The Back Page DownLoad Wacky Facts and Brain Teasers The official newsletter of the Fletcher Tuatara Club January 2006 is a t? Welcome. The launch of the Fletcher at lgis Wh nto aeo Tuatara Club on December 1st was a pal Bo great success. With his characteristic b ok e s u humour radio DJ Mike Baird introduced c so s io p e t u re o the club to all the children and parents w s t - er he Th ch e o y er who attended. Plus they got to shake a f a e in te ‘ch is Did you know e n l a sti the hand (or was it foot) of Fletcher d ibr in ll u ar that the moon p . H y’ Tuatara, our founding member. Everyone er in C efo is 384,400 at rd had a great time and 33 children joined E he ngl dr kilometres a al, our new club on the day. nd away. What’s it all about? Fletcher Tuatara Club Can there be such a Become a member – get ‘The Card’. thing as the largest Share the LowDown on your latest number? If so what is reads by joining our cool book club, meet it—if not why not? some awesome New Zealand authors and The word DINOSAUR literally take part in creative writing workshops, means ‘ TERRIBLE LIZARD ’. Plus there’s a themed monthly event, discounts on selected Library items and events, related merchandise and much, much more. Come to the library or visit our website www.rotorualibrary.govt.nz Dinosaurs first for details on how to join. Free member- inhabited earth ship for all children aged 5 - 11 years, about 225 million who have a current library card. Amazing!! There is a meteor years ago and the crater , in Arizona that was last dinosaurs died INSIDE THIS ISSUE: An Interview with David Hill created about 49,000 years out some 65 million Book Reviews ago by a meteor colliding years ago. Brilliant new books just arrived @ your Library with earth. The crater is 150 Highly recommended Talking Books feet wide. Lit Quiz challenge - stir up those brain cells What’s Around The Corner The Back Page: Wacky Facts & Brain Teasers An Interview with DAVID Hill What’s Around The Corner What’s the best thing about being a writer? Making things. Maurice Gee [another brilliant New Zealand children’s author] once talked about the realisation, after getting up from your chair at the end of a morning's work, that you have made something that never existed before . When did you decide that you wanted to be a writer? I wrote a lot during my primary school years and was always aware of a vague ambi- tion to become a writer. It was during the early years as a high school teacher that WOW!!! The Captain Reading Logs are zooming in at the speed of light. The this vague ambition edged closer to becoming a reality. total of reading hours stands at an amazing 1800 hours. If you have read 8 Do you write everyday and is there a pattern to your writing day? hours or more you will soon receive an invitation to the Grand Finale to I do write everyday (or almost everyday) Monday to Friday with a little bit in the receive your free book and goodies bag. But…..keep reading as we only have weekends. I find I suffer withdrawal symptoms if I don’t! I write usually from 8am to about 1.30pm and then some in the afternoon. until the 21st January to bring Fletcher back to earth, he’s still out there somewhere. I understand you don’t use the computer to write but still use long hand. Does this help in the writing process? Fletcher Tuatara Club ––– Book Club I find there is nothing like the movement of the pen across paper to make ideas come. Also, I find it much easier to dart about the page making changes using pen For children aged 9 to 12 years and paper and it enables me to leave in multiple versions of words which I can then First gathering: Wednesday 18 th January @ 4.00pm revisit and select from later. Next meeting: Wednesday 15th February @ 4.00pm Do you listen to music while you write? If so what? Then Book Club will meet on the third Wednesday of every month No, but I do talk to myself during the writing process – mutterings, usually in the @ 4.00pm. form of expletives, exhortations, or cheers, expressing how my writing is progress- ing. Venue: Children’s Department in the library Does a little bit of your own personal history settle in your books or do you write An Interview with Janeen Brian about events, problems etc that happen to others? A mixture really based on what is happening. I think it is inevitable, as when writing you are constantly thinking about what a character would do in a certain situation In next month’s copy of DownLoad check out the interview with Janeen and the character I know best is me. Particularly since many of the main characters Brian. Janeen is an Australian children’s author who is currently living in in my books are boys and the boy I knew best was me. Rotorua. She has had 62 children’s books published todate. To what extent has your teaching experience influenced your writing? A LOT. As a high school teacher I observed events, kids, tone of voice and behav- iours. Getting the tone, the cadence right is important to make the characters realis- tic/ acceptable to the audience. The Rotorua Public Library would like to Do you re-write as you go or do you revisit your work at a certain point? thank The Friends of the Library for their With novels I write a chapter a day and re-read this first thing the next morning to commitment and generous sponsorship of remind myself of events etc and to make a few quick changes at this stage. Once the the Fletcher Tuatara Club. Their support has first draft of the novel is complete I do MANY edits, and A LOT of changes then I made this very exciting and dynamic pro- will do a more thorough edit which is often followed by a few more changes. I'm an gramme possible. endless self-editor. Challenge those brain cells and CHECK OUT YOUR LIT SKILLS Why do you write for children and teens and do you find one of these audiences more challenging to write for? No I don’t, though I agree with Brent Southgate, past 1. In Deltora Quest One: The Forests of Silence , what was in the centre of the editor of the School Journal, that writing for 5 year olds is very difficult as each word circle protected by the knight? must be right. Each word must hold enough meaning yet not be too challenging for the child’s vocabulary. 2. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , Susan was attacked at the Stone Table by what sort of creature? A number of your books, for example See Ya Simon , Cold Comfort and Running Hot 3. Who wrote the classic The Secret Garden? are appreciated by children aged 11 to late teens. Do you have an age group in mind before you start writing or is the final readership defined during the books creation? 4. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , which one of the following was No I don’t think of this when writing – it just happens not a creature the Queen called to battle: the Cruels, the Hags, the Spectres or the Trolls? Do you test your manuscripts out on children before submitting them for publica- tion? 5. In Deltora Quest One: The Lake of Tears from what does the topaz I didn’t as a teacher but I do now. Every manuscript I write I give to teenagers to protect its wearer? read (and I pay them) to comment on. They are great at guiding and directing in 6. What sort of creature was Maugrim in The Lion, the Witch and the terms of cutting down blunders and endorsing strengths. I ask them to put a tick Wardrobe ? along anything they think is right, a cross besides what they consider to be boring or wrong in some way and a question mark if they don’t understand something. Most 7.Who wrote the series in which the main character is a young boy called important is that the characters are convincing. It is great when I get comments from Charlie Bone? these teenagers about how they perceive particular characters almost as if they were real. 8. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , what item does Alsan insist the Queen leave behind if they are to meet? Do the complex themes that your books often address – self discovery, responsibil- 9.In Deltora Quest One: The City of Rats, what was unusual about muddlets? ity, death, and illness, emerge as the characters evolve or do you begin writing with an issue in mind? 10. What is the current name of the award given to New Zealand authors I usually start off with a setting or a group of people that interest me. Working and illustrators of children’s books that was once known as the Aim Book through certain concepts creates ideas for relationships and events. I discover a lot as Awards? I write and put a lot of these discoveries into my books.