this morning. Frequent readers of my ramblings will have come across mention of this before. "Doing a boiling" was my paternal grandmother's term for making marmalade. I have no idea why. (If anyone can enlighten me I would be most interested.)
Yesterday, as I was slicing the grapefruit ready to soak, I thought of two things. The first was that I was using a "gadget" in order to slice the fruit. It is some German made device and highly effective for this particular task. I do not use it for anything else although it claims to cut any sort of fruit and vegetable. No doubt it does but it is faster and easier to use a sharp knife. The gadget however does manage to slice the rind very thinly - and my father likes his marmalade that way. It would seem that other recipients of jars of marmalade also feel that way. It makes me wonder who likes "Oxford Thick Cut" from Seville oranges.
But the other thing I thought of was descriptions of food in children's books. Was marmalade mentioned anywhere? Definitely. It gets mentioned rather nastily in Diana Wynne Jones' book "Charmed Life" where the marmalade gets turned to worms (and back again) at breakfast time.
It gets casually mentioned in other places too, mostly as a breakfast food - although there is mention of marmalade tart in Elinor Lyon's "The House in Hiding".
I also thought of ordinary food as mentioned in Anne Barrett's book, "Songberd's Grove", in William Mayne's "A swarm in May" and Margaret Storey's "Pauline". Then there are more extraordinary descriptions in places like Elzabeth Goudge's afternoon tea in "The Little White Horse" and JK Rowling's description of Harry's first school feast in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". There are "midnight feasts" in school stories by the likes of Enid Blyton and others. During my time at boarding school I know other students tried midnight feasting. I think, from their descriptions, it was pretty much a failure (when they did not get caught). I slept through anything like that - having told them I was not interested. I have never been interested in consuming food late at night. It makes me think the descriptions are unrealistic.
All this has made me wonder about food in books. How much of it is a realistic description? Probably very little. Possibly it would not be worth mentioning if it was but there are little things that remain with me. "There were bread buns for tea, brown ones which Aunty Madge made herself, with butter and blackcurrant jam." That is comfort food - and perhaps writing.
What do you remember?
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
A new picture book was
passed over to me for comment in the bookshop yesterday. It was a version of Alice in Wonderland illustrated by Harriet Castor (Hardie Grant Egmont).
The illustrations are detailed. There are flaps to open. Alice can grow longer and shorter by pulling and closing tabs. The Chesire cat can disappear and reappear by similar tabs. There is an amazing pop-up page of the house of cards. As a book it is fun and it will appeal to some children although others may think the illustrations rather old-fashioned.
Although a very reasonable price ($25 in our local indie) I suspect it must still have been expensive to produce.
I read it through - at twenty six pages (and limited print on each page) it did not take me long. I opened the flaps carefully. I pulled the tabs even more carefully. As an adult looking at a book, especially a book which does not belong to me, I was being very cautious. The tabs were rather sticky but I wondered if my paws were part of the problem.
I passed the book back and then mentioned it to a member of the knitting group who is particularly interested in "pop-up" books. She asked to see it. In the interim however one of the staff, a little less patient and careful than me, had pulled the Chesire Cat tab. It had stuck and she could not return it to the original position. It seemed the cat had gone for good and only the grin remained.
Someone else managed to restore the cat but it is clearly a weakness with the book. The idea is a good one but it needs to work well. If the book is intended for children then the tabs need to work well. They need to be robust enough to withstand a fair amount of wear.
As much fun as it is I would hesitate to buy the book for a child because it is not easy to use. It is disappointing that a publisher with such an excellent reputation should spend so much and not produce a robust result.
What I did do though was read a little of it aloud. There was a collective sigh. All the members of the group are familiar with Alice, the original Alice.
The illustrations are detailed. There are flaps to open. Alice can grow longer and shorter by pulling and closing tabs. The Chesire cat can disappear and reappear by similar tabs. There is an amazing pop-up page of the house of cards. As a book it is fun and it will appeal to some children although others may think the illustrations rather old-fashioned.
Although a very reasonable price ($25 in our local indie) I suspect it must still have been expensive to produce.
I read it through - at twenty six pages (and limited print on each page) it did not take me long. I opened the flaps carefully. I pulled the tabs even more carefully. As an adult looking at a book, especially a book which does not belong to me, I was being very cautious. The tabs were rather sticky but I wondered if my paws were part of the problem.
I passed the book back and then mentioned it to a member of the knitting group who is particularly interested in "pop-up" books. She asked to see it. In the interim however one of the staff, a little less patient and careful than me, had pulled the Chesire Cat tab. It had stuck and she could not return it to the original position. It seemed the cat had gone for good and only the grin remained.
Someone else managed to restore the cat but it is clearly a weakness with the book. The idea is a good one but it needs to work well. If the book is intended for children then the tabs need to work well. They need to be robust enough to withstand a fair amount of wear.
As much fun as it is I would hesitate to buy the book for a child because it is not easy to use. It is disappointing that a publisher with such an excellent reputation should spend so much and not produce a robust result.
What I did do though was read a little of it aloud. There was a collective sigh. All the members of the group are familiar with Alice, the original Alice.
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
I have this rather odd notion that I can actually
write. Some of you will know what I mean.
I sit down in front of the computer each morning and write something on these pages but that is not what I mean. No, the other idea about writing is something quite different.
As most of you who read this by now will know Nicola Morgan has just written a book about writing books, writing to get them published. It is full of good advice. It would make a marvellous resource for teaching creative writing in schools. My father says he would have used it had it been around when he was teaching. I have read it. I recommend reading it.
When it comes to writing a book however I still tend to plunge in at the deep end of the pool and cat-paddle madly towards the other end. Of course the pool is Olympic size and I am not terribly good at paddling.
There are any number of humans in the lanes next to me. They all seem to complete laps of the pool in record time. They bump me out of the way and I have to weave from one lane to the other. It takes a long time to get to the end of the pool. It is not straight paddling.
There are times when I feel I will never reach the end of the pool. There are times when I feel as if I am going to drown, when I get knocked below the surface by waves of strong swimmers passing me. It is not a pleasant sensation. At times it is truly frightening. I have to reach the other end. The survival of the characters at the side of the pool depends on me and nobody else.
I have managed to reach the end of the pool several times. Each time I have done it I have looked at the pool clock and found everyone else has headed off to the dressing rooms and then to the bar to celebrate something. I think the chararacters have gone with them. I slink off and tell myself - another lap tomorrow. It has to get better with practice.
I sit down in front of the computer each morning and write something on these pages but that is not what I mean. No, the other idea about writing is something quite different.
As most of you who read this by now will know Nicola Morgan has just written a book about writing books, writing to get them published. It is full of good advice. It would make a marvellous resource for teaching creative writing in schools. My father says he would have used it had it been around when he was teaching. I have read it. I recommend reading it.
When it comes to writing a book however I still tend to plunge in at the deep end of the pool and cat-paddle madly towards the other end. Of course the pool is Olympic size and I am not terribly good at paddling.
There are any number of humans in the lanes next to me. They all seem to complete laps of the pool in record time. They bump me out of the way and I have to weave from one lane to the other. It takes a long time to get to the end of the pool. It is not straight paddling.
There are times when I feel I will never reach the end of the pool. There are times when I feel as if I am going to drown, when I get knocked below the surface by waves of strong swimmers passing me. It is not a pleasant sensation. At times it is truly frightening. I have to reach the other end. The survival of the characters at the side of the pool depends on me and nobody else.
I have managed to reach the end of the pool several times. Each time I have done it I have looked at the pool clock and found everyone else has headed off to the dressing rooms and then to the bar to celebrate something. I think the chararacters have gone with them. I slink off and tell myself - another lap tomorrow. It has to get better with practice.
Monday, 27 June 2011
The headline read "Justice disabled..."
and the article in this morning's paper goes on to say the usual things about people with severe intellectual disabilities being sexually assaulted and the problems of getting the perpetrators to face justice.
I am getting tired of this - and angry. The issue is raised every so often. People get righteously angry for a short while and then forget the issue again until someone decides to give it another airing in the media.
Communication for people with disabilities does not matter. I have been getting that message loud and clear ever since I began working with people who have disabilities. My career began as a school student working as a volunteer in a residential nursery school for children with profound hearing losses. Back then sign language was a no, no, no. I was told I was not to sign to the children under any circumstances. If I did that, I was told, they would never learn to lip read and become "normal" members of the community. The reality was they were not going to become hearing membres of the community but they were going to become completely normal members of the community of the deaf who just happen to have a separate language. Yes, it is a language in its own right. It has its own syntax and grammar and vocabulary. The local deaf community has a name-sign for me - as does a similar group in England. I do not know a great deal of sign language. My deaf friends are always trying to teach me more but I do not have the necessary manual dexterity to be a fluent user. At least, they tell me, I know some of their language. I do but it is not nearly enough and I feel lost in their world.
But there are far too many other people with disabilities who are lost in this world. They have communication impairments which are hidden from understanding by the rest of the community.
A depressed ability to read and write is not always seen as a communication impairment but it is one. It reduces access to information - information which can be critical to the understanding of rights, of services, of contracts, of where to go or what to do or how to get the information needed to exist in an increasingly complex world. If someone can struggle through the process of filling out a form however few would say they have any sort of disability.
At the other end of the scale there are people I know whose communication ability is limited to using their eyes. They will look up for "yes" and down for "no". Everything they communicate must be done by means of questions to which they can respond in this way. When they also have a very limited understanding of the world the questions also have to be framed in a very precise way. Few people can consistently frame questions in this way. They also see it as taking time they do not have. It takes training, patience and understanding.
Reading the article in the paper this morning I tried to work out how many submissions I have made to inquiries over the years. There have been multiple submissions to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Productivity Commission, the Social Inclusion Board, government departments, advocacy organisations, Senate inquiries and other organisations - and that is just the Australian submissions. I have helped with submissions in the United Kingdom, in the European Union, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. All of them have tried to say the same thing, "the most important thing a human being learns to do is communicate - to hear, to listen and to respond". It is also the message which is most often ignored. Communication is not seen as an issue in a world of wheelchairs, accommodation, education, employment, transport and a myriad of other issues. It is a basic to access all these things but it is still ignored.
The sexual and other abuse of people with disabilities is not to be tolerated under any circumstances but until we recognise the communication needs of people with disabilities it will be a matter of - justice disabled.
I am getting tired of this - and angry. The issue is raised every so often. People get righteously angry for a short while and then forget the issue again until someone decides to give it another airing in the media.
Communication for people with disabilities does not matter. I have been getting that message loud and clear ever since I began working with people who have disabilities. My career began as a school student working as a volunteer in a residential nursery school for children with profound hearing losses. Back then sign language was a no, no, no. I was told I was not to sign to the children under any circumstances. If I did that, I was told, they would never learn to lip read and become "normal" members of the community. The reality was they were not going to become hearing membres of the community but they were going to become completely normal members of the community of the deaf who just happen to have a separate language. Yes, it is a language in its own right. It has its own syntax and grammar and vocabulary. The local deaf community has a name-sign for me - as does a similar group in England. I do not know a great deal of sign language. My deaf friends are always trying to teach me more but I do not have the necessary manual dexterity to be a fluent user. At least, they tell me, I know some of their language. I do but it is not nearly enough and I feel lost in their world.
But there are far too many other people with disabilities who are lost in this world. They have communication impairments which are hidden from understanding by the rest of the community.
A depressed ability to read and write is not always seen as a communication impairment but it is one. It reduces access to information - information which can be critical to the understanding of rights, of services, of contracts, of where to go or what to do or how to get the information needed to exist in an increasingly complex world. If someone can struggle through the process of filling out a form however few would say they have any sort of disability.
At the other end of the scale there are people I know whose communication ability is limited to using their eyes. They will look up for "yes" and down for "no". Everything they communicate must be done by means of questions to which they can respond in this way. When they also have a very limited understanding of the world the questions also have to be framed in a very precise way. Few people can consistently frame questions in this way. They also see it as taking time they do not have. It takes training, patience and understanding.
Reading the article in the paper this morning I tried to work out how many submissions I have made to inquiries over the years. There have been multiple submissions to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, the Productivity Commission, the Social Inclusion Board, government departments, advocacy organisations, Senate inquiries and other organisations - and that is just the Australian submissions. I have helped with submissions in the United Kingdom, in the European Union, North America, South America, Asia and Africa. All of them have tried to say the same thing, "the most important thing a human being learns to do is communicate - to hear, to listen and to respond". It is also the message which is most often ignored. Communication is not seen as an issue in a world of wheelchairs, accommodation, education, employment, transport and a myriad of other issues. It is a basic to access all these things but it is still ignored.
The sexual and other abuse of people with disabilities is not to be tolerated under any circumstances but until we recognise the communication needs of people with disabilities it will be a matter of - justice disabled.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
There are quite a few self-published books
in our local library system.
Most of them are family histories. Some of those are surprisingly well done. I think it may have something to do with the strong influence of the local genealogy society. There are several people there who are professional historians and they provide (paid) assistance. Our own family history (not written by me) could have done with some serious editing from one of these people. I did not like to argue with the cousin who put it together but there is a great deal in it I would have left out.
I think the same thing also applies to the other self-published books. Among other books there are a number of slim volumes - all by the same person. Although they are slim in themselves they need editing, serious editing. They would not have been cheap to produce. They have hard covers and nice photographs (taken by the author) on the front. It is a pity the contents are not as well composed as the photographs.
There are two historical novels written by someone I know. I also know why she could not get them published. Serious editing may just have made the first one good enough. It would not have saved the second. There are holes in the plots. There are errors in the history, far too many errors. I skimmed the first one out of curiosity. I skimmed the second one because the author asked me to read it. Skimming is a useful skill. The capacity to make diplomatic remarks wouldd be useful but I fear she knows I did not enjoy them. I did try to be polite.
I was given another one to look at yesterday. I made it to the end of the first page, handed it back to the librarian who gave it to me and said, "No thanks. I don't think I am interested."
"Oh but it is by a local author! They published it themselves! You really ought to read it."
Why should the fact the book was written and published by a local author make me like it? Thankfully our conversation was interrupted at that moment. There was no need to borrow the book or pretend I was interested.
There are local authors I like. There are three excellent histories in our library, all written by the same person. She is a professional historian. Her books have been edited and published by a reputable company. It shows.
In other places on the shelves there is fiction by local (state based) authors. It has also edited and published by mainstream publishers. I do not like all of it. I do not have to like all of it any more than I need to like all books which have been published.
There is one thing I do know however. If a book has been commercially published someone thought it was worth the economic risk. Even though some editing is better than others the book will have been edited.
The book I looked at yesterday had not been edited and it showed. I do not think they had even used the spell checker.
Most of them are family histories. Some of those are surprisingly well done. I think it may have something to do with the strong influence of the local genealogy society. There are several people there who are professional historians and they provide (paid) assistance. Our own family history (not written by me) could have done with some serious editing from one of these people. I did not like to argue with the cousin who put it together but there is a great deal in it I would have left out.
I think the same thing also applies to the other self-published books. Among other books there are a number of slim volumes - all by the same person. Although they are slim in themselves they need editing, serious editing. They would not have been cheap to produce. They have hard covers and nice photographs (taken by the author) on the front. It is a pity the contents are not as well composed as the photographs.
There are two historical novels written by someone I know. I also know why she could not get them published. Serious editing may just have made the first one good enough. It would not have saved the second. There are holes in the plots. There are errors in the history, far too many errors. I skimmed the first one out of curiosity. I skimmed the second one because the author asked me to read it. Skimming is a useful skill. The capacity to make diplomatic remarks wouldd be useful but I fear she knows I did not enjoy them. I did try to be polite.
I was given another one to look at yesterday. I made it to the end of the first page, handed it back to the librarian who gave it to me and said, "No thanks. I don't think I am interested."
"Oh but it is by a local author! They published it themselves! You really ought to read it."
Why should the fact the book was written and published by a local author make me like it? Thankfully our conversation was interrupted at that moment. There was no need to borrow the book or pretend I was interested.
There are local authors I like. There are three excellent histories in our library, all written by the same person. She is a professional historian. Her books have been edited and published by a reputable company. It shows.
In other places on the shelves there is fiction by local (state based) authors. It has also edited and published by mainstream publishers. I do not like all of it. I do not have to like all of it any more than I need to like all books which have been published.
There is one thing I do know however. If a book has been commercially published someone thought it was worth the economic risk. Even though some editing is better than others the book will have been edited.
The book I looked at yesterday had not been edited and it showed. I do not think they had even used the spell checker.
Saturday, 25 June 2011
I will get back to the serious business
of books shortly but allow me to talk about cats for a moment. Rather, allow me to talk about one cat in particular.
I have mentioned him on these pages before. His name is Pluto. Yes, an odd name for a cat. I am not sure he is particularly comfortable with it but that is the one his humans gave him.
Pluto owns the corner house but he spends a good deal of time in our yard. We are at home during the day. His humans are not.
We still have a cat-flap in the back door. We considered removing it after our last cat died as we do not plan on having any more animals. I am glad we did not. It has proved useful. Pluto uses it. "Miss Puss" from across the way has also been known to use it - with caution. It is Pluto's cat-flap.
As of yesterday it would also appear that our house is Pluto's house for the present. I heard him crying outside yesterday and went out to find out what the problem was. He will occasionally present me with a dead field mouse or fruit rat. I like to prevent any possibility of a live one being brought inside.
Yesterday however he was sitting under the clothesline and just crying. It was a dreadful sound.
I called him and he ran up to me still crying like a small child. I picked him up - something I do not often do now that he is usually a dignified grown up cat. He had a little snuggle and then slid down, sat on the back mat. I suggested that he could sit elsewhere as I needed to go in the back door. No.
I went around to the front door and went in - to be greeted by Pluto. He had used his cat-flap to enter the house. It was, he informed me with a swish of the tail, catnap time. He found a bed, did an extra clean, curled up and went to sleep. He was still there at 8:00pm. He has never stayed that late before. Our house is usually the half hour catnap place.
We know he is kept in at night and we were worried. He has a collar with his name and a 'phone number on it. Nobody was answering the mobile number.
Eventually my father went down to the house. It seems his senior owners are away. They are in Bali. They have left their mother in charge of the children and the dog. She has also brought her dog with her. He is apparently endeavouring to make life very difficult for the other dog and for Pluto.
Pluto is not a happy cat. He has just used the cat-flap again. He is sitting on the end of my bed staring at me and complaining. Do you suppose a cuddle and some stroking will help? I think he may have moved in for the duration. Thank goodness' for cat-flaps!
I have mentioned him on these pages before. His name is Pluto. Yes, an odd name for a cat. I am not sure he is particularly comfortable with it but that is the one his humans gave him.
Pluto owns the corner house but he spends a good deal of time in our yard. We are at home during the day. His humans are not.
We still have a cat-flap in the back door. We considered removing it after our last cat died as we do not plan on having any more animals. I am glad we did not. It has proved useful. Pluto uses it. "Miss Puss" from across the way has also been known to use it - with caution. It is Pluto's cat-flap.
As of yesterday it would also appear that our house is Pluto's house for the present. I heard him crying outside yesterday and went out to find out what the problem was. He will occasionally present me with a dead field mouse or fruit rat. I like to prevent any possibility of a live one being brought inside.
Yesterday however he was sitting under the clothesline and just crying. It was a dreadful sound.
I called him and he ran up to me still crying like a small child. I picked him up - something I do not often do now that he is usually a dignified grown up cat. He had a little snuggle and then slid down, sat on the back mat. I suggested that he could sit elsewhere as I needed to go in the back door. No.
I went around to the front door and went in - to be greeted by Pluto. He had used his cat-flap to enter the house. It was, he informed me with a swish of the tail, catnap time. He found a bed, did an extra clean, curled up and went to sleep. He was still there at 8:00pm. He has never stayed that late before. Our house is usually the half hour catnap place.
We know he is kept in at night and we were worried. He has a collar with his name and a 'phone number on it. Nobody was answering the mobile number.
Eventually my father went down to the house. It seems his senior owners are away. They are in Bali. They have left their mother in charge of the children and the dog. She has also brought her dog with her. He is apparently endeavouring to make life very difficult for the other dog and for Pluto.
Pluto is not a happy cat. He has just used the cat-flap again. He is sitting on the end of my bed staring at me and complaining. Do you suppose a cuddle and some stroking will help? I think he may have moved in for the duration. Thank goodness' for cat-flaps!
Friday, 24 June 2011
Yesterday an author and a publisher
honoured me with comments on this blog. Thanks to Nicola Morgan and a question to my computer-savvy neighbour I managed to get the button up for the ABBA festival. Please go and check it out on the ABBA blog site and support them.
Nicola also had things to say about voice - now I do know what she is talking about. I knew before I read the part in her Write to be Published. If you do not know then there is a very good explanation beginning on page 120 of the book. Nicola had said things to me about this once before.
Nicola and I have very different writing styles. Her voice is definitely not my voice. I could not write the way she does even if I wanted to - which I do not.
I look at a lot of writing and think, "Do I like it?" Often the answer is yes. Then I think, "Would I like to write like that?" The answer is almost always no. It is not my voice. It is not the clothing I feel comfortable in when I write.
I know I vary my writing style. I write this blog one way. I write academic documents in another way. I write letters to the editor in another and e-mails to friends in yet another. I also write, or attempt to write, books in yet another. It is not something I consciously think about. It is something that happens. Apart from one reading of one book I have not had an adult with a professional background in children's literature read anything I have written. I would like that to happen and I am working on it. I want to know if I can get my voice right.
And that brings me to the point that Catnip made. (If you want to find out more about Catnip then go here http://catnipbooks.blogspot.com/ - Catnip strokes cats and is very friendly.)
Catnip said that it was likely most adults working in children's publishing harbour an inner child. I think she is right. You only need to look at the Writers' and Artists' Year Book and see how many agents (and then publishers) do not deal with books for children.
Some adults believe they can remember what it was like to be a child. Quite possibly some do. I am sure that most authors for children believe they can remember what it was like to be a child. I like to think I can remember what it was like to be me.
And that brings me to my other point. We all have a different experience of childhood, even within the same family. My childhood was not a particularly happy experience. I would certainly like to believe that most children feel more secure than I did. However it should not stop me from writing through children who have a different experience of childhood. As writers we have to work our way under the skin of other characters and try to understand them as well - and understand them as fully as we can. We need to know far more about them than we will ever actually put on the page.
The best children's books will appeal to children - regardless of their age. It is the inner child which counts.
Nicola also had things to say about voice - now I do know what she is talking about. I knew before I read the part in her Write to be Published. If you do not know then there is a very good explanation beginning on page 120 of the book. Nicola had said things to me about this once before.
Nicola and I have very different writing styles. Her voice is definitely not my voice. I could not write the way she does even if I wanted to - which I do not.
I look at a lot of writing and think, "Do I like it?" Often the answer is yes. Then I think, "Would I like to write like that?" The answer is almost always no. It is not my voice. It is not the clothing I feel comfortable in when I write.
I know I vary my writing style. I write this blog one way. I write academic documents in another way. I write letters to the editor in another and e-mails to friends in yet another. I also write, or attempt to write, books in yet another. It is not something I consciously think about. It is something that happens. Apart from one reading of one book I have not had an adult with a professional background in children's literature read anything I have written. I would like that to happen and I am working on it. I want to know if I can get my voice right.
And that brings me to the point that Catnip made. (If you want to find out more about Catnip then go here http://catnipbooks.blogspot.com/ - Catnip strokes cats and is very friendly.)
Catnip said that it was likely most adults working in children's publishing harbour an inner child. I think she is right. You only need to look at the Writers' and Artists' Year Book and see how many agents (and then publishers) do not deal with books for children.
Some adults believe they can remember what it was like to be a child. Quite possibly some do. I am sure that most authors for children believe they can remember what it was like to be a child. I like to think I can remember what it was like to be me.
And that brings me to my other point. We all have a different experience of childhood, even within the same family. My childhood was not a particularly happy experience. I would certainly like to believe that most children feel more secure than I did. However it should not stop me from writing through children who have a different experience of childhood. As writers we have to work our way under the skin of other characters and try to understand them as well - and understand them as fully as we can. We need to know far more about them than we will ever actually put on the page.
The best children's books will appeal to children - regardless of their age. It is the inner child which counts.
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