience). It was this show that inspired Phil to become a writer.

Phil backed up Ken's comments about today's kids whose minds have been anaesthetised by television and dumbed down, and he spoke of how the best stories are still conveyed orally. He enthused about the general knowledge and stories that older people tell, and told of his grandmother's stories of coming over on the Athena and berthing next to Amundsen's ship after their successful assault on the South Pole. Mandrake the Magician, Superman, Spiderman, and war comics formed the foundation of Phil's writing influences, and he began a career as a proofreader and then sports journalist in 1965 at the Rotorua Daily Post.

From journalism Phil learnt the old maxim "I keep six honest serving men, they taught me all I knew, their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who". This, says Phil, is all there is to writing a novel, although he also spoke of Stephen King's methodology of novel writing: Narrative, Description, and Dialogue.

Phil spoke of the difference between journalism and novel writing - the former being (generally) about tragedy and misfortune, is full of facts and quotations, and does not usually connect emotionally with the reader.

During Phil's time as a journalist, which included three years working for World Vision, his favourite subjects to interview were authors, whom he interrogated as to their habits to try and discover their secrets. At a Bookrapt seminar some years ago Phil heard David Hill talk, which inspired him to tackle The Unknown Zone.

The novel Phil is currently working on is about a young man who travels from Hokianga to Sandhurst, and receives an award for distinguished services in the Falkland Islands. For guidance on this novel, says Phil, he turned to Phyllis Johnston's The Fugitive Soldier.

Phil's advice for aspiring novelists trying to get published.

• Join a writers group such as Bookrapt
• Write a first draft, then revise, and re-revise
• Expect that 10% of effort will go into the first draft and 90% of effort will go into revisions
• In particular look for illogical sequences, excess words, vocabulary and grammar
• Accept that writing a novel is like building a boat - the closer you get to finishing, the more little things there are that need doing
• Have a supportive partner and/or family
• Start with an idea, then build the main characters and crisis
• Allow the characters to develop minds and personalities of their own, and to say their own things
• Be conscious of your audience as you write and choose a genre that is compatible with your ability
• Conduct extensive research for the back story of your novel - good fiction is as much fact as fiction - there needs to be a sense of recognition for the reader to make it seem real
• Put aside thoughts of am I going to make it? and is it worthwhile? and write for your passion.
• Just tell the story.

• Christchurch City Libraries interview

Brian Falkner

• Brian Falkner's website
• Kiwi Write 4 Kidz profile
• Mallinson Rendel profile
• NZ Book Council profile
• Christchurch City Libraries interview

Phyllis Johnston

Longacre was delighted to discover Dead Dan's Dee in the large, curving pile of incoming manuscripts. Here was a fresh voice, a sensitive but feisty protagonist; and a rich story from our collective past of one girl's compelling journey.  We are proud to be sending Phyllis's book out into the world and wish her all the best, along with Dee who is poised to enter the imaginations of young New Zealand readers.
- Regards Barbara Larson, Penelope Todd and the team at Longacre Press

Sherryl Jordan