The Pursuit of Happiness

By Candy Gourlay

I saw this on Facebook the other day:



It was on a Buzzfeed list called The 30 Happiest Facts of All Time and sure enough, it made me so happy I told everyone I met about it and now I'm telling you and I hope it's making you feel just as joyful.

The fact is, I have reasons beyond otters holding hands to be happy.

If you were on Facebook last Thursday, you might have spotted this:

But on the day, I was up at 4am worrying about whether I was doing enough to tell the world. And then I worried about whether fans of Tall Story will be put off by the fact that it's darker and older. And then I worried about the fact that its official release date was the 5th of September - someone in the know told me this is the worst publication date possible because you'll be competing with all the book heavies - Meg Rosoff! Patrick Ness! - launching in time for Christmas. And so on.

Remember 'What Me Worry?' Alfred E Neumann's catchphrase?  

I met a friend for lunch and I must have managed to drip anxiety all over him because he told me, kindly: 'You do realize that there are many who would like to be in your position."

Yes! BUT BUT BUT BUT!

And then I shut up.

Because all these fears had nothing to do with the moment at hand. At long last, Shine is out. And I should just celebrate.

As you may know, it took me ages to write Shine. Three years in fact. It was a slog. And during the slog, I sometimes became sentimental for the days when I was just another writer on the slushpile, when I didn't have anyone waiting to read my latest book.

Yes, yes, you may hate me for confessing this - but hear me out.

What I want to say is that ... it really was lovely when the dream hadn't come true yet.

There were no bottom lines. My next book didn't have to be as good or better than the previous one. There was no readership to disappoint. I was in the tight embrace of a lovely group of people who shared my passions and aspirations. We sorrowed over our rejections. We rejoiced over our craft. All my desires were still to come true - and it felt good.

Being hopeful feels good.

It was only when my dream came true and Tall Story was published in 2010 that FEAR came into the picture. Looking back over the past three years, I realize that I didn't give myself enough time to truly rejoice in my good fortune. Sure, I was HAPPY because I am a happy sort of person, but I was engrossed, rushing from thing to thing. Promoting the book, doing school visits, networking, writing and rewritingthe next book.

I was busy trying to prevent all the bad things that could happen.

No. I didn't take time to smell the flowers.

My lunching friend later sent me a TED video featuring Dan Gilbert (@dantgilbert), author of Stumbling on Happiness in which he said:

We treat our future selves as though they were our children, spending most of the hours of most of our days constructing tomorrows that we hope will make them  happy. Stumblling on Happiness

In his TED talk, Gilbert said getting what we want doesn't bring us happiness. According to Gilbert, if we want to be happy we can MAKE ourselves happy (he calls it synthesizing happiness).

He had lots of surprising examples - comparing the happiness of people who had won the lottery and people who became paraplegics, people in jail, people who had lost everything. The people who had endured the worst always came out on top. They were happier than the people whose dreams had come true. You can watch the video below (but only after you've read my post).



Here is Gilbert's take-away:

The lesson I want to leave you with from these data is that our longings and our worries are both to some degree overblown, because we have within us the capacity to manufacture the very commodity we are constantly chasing when we choose experience.

Basically he's saying, everyone can be happy if they want to be.

Watching the Dan Gilbert video led me to watch a bunch of other TED talk videos. There's nothing like a TED talk to lead one astray from all the hustle and bustle of being an author with a new book in the shops.

Here is one featuring Benjamin Zander that is luminous with joy (it may be about classical music but it taught me the art of writing on your left buttock)



By the end of that afternoon, I was inspired, moved, high on ideas ... and happy.

Sometimes we're in such hot pursuit of happiness that we don't notice it's right where we started.

Come on everyone, let's raise a glass to all the authors who recently launched a book  - HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY! And I mean happy.

You might be interested in my recent postings. Click on the thumbnails to view:

How to Become a Writer

My Video Reading

Unboxing First Copies 

Q&A at Tamarind Books

Riffing on Rain in Shine

Shine Book Trailer

Edinburgh Book Festival: by Numbers

by Teri Terry


Last week I was lucky enough to appear at the Edinburgh Book Festival!

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the largest public celebration of the written word in the WORLD. It started 30 years ago, and now welcomes 220,000 visitors each year. 2013 saw over 800 writers and thinkers appearing in over 700 events.

With all these numbers whirling about in my mind, here’s how the trip added up for me, in numerical order:

1 amazingly FAB book festival. Seriously, it is so well-organized and so much fun! I’ll cry if I don’t go next year.

my nemesis...!

1 on stage seated break dance. You couldn’t make this up. In the middle of my schools event, a presumed fly wandered across my neck, then down my shirt. It traced a leisurely path down my shoulder, arm and back while I tried hard not to scream and/or giggle (it tickled). I was less successful at not extravagantly twitching.

1 one BIG cover reveal! No photo as of yet for this - but those at my events saw the cover to Shattered, and it hasn't been revealed yet! It was SO exciting to be able to show it up on a big screen. Hope I can show the rest of the world, soon.

2 sold-out events! One in the school’s programme and one in the public programme. Both were panels with Claire Merle and Julie Bertagna on dystopian fiction. This is the school's event:

L-R: chair Kathryn Ross, Claire Merle, Julie Bertagna, and Teri Terry (moi!)

2 sold out books! co-panelist Claire Merle’s The Glimpse, and my Slated!

3 moments of travel panic. Train out booked for wrong day; taxi failing to appear to take to station; and on return, taxi appearing but caught in traffic chaos and train home nearly missed. These things are sent to try us...

4 Scoobies! a.k.a. members of SCBWI: Sharon Jones, Claire Merle, Stephanie McGregor,

Sharon Jones: moving reading at Amnesty
 International Imprisoned writers event

and Christina Banach. Well 5, if you include me. One of the best parts of belonging to SCBWI is that wherever you go, there are friends old and new to meet up with. Sharon Jones was also there doing events after the recent release of Dead Jealous.

5 Dr Who fans, complete with a light-up sonic screwdriver, at the Teen Titles celebration! Heated debate on the best Doctor followed. They are sceptical of the new Dr Who, and impressed that I know Paul Cornell.

6 wardrobe changes: the number of times I changed my mind about what to wear to Wednesday's events.

Is it just me, or am I perfectly colour coordinated to the signing area?
I love it when a good plan  comes together...
(L-R - Julie Bertagna, Claire Merle with the awesome bird sculpture we all signed, and Moi)

13 hours slept. First morning, awake at 4; second (event day), 3:45 *sigh*. And 3rd – slept in, at last! til 5. I've really got to learn how to sleep properly when I'm away from home.

14 hours spent on trains and in taxis. And a big thanks to the guy from Wigan who played endless tunes on his harmonica in the train seat behind on the way there. That, like, really helped me write. Though not quite what I intended...

400-ish enthusiastic teens over two events: I’m sure there’d have been 400 questions if there’d been enough time for everyone! 
But I spoke to many of them after at the book signings. Complete with hand waving, and an admonishment to hurry up.

15,381,490 calories consumed. Admittedly, this is probably an under-estimate.

Conclusion? 
30 years on from the very first one, the Edinburgh Book Festival all added up to an amazing experience.


My report on Edinburgh last year can be found here. Special thanks to Stephanie McGregor for photos!

The Slushpile Silly Season - Summer Reads for Healthy Living

by Addy Farmer 

... But do not think you can at all,
By knocking on the window, call
That child to hear you. He intent
Is all on his play-business bent.
He does not hear, he will not look,
Nor yet be lured out of this book ...

Robert Louis Stevenson - A child's garden of verses

Ah, lovely. It does happen, I've seen it, in fact I've taken photographs and shown them to people to prove that my children are not constantly interacting with a screen. But if your children aren't constantly outside exploring, getting messy and finding themselves then help is at hand.

In a survey published by the Department of Health last year, Scooby Doo, which features a cowardly Great Dane with an insatiable appetite for snacks and giant sandwiches, was found to be the healthiest of all children's television programmes. Consultants drew up the league tables by watching 200 hours of children’s television, featuring the 20 most popular programmes, and noted how many times physical activity was shown.

“Each character was rated on their activity levels and received marks for good behaviours such as walking short journeys and playing sport,” according to the Department of Health.

Because much of the action in the cartoon shows Scooby and his gang running away from monsters, they topped the list. However officials at the health ministry insisted they were not holding up Scooby Doo, famed for munching on Scooby Snax, as a healthy role model. Phew.

Look at him go! 

So, top 5 children’s programmes ranked by levels of physical activity and good behaviours:

• Scooby Doo
• Shaun the Sheep
• Lazy Town
• Peppa Pig
• Bob the Builder

My personal favourite is Peppa Pig. Here's a good one all about healthy living

Although even Peppa Pig is not without controversy as Nadia Khomami reported in a 2012 article in the Radio Times

Parents have this week been turning against the behaviour of the naughty cartoon pig for being a bad influence. One father complained about his four-year-old son starting to splash in muddy puddles on the way to school. Others reported their children shouting atrocities such as "chocolate cake" when asked what they would like for breakfast, and one concerned mother even wrote on parenting website Mumsnet: “A day after watching [an] episode, my son wouldn’t eat his cucumber and tomatoes."

One mother asked, "Shall I ban Peppa Pig, or is that being totally unreasonable?" Um, yes well. It's all a far cry from R.L. Stevenson's child in the garden, so I have carefully hand-picked 5 books which will fulfill the healthy living criteria of physical activity and good behaviours.

1.

'A bear however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.' A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Excellent sentiment and always outdoors, playing with legions of friends and getting up to all sorts! So far so good ...

Oh but wait, there's honey and lots of it and how much exercise is actually going on if you're busy Doing Nothing? 

'"What I like doing best is Nothing."

"How do you do Nothing," asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time.

"Well, it's when people call out at you just as you're going off to do it, 'What are you going to do, Christopher Robin?' and you say, 'Oh, Nothing,' and then you go and do it.

It means just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

"Oh!" said Pooh.”'

Oh indeed, Pooh. Moving swiftly on to:

2.

The Hunger Games fulfils all outdoorsy expectations. It's outdoors for a start plus there's LOTS of running and jumping and leaping, and a slightly strict diet. 

“Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when it's morning again, they'll wash away"
- Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games

Perfect. Until you get to the part (most of it) where they all kill one another and that is NOT healthy. Oh dear, I'm beginning to feel the strain of being constrained...

3.

Okay so you'll have to get beyond a girl called Titty but this story is so outdoorsy you can smell the water. John, Susan, Titty and Roger sail their boat, Swallow, to a deserted island for a summer camping trip (so far so perfect).If you can forget the names - there's no killing, no parents, plenty of fresh air and jam sandwiches so all's good. 

Swallows and Amazons for-ever!” 

Plus there are two pirates called Nancy and Peggy (unless you consider that the name thing is becoming an issue here). Maybe just think about what fun they're all having.

4.

Okay, so I will confess to a nostalgic love for Wind in the Willows. I mean what's better for summer than making friends, having adventures and messing about in boats? Yes, Toad is a bit on the tubby side and has a fondness for motor cars (Poop! Poop!) which makes him behave quite badly and maybe Moley is a bit slow and sits down rather too much and perhaps Ratty could make eat a bit more healthily ...

Right, I'm losing the will to live here. Begone exercise and good behaviours! Books are more than the sum of their parts! Forget, straining to fit these stories into government criteria - they don't fit. They are no more or less than 5 of my favourite summery reads and no more so than my favourite, The Moomins, written and illustrated by the incomparable, Tove Jansson.

5.

 "The spirit of adventure sped through his soul on mighty wings.”

“I'll have to calm down a bit. Or else I'll burst with happiness”
Moomintroll, Moominsummer Madness by Tove Jansson

Can't ask for more.