On Writing

Many writers start off in one genre and then change to another. Or write in several genres, but not too many go from writing science for children and teacher resources to writing fantasy/science fiction books. I asked Royce to explain how this radical change took place.

‘I changed from writing science for children and teacher resources to fantasy, because I felt I had stories in my mind that wanted to be told. I am firmly of the belief that stories control the writer and not the other way around. A story teller is someone who can’t help him/herself, he/she has to tell stories.

Our whole lives are bathed in stories and it is the story teller who can take these and create a coherent whole, so someone else can read them. If you are a story teller, you have to tell stories, whether it be as a book, or orally, you simply can’t help yourself.

I have always been a story teller. My writing of non-fiction was like an apprenticeship in writing. In was during those years that I learned my craft. Even though at that time I was making good money with my science books and I was travelling the country free of charge (paid by the publishers) I felt dissatisfied.

I eventually cancelled my contracts, because I didn’t want money to be the motivation for me to write; besides I loved being a teacher. There were other reasons as well.

I began to write fiction, with no hope or plans for publishing, I just loved the joy of writing, creating and sharing with my own children. I now had no deadline pressures, no editors to worry about; I could get lost in my own world and enjoy it.

I am now back to that position and I am loving it. I am free to write what I want, when I want and even to stop writing for a while, so I can get immersed in another interest. I am currently making bamboo flutes and the act of making these is inspiring me to write a fantasy story about an apprentice bamboo flute maker.

I have one book to finish, “The Hunter.” It’s a sequel to “The Knights of Katesch.” Once it is completed and my children have a copy I will begin “The Flute Maker.” ‘

Royce Bond

Follow the blog tour by selecting the link below. Each day you will learn a little more about this exciting book and its unique author.

http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com/blog-tour-the-summoning-of-the-one.html

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL ORDERS:

Dennis Jones and Associates – http://dennisjones.com.au

James Bennett library suppliers

Peter Pal library suppliers

http://www.morrispublishingaustralia.com

eBook available on Amazon, Smashwords and many online stores.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Rockhampton resident, Royce Bond, published his first book, Kitchen Science, with Ashton Scholastic after he won the prestigious National B.H.P. /C.S.I.R.O. Science Teacher’s Award. This book was used in schools throughout Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, and in some schools in South America. Many books in the science field followed.

Since his retirement, he has changed his writing to young adult fantasy novels. The Princess and The Pirate, the first in the series The Knights of Katesch was published by Morris Publishing Australia in 2013.

Royce is available for school visits. Please phone Elaine on 07 54 981 332 or email info@morrispublishingaustralia.com

Today I have great pleasure in hosting two lovely young ladies on my blog. Tottie and Dot.

These delightful young ladies were created by the lovely Tania McCartney and the brilliant illustrator, Tina Snerling. Congratulations to them both.

To tell you a little about the process of bringing these young ladies into our homes, we welcome also the publisher’s editor who was clever enough to select this book.

A Publisher’s Picture Book Perspective

I would be the first person to admit that my job is not brain surgery. I am not saving lives. However, I like to think that creating picture books is a job that improves lives. Every time I see a child open a picture book (any book, not necessarily one I’ve worked on), and watch as their face lights up, I realise once again the importance of books. Which means that when I spend hours fretting over the tiniest details, I can reassure myself that I’m not wasting my time. It all matters. Take Tottie and Dot for example.

This gorgeous explosion of happiness was created by two incredibly talented people. Author Tania McCartney has the gift of making little girls’ dreams come true, while illustrator Tina Snerling has a knack for turning words into visual magic. As you can imagine, that combination of talent and passion meant we had several ‘key’ issues to resolve in the book. Here are just three!

1. The great font debate.

The original ‘T’ in ‘Tottie’ had a curvaceous kick at the end. The only problem was that at first glance it might have been difficult to read for some — a major consideration for possible foreign rights sales, where English isn’t the first language and alphabets can differ. We didn’t want ‘Tottie’ becoming ‘Jottie’! So a more refined, pared-back ‘T’ appeared.

2. The mystery of the missing bird

Each girl in Tottie and Dot has a cat. And each cat appears on every spread. Similarly, each girl is always accompanied — somewhere — by a little bird. Except for when we lost one … Tina knew she’d put it in, but at one point in the process we just couldn’t find it. We really couldn’t. Eventually I enlisted the help of my six-year-old daughter, who found it in a flash. Crisis over.

3. Numbering houses

Originally, Tottie lived at number 35 and Dot lived at number 36. They were neighbours. But then, one day, driving home I realised that that’s not how we number houses. It’s odds on one side of the street; evens on the other. So Tottie and Dot changed addresses. Tottie now lives at number 36 and Dot lives at number 38.

I won’t even go into how we agonised over how the foam should look on the wave page, or how many frogs should be in the frog pond, or whether we needed another splash of pistachio on a Dot page or mauve on a Tottie page … Suffice to say, we fretted over it all, but we hope the end result brings a smile to your child’s face (and yours too!).

 Select the Blog Blast logo to find out where you can get more fun facts and information on this wonderful book.