Category Archives: My Current Projects

The Trilogy Is Finished!

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sl_proofIt’s been a week since I said goodbye to The Shadow Lantern and wished it well on its journey to the printer. The next time I see it, the pile of papers that made up the proof copy will have been transformed into a bound book with another stunning cover. One small part of me feels a bit melancholy about finishing my characters’ stories, but mostly I am excited about the book launch and UK tour later this spring.

It still feels slightly unreal to have created three novels. If anyone had told me seven years ago that I would morph into a novelist, I would have laughed in disbelief. But the sudden urge to start writing The Blackhope Enigma was so strong, I knew I had to go with it. The process was never easy because I had so much to learn (and always will!) about crafting stories, but it was fascinating and fulfilling. Knowing so many young people (and adults) had enjoyed reading it really spurred me on. By the time I began planning The Crimson Shard, I was hooked on my characters and their stories. The sequel grew organically out the first book and as soon as I had finished it, I knew that there would be a third and final story.

I’ve always loved trilogies. There is something about the number three that is quite powerful and complete for me. I feel very proud of all three books and am looking forward to presenting The Shadow Lantern to the world in just a few months.

The Next Big Thing!

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Last week children’s author and friend Lynne Rickards kindly ‘tagged’ me in her blog post called ‘The Next Big Thing’. I was one of five authors she mentioned – just as she had been mentioned along with four other writers in author Lari Don‘s blog the week before. Each tagged author answers some set questions about his or her current project and tags five more authors whose work s/he admires. This ‘meme’ has grown and grown in the children’s book online world and this week it’s my turn to answer the questions and mention some wonderful writers!

What is the working title of your next book? The Shadow Lantern

Where did the idea come from for the book? This is the third book in my Blackhope Enigma trilogy and I knew I wanted to set it in Scotland at Halloween. From there all the elements fell into place: new characters, spooky influences and the arrival of a strange sixteenth-century invention that draws in my main characters, Sunni and  Blaise.

What genre does your book fall under? It’s fantasy/mystery for age 9+.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? We’d need some talented teenagers (several Scots and one American) as well as Javier Bardem, David Tennant and a few other character actors for adult parts.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? The arrival of a special magic lantern at Blackhope Tower pulls Sunni and Blaise back to the infamous castle and into new danger.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? I’m represented by the lovely Fraser Ross Associates.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? Approximately eight weeks.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? My books have occasionally been compared with Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series and Cornelia Funke’s books.

The Shadow Lantern will be published by Templar Books on May 1, 2013.

And now, on to the author tags in alphabetical order!

I’ve known author, poet and teacher Magi Gibson for a number of years and have been delighted to follow the success of her Seriously Sassy book series for young people. Maggi is currently busy with some very interesting projects that I hope she’ll describe in her blog post.

I met the engaging debut author Jane McLoughlin during the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August and am really pleased that her book, At Yellow Lake, has just been long-listed for the 2013 CILIP Carnegie Medal. This is a fantastic achievement!

Daniela Sacerdoti has already met with success as a writer of books for older readers but her new book, Really Weird Removals. com, will appeal to a younger audience. I had the pleasure of attending Dani’s book launch for Really Weird Removals last month and and was impressed with her passion and excitement about her work. If you click on the link, you can read about her next book, as she has already participated in The Next Big Thing – but I decided I’d like to tag her anyway!

It was great to meet Elizabeth Wein at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in August. I had already heard about her latest novel, Code Name Verity, which has been storming onto lists of 2012′s best young adult books as well as being nominated for numerous awards including the Scottish Children’s Book Awards and the 2013 CILIP Carnegie medal long-list.

Deborah White‘s first book, Wickedness, was an intriguing and atmospheric fantasy revolving around ancient Egyptian spells, an emerald casket and a powerful prophesy connecting two red-haired young women in different centuries. I’m hoping Deborah will talk about the next book in her series, Deceit!

I now hand over the reins to Maggi, Jane, Elizabeth and Deborah, who will answer questions about their Next Big Things on their blogs next week. Many thanks to all of them.

 

 

Helsinki: Another Exciting Week in the World of Finnish Books

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My inspirational week started when I visited Villa Kivi overlooking lovely, frozen Töölönlahti Bay. This beautiful house is known as the Writer’s House and ever since it was built in 1890, it has been associated with literature. Famous Finnish writers and linguists lived and visited there until it fell into disrepair and the city of Helsinki bought the building and gave it to the Kivi-house Foundation in 1985.

Villa Kivi

Villa Kivi was renovated by the Kivi-house Foundation, which was founded to improve the working conditions of writers and to facilitate contact with their readers. The house has 14 workrooms for writers, a library, a festival hall and Lukukeskus, the Finnish Reading Centre, a bi-lingual centre for the promotion of reading on a national level. This being Finland, there is also a sauna for ten people!

I was lucky enough to meet with the Executive Director of Lukukeskus, Anu Laitila, who gave me an overview of how the Reading Centre supports author visits into schools and publishes book review magazines for children, young people and adults. I was very impressed with the support the Finnish government gives to writers, not least the stunning Villa Kivi. Anu was also very helpful in helping me set up an upcoming visit to a Finnish school.

Moomintroll!

When I was leaving the villa, I couldn’t resist snapping of photo of a slightly melancholy Moomintroll, from Tove Jansson’s Moomin books. The Moomins and their author are national treasure in Finland!

The next day I was pleased to meet Literature Officer Päivi Haanpää, who has been a pivotal part of setting up the programme that brought me to Helsinki, and well-known author Eppu Noutio for tea at the famous Kappeli cafe. We talked about everything from Scotland to social networking and once again, I was delighted with their warm welcome and special gifts of books and music.

Matias at the helm

On the same day I was excited to visit the Finnish Children’s Bookshop, which is only a few months old. Owner Matias Saarni is an energetic and dedicated advocate of children’s books and art, as evidenced by his sensitively designed shop. He has collaborated with Kuvittajat, the Association of Finnish Illustrators, to present exhibitions by contemporary artists in one part of the shop.

Exhibition area

I was heartened that Matias’ business is growing and thriving as customers discover his shop. I was also interested to see that there were hardly any titles in paperback. Finns seem to prefer their children’s books sturdy, even though it means the prices of books are high. It’s not unusual to see a picture book for 19 Euros.

Table for little readers.

One of my favourite aspects of the shop was this bridge to the reading area in the window. Yours truly will be in that reading area doing a Special Event on Monday, so stay tuned to find out what it was!

The bookshop bridge..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helsinki: Exhibitions and Events

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Sometimes you arrive in a new place, knowing absolutely nothing about it, and you are guided, as if by magic, to where you want to be. One of the first things I hoped to see was a bookstore. But a chance visit to the tourist info office meant that I found a brochure about a children’s book cafe that’s been set up in cooperation with World Design Capital Helsinki 2012. What caught my eye was the jubilee exhibition of Little Golden Books published in Finland by Tammi Publishing. Little Golden Books have been published here since 1952 and there are 188 titles in the series.

The Tammi Golden Books jubilee exhibition at the Children's Book Cafe at Annantalo.

The cafe is light and airy, with a giant walk-in book and nicely presented spreads on the walls, plus a carpeted reading area with soft furnishings. I had a funny feeling of deja vu while I was looking at the illustrations. I grew up with Little Golden Books and there are plenty of Finnish editions with internationally-known characters I recognise. The artwork has a gentle “retro” feel and yet there is something timeless about it.

A peek inside the giant book in the display.

Unfortunately there wasn’t anyone available to speak to about the exhibition, which I would have liked to do. I wondered what some of the commentaries next to the spreads said, but in the end the illustrations were eloquent enough!

Some of the artwork from the books.

My next stop was the famous Academic Bookstore, which has a fantastic collection of books in several languages. If I were living in Helsinki, there would be no shortage of English-language books to choose from in this flagship store designed by Alvar Aalto. I was attracted to three small towers made out of the covers of old books. One had electric lights inside and another had paintings on one side. When I asked whether I could photograph the installation, I was told I should come back in an hour when the person who’d made the towers would be there himself.

An hour later the bookstore was packed. Because I don’t understand Finnish, I was not sure what the event was. A quartet of men in tuxedos was singing on a small stage next to the installation. Then a guitarist accompanied a jolly man with a flute who sang a ditty in English. The next thing I knew that flutist was seated onstage being interviewed about his children’s books. I had admired one of the books earlier because of its striking illustrations – and here was the author. He turned out to be Esko-Pekka Tiitinen and the book is The Drops of Life, which will be published in the USA on April 1.

Did I get the photo of the three towers? No. There was too much going on, too many people. But I didn’t mind. I’d been in Helsinki for less than 24 hours and I’d already seen an interesting exhibition and attended a lively book event in a “happening” bookstore.

Children's author Esko-Pekka Tiitinen with his installation at the Academic Bookshop, Helsinki

UPDATE! Serendipity intervened over the past week and Esko-Pekka contacted me out of the blue. It turns out he’d been invited, as one of a group of Finnish authors who appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival last August, to meet me while I am here, but wouldn’t be able to make it. Instead he invited me to come and photograph his installation at the Academic Bookshop and here he is in front of my favourite painted tower. The bookshop asked him to create the installation, which is made from old water-damaged books, as part of their 150 year anniversary. That’s what all the musical entertainment was for last time I was there.

We had a good chat over a coffee and cake, comparing notes about what we do. Esko-Pekka’s been writing for many years and has had the good fortune to collaborate with both his sister, Tuula, and his 23 year old son, Nikolai, who both make beautiful illustrations. I was struck by one of his comments about Finnish children’s books. He had observed that they were darker than books from the UK and Japan, for example, and were more like books from Poland or the Czech Republic. This was perhaps because eastern European countries had lived in the shadow of the USSR and the stories and art reflected this.

Esko-Pekka gave me four lovely books to take back to the Scottish Book Trust and, of course, we got the mandatory snapshot in!

Esko-Pekka and me

The other nice news is that I’ll be getting a little guided tour of the Children’s Book Cafe next week. I’m sure this will give me a great insight into how the cafe came about and where it is headed.

Helsinki: Arrival at 60° North

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Ice on Suomenlinna waterway

I haven’t quite caught up with the fact that I am now in Finland.

I learned just over two weeks ago that I had been selected for a Helsinki International Arts Programme residency and it felt slightly unreal. The Scottish Book Trust, who are administering the two new residencies for Scotland-based children’s writers, pulled out all the stops and rapidly got everything set up for my arrival. I packed my gear and said goodbye to the daffodils, knowing I was unlikely to see any in Helsinki yet.

Just before dusk last night, I flew in over tall birch forests and snow fields. There was something mysterious about the landscape. It definitely seemed like a place where trolls might roam. I made my way to the city centre, with its wide avenues and majestic buildings, and waited for the ferry to my temporary island home, Suomenlinna. The small boat ploughed through ice sheets in the harbour as the darkness set in. I tried to put all thoughts of the Titanic aside…

Helsinki is gradually coming out of winter and the ice is changing every day, I was told. Earlier this week there was none in the harbour but it returned in time for my arrival. I feel lucky to be able to watch spring tiptoe in here.

The small Suomenlinna ferry next to a huge one bound for Sweden.

One of my friendly hostesses greeted me at the Suomenlinna dock and we crunched over icy paths, under old arches and past huge rough-hewn walls, sometimes encountering the fragrance of wood smoke when we turned a corner.

I was shown to my toasty-warm quarters in a two-hundred year old brick building with huge wooden doors. This is the place where I’ll be working on my next book and keeping a log of all my discoveries in Finland. I’ll be learning about the local literature scene from writers and publishers, visiting bookshops and museums and getting immersed in Finnish culture. And what about the language, you might ask? I’ll try to learn as much as I can while I’m here. I’ve got a few phrases down already, and though everyone I have met so far has spoken good English, I think it’s not only polite but also important to “taste” the host language wherever I go. And the number one word is, of course, kiitos – thank you!

 

What I’m Working on Now #6

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My Blackhope Enigma shoes

It’s been October 2011 on this blog for far too long. Yes, it’s already five months since I posted after The Crimson Shard launch. Those months have been a whirlwind of travel, book promotion and planning the next project.

I’ve been from Bangkok to Boston and some other lovely places in between. I toured around West Sussex twice, speaking to avid readers and enjoying the wonderful countryside. Last week I attended the Scottish Children’s Book Awards (in these shoes), for which The Blackhope Enigma was short-listed, and saw a scene from my book performed live by talented young actors from the Lyceum Youth Theatre.

I am incredibly thankful for my creative life right now. There are several very exciting things happening that I will be revealing here soon. The top news is that I am writing a third book in the series that started with Blackhope. This will round out the series into a trilogy and I find that immensely satisfying. When I first set out to write a novel, I had no idea that it would evolve into a sequel and then another. The whole thing has happened organically. Each of the books can stand alone and yet they have links that pull them together into a whole.

After having written two books featuring Sunni and Blaise, my teenage characters, it’s great to be telling the next part of their adventure together. And it’s just as much an adventure for me to find out what they are going to do next!

 

Mapping Ideas

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In which I deconstruct and reconstruct The Next Book.

I am on a short breather from work on my next children’s novel. This gives me a chance to stand back, tidy my workspace (and my brain).

I always find it fascinating to see how writers and artists work. Seeing sketches and scribbles others have done reminds me that we all have our own ways of creating. As I gain more experience writing novels, I am beginning to know what works best for me when I am plotting or rewriting. I am definitely a mind mapper. Maybe this is because I am used to drawing ideas, so it’s logical to work in a graphical way. There’s nothing like drawing bubbles and arrows (using the all-important colored pens) on a big paper.

I took a photo of the mind map I’ve been working with on my latest manuscript. It looks like a jumble of nonsense but it’s my own kind of shorthand. I mapped out the manuscript as it was in the first draft, then marked down all the issues that needed to be resolved and possible solutions. That’s where the colored pens come in handy.

As I wrote the second draft, I often referred back to my mind map. It gave me a structure to work with and was a quick reference guide to my editors’ comments. Before I get to work on the next draft, I will take the time to make another mind map, so I know which way to go with things.

That Pivotal Moment

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It’s a very strange feeling to know you’re on the final leg of a marathon.

This blog has been sorely neglected. It’s growing weeds and spawning spiders, it’s been so long since I brushed it off.

Mea culpa. I have been deep into writing The Next Book, which I have mentioned before. But this time, unlike the first book, someone is waiting for it. The beauty (and the pitfall) of writing the first book as an Unpublished Writer is that you have all the time in the world.
I find myself in the nice position of having to write The Next Book to a deadline. And I am finding that I might even prefer that. Okay, an extra couple of weeks would be nice, but I have this feeling that I would just slow down, take my foot off the gas.

The discipline of a regular writing schedule is really useful. Once I stop overthinking the thing, and glue my posterior onto the chair, I just get on with it.

So somehow, over the past weeks, I have grown this manuscript, little by little, with regular work. Now, this isn’t to say I haven’t questioned the quality of it, because I have. But what I have realised, by reading other writers’ blogs and tweets, is that everyone worries, at some point, that everything s/he has written so far is rubbish.

Here’s a nice blog piece by Keris Stainton that pretty much sums this feeling up. I was tweet-alerted to it by the lovely Stephanie Burgis, a fellow Templar author.

So is there any answer to this dilemma of reaching the middle, or even the end of a manuscript and wanting to deep-six it? Yeah, ignore the urge. See the thing through, get it done and put some clear blue water between you and It.

All this being said, I have a manuscript to get back to. You may not hear from me for a little while yet, but I shall return to jog my victory lap around the arena soon.

What I’m Working on Now #5

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Here’s the way I paint in acrylics..

Celestial Steed II by Teresa Flavin

Celestial Steed II (Before & After)

Things are flying here in the studio, even horses. I am busy writing the Next Book, but over the weekend I took a few hours off to work on some exclusive and top secret items for the launch of The Blackhope Enigma on July 1.


I find that making new artwork really gets my writing juices flowing. And the writing gets my drawing juices flowing! So it’s a win/win situation. Right now though, my priority is on writing, so the wee bits of artwork are like a refreshing short break.

My miniature mixed media paintings (about four inches square) have been selling nicely at the Art Exposure Gallery in Glasgow. As they recently sold the last one they had, I decided I would finish up the little flying horse that’s been sitting neglected in the studio. I thought you might be interested in seeing a before and after on this one. I work in acrylics on paper to start with. You can see on the top painting that I just slapped some bright wild texture down and painted a dark horse silhouette in Burnt Umber on top. With acrylics, you can work from dark to light, so I lightened up the horse to add mass and detail. Next, I very loosely brushed Cerulean Blue mixed with white over the red background, so that some still shows through.

I added some Naples Yellow into the Cerulean mix to give it a jade-like hue and worked some of that on top in places, kind of randomly. Then a bit more straight Cerulean in places…and then an even more yellow Cerulean/Naples mix in other places. On top of all that, I got some white into the golden-jade mix and scumbled that around the horse to make it glow. A couple of puffy white clouds appeared underneath to complete the scene.

Then came the fun, finger-painting part: with my fore finger, I dabbed and smeared gold wax gilt in places to make the whole painting sparkle.

I like working in layers and allowing the colour and texture of the underpainting to show through. The wax gilt catches onto the textures and highlights them, almost like raising fingerprints.

And, if you have been following this blog since I began it just over a year ago (!), you know that I love flying beasts, especially horses. But I will say goodbye to this horse and take him down to my friends at the Art Exposure Gallery, where you can pop in and have a look at him from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm.

What I’m Working On Now #4

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A new odyssey.

The sun is out. The 48 hour squall that passed over us, dropping snow, sleet and rain has moved out. Back to spring dreams.

I am ensconced in the Next Book and feeling how far I have come since I started writing The Blackhope Enigma. The learning curve was very steep but the rewards immense. Now it’s on to a new project and I’m going into it with the same attitude I had before: have a go, write from the heart, get it down on paper, be open to improvements, polish it till it’s as perfect as can be.

I have learned an incredible amount about writing over the past few years. Alongside my practice, I read a lot about what’s happening in the publishing industry, what other authors are up to and what their writing tips are.

Last week the Bologna Children’s Book Fair took place in Italy, and though I couldn’t go this year, I followed people’s tweets about it and read their blog reports this week. I am really impressed by the time people took to write up their notes, especially Beth Peck, whose blog has some fascinating nuggets of info from publishing industry afficionados. This quote from Richard Peck’s talk made me laugh out loud (ruefully):


If you see an adverb, shoot it.

I used to have to “shoot” my adverbs with the big bad Delete button, but now I can spot them looming at twenty paces and body swerve them. Another step on the learning curve…

More personal views of the Bologna Book Fair come from author Ally Carter
and illustrator John Shelley. Mary Hoffman (aka Book Maven) wrote reports for all three days she was at Bologna. All these blogs (and the tweets I followed) gave me a pretty good flavour of the Fair.

So, suitably fired up by the overall feeling that this year was buoyant, I head back to my draft manuscript and cross over into the imaginary world of the Next Book.