What I’m Up To Wednesday: How do you defeat your dragons?

Posted on by amystoryteller

On Saturday I took a break from my intense writing schedule and visited Norton and then Caldecote with some new stories.

In Caldecote, the theme was  ‘How do you defeat your dragons?’ and the storytelling tent was set out with some fantastic talking points, story excerpts and even a seven-headed dragon chalkboard for people to add their real-life dragons and how they can be beaten.

Louisa Freya is becoming an old favourite now, but I was also able to tell Thakane for the first time. This tale of the Bosotho people features in the book of folktales I’ve been writing, and is great fun to tell with lots of repetition and a rhythmic song. Between Louisa Freya’s seven-headed dragon, Thakane’s glow-in-the-dark dragon and the monster Zoblak, we came up with all sorts of ways to defeat our toothy adversaries.

I also had the chance to read a couple of stories from the new book, and to sign some copies of The First King Of England.

Now it’s back to the desk to finish the first draft of Very Important Project number two in my year of three books, preferably before the children finish school for the summer. Will I make it? Keep following me here to find out!

What I’m Up To Wednesday: the BIPs

Posted on by amystoryteller

Oh, dear. Six months since I last blogged. What on earth have I been up to?

Well, since January, I have been writing full time for the first time ever. I haven’t booked any new appearances or visits since the beginning of 2018. I’ve even turned down my favourite, regular gigs (I miss you guys! Please ask me again next year!)  

So if I’ve been writing full time – why haven’t I been writing this blog?

What happened was that, after quite a bit of playing with ideas and sending things off and chatting to publishers at events like CRT,  three Big Important Projects (BIPs) came along at once, like buses. Most of the details of these are still cloaked in secrecy right now, (though if you follow this blog, I do intend to do a gradual reveal as each one gets closer to publication) but I can tell you that they consist of three books, two for children and one for adults, that none of them are due to appear until next year, and that one of them is nearly complete and has reached the headaches, coffee and editing stage.

At the same time as what I’ve started referring to as my ‘year of three books’, I’ve been doing smaller bits of writing too: I’ve penned a sonnet series to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice, which you’ll hear more about in the Autumn, I’ve done a few small bits and pieces for Area 52, and I’ve been busy editing the new ACW Christmas anthology, which will be appearing this summer. Oh, and I’ve entered two poetry competitions – fingers crossed!

I’ve told a few  people about my three BIPs (hey, that could also stand for Books In Process). The ones who were writers laughed at me (fair enough) and the others said, “I don’t know where you find the time!”

And I said, “If you saw my house, you’d understand”.  

Seriously, I’m not doing anything else. Not performance work, not housework, not reading if it doesn’t count as research, not having a social life (that’s nothing new) and not blogging. But I intend to rectify at least that last one.

So I’m sorry I’ve been a silent recluse, but stick with me, because things are about to get wild around here, and you don’t want to miss it.