Ten-Minute Blog Break - 16th September

I'm sure I wasn't the only one buoyed up by Jan's super-positive editorial at the weekend. And there certainly is plenty of good stuff out there if you know where to look, as this week's Blog Break once again proves.

Every writer is looking for the golden ticket, an idea which is just so compelling that it will motivate them to do their best work and crack the market wide open. But how can you identify a breakout premise for a picture book? Natascha Biebow has plenty of advice at Picture Book Den.

My drawing of Pilbeam the robot from Cakes in Space

I was at Sarah McIntyre and Philip Reeve's book launch for Cakes in Space on Saturday, and I can confirm that a very good time was had by all. Amongst the treats on offer were drawing lessons, a new song and interactive video comedy involving sporks(!) But fear not if you couldn't make it, because Sarah has written a blog post with tons of photos from the event.



There's a fantastic interview with Sam Zuppardi on the Scottish Book Trust website this week. I especially liked the anecdote about his childhood biblical confusion!

Candy Gourlay is exploring diaries this week, discussing how they can be used for personal reflection, as creative fodder and as an exercise for author visits. She shares some great tips for keeping a diary, and lets us have a peek at the diaries the kids made in response.

Finally, I found a lot of food for thought this week in Marie Basting's blog post all about embracing the dark side of her creative personality. It set me wondering as to why it is that we become compelled to write certain stories, even when we're trying to do something quite different. That led me to my own post a few days later, all about a character that I just can't stop writing about.

Nick.

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A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is an Undiscovered Voices winner who currently writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine (September issue out now).

Nick's most recent blog post (mentioned above) traces The Evolution of Max.