Dogs (and Cats and Raccoons) and their Writers

By Olivia Levez

Neil Gaiman and one of his beloved cats

Life has been manic and hectic and frantic, so I haven't had the time to blog or tweet or work on Book Two, what with Ofsted hovering menacingly near our school, but still not actually arriving yet. And then there are school visits of a different kind to organise for when The Island is officially published (can't believe it's only one month away...) and my big book launch event to arrange, and assemblies to give at my school, and indie bookshops to talk to and competitions to plan and...

And breathe.

So in a rare lull, I am going to immerse myself in all things Dog (And Cat and Raccoon) in the final post about the special relationship pets have with their writers. Here, then, in no particular order:

Neil Gaiman often used to write about his cats, Coconut, Pod and Princess. He was very close to his dog, Cabal, who he rescued by the side of the road.

'We were a sort of an Odd Couple, both of us fascinated and delighted by the other one. Both of us protective.'

But not all writers stick with cats or dogs as their inspiration. Over to Sox the Raccoon and his writer, Melissa Bowen, aka BB Taylor:

Sox the raccoon and Melissa Bowen

Sox came to Melissa at about 3 days old as his mom was struggling to feed him. He is one of 5 raccoons that live with Melissa and spends a lot of time educating people about raccoons and visiting special people such as children in hospices. Sox is the star of one of Melissa's books: Sox and Pals. She writes under the name BB Taylor.

Sox and Pals

Melissa Bowen

Sox and Pals

Kurt Vonnegurt and Pumpkin, ahhhh...

'I cannot distinguish between the love I have for people and the love I have for dogs.'

Next up...

The Dog that Owns Rowena House

Rowena House's adored mutt

Although Rowena's darling dog has never appeared in a story of hers, he might one day. 'He's not what you'd call a literary hound, and spends most mornings lounging on my bed, whining about me being at my desk again. But he leaps off instantly if I get up, barking like mad to tell me it's time for a walk. Most days we go to the cliffs or beach for an hour's serious playtime.'

And what does he think of Rowena writing books? 'If I can't eat it, chase it, or bark at it, what on doggie earth is the point of a book?'

You can follow Rowena  @houserowena. She is the author of Angelique's Geese in War Girls (Andersen 2014) and currently finishing a structural edit of The Butterfly's Wing, a coming-of-age story set in France during WW1.

Melissa's story is Angelique's Geese

Steinbeck's little Charley...

'I need a dog pretty badly. I dreamed of dogs last night. They sat in a circle and looked at me and I wanted all of them.'

Next up is the indefatigable Roly, writing companion to SCBWI member Kellie Jackson:

'This is Roly. He's 77 in dog years. My constant companion and mud-rolling champion. Smells like clothes left in the washing machine overnight. Eats anything and everything. Terrible breath. Fire hog. Likes barking at the postman and specialises in scaring delivery people but allows baddies into the back garden to steal bird feeders. Nervous of pet rabbits and dog groomers. Once ate a whole Stilton. Main goal in life: to catch a squirrel.'

From this point on, Roly took over the interview somewhat:

'Kellie, my dog-mother, spends a lot of time upstairs in her study talking to herself and tapping away at that awful computer. I wait at the bottom of the stairs WILLING her to take me for a walk, or failing that, feed me a biscuit. Biscuits are referred to in our house as a ‘B’ - she thinks I don't know this. She uses the ‘B’ word to get me to do things I don’t want to do, like shift from my spot beside the fire, but I’m on to her. I happen to love the smell of my own fur singeing even if she doesn’t.

Kellie’s been trying to write a novel since before I was born. The poor thing. I feel a bit sorry for her. I hope to Dog Heaven she succeeds or no one in this house will ever get any rest. That includes our postman. She’s written a couple of short stories which have been on the radio apparently. I only remember this because Kellie forgot to shut the front door after the postie delivered a contract last spring. Kellie didn’t notice I’d pinned him against the garden gate because she was too busy doing an embarrassing dance on two legs. Who dances on two legs? It’s unnatural, right?

Speaking of unnatural, Kellie spent most of November doing something bizarre called NaNoWriMo. ‘Knocking out a crappy first draft’ she said. IS SHE MAD? November, that glorious month, with the park haunch high in fallen leaves and deep muddy puddles, not to mention all those fluffy-tailed squirrels to chase…Still, she’s all I’ve got. All my dog-brothers have grown up and my dog-sister is busy doing A-levels. At least Kellie takes me out for a walk everyday. I don’t mind that she rabbits on endlessly about her ‘WIP’, whatever that is. I try not to let on but I have no idea what she’s talking about most of the time. It’s quite possible she’s unhinged. But as long as she keeps the biscuits coming I’m hers for life.

Btw you can tweet my writer @KellieAJackson.'

Santa Paws

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was deeply attached to her cocker spaniel, Flush. In a letter to her friend, she wrote:

'You understand — don’t you? — that Flush is my constant companion, my friend, my amusement, lying with his head on one page of my folios while I read the other.'

Klaxon! And now to our SCBWI Gallery of Pet Plotters....

SCBWI member Helen Lapping's Becky. Woof!

Nicola Keller's much missed ginger girl, constant companion and foot warmer...

...and Ottaline, Nicola's new line manager, enjoying some relaxing music.

Smile for the camera! Jane Howard's Archie

Watson Jones, posing nicely for his writer, Eloise Williams

Jeannie Waudby's writing buddy and plot advisor, Dougal

Karen Minto's loon

Another of Karen Minto's loons

Sally Poynton's writing companions, enjoying a moment of snuggliciousness

Marie Basting's Polly, who steals and throws things to ensure her writer takes regular screen breaks

As everyone knows, cats are the ones that ultimately rule in any writing household. So the last word, or picture, must go to Julia Underwood's Fudge...

Julia's secretary cat, a Tonkinese named Fudge

Dogs and their Writers - Part 2

By Olivia Levez

Welcome to Part 2 of my Dogs and their Writers post, featuring Diesel and his debut author Kathryn Evans, Mitzi and her writer, Amanda George, and Stanley Chester’s author Camilla Chester.

 First, a picture of Basil, who inspired Dog in my debut book The Island. 

I wrote my book over a teacher holiday one summer, and hid away from all internet and mobile reception in my caravan in West Wales. My only companion was my Jack Russell dog, so little by little I suppose it was only natural that he crept his way into my book as well as onto the bed. My teenage castaway Fran has Dog as her only companion on a desert island in the middle of the Indian Ocean...

If you look closely, he has even found his way onto the spine of my book!

Now to this week's dogs and their writers:

Diesel, and his writer, Kathryn Evans...

Diesel and Kathy among the strawberries

1.       Have you ever featured your pet dog in a book? Which and how? Not as a dog but his personality has definitely been hijacked – loyal, loving and a bit dim.

2.       Is your dog an essential part of your daily writing routine? In so many ways! How? He is always by my side when I’m writing. My office is also where I work for the farm so when people come in unannounced, and I’m acting out a scene from a book, I just pretend I’m talking to the dog! It’s a bit strange if I happen to be crying at the time. Also, when I have plot problems, we go for a walk to unstick them.  Never fails – though sometimes we have to go for very long walks… 

      Where does your dog like to be when you’re writing? In his stinky bed, by my feet. Unless one of the cats beat him to it and then I have to move the cat or Diesel makes his sad face.

3.       How does your dog help/inspire you in your life as a writer? I think it’s just having a companion, someone to talk to who just listens! You don’t need answers to work things out, you just need to go through the process of discussing them. Dogs are perfect for that. My cats just look at me as if I’m stupid then through all my papers on the floor. Diesel looks at me as if I’m brilliant, the best thing in the world.  It helps when you are convinced you can’t write for toffee!

4.       What does your dog think of your current WIP? How would s/he describe it?  There’s a cat in my bed. Is it walk time? Is it dinner time? Is it walk time? There’s a cat in my bed. Sorry, to be honest, he isn’t the brightest…

     I am sure that Diesel would like everyone to know that his writer has her debut book coming out in February, and that his writer is very brilliant indeed! I was lucky enough to critique the opening, and can't wait to read it.

Follow Kathy @mrsbung

Mitzi and her SCBWI writer, Amanda George

1.       Have you ever featured your pet dog in a book? Which and how?

One of my WIPs is based on Mitzi and she is going to donate the payments from that book straight to the Dogs Trust when a publisher takes it on… needs to be edited first though!

2.       Is your dog an essential part of your daily writing routine? How? Where does your dog like to be when you’re writing?

Mitzi is a vital part of my creativity!  She’s never far away whenever I’m writing and she just needs to look at me with her soft, brown eyes that somehow wakes my muse up!

This is me giving Amanda my 'you cannot be serious' look

3.       How does your dog help/inspire you in your life as a writer?

I can bounce ideas off her without her putting me down or telling me that I’m writing crud until it’s editing time when she sits on my right foot and yawns if it’s boring

4.       What does your dog think of your current WIP? 

Amanda writes terrible stuff during her first drafts so I just stay in my bed and dream of the editing times when she really takes my comments to heart and usually makes the changes I say about.  She sometimes reads her first drafts to me but I don’t take much notice until it’s finished and editing it… I can’t wait for her to edit my book!

Mitzi and her writer, Amanda

Stanley, and his writer, Camilla Chester

1.      Have you ever featured your pet dog in a book? Which and how?

My dog Stanley Chester is not featured as himself but I sneak in his name. He wheedles his way into every aspect of my life!

In my first book, which I am due to publish in the spring (JarredDreams) the creepy town where the book is set is named Stanbridge and one of the dreams is his (Stanley Chester’s dippity do dog circus with matching hats for all)

2.       Is your dog an essential part of your daily writing routine? How? Where does your dog like to be when you’re writing?

If I am on my own in the house then I always write at the table with Stanley next to me in his basket. Occasionally he will come and put his head on my knee. So gorgeous.

I walk dogs for a living so all my dogs help really as I use the time to think things through and might make voice notes into my phone as thoughts come to me.

3.       How does your dog help/inspire you in your life as a writer?

He believes in me and I love him. He is patient, non judgemental and loves it when I read my work out loud.

“Being the wise king was ok, but the crown didn’t taste as good as gravy bones.”

4.       What does your dog think of your current WIP? How would s/he describe it? 

Well, that Mummy HB is always click clacking away into the shiny thing. She’s telling stories. This one is about a boy called Lucas Larks who likes cooking (he can come and cook for me anytime – although he only makes veggie stuff which is not as good as sausages). Anyway, he goes to a big house and then tries to get out of it again. It all sounds a bit pointless if you ask me, but then all HBs are mad, so carry on.

You can read Stan’s blog here: http://thestanleydiaries.blogspot.co.uk

6. 

Dogs and their Writers: Molly and Stephen King; Chester and Nick Mackie; Mickey and Jo Franklin

By Olivia Levez
Stephen King has one. So does Neil Gaiman, and so did Kurt Vonnegurt and Elizabeth Barrett Browning and John Steinbeck.
 I know I couldn’t do without mine.  He’s there now, jumping onto the bed as I write.
Basil. Rescue Jack Russell. A little bit bite-y. Breath warm as sewers. But my constant writing companion when writing The Island.

As he realises it’s one of Mummy’s writing days, and snuggles under the duvet with a contented little huff, it makes me wonder about the bond dogs have with their writers.

Basil, aka Dog

He's even inveigled his way into my book, and plays a starring role as Dog, a castaway canine companion to survivor Fran.

But how many other dogs influence their writers in this way?

Molly and her writer, Stephen King

Molly the corgi appears in several of her writer's novels, and luckily for her corgis do not seem to suffer the horrible fate of King's most famous canine creation, Cujo.

"It might be that the biggest division in the world isn't men and women but folks who like cats and folks who like dogs."

Chester and Nick Mackie

Chester asleep

1 Have you ever featured your pet dog in a book? Which and how?

Chester is my 7 yr old border terrier. He is a constant companion as I predominantly work from home. I titled my recent children's picture book 'Chester and the Eggie Boo'. The train's dog conductor is styled on Chester.

1  Is your dog an essential part of your daily writing routine? How? Where does your dog like to be when you’re writing?

I walk Chester twice a day - often when I need inspiration, to clear my head, or simply to let off steam. Some of my better ideas have come during a long walk.
Chester will either sit upstairs in the attic (my studio) with me or at the bottom of the stairs - whichever is warmer at the time!

  How does your dog help/inspire you in your life as a writer?

He makes me go for walks - which I probably wouldn't do as much of if I didn't have him. He is also a calming & entertaining influence.

I'm fortunate to live near the coast and we both enjoy some lovely beach walks. (Weston super Mare, Somerset, UK)

What Nick gets up to when he's not walking Chester...

So what does Chester think of your current WIP?

Well, I'll let him tell you himself...

I'm slightly miffed as my walking companion has been very busy lately illustrating a new book. This means I'm not getting as many long adventures as I would like. It's boring watching him tap away all day at the computer when all I want to do is go out and have a run on the sand. 

Chester with his writer, Nick

For some reason Nick likes tweeting better than barking, so find him @nickmackiebook

Mickey and Jo Franklin

At last Mum is off the computer. Time to write my next blog post.

    Have you ever featured your pet dog in a book? Which and how?

I’m working on it! It’s taken me a while to get the right story and the right voice. 

    Is your dog an essential part of your daily writing routine? How? Where does your dog like to be when you’re writing?

We go out for our morning walk before I start work. Either to Peckham Rye Park or to Nunhead Cemetery. I use this time to get my thoughts together and I have started doing a workout app while we are out. But Mickey likes to go off on his own and as soon as he gets a whiff of fox scent he turns his ears off and won’t come back. I have been known to be wandering the cemetery for 2 hours looking for him which is very bad for my writing day. When the weather is better I can sit and make notes on my phone until he decides to come back to me.

We take a shorter walk towards the end of the day which is useful if I have a problem to work out. Mickey has a chair in my study or he sits on the sofa watching GardenHD out the window.

A bit of tasty inspiration

   How does your dog help/inspire you in your life as a writer?

He is good company and forces me to go outside even in bad weather. It’s also lovely to have a big hug when I’m feeling fed up with my paltry word count or the latest rejection. Dog walking is very sociable. Most days the only people I speak to outside of my family are fellow dog walkers.

Jo Franklin writes for 8-10 year olds. Her first book Help I’m an Alien is published by Troika Books 

And Mickey, what do you think of your writer's current WIP?

It’s about time you started writing a story about a dog, but why did you have made your dog character so naughty? I thought you were going to write about me. 

Btw did you know I have my own blog page and twitter?

www.jofranklinauthor.co.uk/mickeys-dog-blog

@Mickeydogsblog

And here's my writer's one: www.jofranklinauthor.co.uk

@jofranklin2

What to Wear at the SCBWI Party (And No Pirates in Sight!)

By Olivia Levez




The Sea. Just go as the sea. Here is version 1 = very classy.

And here is version 2 = not so classy (but does have a modesty scallop.)

Or you could go all elegant and understated, maybe as a pineapple...

And, if you're feeling that little bit more crafty, here are three different palm tree costumes. 

Here's a more, um, ridged version.

Damn it, why not go as the entire island?

Not really pirates, but here's Wilson from Castaway.

Still a little lost? There's always a Lost Boy.

If you're feeling the after-effects of Hallowe'en, perhaps a shark and its mangled pirate victim might float your boat?

Still on creatures of the sea, here's the perfect outfit for another daring duo.

Or grab that spare brolly and become a little jellyfish!

Make like Marie Antoinette, and cunningly craft a ship to your tresses.

Finally, forget the pirates, and become a parrot instead. Here are four to get you started...

Why have a babysitter when you can accessorise?

Get all creative with hair chalks (easy to make from old chalk pastels, but might mess up that B&B washbasin...)

So obviously I'm going as this one. Easy. Nothing to it.

Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

By Olivia Levez
So my school’s due an Ofsted.

Any minute now, any day, any unit, the door of my classroom will creak slowly open, and there’ll be that drymouthheartbeatfeelsick moment when An Inspector Calls.

A middle-aged man, or possibly a woman, will nod once, then sit in the chair which I will have made available to them, right behind the boy or girl who is most likely to be on task and hopefully has the neatest book.

And The Inspector will scrutinise every aspect of my lesson, every flaw, every missed learning opportunity, every doodled penis on every dictionary spine, every moment of mediocrity in between the crammed garbled quest for outstandingness.

So, um, Ofsted’s pretty scary.

It’s got me thinking about the fears in being a writer.

When I first made the decision to actually do something about becoming an author, I definitely had my Yellow Thinking Hat on. For any non teachers out there, this means that I was using the part of my brain that thinks in terms of optimism and positivity and hopefulness. Except thinking hats are a bit old hat now.

I took a sabbatical from school and made the decision that, after fifteen years of teaching, I was going to be:

a)     A writer

b)    An artist

Either would do. I wanted to swap my desk of marking for a lovely battered table filled with pots of paintbrushes and found objects and mood boards. I wanted to leave the busy, shovey, clamour-and-din of school corridors for a Room of One’s Own.

I imagined floating around, looking nicely arty, and a tiny bit scatty, clutching my iMac Air and wandering off to my Roald Dahlesque writing shed, complete with dog blanket on my knees and a giant rubber band ball for when I needed to Find My Muse.

I’d dash off a novel, send in a couple of chapters, get a book deal, and then live off my earnings, happily pottering/writing.

Never again would I have to Feel the Fear.

Never again would I have that feeling of someone looking over your shoulder and judging you.

Wait.

Judging you?

I was to learn, of course, that being rejected and feeling a failure is an important part of being a writer. Strengthening. Character-building. Growth mindset encouraging. And that critique groups are a gentle way to show you how much you still don’t know.

But nothing comes close to Being On Submission and waiting for your agent’s email. Thinking that maybe it could be a phone call, because probably that means A Six Figure Deal and then…*drifts into reverie of taking The Call at school, maybe in a staff meeting, and having to say “oh, so sorry, my agent, yah, just discussing the ahm deal, please excuse me for one moment…”*

Soon, I worked out that an email with an exclamation mark often meant Exciting News! whereas a straightforward, common-or-garden email came with a thoughtfully edited rejection or two.

Or three.

Or four.

Or five.

So I took to approaching my inbox like a bomb disposal engineer.

And now there are new fears:

NotSellingAnyBooksGettingBadReviewsNoOneAttendingtheLaunchNotKnowingAboutTaxNobodyLikingtheBookNotBeingAbletoWriteAnotherBookNotHaving a latformNobodyComingtoMyBookSigningTwoHundredPairsofTeenageEyes

LookingatYouSardonicallyasYouDoAReadingHavingABadNielsonRating

PeopleThinkingYouAreAPushyVileBoastySelfPromotingTweeterNotHaving

EnoughTwitterFollowersNotHavingEnoughLikesNotBeingAbleToDoEdits…

Borrowing a quote from the brilliant We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, in which the main characters write quotes on their hands, I’ve put one of them up in my classroom:

“Always do what you are afraid to do.”

So, realising that being a writer has equal terrors to being a teacher, I decided to force myself to do hideously scary things in preparation.

Fearful things I’ve made myself do:

Give assemblies about Write For Real, sharing my experiences of trying and failing to get published.

Speak at TeachMeets – horrifically terrifying events where you give micro or nano speeches, watching your name teeter on the fruit machine ‘fun’ random-name-picker.

Make myself go alone to the intriguingly named SCBWI conference that I kept hearing so much about.

Set up a writing critique group, attended by the assistant headteacher and a book group friend who I didn’t know too well.

Give a teacher training session at the Pedigoo for local teachers.

Talk, many times in Staff Briefing – literally hundreds of teachers on a Monday morning, all needing to get their lessons set up – sharing Word of the Week.

Go to my first SCBWI Friday critique session, clutching five amazing scripts that I knew I didn’t have a hope in hell of being as good as.

Skyping Melvin Burgess after my friend won him in a SCBWI raffle and agreed to swap. It was a little awkward when we were setting up, and I could see him but he couldn’t see me and, oh, eek, oh.

Weirdly, having two scary jobs rather than just the one has put them both into perspective. Now, when An Inspector Calls, I shall serenely teach on, and think, why, this is nothing.

Not compared to an email with no exclamation mark.

Blogging 101 and Taking it to the Next Level

The bloggers' workshops at YALC were at the top of my list for tips and of course, to meet the bloggers.
The first workshop had Andrew Hall (The Pewter Wolf), Laura (Sisterspooky) and the always lovely Michelle Toy (Tales of Yesterday) answering thoughtful questions posed by the wondrously coated Andy Robb (@ThatAndyBloke).
Advice included Andrew's "be constructive. Be kind" when reviewing any book, and "the fifty page rule" advocated by Laura, who uses this rule with any book when deciding if she wants to read on.
So, how do these enormously successful bloggers (each of whom have won UKYA Blogger Awards in 2015) make themselves visible online?

Top Tips

• Tweet publishers and authors and link to your blog
• Make your blog unique
• Include some personal posts, so that it's not all about books
• If you really don't like a book you've been asked to review, either link it with a blogger who might enjoy it, or write a topic post instead. (All of the bloggers were firm about not posting negative reviews.)
• Blogger language learnt: "Recs" = recommended reads; "TBR" = to be read. 

Best of all, I finally got to meet Michelle Toy, who I first met very briefly at the UKYA Extravaganza in Birmingham. Always warm and welcoming, she had thoughtfully made us goody bags packed with useful blogging advice, how to write a review, and TWO FREE BOOKS!

Inside I found the beautiful, shimmery SEED by Lisa Heathfield, which I had already read before, but now I can gift it to someone else to enjoy. Published by Egmont, it is the dark intense tale of a girl born in a closed cult community, which I read in one sitting.

And I was delighted to find THE IT GIRL by Katy Birchall, also pub'd by Egmont, which  I've been itching to read.

Chelley Toy and me, taken by Sally AKA The Dark Dictator

Next Level Blogging featured another stellar panel of bloggers, namely:

Jim of YAYeahYeah and Teens on Moon Lane fame

Viv Dacosta from the venerable  Serendipity Reviews which is on the Guardian's Top Ten Book Bloggers list

Lucy Powrie teen blogger and creator of #ukyachat and Queen of Contemporary

Once again, Andy Robb led the questions...

So what defines a good blog?

Jim: "Enthusiasm"

Viv: "Being unique. Being specific to an author."

And how do you think of new content?

Viv gets her ideas first thing in the morning, whereas Jim bounces ideas off the blogger community. Lucy, however, likes lists, which she calls her "ideas bank".

What is your USP as a blogger?

Lucy: "Being personal. Always being yourself."

Viv: "As I writer myself, my posts often focus on the writing process. I'm a SCBWI member, and many of my readers want to know how to write, tips on the writing process..."

Jim: "Author interviews."

Does a blog full of 4 or 5* ratings look false?

Viv: "I detest the Goodreads rating system."

Jim: "I no longer write negative reviews to avoid being snarky."

Extra Tips?

• Tweet pictures
• Buy your own blog space - don't just use Blogspot (Oops!)
• Make guest posts specific - Viv says one of her most visited guest posts was Abi Elphinstone's The Art of Rejection
• Be constructive (this came up again and again)
• Write "mini-recs" - this fab advice came from Jim, if you don't have time to write full reviews
• Tweet at different time zones
• Use social media managers like Hootsuite to schedule your tweets

And finally?

What came across hugely from both workshops was the wonderful sense of community that bloggers enjoy, described as "hugely supportive" and "a second family". Each of the bloggers was so passionate about books, authors, reading, and promotion of all things bookish. As a newbie author I was thrilled to finally meet them in person, and delighted when Viv from Serendipity, Sally The Dark Dictator and Chelley Toy of Tales of Yesterday agreed to review my debut book THE ISLAND!