Save Christmas! Matt Haig comes to Abingdon

Given that there are still 44 days to Christmas (that's almost one-eighth of a year!) you might be forgiven for doing a double-take if you'd peeked inside the main hall at Our Lady's Abingdon this afternoon. Christmas jumpers, reindeer antlers, santa hats, and 350 children shouting 'Merry Christmas' at a man standing at the front of the room clutching a microphone, trying desperately to increase the readings on a Christmas 'Barometer of Hope'...

...but it was "snow mistake". On Thursday, Nov 10, children children, teachers, librarians and parent helpers from seven schools welcomed bestselling author Matt Haig to Abingdon, to talk about his book 'The Girl Who Saved Christmas'.

The event was raucous, very Christmassy, and definitely full of hope.

The book is the follow-up to 'A Boy Called Christmas', one of the hits of 2015, and the true story of the boy who would grow up to grant children's wishes around the world. 

The girl in question is Amelia, who seeks out Father Christmas to grant her a wish, but discovers Christmas in danger of being cancelled. Father Christmas has more than impossible wishes to worry about, including upset elves, troublesome trolls and reindeer dropping out of the sky. What can be done?

Matt is a remarkable author, and given that he was in the middle of an awesomely ambitious round-UK tour, full of energy and enthusiasm, as he pitched half the audience against the other in a game of 'Elves v Trolls'.

Matt's Christmas books are illustrated by Chris Mould (no stranger to Abingdon) and even though Chris wasn't able to attend, there was plenty of video of him showing how the illustrations make the book come to life, and how the look and feel of the characters - including a certain Charles Dickens, Queen Victoria and Soot her cat.

Children came from Thomas Reade, Thameside, St Edmunds, Rush Common and Dunmore Primary Schools, and their were pupils from both OLA Juniors and Seniors.

It was a triumph of organisation and hard work by all the schools involved, particularly by the host school, OLA. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

Particularly thanks to OLA librarian Barbara Hickford and her team - every child attending received a special Christmas snowman cookie - and year 7 pupils met the schools on arrival and showed them to their seats.

Matt signed books for children - and also books for the shop, so if you wanted a beautiful signed copy for 44 days time, please do call in. But while Matt signed away, we were able to ask him a few questions about his writing life. Take it away Matt...

Five questions with...Matt Haig's Writing Life

1.    What are you working on at the moment? 

I'm working on two things. Another novel for grown-ups (my first since 'The Humans') about someone who is 400 years old, and I'm about to start on my third 'Christmas' book!

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given? 

Write exactly the book you'd want to read. In the early days of my writing career, I guess I had a bit of 'stage fright', and tried to write something I thought other people might want to write.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best thing is that writing for children is very 'freeing' for a writer. Children may have a smaller vocabularly, but they have a much broader, wider imagination, which means you can go anywhere and take them with you. The worst? Being asked your age at school events!

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing of snack essential before you can start work? 

I can pretty much write anywhere, I'm a 'sit on the sofa with a laptop' kind of guy. Snacks? Well, peanut butter toast provides fuel!

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

I think last year (2015), when I published 'Reasons to Stay Alive' and 'A Boy Called Christmas'. After writing for twelve years, last year was definitely the year I felt I'd made it.

(Book blogger and great friend of Mostly Books Annabookbel came along to help - and she wrote her own blog about the event - take a look here!)

A silver tongue and a monster imagination: Paula Harrison, Robyn Silver and The Midnight Chimes

Paula gets the 'rock star' treatment from the children!

A girl who is born on the stroke of midnight and inherits the power to see what no-one else can see – that the world is full of monsters! – is the gripping premise behind Paula Harrison’s latest book, ‘Robyn Silver the Midnight Chimes’.

Paula Harrison visited Dunmore School and Rush Common School in Abingdon to talk about her book and the inspiration behind it. 

Robyn Silver come from a large family and is well-known for being clumsy – but sometimes she isn’t just making a mess sweeping cobwebs, she is actually fighting monsters - but no-one else in her family can see.

When Robyn’s school moves to a big spooky house in the town, Robyn teams up with two other friends from school, Aiden and Nora, also born on the stroke of midnight and realises she is not alone in seeing all sorts of invisible creatures.

A horrifying 'Blug' was just one of many extremely
scary monsters hatched by the children!

They team together to learn fighting skills in secret, but the biggest threat comes not from an invisible monster, but from a monster who has learned to become visible.

Paula said her favourite part of writing the book was dreaming up the monsters and these are brilliantly brought to life by illustrator Renée Kurilla, who also did the compelling bold jacket.

Paula is a good friend of Mostly Books, having visited the shop for the launch of her mega-selling Rescue Princess series, and also involved in the Nosy Crow takeover of the shop back in 2013.

The children at both Abingdon schools enthusiastically joined in creating their own monsters, giving them everything from superpowers to stilettos and inventing mixed-up monsters that would give everyone a scare if they found one hiding under the bed.

The second in the Robyn Silver series is due next year and is perfect for young fantasy readers.

Paula Harrison is best known for the Rescue Princess series for younger readers, as well as the Red Moon Rising series (about an ordinary girl who discovers she has faerie powers) but said she had always wanted to write a book about monsters.

But where in Paula's brain do these monsters come from. We thought we'd better ask a few more questions...

Five questions with...Paula Harrison's Writing Life

1. What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on the next Robyn Silver story, a yet untitled, which will be out in June, and I am working on another series for younger readers which is based on the idea of the Prince and the Pauper where two girls look identical but are from very different backgrounds. They get involved in lots of mysteries.

2. What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?
Just do your own thing.

3. What is the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?
The best thing is you can make anything into a story. The worst thing is too many ideas and too little time.

4. Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, snack or other essential thing you need before you start work?
I have certain music I play that matches the mood of the characters and I play that beforehand. Then I sit down at 8.30 and work until lunch and then go for a walk and then work until the children return from school. I do tend to stride around the room trying to solve a problem, so it probably does not look very productive.

5. What was your biggest breakthrough?
Having my first rescue princess book picked up off the slush pile by Nosy Crow!

Thank you so much to Paula for travelling to Abingdon, and to both schools for making her so welcome. We've have some fantastic reviews already in the shop from children who've read 'The Midnight Chimes', so if you want to discover more about Paul and her other books, we'd love to see you!

Top Secrets Event? Five questions with HL Dennis and The Secret Breakers

Cracking codes and uncovering secret messages was top Friday afternoon fun, and the culmination of a week-long celebration of reading at Our Lady's Abingdon. Pupils from visiting Dunmore School joined OLA pupils to solve fiendish puzzles from author Helen Dennis, and see if they were able to join the elite group of Secret Breakers.

The Secret Breakers are a series of exciting, code-filled adventure stories, and HL Dennis used some of the codes and cryptic puzzles found in the books to set challenges to the eager young audience.

The books - inspired by the real secret breakers of Bletchley Park - involve a group of school children who attempt to unravel real-life secrets and genuine unbroken codes, often in great danger.

Helen was a junior school teacher, storyteller - and even worked in a bookshop - on her way to becoming a bestselling author. She is also a fabulous speaker (in fact, if you ever have an opportunity to see Helen talk, or come to your school - definitely take it!).

At the heart of her talk is the code-breaking experience, and Helen brought along plenty of real-life cyphers to break. At stake was a place on 'Team Veritas' and a chance to work on codes that have resisted decyphering for generations...

It was a great deal of fun - and extra special given that we had permission from the publisher to have book four at the event (Helen hadn't yet had her copy!).

Huge thanks to Helen for a 'top' secrets event - with her journey from teacher to author (via failed international horse jumper - she kept falling off the horse apparently), we were intrigued to find out what makes HL Dennis tick writing-wise, and asked our usual questions...

Five questions with . . . HL Dennis's writing life

1.    What are you working on at the moment?

I’m working on a new project – top secret I’m afraid, I can't talk about it (we pushed) no, no clues!

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

A lot of people tell you to ‘write what you know’, but if there is anything you don't know, you can find out about it. This advice helped me to become much less daunted by a subject, and gives me the confidence to write about a subject. If you get stuck into research, learn about a subject, that gives you as much right as anyone else to write about it.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best thing is that children tell you exactly what they think, they don’t hold back, whereas adults might attenuate what they say. If they like the book, they'll get passionate and enthusiastic, and I love that immediate response. But that's also the worst thing – if a child doesn’t like your book, they won't hold back either!

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing or snack essential before you can start work?

Not really. I had to get used to write anywhere, because initially I wrote when teaching (well, not at the same time as teaching of course, but you know what I mean - I had to take the opportunity to write wherever). But what I really need is QUIET. Not absolute silence, but quiet. Aside from that, I can write anywhere and on anything – but I do need quiet.

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

A met another author, Andrew Norris, who was very inspirational. He came to the school to do an event. It wasn't that he said anything revolutionary, but he put it simply and powerfully: "if you want to do it [writing], get on with it". It was the first time I felt it was possible for me to become a writer.

Of Best Friends and Favourite Cheese: Susie Day and the 'Life of Pea'

Author's get asked the best questions when they visit primary schools. Once you push past the common questions of 'Where do you get your ideas' and 'Who was your favourite author' you tend to get less obvious questions.

Questions such as 'what would you have done if you hadn't been a children's writer?' or even 'what's your favourite cheese?'

Susie Day - author of 'Peas Book of Best Friends' - handled these and other questions brilliantly talking to pupils from Dunmore Primary School and Carswell Community School.

Susie took the children on her journey to becoming a writer, starting with her desire to be a children's character (Lucy from Narnia, a Moomin, etc.) through to her hopelessly romantic idea of what a writer was (quill pen, castle, etc.) before explaining the reality of writing (scribbled notes in between changing nappies, sorting post and being a tour guide).

For those budding writers in the audience (and there were plenty more I suspect once Susie had finished) she took them through the basics of character, setting and plot - before getting children to guess what was in the box as a way of getting ideas to start telling a story.

There was audience participation too: volunteers were asked out the front to tell the story of Pea, her Mum and two sisters. She confessed that the idea for Peas Book of Best Friends was sown by thinking about JK Rowling, and in particular what it must have been like for her eldest daughter suddenly finding herself with a very famous writer Mum...

The children at both schools had prepared brilliantly, and were a hugely attentive and engaged audience.

(What was particularly thrilling to discover was that Dunmore has a Friday afternoon writing activity called "Write Here, Write Now" in which children are encouraged to do free writing for 30 minutes. It's a great initiative - and we could definitely spot a few budding authors in the queue to meet Susie after the event.)

A huge thank you to both schools for being such wonderful hosts, to the children for giving Susie such a warm and enthusiastic welcome - and of course to Susie for revealing so much about her writing journey and giving such an inspirational and entertaining talk.

As always - we made sure Susie gave a little more insight into the writing process, and we asked her five little questions...

Five questions with...Susie Day's Writing Life

1. What are you working on at the moment?

I am currently writing Peas Book of Birthdays. It's due on July, so I have until the end of January to finish it!

2. What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given?

"Writing is re-writing" - lots of people have said this, not sure who said it originally though! But it's great advice.

3. What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best is getting to work in your PJs (not sure you should write that) - and of course going to schools, meeting your readers - which is a joy. The worst is when the writing is going really badly, you have no ideas in your head, and you think 'I can't do this'. This happens a lot during the writing process incidentally!

4. Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing of snack essential before you can start work?

Tea! And lots of it! In my big special mug. And Ceylon tea if possible (you get the idea!)

5. What was your biggest breakthrough?

It was when I won a competition, the BBC Talent Children's Writer's Prize 2004. This was the first time I had shown my writing to anyone, and also the first time I had told people in my family I was writer. Everything flowed from there.