Notes from the Slushpile: friendship

Thursday, 3 August 2017

The Importance of Finding Awesome People

By Jo Wyton

Maureen Lynas is one of those people. You know the sort.

You appear at a conference and suddenly someone’s behind you and there’s a pair of arms around you, but no need to wonder who it is - it’s obviously Maureen. You need some encouragement – it’s OK, Maureen will reply to your anxiety-ridden Facebook post. You need a smile – it’s OK, Maureen is right over there and she’s already heading your way. You need advice on a plot, a character, an exchange with an agent, a book title, a dispute, a pondering – don’t panic. Maureen's got your back.

And whilst she’s doing all that and supporting everyone and generally being everywhere at the same time and always her kind, warm self, Maureen is also working her butt off. Learning. Making mistakes. Trying new things. Over and over again. Evolving, never content to stay still. You try to pay attention because she seems to be navigating the publishing industry with all the grace you’ve never managed to summon, and you’re certain that what you are learning from her will come in handy.

And whilst you’re watching, Maureen is working, working, working.

One wonderful day in London town, you sit opposite her in a bar and she has this quiet smile on her face and you are instantly excited on behalf of this person who is always so excited for everyone else, and she tells you that she’s spent the last two days meeting multiple publishers, and that they all want her book.

And from that moment, marvellous things begin to unfold.

Bowie gets it.

You? You get to absorb it all and learn from it and be inspired by it. You get to watch all the pieces fall into place and see the spot every part of that learning curve has been leading towards, all this time.

Over on Facebook right now, there is a proliferation of people wearing multi-coloured witch hats. Go find them, they are brilliant. And they're there because Maureen has lots of Maureens in her life, too (in this case being herded in the right direction by the hat-tastic George Kirk). And today, they are celebrating the publication of Maureen’s first book: You Can’t Make Me Go To Witch School!

Everyone needs a Maureen in their life.

As a writer, you need several.

Find them. Pay attention to them. You and your writing will be better for it.

(Congratulations, Maureen. You are really quite splendiferous, you know.)

From the Notes of the Slushpile crew (above) ... and all these others (below)

Monday, 27 June 2016

Every Child Needs Sad Books

by Addy Farmer et al

A story of friendship

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White is a story about two friends - a naive, young pig, Wilbur, and a wise, kind spider, Charlotte. When Charlotte is dying, Wilbur is distraught and asks her:

“Why did you do all this for me?' he asked. 'I don't deserve it. I've never done anything for you.'
"You have been my friend," replied Charlotte. "That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what's a life, anyway? We're born, we live a little while, we die. A spider's life can't help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone's life can stand a little of that."

Charlotte's Web by E.B White

Did I cry when I read these words - yes. Friendship will get me every time. It can be messy and complicated and it can be noble and self-sacrificing. Such a simple sentiment, 'You have been my friend.' and yet it's laden with a whole lifetime of feeling and experience. When I read this, I don't just think about the beautiful friendship of Wilbur and Charlotte but I relate it to my own experience of friendships and how it might feel should this relationship end with the death of a friend.

Okay, so, this is one of my all time favourite picture books. We have a tattered big book copy which was read and read to all the children. I barely had to look at the words to recall them. But I always had a catch in my throat here ...
"Then Bella did something very kind.'

I can barely say that line which sounds ridiculous but it is redolent with the practical-big-sister love Bella has for her brother. There is also the happy resolution of the MASSIVE problem (when you're 3) of losing a companion/toy. Shirley Hughes has a wonderful eye and ear for the way small children are and consequently we invest in their characters and dilemmas quickly. My children never cried when I read the story though, which makes me think that some younger readers are more Bellas than Daves. Unless they're baby Joes and he's just too dribbly.

If you want to read Kate Saunders' amazing book, prepare yourselves for Serious Tears. The Psammead is a sand fairy, thousands of years old, and it's a bit of a heartless monster. By the end of the book, the death of a young man brings about an epiphany:

"I'm awfully glad you're here. Can you stay with me?'
'Yes, my dear,' the Psammead said and gently stroked Cyril's cheek with his paw. 'I'll never leave you now.'

From heartless to heartbroken. The moment is terrible and wonderful. And it left me crying at the transformation of the Psammead as well as the lost generation of young men killed in the first world war.

Nooooooooooooo!

As a rule, I find that I cannot bear to read sad stories which involve animals which means that I have never read 'Black Beauty' or 'Warhorse'. Neither have I written a story with an animal as the central character. For me, it's too sad. I don't know why, maybe it's to do with their trusting nature and relative simplicity of character. Maybe I should challenge myself - that's what brilliant stories like this do to the reader.

Some less obviously sad books make me well up. 'Not Now Bernard' by David McKee is the story of Bernard whose parents ignore him when he wants their attention. They do not notice when he is eaten by the monster. They do not notice when the monster wants their attention. They are terrible parents. They did not deserve Bernard. The story-telling is relaxed and funny and my children laughed their little heads off but I always felt sad at the end and that lost child stays with me even now.

Maybe the saddest book ever; Michael Rosen's, 'The Sad Book'. It is not a book on how to deal with grief. It is an observation and exploration of the author's anguish at the death of his son and it is beautiful and true.

What follows is a brief list of sad books from SCBWI members. Please don't leave this blog feeling sad, rather feel uplifted that we can produce such incredible human stories. There are so many marvellous books which make me cry. They do so with understatement and clear language and never become sentimental. They are books which confront our most challenging experiences and deal with difficult emotions. They rehearse life and all its experiences. They tell us that we not alone.

Every child needs sad books.

'The War that Saved My Life' by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley moved me to tears, although I won't reveal why, as I don't want to give anything away for those who have yet to read it.

Kathryn Evans Oh me too! And so many books - Private Peaceful, Watership Down - books whose characters burrow under your skin and leave you ripped apart when they die...

UnlikeReply2June 7 at 11:34am

Meredith Vigh 'The Circus Ship' by Chris Van Dusun always brings a lump to my throat - its just a lovely, heartwarming story. And 'Charlotte's Web'

UnlikeReply2June 7 at 1:47pm

Jeannie Waudby The Book Thief.

UnlikeReply1June 7 at 7:45pm

Jo Dearden I'll second Charlotte's Web (read it to both my daughters on separate occasions and blubbed both times)

UnlikeReply3June 7 at 10:16pm

Jo Dearden I also cry at the Picture Book 'Dear Greenpeace' - not sure why, it's not especially sad, just something about it gets me every time...

UnlikeReply1June 7 at 10:19pm

Candy Gourlay Dogger!

UnlikeReply1June 7 at 11:17pm

Sarah Broadley Guess How Much I love You and Monkey Puzzle. Books that make you go aw!

UnlikeReply1June 8 at 2:42pm

Susan Brownrigg Private Peaceful and Goodnight Mister Tom.

UnlikeReply2June 8 at 2:46pm

Nicola Keller I have a childhood memory of sobbing at Gobbelino the Witch's cat, and my babysitter being terrified that my mum would think SHE made me cry.

UnlikeReply1June 8 at 3:34pm

Claire Watts Ways to live forever by Sally Nicholls. Pure brilliance.

UnlikeReply2June 8 at 3:53pm

Olivia Levez Inconsolable after this one!

LikeReply1June 9 at 1:44pm

Write a reply...

Meredith Vigh Also ''Library Lion" - that one chokes me up a bit at the end for some reason!

UnlikeReply1June 8 at 4:02pm

Claire Watts I've discussed books that made me cry several times with top-end primary children and find that things that have me in floods don't make them cry at all and in fact they think it's a bit odd of me to suggest that it might.

UnlikeReply3June 8 at 4:20pm

Suzanne Afford Ways to Live forever, Before I Die by Jenny Downham, A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, that one had me sobbing!

LikeReplyJune 9 at 7:57am

Suzanne Afford And Code Name Verity!

LikeReplyJune 9 at 8:16am

Sarah Jane Ling I love a good cry! Olivia Levez's The Island made me cry. Other recent blubs include: My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece; Pobby and Dingan (sob!) and John Birnigham's Grandpa.

LikeReply2June 9 at 9:52am

Jo Dearden Pobby and Dingan! I read that in a Granta collection years ago. Best. Short. Story EVER!!! Magical and gut-wrenchingly true at the same time...

LikeReply1June 9 at 2:18pm

Sarah Jane Ling Agree - that last chapter is so sad!

LikeReplyJune 9 at 8:42pm

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Olivia Levez That awful scene in Goodnight Mister Tom. (I used to teach this one and always had to get a pupil to read it aloud because my voice would start breaking up.) A Monster Calls. Ways to Live Forever. Do they have to be children's ones? The final scenes in...See More

LikeReply1June 9 at 1:53pm