Sue Eves

Cracking Weekend

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:01:00 +0000

A banger goes off in the street and the dog goes off in the house but even the dog can't make this much noise. Thanks to our friend from Canada who stayed at home to keep the dog company, we took the annual trip out of London to Brockham Fireworks.

And thanks to our friend from Canada who came to London via coach from Stratford Upon Avon, and told us of William Shakespeare's inscribed curse on his grave to protect his bones from the bonefire.

'And curst be he that moves my bones'

Bonefire - from the old spelling of bonfire - The History of Henrie The Fourth Part 1

'O ! thou art a perpetuall triumph, an euerlafting bonefire light !'

Taking my camera for a spin

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:06:00 +0000

I was on my way home from walking my dog on the common when these colours caught my eye. I rarely take my camera to the common anymore as I have taken thousands of photos of the place and I can't believe there are many more surprises after four years of daily clicking. And there's always the camera or brushes application on my iphone for the odd red bus or heron. This time, I wanted to record the autumn colours without focussing on the tree - no more photos of trees!

Spider In The Time Tunnel

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 09:32:00 +0000

Red Spider , originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.

Look what I found in a corner of my work room. It was in a poster that I haven't unrolled for a couple of years. I took this photo and then tipped the spider into the ivy in my back garden.

It's supposed to be good luck to have spiders in your house, isn't it?

Oh dear, according to the Burke Museum Of Natural History, house spiders live indoors and should not be put 'back' outside because they 'don't do well there'. Bad luck for the spider, it's lost in the ivy outdoors now. Still, I've left the back door open...

Have You Drawn This Dog?

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:49:00 +0000

Or this elephant?

I was walking the dog this morning, thinking about the Fleece Station Party last weekend where I met Paul Gravett and I remembered my favourite doodles I used to do to impress my friends when I was about 9. We all used to draw them. Was it just a West Country thing or did you have these doodles down?

Something for my next school visit perhaps.

The Ghost Of Tom Long

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:04:00 +0000

Apparition, originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.
Light Graffiti - Ely Cathedral - set of 10 photos by Sue Eves

I tried not to work over the summer holidays. It's harder than I imagined to put children's books out of my mind. I almost made it to the end of the summer and then we went to Ely Catherdral in Suffolk and the ghost of Tom Long tripped up the West Tower steps with me to see the view of the river he and Hatty had skated from Castleford.

I couldn't wait to get back home and re-read the skating and cathedral chapters from Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce. Tom climbed 286 steps to the West Tower - our guide told us there were 285. I suppose one step either way wouldn't make much difference to him as he trips up the tower 5 times a day through the summer. I could kick myself for not seeking out the memorial tablet with the words 'Exchanged Time for Eternity.' Did Philippa Pearce see one or did she make it up? I'm inclined to believe there is one and that Philippa Pearce walked the 285 steps, before me.

Tomorrow, I return to Cambridge for the Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture given by Michael Rosen (I wrote about last year's inaugural lecture here). My summer holiday is over and I can enjoy thinking about children's books again without feeling guilty.

Blue Blue Moth

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 09:14:00 +0000

Blue Blue Moth, originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.

Hello, I'm back. I've been dusting my desk and photographing the blue moth that stayed in my room while I was away.

Please Look After This Dog

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Please Look After This Dog, originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.

Having a great time - back to work next week!

While The Dog's Away...

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Hen & Dog Bowl, originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.

We're taking a break - back soon!

The Author Problem

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 09:56:00 +0000

If you haven't already guessed, I promise to reveal the name of the author/illustrator of this picture book due to be published in hardback next Friday. You could easily cheat and look it up but I'm interested to know if you could identify the creator of this book.

The cover hopped out at me and I think you know when a book is going to be good, don't you?

The author/illustrator is xxx

The Rabbit Problem is published on 7 August. Click here for the publisher's blurb.

Neil Gaiman Reading Things Aloud

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:09:00 +0000

This is Neil Gaiman's advice on his blog about reading aloud. I heard him read from The Graveyard book at London School Of Economics last October. He is blessed with the rich, resonant tone of a voice that reminds me of Alan Rickman. It's worth listening to him online reading all 8 chapters of the Graveyard Book on his Video Tour of 9 different cities. I had problem with the stop-start of the streaming but I believe it's sorted now.

Reigning Cats And Dogs

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:09:00 +0000

Vivian Schwartz and I presented our books at the Sydenham Arts Festival today. Woofy and Biscuit rubbed noses for the first time and played games with the dog, the cat and the audience of under 5's and some older!

Woofy was blindfolded and guessed the noisy toys while a child shook or squeaked one of Woofy's toys and Biscuit became the cat under the hat, hiding her eyes while a child hid a rainbow ball of wool for her to find.

At one point the cat,Biscuit, disappeared under the bookshelves as it shot out of Viv's hands. Luckily, a small child crawled into the small space to retrieve it.

The Quiet Woman And The Noisy Dog By Sue Eves & illustrated by Ailie Busby
There Are Cats In This Book By Vivian Schwartz

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

Cats And Dogs Festival Special

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:18:00 +0000

Vivian Schwartz and I will be reading from our books at the Sydenham Arts Festival tomorrow at 10.30am.

There Are Cats In This Book and The Quiet Woman And The NOISY DOG are brought together in a special story time and book signing.

Kirkdale Bookshop
272 Kirkdale Sydenham SE26 4RS.

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

My puppet dog and Vivian's puppet cat will be with us.
Who knows what will happen when the dog and the cat meet for the first time!

Lake Swan

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:02:00 +0000

My digital doodle of the day.

A CAB - The Movie

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Books And Bubbly

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:27:00 +0000

A quick sketch and off for a picnic to celebrate the paperback publication today of The Quiet Woman and the Noisy Dog

The quiet woman smiled and said, "Let them play!"
The noisy woman said, "O.K!"

Hockney Cab - Paintings On My Phone

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:41:00 +0000

This could be a new way to work out my thumbnails for my picture book dummies. After watching the BBC programme: Imagine about David Hockney last night, I downloaded 3 of his iphone paintings (which you can download over 48 hours only) and discovered the brushes application on my phone.

My cab painting is a sketch I did while waiting at the station this evening. Photoshop users are already familiar with digital art. Painting digitally in the dark is a whole new phone game for me. I photographed this bus that was parked on my local common recently and worked on it in the brushes application.

Paperback Picture Book Picnic

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:44:00 +0000

I'm taking a picnic and a walk in the park this Thursday 2nd July to celebrate the publication of our paperback edition of The Quiet Woman and the Noisy Dog

"Oh Woofy! Oh Woofy! I love you, Woofy! La-La-La-La-La!"

Professor Jacqueline Wilson

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:46:00 +0000

Jacqueline Wilson signed books for fans after her lecture at Roehampton University last Thursday evening. The children's author is a professorial fellow, sharing her expertise with students on the Creative Writing and Children's Literature courses. She parted with valuable tips for those of us learning the craft of writing for children.

You are not alone. Everyone wants to write for children nowadays.

We laughed and inwardly cried and sighed at the thought of those wanting 'to dash off a little children's book.'

What will make your submission different from all the others? Here are a few of her tips from the top:

What ever it is, your heart has to be in it. You have to care about your characters. 'Imagine what it's like for the child.'

Keep writing more and more. Don't stop at the first book! Make the most of your lucky breaks.

Don't re-read as you write. Finish the draft first before you judge it.

For those writing historical fiction, 'imagine it as fiercely as you can.'

Jacqueline Wilson has just completed Hetty Feather which was commissioned by the Foundling Museum and will be published in Oct 2009. She says she tried to write with an authentic Victorian voice whilst keeping it lively and direct.

And in a pleasing circle of events, JACQUELINE WILSON MAGAZINE will be published by D.C.Thomson who named their comic for girls after their most junior journalist in 1964 - JACKIE.

Kyle Cassidy's Small Art Project

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:48:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I commented on a photo of Neil Gaiman and his dog by photographer Kyle Cassidy in his post about collaborative art. It was his fan letter to musician Nicki Jaine that was the seed to his eventual meeting and photographing Neil Gaiman.

I stumbled across this post after following a Neil Gaiman Twitter to Kyle Cassidy's livejournal blog inviting artists to collaborate on a small art project. All you had to do was say 'Yes' in the comments.

I immediately responded and landed on the first page of comments under my livejournal name Pixzzzart and for the next few days watched as 600 people replied with the word 'Yes.'

The positive replies have reached the 800 mark and Kyle Cassidy set up a separate community for creative souls in search of inspiration and, as it turns out, a collaborator.

In a subsequent blog post, Kyle Cassidy revealed the random pairing and we were pushed out of the nest and into creativity.

My collaborator is a young photographer with a sensational collection of Pink pics. We have emailed after initial contact via Twitter. Two weeks to go before we report back with 'What came of it' and as nothing has come of it yet - we have work to do.

All we can say at the moment is it may involve photos and a children's story and it's all happening online as my collaborator lives in Northern Ireland.

Wish us luck!

Anthony Browne New Children's Laureate

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Congratulations, author/illustrator Anthony Browne on becoming the next Children's Laureate
He wants to focus particularly on the appreciation of picture books. Hooray!

'We have in Britain some of the best picture book makers in the world, and I want to see their books appreciated for what they are – works of art.'

Willy's Pictures (Willy the Chimp)is one of my favourites. The chimp is painting a portrait of Anthony Browne on the cover of the hardback edition I bought. But the picture on the cover above gives more of an indication as to the astonishing achievement of Anthony Browne as a fine artist. This picture book is literally a work of art.

Books and Hats at the Hay Festival

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:14:00 +0000

I arrived in time to see new Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy reading Mrs Aesop and 6 of her other poems (listen to the event here on the Hay Festival website). She had sold out of The World's Wife but I bought some of her children's poetry.

The Hat

I met author, Jenny Valentine in her delicatessen in Hay the day after hearing her talk about Writing Children's Fiction. She writes for 3 days a week, from 9-3 and works 2 days a week in the shop and is writing 3 novels a year! Her latest is The Ant Colony

Michael Morpurgo read I Believe In Unicorns and talked about his life as a writer. His advice to aspiring writers:

'Live and interesting life and write down the single most important thing that happened that day.'

I discovered that Apple may have the answer for Mac users wishing to find an electronic reading device in the future. Jamie Byng was obviously very excited by the Apple Tablet. I could get in to digital reading and handwriting on this net book. The Sony Reader is not yet Mac compatible or Wi-Fi connected and is in black and white. Sony were selling their reader at £30 discount for £199.

As well as a few new books, I bought secondhand books in Hay town centre.

Booth's Books, Hay

My most exciting find was the first UK edition of Caldecott & Co. Notes on Books & Pictures by Maurice Sendak (1989). It includes his acceptance speech in 1964 when he won the Caldecott Medal for Where The Wild Things Are.

With Where The Wild Things Are I felt that I am at the end of a long apprenticeship. By that I mean all my previous work now seems to have been an elaborate preparation for it.

Thanks to Addyman Books in Hay town centre for tucking this book into their children's books' corner.

Thanks also to Yvette Jelfs hatstand on the festival site. At last I have a hat for the Ascot Ladies' day and I had a sun hat for reading at Hay.

Sarwat Chadda At Book Launch For The Devil's Kiss

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 18 May 2009 19:08:00 +0000

Sarwat Chadda At Book Launch For The Devil's Kiss , originally uploaded by Pix zzzart.

Whoop! Sarwat signs copies of his new children's novel, The Devil's kiss at the Dulwich Picture Gallery last Friday.
Sarwat is the British SCBWI hero of the Undiscovered Voices Anthology 2008.

Devil's Kissis a sharp, terrifying masterwork of plotting and I'm sure Billi will be everybody's hero.

I can safely say I'll never write anything like it.

4 Stars For The Quiet Woman

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:59:00 +0000

A very simple concept is turned into something approaching a little gem...

Books For Keeps, the children's Book magazine, gives The Quiet Woman And The Noisy Dog 4 stars and a sparkling review in the May issue. Woof!

Earmarked Pages of The Writer's Tale

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Mon, 04 May 2009 07:44:00 +0000

I've finally finished reading Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale (Doctor Who) by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook - the heavy hardback 'untold' story of the making of the TV Doctor Who series. It's taken me 6 months and when I posted about it in October last year, I couldn't imagine it taking me that long to read. The last non-fiction book that took me almost as long was 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare

I hadn't expected to earmark so many pages of The Writer's Tale. (I referred to one of my earmarked pages of Robert McKee's Story the other day. I knew it would be useful sooner or later.) I'm not sure when or if the others will be of any future reference in my writing but the one that has already answered the question that has been bothering me for so long - 'What is Voice?' is already magnificently supporting me in my writing. Page 501 - (of 512, including the index!)has the answer. You could skip the other 511 pages but the weight of the question only feels truly lifted when putting down the heavy volume after 6 months. Anyway, I can't give away the ending! Oh, all right then - the answer is a long and satisfying one but essentially, it's about you and who you are and how you think - but don't think about it!

I never - never - sit there thinking, what's my voice? You might as well ponder, who am I? It is in fact the same thing.
Russell T Davies 'The Writer's Tale'

So now I understand what publishers and editors and agents and other established authors mean when they say write from the heart - I always thought they meant write passionately but what I think they mean is write from the heart of you or more accurately from your head because no one else can read your thoughts - unless you write them down.

You find your voice by writing, by experience. It doesn't matter what exactly you're writing, just that you are writing.
Russell T Davies 'The Writer's Tale'

5 Children's Laureates

fox.eves@googlemail.com (Sue Eves) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:36:00 +0000

5 Children's Laureates sitting in a row, taking the stage to celebrate 10 years of the Children's Laureate. John Mullen introduced us to the Laureates in order of their reign - Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and the current Laureate, Michael Rosen.