Ten-Minute Blog Break - 20th May

What do video games, viruses and vampires have in common (well, apart from the obvious alliteration)?

They all make an appearance on the Blog Break this week!


My prediction that the Writing Process Blog Tour would die off when it ran out of writers to consume has been proved wrong. Like a fiendishly clever virus, it has mutated and this week's victims are all writer/illustrators. Katherine Lynas talks about her work with the funeverse, before handing over to Sam Zuppardi, who has some interesting advice on how to manage and grow ideas. Paul Morton then picks up the baton - giving us a sneak peek at couple of picture books he's working on - and hands it on to current Words & Pictures featured artist Jamie Stevenson. Anyone who is only an illustrator is advised to turn off their internet connection right now, before the blog tour can mutate further. You have been warned!

I really liked the discussion guide that Candy Gourlay has built for readers of Shine. I found her questions on the book thought-provoking, and tried not to be too annoyed that her novel seemed so thematically complex and cleverly constructed. I'm thinking of starting a petition requesting that Candy gives us other children's writers a chance, by making her next book very generic and full of dumb action scenes *

This week, we find out why Lorraine Gregory hasn't blogged for ages - she's been playing too many video games. Oh wait, that's not the reason - it's because her "brain has been exploding" from all the intensive help she's been getting on her manuscript from those nice people at the Golden Egg Academy. Find out from Lorraine why getting better as a writer is a lot like leveling up in a video game.

Thirty years ago, I was still drawing misshapen pictures of Dennis the Menace. John Shelley, on the other hand, was creating beautiful pen and ink illustrations for the novel A Canoe in the Mist by Elsie Locke. His blog post all about the book is like opening a treasure trove and I was entranced by John's drawings and the story behind their creation.

Nick.

* Not really. Well, unless she really wants to. Mind you, that version of Shine with the vampires did sound pretty cool...


A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is a former Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine, the May issue of which is out now!

3 comments:

  1. Heh heh you had me laughing there! A great crop of blog posts. Thanks for doing this every week. My blog traffic definitely has a little surge everytime you blog. For which I'm grateful! :)

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  2. That's good to hear, Candy. I feel like I get away with being terribly rude about you on the Blog Break - I think it's mostly jealousy!

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  3. Great post from, Lorraine, I completely get what she means. I too have had the leveling up feeling she discusses. It's a real eureka moment, but more than that, it can make you feel more professional as if the journey actually has a path to follow.

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