Elizabeth Honey Archives · Neridah McMullin

Interview with Nadine Cranenburgh, Children’s Writer

Posted on February 27, 2014April 16, 2019 by Neridah

Nadine and I first met last year as mentees of the 2013 Maurice Saxby Mentorship. We had a ball together and are now firm writing buddies.

Nadine is a versatile and talented author, writing picture books, middle fiction and Junior Fiction through to YA and her current, awesome project: a hybrid Graphic Novel. She has been widely published in the Herald Sun, Magpies Magazine, Comet Magazine, Alphabet Soup and Ladybug Magazine in the U.S. Nadine’s work is clever and funny and sometimes downright scary! She also lectures in Children’s and Adult Writing at the University of Ballarat.

When Nadine’s not writing, she’s often seen out and about with her trusty camera, gathering stories in a different way. She takes the most beautiful and intriguing images. She didn’t take this one below though, her friend Ambrose took it while she was taking a picture through a water glass. I told you she was creative!

Thanks for coming on to my blog today, Nadine. How are things in sunny Ballarat?

Beautiful today! A little chilly, but I’m never complaining about the cold again after this blazing summer.

I agree, it was far too hot.

Now, I’ve got a few questions for you…just hang on a tick and I’ll get myself organised. Okay, Nadine tell me…

When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

I grew up in a house full of books, and my Mum was an English teacher, so I guess I’ve always been making up stories and dreaming about seeing them in print. I entered my first writing competition when I was five and scored runner up. I still have the prize (but not the story). It was good though, lots of small animals, mess and all kinds of trouble!

That’s so cool.

Do you have a writing background?

I got a bit sidetracked after leaving school. I applied for a journalism course but spent too long on the question about why I wanted to be a journalist and didn’t leave time to do the test! My second choice was Engineering (I was a big fan of McGyver) so I went with that. After uni I joined the Navy and did lots of other exciting things involving sailing and mountains before settling down to have a family. That’s when I decided to buckle down and make writing my career. I enrolled in the Professional Writing and Editing course at RMIT and haven’t looked back.

I loved McGyver too, he was very resourceful (and good looking)

Could you tell us about some of your publications?

It’s funny, but although I’ve always written and entered competitions, I only really thought about sending my work out to publishers when I started studying at RMIT. The first thing I sent out was a short story about dating (which was a bit of an anti-romance, really) and it was published online for the princely sum of $45.

I’ve also had a couple of short stories for kids published in Alphabet Soup and Comet magazines and articles in the Herald Sun, Magpies and Victorian Writer. I’m also very excited to have a poem and short story in the new Charms trilogy which is a joint venture project pulled together by the lovely Sally Odgers. Charms draws together work by many writers into a three part fantasy novel about a magical story-telling crock that a group of five children discover in a house their parents are trying to turn into a boutique hotel. The best part is that each book in the trilogy is aimed at a different age groups: the first is for lower to middle primary, the second middle to upper primary, and the third young teens (it’s a bit darker).

I’ve been lucky enough to have proof read Nadine’s ‘Charm story’ and awesomely spine tingling…

Where do your ideas come from?

That’s a good question… I daydream whenever I can (and sometimes when I shouldn’t, like when I should be making tea, or working) and things kind of mush together in my brain and make interesting questions. Like ‘what if a barbeque was REALLY carried away by flies’ or ‘what happened to poor Puff the magic dragon after Jackie Paper grew up?’. I think we all have amazing ideas, and the trick is catching them and turning them into stories before they escape. I always carry a notebook.

Me too. It’s a good idea.

What do you like to read?

I have two little kids, and really enjoy reading picture books with them (and by myself). When Sally Rippin was my teacher, she really opened my eyes to what an incredible medium they are, and that it is fine to be ‘grown up’ and still love them. I’m also a big fan of young adult books, I’m proud to say I enjoy them more than most adult fiction (although I loved The Rosie Project). At the moment, I’m half way through Randa Abdel-Fattah’s Where the Streets had a Name. It’s awesome. Also the kind of graphic novels that don’t have super heroes in them (there are lots!)

Nadine storytelling at Literature Alive last year as part of the Maurice Saxby Mentorship. That’s Kevin Burgemeestre holding her story up. Good on you Kev!

When and where are you most inspired to write?

Not enough! It’s really hard to find the time between kids and all the other distractions in my life. I find I get really inspired after being around other writers and talking about their stories and ideas, so I try to get out to book launches and festivals when I can.

I wholeheartedly agree.

As to where – somewhere far away from my very distracting house, and near a window. Don’t ask me why!

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve been working on a project that is part graphic novel, part novel, and part carwash with all the trimmings (that last bit isn’t true). I’ve been at it for a few years (in between poetry and picture book manuscripts) and have just finished a very rough first draft, which is exciting. I’m calling it a hybrid graphic novel, because that sounds cool.

It sure does.

It’s called ‘Dark Room: Do Not Enter’, and is the story of 15-year-old artist Matti Maguire, who goes to her mother’s abandoned photographic dark room to draw and remember. When she realises remembering isn’t enough, she sets out to solve the mystery of the accident that sent her mother to a nursing home nine years ago.

Wow. I want to read this…

If that sounds too deep, it also has a Star Wars re-enactment involving paper planes and a dance inspired by Cocoa Pops. And a really enigmatic black cat.

Now I’m sold.

I’m not illustrating (although I may do some photo collage for part of it), so the graphic bits are written like film scripts.

It sounds thoroughly original and unique. Congratulations.

What is it about the graphic novel genre that fascinates you so much?

Like picture books, graphic novels have infinite scope for telling stories, and I love their filmic qualities. Bruce Mutard has said that he makes films on paper and Nicki Greenberg’s version of Hamlet was ‘staged on the page.’

Unlike film, you can include things that would be extremely expensive or impractical to shoot, you can ponder over the frames and pick up the fine detail, and you can carry them on the train with you and flick through their pages (and go back to check the things you’ve missed).

I love the breadth of graphic novels coming from Australian creators – from the very personal and Melbourne-centred work of Mandy Orr, to Shaun Tan’s amazing The Arrival. They can take years to create, and I guess that’s why I’m looking at a hybrid format. To make things easier for my illustrator!

Do you think that Graphic Novels are a medium in which ‘darker’ stories can be told?

That’s a really interesting question. I guess you can tell dark stories in any medium, but (thinking on my feet here) I guess the pictorial story-telling in graphic novels can allow you to imply darker elements of a story without explicitly stating them and let the reader’s imagination enhance the mood. Or you can represent darker themes in a way that is visually easier for readers to deal with. The famous graphic novel Maus by Art Spiegelman is a good example of this: Jews are mice and Nazis are cats. I’m not sure if that was his intention, but I found the grim subject matter easier to deal with because the victims were not human. It was also handy for working out who was who.

I also loved ‘Jane, the Fox and Me’ written by Fanny Britt and illustrated by Isabel Arsenault . I’m a tragic Jane Eyre fan. This story revolves around a school bullying incident; it’s refreshingly wonderful.

What was your 2013 Maurice Saxby Mentorship experience like?

Unforgettable. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to get a foothold in the kids or young adult writing industry. Or looking for some inspiration and a reality check! (I’m sure you would too).

Absolutely. It’s been invaluable.

When I got the email letting me know I had been accepted, I had to read it a few times before it sank in. I’d followed Jackie Hosking’s mentorship through her blog and was really excited (and honoured) to be selected.

It came at a time when I was a bit despondent about my chances of making it in such a competitive industry, but spending time with the wonderful creators involved (Elizabeth Honey, Kevin Burgemeestre and Mark Wilson) and watching them in action made me realise that enjoying the process of writing and sharing your work was really important, and something I had control over. So I’m focusing on that!

Me too.

I also met the lovely Helen Chamberlin, ‘the best children’s book publisher in Australia’ and have really enjoyed her support and words of wisdom (which she gives so generously).

Yep, Helen is an amazing person.

The most important thing I got out of the experience was my fellow mentees (including you!) who have been amazing new writing friends. Slaving over a hot computer can be lonely sometimes.

It sure can be.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today, Nadine. Keep up the good work, I can’t wait to see what happens next with the ‘Dark Room: Do Not Enter’. It sounds amazing…

You can check Nadine out at her website and follow her blog too.

Day 10 Evening Panel Discussion: ‘READING PICTURES’ at Toorak/South Yarra Library

Posted on May 27, 2013April 16, 2019 by Neridah

This event was a new edition to the Literature Alive Program and was an eagerly anticipated panel discussion.

Mandy Cooper, the curator of GALLERY FOR A DAY, was the M.C for the evening and she spoke briefly about what picture books mean to her, that the narrative is in the artwork and that it’s a unique skill it is to make this relationship work. She quoted Children’s Writer and Illustrator Ann James:

“The illustrator must not merely echo the words, they must illustrate between the lines. So the story is like a song -lyrics and music. Each has it’s own voice and part to play. But they must be in tune with one another. They can be discordant but discordant on purpose.”

Mandy then introduced Kevin Burgemeestre to talk about his thoughts on this topic.

Kevin thinks he has the best job in the world. He can’t believe he’s paid to play, that he does all the things he once got into trouble for at school. Kevin tells us how the reader always brings something to the work, whether that is based on their own experiences or their imaginations.

Text gives impetus for drama. It creates sequence. You establish a shot, a scene and you have action and reaction. And it has to be dynamic on the page. There are a number of points of view that create the reaction.

Kevin likes to use metaphor. Through gesture and body language, his character is telling us something symbolic and he reminds us of how religion always used over-wrought alter pieces to get the message through.

Composition is important. For example, how you divide the paper? This connects the art to the narrative particularly well if there is conflict. A fence maybe…

In Kevin’s book, ‘Thunder Mountain’ he deliberately drew his illustrations increasing in size across the page to relate to a counting narrative.

In ‘B for Bravo’ Kevin’s dioramas create drama through shadow and depth and shape and in the mountains scene, the emptiness creates possibility for the plane to fly through.

In regards to point of view, Kevin quite rightly states, the mouse has a different view to the eagle.

In Kevin’s new book, (it’s YA fiction) called ‘Kate’, Kate is protected by ‘Spirit’ the dog and the artwork has deliberate elements of tribal spirit symbolism that relates to the text. Very cool stuff from Kevin.

Elizabeth Honey was introduced next and she spoke about using less words and letting the picture do the talking. We were honoured to see the roughs for a new book. She was in a dilemma and asked us our opinion on the medium she should use. Wow!

It’s a picture book about all the things parents say to children. Families have a way of communicating, they use words that deal with situations or ‘wrangling’ as Elizabeth put it. It was a delightful story.

“Hop up, wriggle over, snuggle in.”

Elizabeth wanted to use the right medium to covey the mood of the book: soft, fluffy and how big should the book be? These were all valid questions.

Elizabeth also showed us how she wrote and re-wrote ‘Not a Nibble’. When you work with water, double spreads are the order for the day.

Elizabeth writes and paints at the same time when she’s creating a book as this allows an economy of words. It also allows her to make pictures intriguing and to not give it all away too early, such as in her book ‘That’s not a Daffodil’

Elizabeth chose to work in gouache on rough watercolour paper that has a deep tooth so she could then layer with oil crayon. There were some difficult perspectives to deal with as the Turkish man next door was huge and trying to fit him in the artwork with the little boy took some time. It’s all about angles…

Mark Wilson works completely different to Kevin and Elizabeth. Yay!

Mark uses dual narratives in historical based stories. By this, I mean he used his illustration and the text to tell the story, all adding a different perspective.

For example, in ‘Angel of Kokoda’ Mark used the illustration of Kari and certain birds, lifelike and carved, that were important to his tribal belief systems as well as the text that was telling the story and a letter from command that described the state of the battle. This layering is really effective storytelling, allowing the reader to put all the pieces together. And there’s so much information here.

‘Vietnam Diary’ used two narratives through illustration. On a double page spread, there are two brothers on opposing sides. On one side of the page, one brother is protesting against the war in Vietnam and Mark has painted this in a dropout, tonal effect. It’s very 60’s in style, representing that era. On the side, the other brother is painted very life-like, clean cut; almost like a photo. This young man (which just happens to be Mark himself) has had his name drawn out of a tattslotto type of machine ordering him to do National Service and join the Army. The illustration is ‘realist’, reflecting his situation at the time. Very cool Mark.

In the book ‘My Mother’s Eyes’ Mark used colour to represent the horror of war, rather than draw that detail for children. He is allowing the reader to use their imagination and through the emotive use of colour: red for fire, anger, blood.

Several people in the audience then had an opportunity to ask our panelists questions and one absolute beauty, which was directed to Mark was: “What artists have influenced your careers, obviously Turner has?”

Mark nearly fell off his chair, he was flattered Turner could be seen in his work. I can see it too now, in the way he uses light to illuminate certain illustrations. Mark rattled off a few other admired artists such as Tom Roberts, whom he has written a book about, ‘Ben & Gracie’s Art Adventure’ & ‘Inside the world of Tom Roberts.’

Kevin loves the artwork of Max Meldrum and Ken Avery (of Bugs Bunny fame), Rembrandt for humanity, Goya, Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Joy Hester, Fred Williams. Quite a list, but I will have Google Max Meldrum and Ken Avery.

When Elizabeth Honey was asked about admired artists she immediately answered Matisse, and that he strongly influenced her in ‘I’m still awake, Still’. You can see this this in Elizabeth use of long lines and flowing movement. How cool is that!

Overall, the READING PICTURES discussion panel evening was deemed a success and will remain on the agenda for the festival next year. What a great night!

Day 6 School Workshop with Elizabeth Honey at Prahran Library

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Neridah

Elizabeth is a natural public speaker and her rapport with the Year 5 & 6’s of Stonnington Primary was engaging and warm. Conversational and funny, Elizabeth managed to get the children to open right up about what they like about story telling and writing.

Elizabeth talked about her experiences growing up and becoming a writer and what it takes to write a book. She used the analogy of ‘witchcraft’. For a witch to know how to make spells, she needs to understand the ingredients. She needs to learn her craft. And writing is the same; a writer must learn their craft before they can write well.

A collector of words, Elizabeth asked the children what sort of words they like to say, how it feels when they say it.

Partiality, pop, books (‘oo’ words were popular), arresting and quarrel were some of the words the children liked. Growing up, Elizabeth particularly liked the word ‘supreme’. Everything was ‘supreme’, supremely good or supremely bad. I have to admit I’m a big fan of the word ‘vivid’ (it must be the two ‘v’s).

We then launched into some of writing of our own. We were going to write some short poetry called ‘Haiku’. Elizabeth explained this style of poetry is made up of three lines. The first line consists of words with five syllables, the second line has seven syllables and the third line has five syllables.

Elizabeth showed us an image of a palm. It was facing upwards, holding some grains of rice. We were to write out Haiku about this image.

After much brainstorming and concentrating, the children had a chance to read out their poetry. It was fascinating what they wrote. It varied from “Dude, these are my drugs” to more poetic pieces about and hope and humanity.

This is mine…

The offer of seed

An open palm promise

Hope and hunger freed.

Yeah, I know, don’t give up your day job.

Then Elizabeth put up an image of an old man wearing a peaked gap. (He looked rather grumpy).

The children had to name him and make up a sentence he would say. He did look like an old sea dog, so the children came up with some terrific seafaring themed names and sentences like…

“Life on the seven seas is the only life for me…”

“Back in my day…”

“I’m not getting up and giving my seat to you…”

Elizabeth was wonderful with the children and I think they had a terrific time. They thanked her beautifully and I was very impressed with the children from Stonnington Primary School.

Elizabeth showed us how to deal with children with confidence and encouragement and I loved the way she taught them how to write simple but beautiful poetry.

About Elizabeth Honey…

Elizabeth Honey is a writer and illustrator of poetry, picture books and novels for children. Her work is always full of fun, with action packed stories, lively characters and zany illustrations. She is probably best known for her novel ‘45 & 47 Stella Street and everything that happened’ which was a CBCA Honour Book, and since then has written a number of highly entertaining novels, such as ‘Don’t Pat the Wombat’, ‘Fiddle-back’, ‘Remote Man’, ‘What do you think, Feezal?’,‘Cauldron Bay’ and ‘To the Boy in Berlin’. She has also written and illustrated a number of picture books, including ‘The Cherry Dress’ and ‘Not a Nibble’ which was the CBCA Picture Book of the Year.

“My books grow from an idea I find intriguing. I know it’s a good idea when it follows me around like a stray dog that won’t go home.”– Elizabeth Honey  

You can read more about Elizabeth and her books at…

http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=311&author=98

Here are some of Elizabeth’s books…that can be bought in any good bookstore…

You can book her from an Author Visit to your school on…

http://bookedout.com.au/find-a-speaker/author/elizabeth-honey/