It's hard to believe, but there are only two Mondays left to this year. Next week, I'm going to be looking forward to 2015 and making some New Year's (writing) resolutions. But this week, in the tradition of many media outlets at this time of the year, here's a quick round-up of the past twelve and its achievements - and a few thank yous.
Like many bloggers, I obsessively check my statistics. I can tell you how many people have looked at my blog each day, every week, every month, or indeed ever! I know which of my posts are the most popular ones. Interviews are usually high on the list. My interviews with illustrator turned author Curtis Jobling and Bodicia from 'A Woman's Wisdom' have been fighting it out for top spot for months and were way ahead of anything else. Until now.
[Anyone who read my Swanwick posts back in August will remember how I raved about Curtis Jobling. Originally best known for Bob the Builder, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion and other animations, he has recently turned to the written word with the Wereworld series of Fantasy and horror books. I am delighted to welcome Curtis as my November guest to Elizabeth's Page.]
Hello Curtis, great to have you on board. Let's start with an easy one: what is your earliest memory — and how old were you at the time?
Arriving at my new home in Warrington and meeting a neighbouring kid who was sat at the bottom of the street with a nosebleed. I'd have been 2 years old, and it's stayed with me.
What was your favourite subject at school — and which was the lesson you always wanted to avoid?
Always loved English Language and Art - hard to pick between the two of them. I especially loved it when my English teacher had no lesson plan and said "Write your own story!" Other kids were crestfallen and I'd throw myself into it. Chemistry always left me as cold as a sub zero H20...
Interesting. I'm with you on this one. I've been a chemist for the past thirty years; but now I've thrown it all in to write instead - and I know which I prefer.
With my wife and children (when they're behaving). Downtime might be watching the various shows that are backlogged on our SKY+ and in need of viewing. These are usually programmes such as Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. You know the deal - violent, bloody and more than a little adult. Who'd have thought he made preschool kids' shows, eh?
If you could change one thing about yourself or your life so far, what would it be?
That I'd started writing seriously sooner. I've left it quite late, I feel, having pursued my career in animation and illustration for so long. If I'd have known that writing for an older audience was going to be this much fun I would most certainly have started sooner!
If you could meet one person from history, who would it be — and why?
Eric Morecambe. Everyone's favourite imaginary uncle.
Watch a film, go to the theatre, read a book or talk to friends — which would you prefer?
Can I have a curry with my friends? We can talk about all that other good stuff while we chow down on a fine Special Balti Guri. Coming from Birmingham myself, I can't fault a good Balti.
Now, if you could take part in one television programme, which one would it be?
The Adventure Game. It's a blast from the past but the Vortex freaked me out as a kid, not least because Keith Chegwin was disintegrated by it - that would be a battle royale!
Curtis, I’ve set the earlier questions; now it’s your turn: Write the last question yourself and use it to tell us something about yourself, your life or your work.
My question would be 'Where would you like to be in ten years time?' And my answer would be: still writing, I should imagine, and having a whale of a time to boot. We'd be living off the regular royalty cheques from the Wereworld books, movies and tie-in lunchboxes, quilts and undercrackers, and I'd be wordling for giggles. I don't think I shall ever truly retire. Creative souls want to create. I expect to be creating mischief and merriment while they hammer my coffin lid shut.
Curtis, thanks for taking the time to come and talk to me.
If you want to know more about Curtis Jobling and his work, check out his website here. You can find all his books on Amazon UK, or on Amazon USA.
This is the point in the week where we are still motoring, but thinking of slowing down. There's been a lot of writing to do today (which can't be bad for a writers' summer school). We started by Lifting Up Our Pens with Ben and his eclectic collection of postcards., which for me brought back memories of graffiti in Kazakhstan.
Then it was on to Zoe Lambert's course on Literary Short Stories. Zoe's workshop style was relaxed but well-paced. We searched our bags for suitable items to define a character (and I wondered briefly if she'd pinched my idea - see day 2 - then remembered it's a well-known technique for triggering characters) before settling down to write from the middle of a scene. Later, we listed all the bits we should remove during editing (adjectives, adverbs, repetition etc). It made me wonder how we ever manage to keep any words on the page. We learnt that not all adverbs are bad, only weak ones, and had a go at creating unusual pairings of verbs and adverbs.
In amongst all the short courses, it was day 3 of the specialist courses, so we were back with Alexa working on the Literary Novel ideas we've been developing since Sunday. Today we focused on setting, using mind maps to learn more about place (mind maps! I wondered briefly if Alexa had also been pinching my ideas - see day 2 - until she showed us the reference to this use of the tool - on the Mslexia site).
Finally, it was on to Karin's Write Around exercise combining mood diagrams and English proverbs. With less than thirty minutes to write, it's difficult to finish anything - but several members of the group did just that. Which just goes to show that while fine words butter no parsnips and a rolling stone gathers no moss, it might just be possible to make a silk purse...no, perhaps I'd better stop that sentence right there!
So out of today, I have three possible pieces of flash fiction, one short story outline and the start of a novel, which will probably migrate into another short story. Not bad going.
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The social side of Swanwick is always a feature of the week and this year is no exception. So, looking back, we had the quiz on Monday evening. The wonderful Jean Sutton with Elvis the Cockney was unable to be here this year, although she had written a letter to greet all the quizzers. Her place as quiz mistress was taken by the indomitable Joyce Ward - and the questions were much harder this year than previously. Who knew that Wendy Darling had three first names (Wendy Moira Angela)?
Last night saw the return of Write, Camera, Action, organised as usual by Katy White. Six short plays, chosen from the large number submitted in advance of the School, were workshopped during the afternoon and performed in the evening. All six were great fun - and I'm sorry that I laughed in the wrong places during the Improvisation piece (but I wasn't the only one!). For me, the best was Rachel Conti's 'Procrastination' - a topic close to most writers' hearts.
Tonight we've had a new addition to the programme: Swanwick's Family Fortunes. I think it's best we draw a veil over that one! Let's just say it was a chance for all the usual suspects to get up on stage and be silly to the delight (and some bemusement) of the audience.
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Tonight's speaker was the animator, illustrator and author Curtis Jobling - and what can I say? I didn't write a single note from the minute he bounced onto stage and started treating us like an audience of appreciative school kids to when he finished answering questions an hour later. It was like being hit by a steam train; and not just any old steam train but one driven by Bob the Builder, with Raa Raa the Noisy Lion stoking the engine and Frankenstein's Cat controlling the whistle, all pulling carriage-loads of werewolves, werelions and other inhabitants of Wereworld. The man was so impressive; he didn't use notes, he produced cartoons on the flip-chart at the same speed as he talked, and when he read from the first in his fantasy series, his eyes barely touched the page. I also forgot to take any pictures; so I've embedded a link to Curious Cow instead: there are plenty of pictures there and they certainly kept us amused!
