Happy Holidays from Notes from the Slushpile!

2016. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity' ... doesn't Charles Dickens describe this outgoing year to perfection? Rather than dwell on the worst, the foolish and the incredulous, we thought we'd celebrate the festive season by looking back on our personal highlights and reflecting on the inevitable lessons learned. May the holidays be a time of friendship, love and creativity for all our lovely readers. 

A Silly Tale From the Slushpile by Em Lynas

Starring

Em Lynas as The Author

Many publishers as The Acquisitions Monster

Candy Gourlay as The Internet Fairy

Amber Caraveo as The Agent Angel

The Nosy Crow Team as The Awesome Publishing Guru

Once upon a time there was an author tip tapping away in a lonely garret writing rubbish. Total rubbish - but funny rubbish. Over many years, as her slushpile grew, so did the rejections and eventually she developed SYMPTOMS. Nervous tics, blank stares, twitching fingers and, worst of all, doubt.

Notes from the Critique Group - Meet the Agents! by Em Lynas

On Saturday members of our SCBWI BI York critique group headed up to Seven Stories in Newcastle for a mini Agents Party arranged by our lovely NE organisers Marie-Claire Imam Gutierrez and Cathy Brumby.





I was feeling very lucky as the agents appearing at the event were my agents - Amber Caraveao and Joanna Moult of Skylark Literary. They were coming up north so I got to see them and catch up on how our Witch School Sucks submissions were going. Very exciting!

On Being Edited by Maureen Lynas

I’m currently experiencing my first experience of being edited by an experienced editor (Agent Amber) and it has been an extremely interesting experience.

Note: Being edited is nothing like being critiqued.
Being edited has made my story
BIGGER, DEEPER, CLEARER, STRONGER AND FUNNIER. Thank you, Amber.

One big plus is that I now have insider knowledge on how publishers view school based stories. So I shall share one insight that had me hitting the research button.

Notes From a Critique Group by Em Lynas

Picture Book Tips for Me

We’ve had an influx of new picture book writers to our critique group in York and, as I began my author journey as a wannabe picture book author, it took me back to my first SCBWI meeting in 2008 (approx). 

I was so nervous! I was about to meet authors! I think there were four people there. Addy Farmer, Rebecca Colby and Catriona Tippin and me but I can’t be sure. I bombarded them with the outlines of at least six books. They were very kind.

I remembered submitting the same six pb texts to a publisher - all in one document. The covering letter makes me hide behind a cushion with embarrassment. I had no writing credentials to add to the letter but I had been a reception teacher for years so I estimated how many pb’s I’d read and included the number in the letter to show I knew my subject. I didn’t.

I also asked a local artist who does landscapes if she would be interested in illustrating one of my stories. I wouldn’t be able to pay her, she could have royalties. She sensibly and kindly declined.

So, it got me to thinking, after eight years of being a member of, and volunteer for, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, after 4 conferences and numerous courses – What advice would I give my former enthusiastically naïve self and would that be a help to our new members? So I’ve written a letter to the me of 2008.

Dear Em
Just because you’ve read a lot of pb’s doesn’t mean you understand how they are created. You’ve been reading as a reader. Now you need to analyse as an author. I recommend climbing the following learning curve:

Identify your interest/genre

• Do you want to write stories, concept books, educational, non-fiction books?

Research - What's a concept book?

Ok, stories it is. Buy 2 copies each of your favourite pb stories (Or borrow from the library, scan them and print out). Rip them up. Lay them out. Get the highlighters out.

Investigate structure.

•  Is there an Act 1, 2 and 3? 
• Where does the story begin? 
• On the first page? No? Then where? 
• Where does the story end?
• Is it a question and answer format?
• Is it a journey?
• Is it a joke with a punchline? 
• Check out the Gruffalo
• Is there a midpoint? A change?
• Is the structure more or less symmetrical? 
• Does it use the power of the three? 
• Would it have been more effective with four? Five? Six? Or not?
• Find more books that use the power of the three. 

Not sure - Read Eve Heidi Bine-Stock’s book on Structure.

Check the plot

•  Is it age/audience appropriate?
•  At what age will the children relate to the premise?
•  What subject matters are covered by pbs?

Not sure? Go to the library. Go to the bookshop. Research, Em! Make a list. Here’s a start – bedtime, food, fears, love, relationships, growing etc

Pacing - highlighters at the ready.

• Where are the emotional ups and the downs? The oo's, the ah's, the eeks! 
• Where are the impact pages?
•  How do the page turns work?
• How is anticipation used?
• How does the language and rhythm pace the story?

Research - What's an impact page? How many ............ in an ellipsis. What's an ellipsis? 

Character

• Who is the story about?
•  Does the protagonist have a problem?
•  Does the protagonist solve the problem?
•   Does the protagonist always solve the problem in a picture book?
•   Do you have an emotional response to the protagonist? What is it?
•  How have the author and illustrator created this emotional response from you?
•   Why are so many pbs about animals?

More research. Get back to that library!

Language

• Is the target age reflected in the word count and word choice?
• Is the text rhythmical? Is it in prose? Is it in rhyme?
• Why is it in rhyme? Is it more effective in rhyme than prose? Would it have worked in prose?
•  Is the word choice interesting and challenging?
•  Is there alliteration, quiet words, loud words, sound words e.g. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. Why?
• How do the words encourage page turning?
•  Is it fun for a parent or teacher to read over and over and over and over and over and over…

Who is the reader?

• Is this a book to be read by an adult to a child? (See last point)
•  Is it a book that can be read by a child once they are familiar with it?
• What age is the child? 
• Who is the child reader? Boy, girl, shy, extrovert, nervous, brave etc 
• Are they in need of reassurance? 
• Are they in need of comedy?
• Are they in need of adventure?
• What emotion are you trying to trigger in the child? 

Why are you the author?

• Why do you need to write this book?

Do you need an illustrator?

• No, Em! And don't even think about doing your own! 
• You submit the text. The publisher finds the illustrator. 

Hope this helps.

With much love and hugs from

The future Em

PS I know you’re wondering why your picture books haven’t been snapped up, when so many of the rejections are encouraging. Well, you will one day put your picture books through this simple checklist from James Scott Bell - 

LOCK.
Does the story have a:
A strong Lead Character
A clear Objective
Conflict
A Knock out ending

They will all fail the test.

Keep it up though, you’ll get there. One day.

PPS Read everything on The Picture Book Den. They are the experts.  

PPPPPPPPPPPS!!!!!! 

Join SCBWI. As soon as possible. Volunteer. Build relationships. Get an agent.

Future Em Lynas is now represented by Amber Caraveo of the Skylark Agency and is currently editing Witch School Sucks! Which is not a picture book. It is funny though.

She posts funny poems on the funeverse and is the author of the Action Words Reading Scheme. 

Yay! Whoo Hoo! And Whoopy Do!

by Maureen Lynas Who is celebrating! 

I may be odd but I love going to the tip and on Friday our car was packed with bags of shredding, old computers and cardboard boxes. Tidy house! Hurrah! Geoff was ready and waiting, I was putting my boots on, and the phone rang. I nearly didn’t pick it up - the tip was awaiting! But I did. Right choice!  

Amber Caraveo from the Skylark Literary Agency was ringing with an offer of representation! We talked for an hour, we agreed our terms, we discussed editorial suggestions and happily said our cheerios. Amber went on to share the news with partner Joanna Moult and announce it on twitter. I went to the tip.

Then out for a celebratory lunch. I was a jumble of emotions as I tried to fill Geoff in on all the details. This has been a long time coming and it was a bit overwhelming. By the end of the weekend I realised there had been quite a few emotions at play.

Elation, relief, exhaustion, acceptance, fear and - determination

Elation - the whoopy doops, the yay’s, the yahoo’s, the twitter and facebook storm of congratulations and new friends. It’s exciting. A happy dance must be done. Prosecco must be drunk. Chocolate must be consumed. It was. By both.

Relief - JOB DONE! No more agent rejections, no more fingers crossed, no more searching and hoping that one day someone will ‘Get me’. Relief that Amber loves my work so much she’ll invest her time and effort into my career. Thank you!

Exhaustion - This has been a long journey! I once climbed a seemingly never ending mountain called Ingleborough, in Yorkshire. It had many false peaks and I was convinced that each rise was the top. That the torture would be soon be over. My writing journey has been similar. There’s been a number of false peaks and sometimes it’s been difficult to get back up from them. Songs have helped. Especially this one from Chumbawumba. 

Acceptance - This may take some time but I think using these words as often as possible should help - My agent. As in: When I was talking to my agent. My agent is lovely. My agent is going to be pitching soon.  My agent said… (I intend these sentence endings to be something wise and intuitive to show she is the best agent a writer can get.)  

Fear - Amber is going to pitch my book! It’s not ready! It’s not good enough! I have three pages of editorial suggestions. What if I can’t do it! What if I end up with a big mess of a muddle?

Determination - There’s been a lot of determination over the many years of writing and learning and hoping. Now it’s needed even more than before. Because getting an agent is a huge, wonderful step but it isn’t the end. The end is one of my books in a child’s hand and, hopefully, a lot of laughter.

Here's a song that says it all. Thanks Rod!

Now I'm off to come up with a plan of action for Witch School Sucks! Because MY AGENT is waiting. 

Maureen 

You can see the first half of how I got MY AGENT through the Slushpile Challenge on SCBWI BI's Words and Pictures

Notes from the Critique Group - Writers' Tics Uncovered.

by Maureen Lynas

One of the great things about attending a crit group is realising that you and other writers have ‘tics’ in common. By helping to identify them together you can help each other to remove them and improve your writing.

Here are two tics that came up during our latest crit session.

Metaphors and similes.

Simile: a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid.

Beware the cliché - as brave as a lion 

Beware The Blackadder Syndrome - This place stinks like a pair of armoured trousers after the Hundred Years War – unless you are Ben Elton, Richard Curtis or another genius of comedy.

Notes from the Critique Group - The Gap

by Maureen Lynas

This was a very interesting discussion at the SCBWI BI York critique group involving:

THE GAP
The space that's left for the reader when we SHOW rather than TELL

Leaving THE GAP gives the reader a role to play in the story as they infer and interpret the text. There's a balance to be had between showing and telling depending on the genre, age group, and experience of the reader.

Notes from the Critique Group - Awesome First Lines

By Maureen Lynas

The second post highlighting literary issues raised in critique groups. This came up recently at our SCBWI BI critique group in York.

Awesome first lines

What are we aiming for?

I've written an awesome first line that will wow the agents and engage the reader.

OR

I've written an appropriate first line that will wow the agents and engage the reader.

We've seen some amazing first lines in our critique group. Lines that have that wow factor. Lines that we've loved, admired and wished we'd written.

Unfortunately, they weren't always appropriate for the story that followed. They set a tone, an expectation, a hint of a totally different story, a totally different world, and genre. It's so easy to fall into the trap of creating a darling but a first line has a job to do so you may have to assassinate yours.

Notes from the Critique Group

By Maureen Lynas

When Candy said - Would you like to start blogging on the slushpile again? - I said yes immediately. Then spent two months thinking – what about?

The size of my slushpile? Done. It’s even bigger than when I first blogged about it. It wobbles now. Sometimes it sways. It may topple.

The seven steps to pacing and plotting? Done. But I could talk about the steps for ever. So that theme was a possible.

The five bricks of story? Done.  I think I'm up to seven now.

Show not tell? Done, said Maureen as she exhibited frustration, annoyance and desperation through her body language.

To procrastinate I read Jennie Nash's excellent post on writing groups (on Jane Friedman’s blog) because our SCBWI BI York group was about to meet.

Edit Your Books on the Kindle, says Maureen

Last week I discovered Miriam Halahmy’s post on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure about using her kindle as an editing tool.

Using the kindle in the way she describes is so useful. Being able to change the font size and view your manuscript in a different format highlights many problems. But there is another way to use the kindle as an editing tool and I wondered how many people were aware of it..

You can use the kindle's text to speech function as part of the editing process.

Like many authors I tape myself reading my book and listen as I edit. But there are problems with this. It takes time. I can’t re-record every time I change something. I often record what I think is there rather than what I’ve written. So mistakes slip through.

Then, as I was editing Cupcake Catastrophe! I remembered my kindle (original) has the option for text to speech. Ages ago I’d tried to listen to a book using text to speech but the reading was terrible. It isn’t a person reading, it’s a computerised voice. Let's call him Bob. So, the question was, would Bob be an advantage while editing or a disadvantage?

Turns out it’s a big advantage. Bob's reading is so bad that I have to listen very carefully as I follow the manuscript on my laptop or paper. His voice is disjointed. Fast when it should be slow, slow when it should be fast. His intonation is wrong and sometimes he blends one sentence with another as if punctuation is a blip on the screen. I think he's a bit of a Yoda fan.

e.g. This is what I wrote
‘No,’ yelled Florence. ‘I will not leave Cobbleton! I will wait for my father! He is alive. I know it and you know it!’ 

This is what Bob read.
'No,' yelled Florence. 'I will not.  Leave Cobbleton I will. Wait. For my father, he is. Alive, I know it. And you. Know it. 


If  Bob doesn’t recognise the word he says each phoneme. This is comical as I have the two Meanie girls attempting to whistle – ‘shpshfftzzz,’ went Armeenia became ‘sh p sh f f t z z z,’ went Armeenia.'

All of this means I really focus on what's been written. Every word is noticed.

The other advantage of using Bob is that I don't have to re-record the story as I finish each draft. I just email another version to my free kindle address and I can start the next part of the editorial process.

So, how do you find text to speech?

I only know how to do this on the original kindle. You will need headphones as you can't adjust the sound. Or maybe you can but I haven't discover how.

Open the document you want to edit.

Method 1: Press AA Choose text to speech.

Method 2: Press ­ ­Shift  (an arrow) and sym together.

Press back to stop. 

I know the option isn’t available on the Paperwhite but I don’t know about the other versions. If you do have a kindle that has TTS then please add which version and how to access it in the comments. 

Maureen Lynas 

Maureen's Website 

Our Writing Year That Was

In which we slushpilers look back at our writing highlights for 2013.

Teri Terry | Maureen Lynas | Candy Gourlay | Addy Farmer 

Teri Terry

SERIOUSLY? Just five things? *plans ways to cheat*
OK here goes, in chronological order:

1

In January Slated won the North East Teen Book Award on a very snowy evening in Newcastle. Others followed, and they were all amazing experiences: I loved having the opportunity to meet very excited readers, hang out with authors, and travel around the UK. There were things I'll never forget, like walking on the most beautiful beach at Carnoustie the morning after the Angus Book Award and trying to process that it actually happened, and the best night out ever after the Sussex ABA. But the NE Teen book award will always be special because it was the first.

2 

Slated was published in the US in January, and I went to NY for the very first time.

Seeing Slated on the shelf in a huge B&N in NY was a massive thrill, as was meeting my amazing US editor, Nancy Paulsen, and taking part in a panel event at Books of Wonder.

3 

Book 2 of the Slated trilogy - Fractured - came out in UK in April, US in September. Talk about your second book wobbles....! It was scarier than the first one, no question. Writing it was more about 2012 than 2013, but suffice it to say, it was a drawn out process involving loss of sleep, many drafts, and more cake than is reasonable. But for the same reason, actually getting it out there was, in a way, more satisfying.

First Fractured event: at Heffers in Cambridge

4 

Out 1st May 2014, US

Out 6th March 2014, UK

And hurrah! I finished writing Shattered, the third and last book of the Slated trilogy. It was both exhilarating - finally ending the story, going where I'd been heading for the last few years with my characters - and sad. Like packing up your life and moving, leaving all that is familiar behind you. 

5

And finally? 

As an unforgettable, amazing and yes, exhausting, year winds to a close, I'm busily writing the shiny new thing. It is both wonderful and terrifying to have a complete new cast of characters, a different world. Part of me feels disloyal, like I've found a new friend and left the old ones behind. Part of me is scared it won't work out, that after we spend more time together we won't get along. But early signs are promising. And I've got Banrock along to help.

Happy New Year, everybody!

---

Maureen Lynas

1  

First highlight is my involvement with the funeverse.

 A group poetry blog of silliness and fun.

During 2013, we've written, reviewed, critiqued and refined each others work and encouraged each other to experiment with form, to let loose the poetic nonsense that lurks in our minds and to gain confidence in our work and abilities. If you would like to see our poems please click here

2

Highlight number two - I've written my favourite book so far - The Best Witch.  It stars Daisy Chain (not her real name) who is a witch in denial of her destiny. She would much rather be on the stage than at Toadspit Towers, school for witches. This book just fell from my fingers, no planning, no charts, no post it notes - which is all highly unusual and huge amounts of fun. I had no idea what was behind each door in the school but Daisy did so this is very much her book and not mine. I've taken the big step of illustrating this one, it's been such an enjoyable project and I can't believe how zoned out I am when I'm drawing. I forget to eat! Who knew creativity was good for the figure?

3

Number three is the 2013 SCBWI BI conference in Winchester - for the Alexis Deacon workshop where he used two of my (anonymous to him) illustrations to highlight good practice in the morning and then took one look at my rubbish thumbnails in the afternoon and talked about accepting your skills base and developing from there. Thanks!

4

A big highlight of 2013 was publishing the first Florence and the Meanies book, Cupcake Catyastrophe! Illustrated by Katherine Lynas the book is loosely based on the relationship dynamic of Cinderella: eight year old Florence must stop the Meanie sisters winning Prince Greedlebelly in a cupcake competition or she will never see her father again.



The book has been published through our family firm - Action Words Publishing. This is our first step into fiction publishing and we're very excited about it. Book two - Canine Calamity will be published in spring 2014.

5

In 2000, as I left teaching, I published Action Words, a scheme for teaching high frequency words through actions. I often receive feedback but a couple of weeks ago I received a fabulous email from a parent of a child who had been struggling with reading. Her daughter's teacher introduced them to Action Words and her daughter learned to read and spell 150 key words in just 4 weeks.

The email ends, 'The programme has given her a new lease of life when it comes to reading so I am eternally grateful.'

Writing books and having a book published is obviously brilliant but nothing can compare with the thrill of knowing that I've helped to create a reader. What a great way to end my year. 

---

Candy Gourlay

1

The most significant thing that happened to me last year was not the publication of my new book Shine or the book launch (all of which made it to these highlights) but the moment I pressed 'SEND' for the last time on a manuscript that took me three years to write. While my writing pals seemed to be churning out book after book I had struggled to find the story of my second novel and realising it was ready to be shown to the world filled with disbelief ... and maybe fear. 

2

My first sight of Shine. Photo by Matilda Johnson

But all my terrible fears vanished when Shine finally arrived at my door with its stunning cover illustrated by David Deane - which I have just discovered won a gold award at the 2012 3x3 Picture Book Show (congrats, David!). Shine the book is a beautiful object, something to be cherished. And when I re-read the story from cover to cover I discovered that yes, it was definitely a story I was proud of.

3

Mass Book Launch at SCBWI Conference. Photo by Lisa Tweedie

I couldn't decide which was a bigger highlight - my book launch at Archway Library in September or my book launch shared with my colleagues at the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators at the SCBWI conference in Winchester in November, both wonderful events full of love and celebration. I feel like Winnie the Pooh when he was asked if he wanted honey or condensed milk on his bread and he answered BOTH!

4

Huzzah! I've started writing a new book! It's kind of strange writing something that ISN'T Shine, after all these years. This summer I visited St Louis, Missouri where part of my book is set. And yep, the writing is going well. I'd forgotten what it's like to look forward to sitting down and laying words on paper.

5

After Typhoon Haiyan, when the horrifying images started streaming in from the Philippines, I got a series of emails from friends asking me (I was the only Filipino they knew) what I was planning to do about it. I was wringing my hands, paralised by the enormity of it all when I received an email from Young Adult authors Keren David and Keris Stainton asking would you like to help out with Authors for the Philippines?

Keren and Keris

It was an amazing appeal that raised £55,124.73 for the Red Cross. Thank you to Keren and Keris, thank you to all the book people who donated stuff and promoted it like crazy, and thank you to all the shoppers who bid so enthusiastically! It really is the gift of hope.

Being in the booky world can be such a roller coaster and 2013 was no exception. But looking back at these highlights has lifted me up! I hope all you readers of Notes from the Slushpile can take a moment to celebrate the good things in your writing year that was. Happy new year from me!

---

Addy Farmer

1

Sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other can provide a moment of triumph; finishing the first draft of my third novel, The Empty Girl, was a shiny time. Look! I can see the sun peeking through the trees! On, on!

2 

Talking of shiny times (see what I did there?), I had the best time at Candy's book launch for Shine. As one of a panel of children's authors, I had the privilege of reading and talking about the work of Candy's young writer guests. Wow! The future of writing is in safe hands! If that wasn't enough there followed a party where I managed to take no photos at all, so here's one I took earlier.

3

Having lunch with my publisher.

I make no apologies. I have waited years to say that. The lovely Janetta Otter-Barry of Frances Lincoln asked if I would come and take a look at Chris Fisher's roughs for my next picture book, Worlds Apart (January 2015) and she really did invite me for an actual meal.  An unfortunate series of time errors meant that we ended up eating somebody's fab birthday cake instead. Delicious.

 4

Fangirl moment.

Yes, this was the fabulous beginning to the awesome SCBWI conference in Winchester. I was taxi person for Malorie Blackman.  Not only that but I found my head on the back of the Cake to end all Cakes. 

5

 The festive fellowship of my writing friends. Never fails to bring joy.

Thanks to Gill for the photos, the games and more than can be said!

Mother Christmas brought presents and party games

The legendary Brown's Pie Shop provided the Happy ending to 2013

Here's to 2014!

Hark! Season's Greetings from the Slushpile

Hang on, smile, keep your back straight and keep going into 2014! (left to right) Maureen Lynas, Addy Farmer, Teri Terry, Candy Gourlay and Jo Wyton

Joy, energy and hope (LOTS of hope!) this season, from all of us on the Slushpile!

Maureen says, 'Is There a Book Lurking in Your Head?'

by Maureen Lynas

I'm writing a book that I didn't want to write.

And I'm illustrating it. 

And it's all come as a bit of a surprise. 

Last year when a very successful agent, who knows what she's talking about, suggested I write a book in this genre I think I pulled a face.

The genre - Witch School.

You can see why I pulled a face. Harry Potter, The Worst Witch. 

How could I compete? What could I do that would be different? I didn't even want to think about it.
So I didn't. 

But then, after a year of writerly disappointments, I was trawling back through agents and publishers emails looking for positive reinforcement that I wasn't useless and I saw the agent's name and remembered the conversation. So I decided to have a go. I thought I'd invest one week in a witchy experiment. Could I write a first draft, 10,000 words in a week? Then if I liked it, I'd keep going, if I didn't, well, I'd only wasted a week.

It's hard to describe what happened next. I actually think I was taken over by the protagonist who must have been lurking in my subconscious just waiting for a chance to get out into the big wide world. For the first time in my writing career I wrote without thinking. No planning (I am a BIG planner), no plotting cards, no character lists or interviews, no chapter breakdowns, no emotional arcs. Just writing. And it was as if my brain was like one of those Chinese puzzles where everything clicks into place because you touch the right spring.

In one week I had that first draft and I felt I'd written a book I was supposed to write.

And I was in love. The little girl telling me her story was an amalgam of all the fictional characters that have made an impression on me for their bravery, cleverness, comedy, and yes, stupidity. 

She was channeling Buffy, Willow, Georgina Nicholson, Adrian Mole.

She has such a huge voice, a sense of purpose, a strong sense of right and wrong and so many OPINIONS! She's so DRAMATIC! 

Full of life and funny.

Then, once I'd written the draft she demanded to be drawn. I had no intention of illustrating any of my books (check out this interesting blog by Cathy Brett on the Guardian site about illustrated books for older children.) I like doodling and doing pics for Notes From the Slushpile but that's as far as it goes. But she wasn't having it. She wanted to be seen. So, I drew her and here she is - Daisy, alias Ophelia, alias Twinkle, who has just been dumped at Toadspit Towers, School for Witches by her granny.

And of course once she was there on the page she became even more real to me. Her problems meant more. But then I was the one with a problem. If I was going to illustrate the book then who else was in it? What did they look like? They weren't talking to me in the way Daisy/Ophelia/Twinkle was. So I just started drawing in the way I'd just started writing. And I came up with this witchy teacher.

And I showed both illustrations to a few people. They all loved Daisy/Ophelia/Twinkle but the reaction to the teacher was lukewarm and I realised I had drawn a witch and not a real person. So I had another go and then something else curious happened. The teacher that appeared from the end of my stylus has a wooden leg. 

Now, I didn't plan that. It just happened. Came out of nowhere. And the wooden leg is called George and he demanded a role in the story too. I know that I would not have come up with George if I'd just written about Ms Priscilla Precisely and not drawn her.

Then a funny thing happened and the first witch began to demand a part and she is now in book 2 and has a major influence on the story. And she looks perfect for that part. She needs to look like a fearsome, traditional, no nonsense witch.

It honestly feels like I'm holding auditions and casting the book! 

So far every drawing I've done has informed the character or added a dimension to the plot. So even if the publishers don't want to use them (if I get a book deal) they have played a huge role in bringing the book to life. I'm now 15,000 words into the second draft and I'm alternating between writing and drawing and I have never had so much fun when writing. Or been so creative.

And I wondered, has this happened to anyone else? Have you just sat down and started to write then discovered there's a character with a complete story lurking in your subconscious? Does anyone else, non-illustrators, sketch their characters and have they influenced the way the plot goes? Or who the character is? Or how the world behaves? 

To finish I would like to say a big thank you to that very successful agent who said, 'Why not try writing a witch school book?' She obviously knows a lot more than I do about who's in my head. Spooky. 

Without her suggestion I would never have met Daisy/Ophelia/Twinkle and I would never have written 

The Best Witch. 

The true story of how Daisy/Ophelia/Twinkle attempts to 

ESCAPE 

from Toadspit Towers and the spider guards.. 

Maureen Lynas also blogs on her own blog which she creatively named - Maureen Lynas