A SMOOTH SEA NEVER MADE A SKILLFUL SAILOR

I was part of a great workshop earlier this year and the writer in residence, Mia Gallagher, was brilliant. Throughout the course she gave me a lot of advice and feedback and then some more... some of which I didn't really want to hear. You know when you think what you've written is perfect just the way it is. In this case ignorance was bliss. I was sailing along thinking everything was great and then suddenly this huge wave comes along, smacks right into me, disorientates me for a few minutes. But I got through it, carried on, forgot about the wobble and what caused it. Then smack another one, then another, they kept coming stronger and faster till I was in the middle of a storm of doubt and fear. Till my boat was creaking and groaning under the strain. I wanted to give up then and there, cover my head, pretend I didn't care. But the more I ignored the storm swirling around me the worse it got and the worst I felt. It's hard to hear the truth sometimes, harder still to get back up, change things and start again. But once I took that first step every step after that was a little easier. So I jettisoned a lot of words and a dear character, I've changed a few essentials in my story, patched up the boat. I've gotten through this storm, am sailing onwards again and my story is all the better for it. No doubt there'll be more storms ahead. But as Franklin D. Roosevelt so brilliantly said 'A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.' I'm not sure I'll be looking forward to the storms ahead or will be ready for the next one when it comes but now I know what to do. I'll learn from it. I'll get stronger. I'll get better and I'll keep sailing forward. So here's to the challenges and the bumpy roads and the stormy seas, may each one make you a more skilful sailor. 

The Wild Atlantic Way

I've had a very bumpy year, with many twists and turns along this ever winding road and now it has brought me and my family here, to Galway, to the beautiful west coast of Ireland, to the Wild Atlantic Way. I guess every tunnel, no matter how dark, has a light at the end of it. As Zig Ziglar so often said, 'difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations.' It's only through discomfort that we grow. Our journey has brought us far and although there are still challenges we've taken more than a few steps in the right direction. 

My writing has had a bumpy year too. Trying to move eight kids and two adults and all our belongings has been a challenge, to say the least, and has taken a lot of time. So now back to business. As Richard Bach says: 

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”

         

So let the work begin...continue...improve! 

Hope you are enjoying the journey wherever you are. And if you find yourself in that dark tunnel keep walking, one step at a time, you will reach the light that shining at the end of it. 

HOW TO HOOK A KID ON A BOOK

1. Read to your children. It’s such an enjoyable experience. The earlier the better. But if your children are middle grade they will still love to sit down and hear Mam or Dad or whomever read a good book. With older children get them interested in reading snippets from the paper or from magazines. Highlight a news feature they are interested in or that’s topical or controversial, it will make it easier.  
2. A good trick I had was to read to the younger kids in front of the older ones. I found the older ones would soon get drawn into the story and would come to look over my shoulder and listen to what I had to say. 
3. Get older siblings to read to the younger kids. It does wonders for their confidence and their reading skills not to mention their relationship with one another.
4. Buy/download/borrow a book and cd so the children can listen to a story while following the words on the page. They’ll come on in leaps and bounds. 
5. Model the behaviour you want them to pick up on. It works and there’s nothing better than a guilt free rest with a good book, magazine or paper. 
6. Explain to kids that they don’t have to know every word in a book. They can still get the general meaning without knowing every word. Sometimes when I’m reading I stop and ask the kids if they know what a certain word I’m stuck on is. I then ask one of them to look it up online or in the dictionary for me. (I do actually know the words…well most of the time!)
7. Electronic bookmark dictionaries are an excellent present. Kids love using gadgets and this one ticks all the boxes!
8.  Bribe them or bargain with them. Ten minutes reading equals ten minutes on your gadget or whatever works well for you. Once they get hooked on a book they’ll forget about gadgets (most of the time) and you won’t even have to bargain. Seriously.
9. Start off slowly. Don’t expect them to read a lot at the beginning. Five minutes here or there works wonders and isn’t too daunting. Or take turns in reading a paragraph or page each.
10.  Hide the gadgets and switch off the TV or limit them to a few minutes a day.    

PERSPECTIVES!

'Tom began - hesitantly at first, but, as he warmed to his subject, his words flowed more and more easily; in a little while every sound ceased but his own voice; every eye fixed itself upon him; with parted lips and bated breath the audience hung upon his words, taking no note of time, rapt in the ghastly fascinations of the tale.'

It's funny how it happens, we hear a story...or a perspective of a story and we're pulled under...maybe we just sink in. It's easy. The tale is a good one, there's an obvious villain...an unlikely hero. No-body needs to twist our arm, we're on their side, totally convinced. 
But then she rings. He calls. They tell you a story. One that sounds familiar but isn't. One that you've heard before...but haven't.You crease your brow while you nod your head. Unconvinced. 
      'But I thought-'
      
The laugh silences you. You press your lips tight together while your mind whirls like a merry go round and you listen to a different story, a new tale, where the hero is destroyed and the villain wins the day. 
And then you wonder if there ever was a hero...if there ever can be a hero? 
Time helps to soften the blow, it blurs the image and blunts the edges. There's always a hero, someone will always save the day.  
You sigh and smile. There's a niggling worry that you ignore, a fleeting thought that you don't try to catch. 
Just be careful who you choose to be your hero.
Who you choose to save the day.

HABITS!

They say it takes about 30 days to form a habit, good or bad. Not long in the grand scheme of things really.But it's not just the doing, it's the keeping at something that's the hard part. Tony Robins says that in order to create a habit our shoulds become our musts! So I've decided to grab the bull by the horns and jump on. Yes, whether you want to or not you'll be hearing a lot more from me from now on.So while I'm here I'd like to congratulate all those shortlisted for the CBI Awards, it's going to be a tough call with so many fantastic books to choose from!! I don't envy the judges. Hope today's journey isn't too steep a climb. 

Shortlist 2015

Ten Books have been shortlisted for the 201 CBI Book of the Year Awards:

When Mr Dog Bites by Brian Conaghan

Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan

Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton

Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers

The Apple Tart of Hope by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

Daideo by Áine Ní Ghlinn

Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill

Haiku Más é do thoil é! by Gabriel Rosenstock illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald

Primperfect by Deirdre Sullivan

Beyond the Stars compiled by Sarah Webb

Been Away Too Long!!

Yes, I've finally let go of my book and sent it off into the wilds of agents and editors and publishers! So while I'm twiddling my thumbs and considering my next project I thought I'd blog about all the amazing things going on in the world of Children's Literature.
The Prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals announce their long list for the first time!! So delighted for PJ Lynch who has done an amazing job, as always, in illustrating the Mysterious Traveller. There are other really great books included so don't forget to check them out.
Also if you haven't had the chance to do it yet make sure you get nominating for the next Laureate Na n-Óg. For the first time the nominations are open to all, especially schools and children! So you can download the nomination form here. You have until Saturday the 15th February at 5pm to send in the forms.
Finally thought you might like this, it's 9 Life Lessons Everyone Can Learn From These Classic Children's Books!!
Hope you're still enjoying the journey even if it is pretty wet and miserable out there!

Ooops!

If by any chance anyone is passing this page and happens to realize that I haven't posted a blog in quite a while please forgive me. It is very remiss of me but I do have some (what I believe are excellent) excuses to hand which I hope you will accept:

A) I am finishing a novel! The good news is that I am at the editing phase! Yeah. The bad news is I am way past my deadline so any spare minute I get goes into editing and rewriting.

B) My seven unruly children keep distracting me and insisting on having my full attention. The good news is there is lots of brilliant us time, the bad news is there is very little me time!

C) I am expecting another beautiful baby in May! The good news is that everything is going great and I'm soooo excited, the bad news is that the first three or four months is unbelievably tiring so I tend to fall asleep within minutes of my children going to sleep, usually over my laptop, which doesn't really give me much time for anything.

I could give more reasons about boring housework and tasty-ish dinners and exciting creative writing classes and more exciting school visits but I think you get the message. So hence my poor blog,  Facebook my twitter account (which for some crazy reason I have joined) are all suffering. I know you are too so please accept my humblest apologies, I will be back in the land of the living soon. For all you writers out there I hope you keep moving forward on your winding road. I will be adding more videos to my Creative Writing Series once my beloved book has flown the coop. Until then enjoy the journey.