~ A Book Review: Changeling, Delia Sherman ~

I have finished reading my eighth novel for 2024, Changeling, by Delia Sherman. This is a book I put into my basket purely because of the cover. Sometimes, you feel compelled to buy for that reason alone – no need to read the first page or check the blurb on the back. Physically it was a nice-sized book – neither too big nor too small. Won over by the supernatural hullabaloo on the front and the hardcover, it had the triple whammy of a knockout title. Changeling.
According to the definition in my Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, A changeling is a peevish sick child. The notion used to be that the fairies took a healthy child and left in its place one of their starveling elves, which never thrived. The word means ‘little changed person’

I have always found the concept of changelings or fairy children strangely intriguing and sinister. Therefore the idea of telling the story of a human child who was switched out and following her life in the fairy realm seemed a cool premise for a middle fiction story.
Changeling is the story of Neef. She is a young girl who is the human child changed over for the fairy child. While the changeling is growing up in her place, Neef is being raised by her fairy godmother, a white rat called Astris.

Life in the New York Between has been sweet, despite the fact the fairy realm boasts some scary creatures and the Wild Hunt terrorizes the fairies in Central Park. All the magical folk in the between depend on the protection of The Green Lady, the Genius of the Central Park. Neef spends her days studying Folk Lore and going to the Between’s Metropolitan Museum. Yet, it’s not enough for Neef. She constantly wants more, nothing is ever good enough. Her life is boring she craves adventure and wastes time wishing more would happen.
We readers brace ourselves for the boot to fall. We know the story tropes of the unsatisfied protagonist, and that of ‘curiosity killed the cat’, and we know Neef is asking for it. Before long she ends up breaking Fairy law. Yup. Knew it. Now on the wrong side of the Green Lady, Neef is to be banished from the park to be hunted down like an animal by the Hunt. Neef and her friends strike a deal with the Green Lady. If Neef can obtain three impossible objects, she will be allowed to return home. She meets the changeling, the fairy child being raised in her biological family’s home, and the pair learn how to work together to achieve the goal.

Changeling is another excellent example of tight world-building. Sherman thinks of everything from the mythology of this world to cleverly mixing in the traditions of fables (such as brownies and selkies), and fictional characters (such as Shakespearean fairies). I liked her sense of play. Sherman is like a kid in a sandbox using a bit of everything, throwing in bits of classic fairy tales and tweaking them to fit modern life like Jack and the Beanstalk became Jack and the Extension Ladder. She explores the idea that the immigrants flooding into New York brought their stories and therefore ‘Little Folk’ with them. It made me laugh when she made the tough mercenaries lording it over places like Broadway and Wall Street the fairies, turning our expectations on their heads. It’s fresh and lively. Good stuff for kids.
One special mention must go to the subtle way Sherman brings the vagaries of Autism into the story without making it overt. The character differences are presented to us as perplexing, frustrating, and unique traits of Changeling, however, because we see them through Neef’s innocent eyes, we don’t judge this character. In the end, it’s a nice touch that Changeling’s attributes make her useful and complement those of the levelheaded Neef in every challenge. They could not get through the quest without each other.

Delia Sherman was born in 1951 in Tokyo, Japan. She is an author of Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult, and Short Stories, winning the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for her novel The Porcelain Dove. She earned a PhD in Renaissance studies at Brown University and has also written the novels Through a Brazen Mirror and Changeling. She co-founded the Interstitial Arts Foundation, dedicated to promoting border-crossing art genres. She lives in New York City with her wife, Ellen Kushner.
My rating is three stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

Your precious babe is hence convey’d,
And in its place a changeling laid. ~ JOHN GAY: Fables (1727)

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line

~ Getting Over Artist’s Block ~

I am working on a new children’s series, which will be seven books in total. I have been writing this middle-fiction fantasy series since 2021. You may notice I never mention the title or concept. It might be six or seven years before publishing the first volume, so it’s best to keep things under wraps for now. However, there are aspects of book creation that can be shared without giving too much away.
Alongside editing the second volume in the series, I am illustrating the first book. I have a whole history with writing and illustrating which I won’t go into in this post. Suffice it to say I had determined to focus on the writing, perhaps working my way back to the sweet spot of writing and illustrating someday in the future.
Then a friend who is an English teacher and had edited the first book in the series suggested illustrations would be ideal for these stories. Long story short, I decided to illustrate the chapters myself. But it’s funny how once you make a challenging decision, it seems as if life conspires to prevent you from doing it. While I wanted to haul the pencils and pens out and get started, life intervened more than once or twice. Things kept coming up. Legitimate things. But at some point, I started inventing excuses. After a couple more weeks of ignoring the artwork, I realized I might be procrastinating. I was having the artist’s equivalent of writer’s block – artist’s block.

The following weekend, I did the same thing I do whenever I have writer’s block. I made myself sit down with tools of the trade in hand and start anyway. As soon as I struck a free day on a weekend I picked up my tray, stepped outside to the picnic table, and finally broke the ice by picking up a pencil. The first step was taken. Whew!
Ever hopeful, I had prepared for that moment. A few weeks ago, I read through book one in the new children’s series and took a note every few pages of moments or characters that would lend to illustration. So, to kick the boat off from the shore, I consulted my notebook. For the first sketch, the quote was, ‘A group of boys slunk out of the shadows, blocking the path, hunched over in hooded sweatshirts.’

Once I started, I had to employ trust to keep going. However, the reward of putting pencil to paper is the excitement of seeing that first image emerge. I felt like, oh yeah, that’s cool, it does add to the story, and then I began to feel even more deeply connected to the story, more moved to want to create more. That’s the essence of what writing/illustrating is for me – it’s an ever-regenerating cycle of inspiration. And so I found the strength to keep going. I kept going with the sketch until I more or less had the grouping of the gang the way I wanted it.

Once I had the outlines in pencil, I picked up a medium-sized tip black ink pen and followed those same pencil lines in pen.

Then, I added lines for shading, contours, and extra details. I always enjoy seeing the image come to life when the light and shade become emphasized and deepened.

I used black watercolor paint and a fine paintbrush to fill in larger areas of shadow. Then I also took a white gouache (watercolour but more potent saturation of colour) to add white highlights in places.
The result was I finished the first illustration for the interior pages of book one. Woohoo! We are out of the gate. What a relief to be underway. One done…many more to go!
Have you done anything creative lately?

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself and your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. (There is) no satisfaction whatever at any time. Only a queer divine dissatisfaction. ~ Martha
*

Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line

~ A Book Review: Starcross, Philip Reeve ~

I have finished reading my fourth novel for 2024, Starcross, by Philip Reeve. Starcross, or The Coming of the Moobs! or Our Adventures in the Fourth Dimension! is a middle grade novel released by Reeve in October 2007. When I picked it up in a secondhand bookstore, I did not realize it was book number two of the Larklight trilogy. If I had realized it sat squarely between Larklight and Mothstorm, I might not have bought Starcross, but I’m glad I didn’t find out. I might have missed out on a fun read.
I was immediately drawn by the size, the sturdy hardback cover, the fonts – the whole steampunk look – the heft and weight of the sturdy little doorstopper. The binding and presentation of this series is to die for. I thought if only I could put my books together this well. The hardcover feels velvety. The inside covers are Victorian newspaper advertisements. It’s all in the details. Chapters start with individual posters, and the chapters are filled with glorious illustrations or “illuminations” by the talented David Wyatt. The book is so well-groomed, a thing of beauty.

Despite the awesome size of the hardback, Starcross is a relatively short read. I inhaled it in three breathless sittings. From the opening page, I warmed to the content because of the humour. The subtitle on the front page tells us that Starcross is ‘A Stirring Tale of British Vim upon the Seas of Space and Time!’ I thought, okay, let’s go! I’ve always had a fondness for tongue-in-cheek children’s writing when done in a certain way, as in the books by Anthony Horowitz, or when it is used subtly and mischievously in the way of the Moomin books by Tove Jansson. I seldom achieve that sort of gentle humour in my stories – because it’s hard to write. It is something I aspire to use confidently one day when I’m a grownup. But in Starcross, Reeve does it beautifully. We had only read his Mortal Engines quartet previously, and I didn’t know he was capable of producing lighthearted younger fiction like this. It’s a joy. What a revelation. He should do more of these.
The Larklight series is a bit of a tricky genre to get your head around at first – combining the 1850s-era British Empire with space travel to the planets – it took me a moment to get in stride with reading steam-punk. Or at least, Reeve’s version of it. But, it was well worth the effort because it’s a new world in there.

In Starcross, the second book in the series, Arthur (Art) Mumby, and his sister Myrtle are invited to the Starcross hotel on an asteroid. While staying at Starcross, the beach appears and disappears overnight. Art, Emily, and Arthur’s mother suspect the hotel was constructed on top of a piece of Mars, which moves back and forth through a hole in the fabric of time. Jack Havock, turned British secret agent, appears on the scene as an Indian prince. Then, they meet the ruthless French Delphine, a secret agent searching for her grandfather’s shipwreck, with manic aspirations to style an American republic.
Then, people start disappearing. Strange dark beings haunt the grounds of the hotel. Art and the others are attacked by the Moobs, an alien race able to shapeshift into inanimate objects. Disguised as black top hats, the Moobs are busy taking control. It sometimes gets scary amid asteroid-strewn seas, until they get help from one of the Moobs!
Starcross is a cracking good read and funny. Any kid would love it.

As a fantasy writer, I understand the difficulties of world-building. The world created in Larklight is undeniable. To all you writers out there, the Larklight series is world-building 101, a master class. Reeve renders the solar system in a whole new light, giving each planet new fantastical histories, detailing the lives of the alien races. I was stunned and amazed, to be honest.
Born in Brighton, Philip Reeve is a popular British kids’ author. His Mortal Engines quartet has made him a household name. He’s also well known for illustrating the Horrible Histories, Murderous Maths, and Dead Famous series. Reeve started working in a bookstore, then began illustrating, and has since provided cartoons for around forty children’s books. He published Larklight in 2006 and Starcross came out in 2007.
My rating is three stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

The Grand Hotel at Starcross sleeps peacefully tonight beneath a sky dusty with stars. ~ opening line of Starcross, Philip Reeve

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ A Book Review: The Secret of the Night Train, Sylvia Bishop ~

I have finished reading my seventeenth novel for 2023, The Secret of the Night Train, by Sylvia Bishop. Yes, I bought the book because of the title. Whenever I browse through a secondhand bookshop, I spend most of my time in the children’s section. We children writers know it’s all about the title, and we jive and jamb trying to find the best, hookiest, have-to-read-it titles for our books. Sylvia Bishop won the prize for best title (surely) for 2018. I couldn’t not buy it.
Happily, the book lived up to its exciting title. The story starts in December, during the school holiday. Our French protagonist, the young Maximilienne, or Max for short, is taking a train from her home in Paris to visit her Great Aunt Elodie accompanied by a “humming nun.” A promising start, you might say.

At this point the narrator says we must go back to the beginning when Aunt Elodie called. At the start, it is established that Max has an overly boring life, where her family is happy doing the same thing every day. But Max longs for more. The little slice of sky wasn’t bothered. A bird wheeled overhead and then went off somewhere else without her. Max has learned to occupy her “big brain” by taking notes on the daily movements of her family in detail, in the attic alone upstairs. She fills notebooks with her observations. Nevertheless, poor Max seems doomed to die of boredom when out of the blue, Great Aunt Elodie rings and asks if one of the children will visit her during the holiday break. Max is the only one who volunteers.
She leaves Paris for Istanbul by train accompanied by the endearingly eccentric Sister Marguerite, who travels with her knitting and a small houseplant. What starts as a pretty cool trip already – Paris to Istanbul – gets even cooler when it turns into a mystery. The train is delayed because of a jewel theft. When the police search the train, their methods are so inept, Max wonders if she could not do a better job of finding the thief. She whips out her trusty notebook and starts taking notes (naturally) on the various fascinating characters on the train. As they travel from Paris to Munich to Budapest to Bucharest to Istanbul, through the exotic sights and sounds of each place, Max investigates the other passengers and gets drawn deeper into the mystery. She takes hair-raising risks, which had me chewing my fingernails to the nub, as she adds to her notes and clues. Of course, the other passengers all seemed guilty, and I thought I’d figured out the thief a few times only to be proven wrong. I liked that! Yes, please, surprise us.

What’s not to love? A well-plotted mystery that keeps us guessing, a feisty young heroine who uses her head – her skills of observation (and outright snooping!) – to solve the case. The twists were great, and the red-herrings hooked me in the wrong direction as they’re supposed to do. Excellent. Well done, Sylvia Bishop.
As a fellow writer for the middle fiction market, I appreciated the leaps of faith the author took with her tongue-in-cheek description. It’s like an inside joke between the reader and the author. Max skidded-slid-stumbled home from school to find her mother on the phone. She was saying, “Mm-hmm, of course,” with her voice, and YOU ARE AN UNBEARABLE STRAIN ON MY SAINTLY PATIENCE with her eyes.
I thought the writing style was brave and unique. So I read on.

Another thing that impressed me: was Bishop’s way of expressing the human experience in the ordinary everyday conflict of emotions we experience when young. For instance, Max had been earnestly praying to be allowed to go on the train trip, and once permission was given she had been looking forward to leaving as soon as possible. Then. Suddenly, she was afraid to leave. It was a feeling without words or shape, but it covered her all over, like being soaked in cold water. So good. I thought Bishop did an excellent job of keeping us connected with the heroine, in a real way. Therefore, we see ourselves.
Sylvia Bishop was born in England and spent her childhood reading and writing stories. At university, Bishop studied politics and worked in social science research. She also found improvised comedy at university, a love which continues today, as one half of the improvised comedy duo the Peablossom Cabaret. Bishop’s first book, Erica’s Elephant, was published by Scholastic in 2016, The Bookshop Girl was published in April 2017. A year later, Sylvia released her third novel, The Secret of the Night Train.
My rating two and a half stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

“The rich sunset makes the most sterile landscape enchanting.” – Eliza Cook

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ A Book Review: The Thieves of Ostia, Caroline Lawrence ~

I have finished reading my fifteenth novel for 2023, The Thieves of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence. Historical novels always hold an interest, but only when they are done well. I thought rather enviously that the idea for The Roman Mysteries series by Lawrence was an excellent one. She used the classic setup of children’s literature, a group of kids who must set out to solve a mystery but she set the stories (very convincingly) in Roman times. While the content is aimed squarely at the middle-grade reading level, this book seemed ideally suited to be read aloud between a parent and a child.

Lawrence is masterful in her rendering of the ancient Roman world. So much so, that I suspected the author had some specialty in this area. This was confirmed when I researched Caroline Lawrence and found she had won a scholarship to Cambridge to read Classical Archaeology as a young woman and had done a degree in Hebrew and Jewish studies at University College London. Today, she teaches kids Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Art, and French.
I enjoyed the way Lawrence portrayed the Roman world naturally and seemingly without effort (which is bloody hard to do when you know how much effort goes into writing a book). It was easy to admire the historical detail about every aspect of life: the food, the rituals, daily attire, the way the houses functioned, with atriums, slaves, and so on. Easy to admire her knowledge of classical history, culture, and language, including Latin phrases and Roman numerals. The chapters are presented as scrolls, and there is a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter.

Set in 79 A.D. The Thieves of Ostia begins with the dogs on Flavia’s street dying mysteriously. Her investigation leads our heroine Flavia to meet Jonathan, who lives next door, Nubia, an African slave, and a mute beggar called Lupus. The gang of four works together as Flavia tries to discover who is killing dogs in her neighbourhood.
I was impressed that Lawrence did not shy away from the brutal reality of life 2000 years ago. The story veers at times into territory like the deaths of people through rabies, suicide, and wild dogs shot down with arrows. These topics are dealt with in a matter-of-fact way that serves neither to glorify the violence nor use it for cheap thrills. It is presented as all part of the potency of the times Flavia and Co are living through. And, as people of those times, the kids are considerably less traumatized by the sight of beheaded dogs than would be the urban children of today.

Marketed as “Mystery and adventure for four young detectives in Ancient Roman times,” The Thieves of Ostia is a tidy little package. The plot is coherent. No saggy middle. The mystery keeps us guessing, and the book has a satisfying conclusion, lending itself nicely to the reader racing to buy the next book in the series! I thought Lawrence a competent writer. She did a commendable job of blending her academic brain with her creativity to craft fiction out of dry woody historical facts. The child reader should devour the whole series. I would have done so in a heartbeat.
My rating is three stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

“All the wealth in the world is no good if you don’t have a family.” ― Caroline Lawrence, The Thieves of Ostia

*

Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ IWSG: NaNoWriMo, Yes or No? ~

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post on the first Wednesday of every month. Every month, the organizers announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. Remember, the question is optional!!! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG.

November 1 question: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?
When I pondered this question in last year’s November post, IWSG: NaNoWriMo, I had a set of answers that were true for me then and are still valid for me now. However, this year, I would also add some stuff to that answer because recently I have opened up to the idea of doing less. Have you heard of the reverse bucket list? It is based on the idea that less is more. Ergo, “happierness” as Oprah Winfrey coined it, comes not from wanting and having more but from asking for/anticipating less. When we have 100 things on our vision board that we want to achieve and 50 things on our bucket list, the stress of ticking items off the lists can be counterproductive. By letting go of some of our goals and aspirations, we can expect less, stop striving as hard – let go of the pushing – and relax a little more.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve not got around to compiling a bucket list yet. It gives me the rebel in me staunch satisfaction to think about starting with a reverse bucket list. The American teacher, Arthur Brooks, author of From Strength to Strength, says that every year on his birthday, he goes through his belongings and gets rid of things, clothes, etc, and he looks at his goals and aspirations and releases things from the lists. He says that wanting less is incredibly freeing and satisfying.
This harks back to the first point I made in last year’s blog post on this subject, NaNoWriMo, that I don’t need the stress. Frankly, I resist the idea of inviting more pressure into my life than I have already.

Prolonged raised cortisol levels in the system are known to cause inflammation and lead to all kinds of health issues. Brooks gave the audience a reality check when he asked his interviewer if he knew the names of his grandparents five generations back. No. Four generations? No. Three? No. Two? No. The interviewer could only name his grandparents and some of his great-grandparents. Brooks said, realize that if your great-grandchildren won’t remember you, neither will anyone else.
Reality check. Boom. Whew, I really got that. There is no point in striving for fame, riches, or recognition and suffering all the slings and arrows that go with those things. Far better to relax. Fully embrace our utter insignificance and let that freed energy boost us into more and more happierness. This idea struck a chord. I gravitated toward it instantly.

I look forward to writing my reverse bucket list this November, and while I’m at it, I’ll write a reverse wish list on my birthday in December and a reverse resolutions list for New Year’s. Whoopee! The only thing I don’t think I could ever strike off the lists would be writing stories.
What are your thoughts?

Talk to you later.
Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
*

‘Naboclish! (‘Never mind!’) ~Trish Nicholson

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ A Book Review: Nevermoor, Jessica Townsend ~

I have finished reading my thirteenth novel for 2023, Nevermoor, The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend. This book was a nice surprise. I was aware there was some hype around the series, but I had no idea what it was about. Being my genre – middle fiction fantasy – it was an easy choice when I found it at a local secondhand bookstore recently. I liked the quirky story premise of a cursed child doomed to die on her 11th birthday, instead being rescued to a fantastic place called Nevermoor. However, Morrigan can only stay in safety if she competes against other kids and wins the right to enter the Wundrous Society. Comparisons were made in social media circles between the Nevermoor series and Harry Potter. Some story tropes are similar, that’s for sure, yet, I think they’re two very different reading experiences. I appreciated the intriguing story premise of Nevermoor and the dark, deadpan humour, “I didn’t make my first proper enemy until I was twelve.” “My dragon? Are you mental? Whose parents can afford to buy them a dragon?”

The story starts with a protagonist so downtrodden it is soul-crushing. Poor misbegotten Morrigan Crow is feeling sorry for herself. She is due to die in three days. She had the terrible misfortune of being born on Eventide in the Wintersea Republic, making her a “cursed child” – one of the bad eggs deemed by everyone to be responsible for any ill fortune experienced by the community – from hailstorms to viruses. Everybody hates Morrigan, even her own family. She’s lived nearly 11 miserable years. The days are counting down to her 11th birthday, and then she gains an unexpected reprieve from death when bids come in to give her the chance of being saved. On her birthday, a peculiar man named Jupiter North appears. He is a hotel owner and part of the Wundrous Society, an exclusive group that demands each member must have a “knack,” a superpower that allows them to be better than average. North appears, as do hideous black-smoke hounds and shadowy figures on horseback hunting them. North races Morrigan out of harm’s way to refuge in a magical place called Nevermoor.

Morrigan discovers she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. If she passes, she can stay in Nevermoor and live. If she fails to pass the tests – she’ll have to leave the city, return home and die. The competition has such high stakes you can’t help but care about every trial. The tension is tight. Add a legendary villain we feel creeped out by, and it’s got everything. Then Townsend also weaves in lessons about the value of friendships and self-belief.
Seriously, well done.
I was impressed by the confidence of the storytelling. Townsend has talent. I enjoyed the finesse of story arc and resolution. She has created a cool world and story premise in this series. It is well worth a read. Nevermoor sets up for the second novel, Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow! Which is followed by Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow: Nevermoor 3, and Silverborn: The Mystery of Morrigan Crow: Nevermoor 4. I’ve already bought Wundersmith and will keep my eyes open for picking up the rest of the series.

Jessica Townsend was born on 18 April 1985 in Queensland, Australia. According to her bio, Jessica is interested in ‘public transport, ancient cities, hotels, opera singers, Halloween, secret societies, and giant cats.’ She is best known for the children’s fantasy novel series, The Nevermoor series. Her debut novel Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow won the Book of the Year Award at the Australian Book Industry Awards. At the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature Nevermoor won both the Premier’s Award for best overall published work and the Children’s Award. Film rights to Nevermoor were sold to 20th Century Fox in 2016. It also won the 2018 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. What a fabulous debut novel. Well done to Jessica Townsend!
My rating is four stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

“The point is—as far as the Society is concerned—if you are not honest, determined, and brave, then it doesn’t matter how talented you are.”

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ Pen Pals ~

The Kiwi Author Pen Pal scheme is a collaboration between Kiwi authors and schools in New Zealand. The Kiwi Author Pen Pal was a scheme dreamed up by the team at The Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore. I have my books available through their online store, and their team of volunteers, Kate Gordon, Jo van Dam, and Jenn Rackham, invited all the authors selling books on their site to participate in the project. I signed up and they matched me with a Year 6 class at the Remarkables Primary School in Queenstown. A spectacular scenic place I have never been to.
As their author pen pal, I kicked off the proceedings with an email to the class, introducing myself and explaining the “Kiwi Author Pen Pal” scheme. As your chosen author, I’ll write one email to you one week, and you will reply the next week, and we’ll go back and forth until the end of the term. It will be great to hear from you. I’m keen to know which you like best: hearing stories, reading stories, telling stories, or writing stories?

I imagined the Pen Pal scheme would be a window into the psyche of the average child reader, but I had no idea how compelling it would turn out to be. Or how rewarding. The kids drew me into their worldview immediately.
Me: Which books are your favourites?
~My favorite author is Soman Chainani, and my favourite novel is The School of Good and Evil. His books inspired me to read.
~ Mine would have to be Light Fall, because it’s a graphic novel that was so well written, and the pictures were so detailed and colourful, and the story was very intriguing, and you never want to put the book down.
Me: Why do you like to read?
~I prefer reading because it makes me feel relaxed when I am stressed. Reading also helps me go to sleep when I’m tired.
~I like writing because I feel calm.
~I like reading because it takes you to a relaxing place in the dream world. It also helps me go to sleep in those tough times.

I was immediately struck by how lucky I was. There was a precious opportunity to understand my readers in a genuine way. Hearing from the kids themselves – why they love books – because reading calms them, helps them dream again, feel safe, and escape, was incredibly touching. I have long held the belief that reading is vital for children, but I hadn’t thought about the aspect of books comforting and reassuring the anxious child. It opened my heart and mind, thinking about the honour the responsibility, and it gave me a newfound respect for children’s authors. We’re underappreciated, in my opinion.

Communicating with these 9 – 10-year-old students reassured me why I love writing for this age group. Given just a nudge, this age group can still believe in magic and superrealism and impossible things, and it’s the last time in their lives (probably) that they will. They’re a great audience with a lot of imagination and forgiveness.
My year 6 class and I traded emails back and forth throughout the term. I gave each letter my all and dedicated parts of each weekend to my responses to their questions. I learned about the kids and told them about me. Their letters made me smile so much that I carved some new smile lines. The scheme finished on the last day of term on September 22. By the first week of October, a large brown parcel arrived in the post. I opened it to find a stack of A4 size thank you cards from the kids in my year 6 class. Whoa!

~I love to write so much, so it means a lot to write to you.
~Thank you for the books. I love The Or’in of Tane cover. It looks like Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.
~I have enjoyed every second. Thank you!
Wow, I was not expecting their cards, and the pictures they had drawn were adorable. I lined the cards up on my kitchen counter and couldn’t stop grinning. The Kiwi Author Pen Pal scheme was surprising, rewarding, and illuminating – everything I could have asked for and more.
Have you ever had something turn out better than expected?

Keep Writing!
Yvette Carol
*

The story is our escort; without it, we are blind. ~ Chinua Achebe

*
PS. A message from Kate Gordon, founder of the Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore: You may have seen that the Kiwi Kids’ Bookstore is supporting the launch of Kiwi Author Pen Pals. This is my online bookstore (which is obvious from my email address!) and I love supporting New Zealand authors and illustrators, and helping Kiwi book buyers find great books by New Zealand authors. If you don’t already subscribe to the bookstore newsletter, we’d love to have you join our community of Kiwi kids’ book lovers. Subscribe here http://eepurl.com/hd3is9

~ The Children’s Writers Festival ~

They say it’s not what you know it’s who you know. A good friend of mine, who is the CEO of her own company and on the board of many others, introduced me to publicist, Karen McMillan back in 2019. We met at a cafe near her home, and we spent an hour or more getting to know one another. Karen has proved a helpful touchstone since then, answering all my questions and giving me precious insight. As well as being a successful author, she runs her agency as a literary publicist, Lighthouse PR. I hired Karen when I released my trilogy, The Chronicles of Aden Weaver, in 2020. She organized media releases, interviews, literary reviews, and peer reviews in important magazines. She did a stellar job, and I was impressed.
About two months ago, Karen emailed all the children’s authors on her author list, asking who would like to join her for a library event for the Children’s Writers Festival in September, organized by the City Council. I immediately put my hand up. As a dyed-in-the-wool introvert, I’d rather stay home in front of the fire with my feet propped up and my nose in a good book. However, when opportunities fall into my lap, I try to accept them. It doesn’t matter if the prospect makes me twitchy and nervous. Sometimes, we must step up and employ a different energy to achieve new or different things. So, when opportunities waltz in the door, I embrace them. Only myself and another author, John Harris, took Karen up on the offer.

Our brief was that each author would speak for twenty minutes about our books. Although I have done book signings and sold my books at book fairs before, this was my first “author event.” I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. About a week beforehand, I sat down and figured out what I wanted to say. Considering the majority of the audience would be kids from 8 years old and up, I thought they’d be more interested in hearing a story than hearing about me. Then, I hit upon the idea of sharing an aspect of the trilogy I had never shared in public before – the mythology. Aha!
From that point on, I began to feel excited about the prospect. I could share the myth of Rata and Tane, which formed the genesis of my books, and further, the new mythology I had written based on that ancient myth. Telling stories live is something I’ve learned to enjoy through my Toastmasters training.

The event took place last weekend. We three authors arrived at the library early to set up the book table and meet the librarians assisting us. A small crowd assembled, which was gratifying. As the junior member of our group, I was the first to speak. I told my mythology with as much gusto as I could muster. It’s funny how your voice gets lost when you’re in a corner of a vast, wide-open space with super high ceilings. The general public wandered past the outer rim of seating, casting wondering looks in our direction. To one side, an assorted collection of people sat busily working at two rows of computers, yet gradually, more people drifted over to grab a seat and listen. It was organized chaos. That morning, I thanked all my Toastmasters training at least half a dozen times. Experience at my club has taught me that it doesn’t matter what happens: how people look at you or what they do. It doesn’t matter whether you’re petrified or not. If you keep putting one foot before the other you can get through anything!
Next, Karen and John each took the stage like seasoned professionals. They taught me a lot.

The session was followed by a Q&A, led by the librarians. They had read our books in preparation and put together some fascinating questions. This seemed to garner people’s curiosity, and we were fielding questions from the audience for over half an hour. At the end, the head librarian presented each of us with a beautiful bouquet. Then, people flocked to the sales table to buy books, and we sold over a dozen between us. All in all, the event was a success, and we are talking about doing more events together. So, I’m pleased with the outcome. Was it easy? Was it comfortable? Was it painless? NO. However, it was a deeply rewarding learning curve, which I expect will bear more fruit in the future. Sometimes, you need to get out of your rut and find a way out of your comfort zone to grow. I patted myself on the back knowing I pushed myself and didn’t fall flat on my face. That’s a win!
Have you done anything challenging lately?

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

In the cave you fear to enter lies the treasure you seek.~ Joseph Campbell

*

Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.

~ A Book Review: Tales of the Great Beasts, Brandon Mull ~

I have finished reading my thirteenth novel for 2023, Tales of the Great Beasts by Brandon Mull. Another installment from the Spirit Animals world, this is #0.5, a “prequel”. The prequel is by nature always going to be anticlimactic, nevertheless, I enjoyed the read. The stories follow the traditional beaten path, young heroes overcoming themselves to confront the foe – and with the assistance of the Great Beasts – the good guys face the inevitable war. One point of difference, however, is that the books are written by various authors. Another point of difference for this series is that the books can link to a game the kids can play, which always helps pump up the marketing and adds an extra level of engagement for today’s tech-savvy audience.

The prequel introduces us to the Four Great Beasts, the Four Fallen, and the kids with whom they bond. About this aspect it has to be said, that the concept of spirit animals is incredibly sacred to the Native American Indians, making it a subject that would be off limits. I believe the series raised a lot of hackles when it was released and is still regarded as controversial. That being said, I was drawn to the concept in the beginning and have read at least three of the titles so far and mostly enjoyed them. Tales of the Great Beasts was no exception. It was fascinating to hear about the early days of the Greencloaks and the origin points of the Great Beasts and discover their reasons for joining the war. My only grumble is that we got to learn everyone’s reasons for doing so except for Essix. Why skip one?

That aside, I like Mull’s writing style. And I like the dinky size of these books. They’re slim, compact bites of adventure. That’s the sort of children’s fiction I’m exploring myself in my writing, so it interests me to see how you make shorter stories pack the same emotional punch as longer stories. Tales of the Great Beasts introduces us to the world of Erdas: the Devourer, when he becomes the Reptile King, and his goal of conquering Erdas, meaning we start with a pretty big problem. And we meet the Four Great Beasts before they were spirit animals. Reading like short stories, distinct from each other, we discover the Four Great Beasts and their bonded teens, Jhi the panda to Meilin, Briggan the wolf to Conor, Essix the falcon to Rollan, and my favourite, Uraza the Leopard to Abeke. Typical of the prequel, the novel doesn’t hang together in the usual sense in that it lacks plot, structure, and so on. It simply introduces us in vignettes to the characters and story whys before the reader moves on to reading the series.

Given the limitations of the genre, I thought each story was well-written and compelling. A demanding genre I’d imagine. I admired Mull working hard to get us to care for the protagonist and their spirit animal four times over. Nevertheless, the job was done. He’s a good writer, for sure. Brandon Mull is an American author of children’s fantasy. Born and raised in California, he is best known for his acclaimed series Fablehaven, as well as Dragonwatch, The Candy Shop War, The Beyonders trilogy, and The Five Kingdoms series. Married to Erlyn Madsen since 2020, they have a total of eleven children, with four from his previous marriage and seven from hers.
My rating is two and a half stars

Talk to you later.
Keep reading!
Yvette Carol
*

Uraza gave him a long look, violet eyes glittering in the light of the dying coals. “Why risk your life for my talisman?” ~ Tales of the Great Beasts

*
Subscribe to my newsletter by emailing me with “Newsletter Subscription” in the subject line.