Here is an interview I wrote for GatheringBooks 

Thank you so much for featuring me in your fantasy reading theme issue, Myra.

- What was the inspiration behind Princess Petunia's Dragon?

I started writing ‘Princess Petunia’s Dragon’ as a picture book because I love the format. The story was about a child who wanted a difficult pet, a dragon - who finally came into his own when the weather suddenly turned cold. Each time I did a draft I found myself developing the plot, until it ended up at 7,000 words for a reading age of six to nine. I don’t make many conscious choices as I write, rather my imagination makes demands on me.

- Princess Petunia strikes me as a feisty, determined, self-possessed girl who works for things that she wants. Was she a bit like you when you were younger?

Like you say, Petunia is a feisty little girl and is probably the child I’d have liked to have been. Writing about a quirky, determined child is exciting, especially when she starts shouting back! I love the randomness of writing fiction.

- Tell us about BBB and gobstoppers and cobwebs. Clearly they are important elements in this story.

There are elements in the story of Petunia – such as the gobstoppers – which grew out of the drafting process. Gobstoppers are a mainstay of strip cartoons in the UK and even saying the word outloud makes me smile. Freddy keeps one safe under a flap on his ear. I was teased as a kid because I have a dent in one ear too. These ideas jump up out of my tombola brain when I’m half asleep. (I'll just add that BBB is the big bottom in brown trousers, aka big brown bottom, belonging to the gobstopper trader, Gordon. Just having a bit of fun!)

- You worked as an editor. Tell us a little more about that.

My first job after leaving university with a degree in French and Spanish and a year’s teaching abroad was (obviously!) not teaching or translating. It was at a children’s publishing firm doing everything from typing invoices to packing books. All good experience, despite the chilblains and the blisters. As I worked my way up in different companies, I collaborated with designers, illustrators, authors and other editors, and it was great fun. The editor’s name was never put on the book, but an author might compliment me with a ‘you do it, you’re the expert’. I also worked as a freelance editor in non-fiction – a calmer job, but rather lonely.   

-You also worked as a language teacher. What are some of the insights that you have gained in your teaching that helped you become a better writer?

With language tuition, I showed my pupils how to view the world. Each language has its own mindset, rather like a character’s viewpoint in a novel. As well as speaking languages, I’ve always loved drafting translations over and over again until I’ve done my very best.

What led you down the path of becoming a children's book author?

Why do I love children’s books? Well, in the beginning there was an imaginary friend and I told her stories. And then I told stories to my little sister, who was not imaginary. Later, my daughter had two imaginary friends at once – oh dear, such competition! I also grew up surrounded by fabulous books and parents who loved reading out loud and often quoted our favourite characters. The rhythm and sound of the text is magical to me. 

When did I start writing fiction? When a very feisty friend decided that I should provide her with a taxi service to a writers’ group. Shades of Petunia in the making.

- You are an active member of SCBWI. How do organisations like this help aspiring authors and artists?

Although a writer is somewhat of an ‘outsider’, being an insider of a supportive organisation like the SCBWI is fun. It doesn’t matter if you have to move to a new country, you can still find great people for mutual feedback and moral support. And get involved in activities such as workshops and retreats.  

- What are some of the best fantasy stories you read as a child, and to your own children?

For me, fantasy is inherent to all stories. It’s the author’s imagination which introduces the reader to characters who can do things the child would love to do, or at least witness. Paddington Bear, Little Mrs Pepperpot, Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland are the stories that took root in my imagination. Later I read Tom’s Midnight Garden where fantasy plays a role in a realistic setting. And I should add that humour is the thing I remember most about the stories I read as a kid. My children were lucky enough to grow up as the Harry Potter series was being published.

-What do you think is the role of fantasy in children's literature and its impact on children?

All good stories are stuffed full of imaginative writing that allows a child to relax, dream, and create their own world. I wasn’t asked to discuss the fiction I read in primary school - I would just slip into a book and puzzle things out, or not, owning my reading of the story in my head. I don’t know how fantasy affects children other than the fact that young readers will naturally pick books containing the type of emotion or action they find most intriguing and satisfying. Allowing them to own this space for personal pleasure is so important.

- What should we look forward to from you in the coming months?

As for me, I am working on an adventure for nine to twelve year-olds, set in the tropics. The characters find their inner mojo in a believable setting, though an enhanced version of reality is obviously integral to my fiction. There are other similar stories in the pipeline. There may be more stories about Petunia and Freddy, so please watch this space.

I am excited to be giving a talk at the AFCC in June 2015. I will be doing more school and library visits as I love sharing ideas directly with my readers. My next trip is to Mumbai at the end of April!
Please see my Facebook page for updates

Emma Nicholson Children’s Book Author More options

To Mona or not to Mona - and the 'Exhib-iPad '

I've seen two exhibitions on Leonardo da Vinci - both taught me a great deal about the man. And both were thought-provoking, in different ways.

Exhibition Number One: Singapore's Art Science Museum 

(an amazing building in the shape of a hand) hosts the Da Vinci exhibition, described as:

'Presenting original masterpieces by da Vinci for the first time in Southeast Asia, the exhibition focuses on the Codex Atlanticus, da Vinci’s largest notebook.'
Some of these notebook pages are on view, in low lighting, at the end of the exhibition. Now here's a spoiler, so if necessary please look away - Leonardo wrote backwards in mirror writing, for the most part. I can read backwards handwriting in English, but in 16th century Italian? That's a challenge.

Never mind...  There are activities to test your science and engineering skills. And there are panels and models describing da Vinci's work in all areas, including music which I didn't know about. And three contemporary artists' work is on display, showing how they were inspired by the great man.  All well and good. I was better informed about da Vinci, his theories, his practice and his life, than I had been. Thank you, Art Science Museum. 

However, I was disappointed that there are only a handful of real paintings to gaze at, and these are from the School of da Vinci. If you pay to enter a Museum exhibition, is it unreasonable to expect see an appreciable amount of the artist's or others' work? And to make up your own mind about his skill, with a little help from the curator? I was confused and frustrated by the notebook pages which are hard to read because of the low lighting and the mirror-writing, even though I could admire the sketches and pen-work.

So here's my suggestion: Maybe some of the pages could have been transcribed (typed) and translated? Some visitors may need help in understanding the theories behind the work, and enjoy the interactive displays which are fun and educational. But others are used to using our own powers of observation. We just want to see what's displayed - properly.

And so to Exhibition Number Two in the Arts House (the former Parliament Building, a gorgeous Palladian number) which hosts an exhibition entitled 'The Earlier Mona Lisa' described as: '650 square metre, tablet-led, interactive audiovisual exhibition'

Here's the story: there is evidence that Leonardo painted more than one portrait of 'La Gioconda'. An earlier version was known to exist and was 'rediscovered' in 1913 in Bath, England by art curator, Mr Blaker, and has been authenticated by many scholars. First you are shown the 'evidence' from Vasari's Lives of the Artists, and other witnesses, to build the case for the defence. Then you are taken through the painting's many homes and journeys after Mr Blaker unearths it. 

Next comes the technique, showing how Leonardo's artistic methods have been examined over the centuries, to add more evidence.

(Leonardo's advice on preparing a canvas - fascinating!)

Finally, you can see one piece of original artwork: the Earlier Mona Lisa itself. It is hung in the Parliament Chamber, in the spot where the Speaker would have presided.

(The stately Parliament Chamber - Prime Minister LKY sat on the left)

But here's the crunch: the way you have to experience this exhibition, which consists almost exclusively of wall panels, is through a tablet computer. This tells you everything you need to know about the history of 'the Earlier Mona' and how it's seen by today's academics.  The tablet gives you a commentary, from two to fourteen minutes per section, a total of over an hour I'd reckon. And it is not just an audio commentary, it's a documentary, and you need to watch the screen because the wall panels don't tell you very much at all.

I'm entering a new world here - the world of the iPad exhibition. The documentary film on the tablet was excellent, yes, really excellent. And I would have loved to have watched it in one fell swoop at home or in a cinema. But sitting on the floor of the Arts House because chairs are scarce? Hmmm.

At the end of the exhibition, you reach the Parliament Chamber where the real portrait is on display. I sat in former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew's chair to gaze at it, and recapped the some sections of the documentary on the tablet  - how Mr Blaker came across the masterpiece; and how to evaluate Leonardo's techniques and magical use of geometry.

Again, I learned a fair bit about Da Vinci. And I enjoyed examining the real 'Earlier Mona' because it's so much easier on the eye than the Louvre version - she has a much more pleasant demeanour. 

But here are my suggestions: if you can't afford to transport any artefacts or artworks to mount your exhibition, why not make it truly interactive with actors and artists reenacting scenes and techniques, with replica scenes, blow-ups of newspaper evidence that we can read properly, fabrics and paints and canvases that we can touch and smell, areas where kids can get messy with crayons, crawl over canvases and play with Florentine costumes? I for one would love to try my hand at left-handed brush-strokes (he was left-handed), copying the embroidery on her dress, or exploring 'sfumato'.  

There were plenty of reenacted scenes in the documentary film from the Renaissance and from when Mr Blaker goes to Somerset to examine the masterpiece which a no-longer-so-wealthy family was anxious to sell. There was even footage of WW1 trenches to evoke the period during which the masterpiece was sent overseas to Boston for safekeeping. 

(There you are - I did take in a lot of information from the video!)  

These scenes must have cost a fair amount to stage. However, with a little more ingenuity, the curators could have taken up the challenge. They could have employed actors and artists to give kids and adults a real chance to experience Leonardo's skills. And this in turn would help some of the artists working in this city state, here and now. 

And finally, could someone invent a new word - an 'exhibiPad', perhaps - to encapsulate the experience of the tablet 'exhibition'?  Singaporeans are masters at making up words, so please find a term for this type of experience. Is it an exhibition when it doesn't have an appreciable number of exhibits? You can decide.

Feeling wobbly

Here's an image I never thought I'd have to compose - a pile of marshmallows on a merry-go-round. 

(Please note: No marshmallows were mistreated during this photo-session, except for the two I ate!)

It's a line in Princess Petunia's Dragon, where Petunia is feeling all kind of wobbly when she realises the problems she will face trying to smuggle her new pet dragon into the Castle. (And avoiding the thirty three soldiers, twenty two maids, twelve bowmen, ten buglers, five cooks, two jesters, a jailer, and the King and Queen of course.)

My dear friend, Sophia, who lives in New York, recently told her Mum that she was feeling out of sorts - 'just like a pile of marshmallows on a merry-go-round, in fact'. 

Thank you, Sophia! I do hope the feeling disappeared quickly.
   

And feeling wobbly is familiar to me even now, especially when I get up after a long session of typing, my head still in the clouds of my character's story.

Finally, here's an article that I read out in my weekly news-reading session at the SAVH (for the Visually Handicapped). More wobbly fun....

Story Hat

Trying on a heavy Chinese Opera Hat may not be that comfortable, but two visits in one weekend to see Susanna Goho Quek has got to be one of the best weekend treats I've had.  

Her antique shop in Lot 10, in the Golden Triangle area of Kuala Lumpur, is a real haven, cushioned from the big city by stunning antique furniture from China, and her own vibrant paintings. 

I could have spent all day listening to tales of her family who performed Chinese Opera. Or of her trips to China to buy all manner of antiques, such as tiger rugs, beds, window shutters and cabinets. Or of her collection of embroidered slippers for bound feet, a passion that dates back to seeing her own Grandmother's slippers. 

But Susanna is much more than an antique dealer. She is an artist and children's writer and illustrator. Her third picture book, 'Fun at the Opera', was published earlier this year. The story tells of the children's growing excitement as their older brother prepares for his new Opera show. First they help by scrubbing the car clean for the big occasion; then once they arrive at the Opera Theatre, they can't contain themselves, and sneak off backstage to try on the costumes and make-up. Finally back in their seats, they watch Ah Kor make his grand, dramatic entrance to the clamour of drums and cymbals. Back home, tired and happy, Por Por (Granny) sings them a soft lullaby. 


The text is printed in English and Mandarin, and translations are available in Malay and French, while I'm currently making a Spanish version. 




To quote David Seow, writer and children's picture book author:

"Fun at the Opera is like a song in itself. The delicious illustrations enhance the perfect prose of this magical story. Goho-Quek brings the enchanted world of Chinese Opera alive and leaves you wanting more."

Along with writing and illustrating picture books and a collection of poetry for children, Susanna gives art classes, and has run her impART courses, training teenage refugees in Kuala Lumpur to become art teachers, thus giving them an invaluable skill. 


Susanna is constantly innovating - using vibrant acrylics and appliqué, and even making jewellery. I was thrilled to find she had some arm bands and necklaces for sale, using beaded cloth from a baby-carrier and her own choice of beads sewn on top. 




Her shop is House of Suzie Wong

HOUSE OF SUZIE WONG  P9, Fourth Floor, Lot 10 Shopping Centre, 50 Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03 - 2141 0482

Below are some fabulous, zinging examples of Susanna's work