For almost as long as I have enjoyed drawing, I've loved playing with Lego. (Note to my American friends: it is LEGO, not LEGOS.) Each of my brothers have their own treasured collection - and they are very careful not to get any of the pieces mixed up!

I stopped adding to my collection a number of years ago, but I still get a thrill from fiddling with the bricks and building new creations.

The weather has been wet, cold and bleak all week - not great for a house full of energetic boys during the school holidays, but perfect for playing with Lego. I'm pretty sure I heard the unmistakeable sound of thousands of tiny pieces being tipped out across the floor this morning.

It is very tempting to spend the day inside surrounded by Lego, letting my imagination run wild amongst the colourful bricks. But, no... there are commitments that must be met, so I will have to resist. Instead of actually playing, I will content myself with admiring creations from other Lego enthusiasts on the Brothers Brick website, who seem to have a little more time on their hands.

http://www.brothers-brick.com/page/8/

http://www.brothers-brick.com/page/2/

 

 

 

 

http://www.brothers-brick.com/page/10/

While perusing the TED website the other night, I came across this talk by Dave Eggers. The name was vaguely familiar to me, but I couldn't put my finger on why - maybe a writer of some description? I initially thought he wrote science fiction, but no - that was David Eddings. It turns out that Eggers is a writer, editor, screenwriter, publisher and advocate for students and teachers.

His profile on the TED website states:
Dave Eggers' first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Since then he's written two more novels and launched an independent publishing house, which publishes books, a quarterly literary journal (McSweeney's), a DVD-based review of short films (Wholpin), a monthly magazine (The Believer) and the Voice of Witness project.


Meanwhile, Eggers has established himself as a philanthropist and teacher-at-large. In 1998 he launched 826 Valencia, a San Francisco-based writing and tutoring lab for young people, which has since opened six more chapters across the United States. He has extended his advocacy of students by supporting their educators, instituting a monthly grant for exceptional Bay Area teachers. His TED Prize wish is for more poeple to follow him into getting involved in your local school -- and talk about it -- through the website Once Upon A School.

I knew nothing about him prior to hearing the video, but his talk at the TED conference has piqued my curiosity. The idea Eggers discusses and promotes is brilliant. In the past, I have studied and worked as a Teacher Aide and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Dave Eggers understands the benefits of one-on-one tutoring and has put a unique spin on the concept.

So, here is the video.

This morning I received a copy of the latest Magpies Magazine. With great excitement, I tore open the envelope and flicked through the magazine until I found it : a review of 'Custard and Carriages'.

  "This small but nicely produced book was a delightful surprise, with its simply told recollections of going to visit Grandad, with delicious custard squares to enjoy, then playing with the toy railway set while he tells stories about his day driving trains. The stories are followed by a visit to the station to see some real trains. Back home there's comforting honey toast and being tucked up into bed with memories of the trains taking the small child to dreamland. It's a warm and comfortable story: you can almost feel the tickly beard and the tightly hugging arms as the grandfather holds the child securely out of harm's way. The pastel illustrations are well acquitted and provide shapshots of the different trains being talked about, and of a man who obviously loves both his job and his grandchild." 

There was a huge grin plastered across my face after reading this! Some of the other books that were reviewed in the magazine were from New Zealanders such as Dave Gunson, Jenny Cooper and Jennifer Beck. It was a real thrill to see my book alongside those talented and experienced authors and illustrators. 

Thank you very much Magpies Magazine for reviewing 'Custard and Carriages'!

Below are some photos that Gill North took when I was talking to her students at Sockburn School.

And this is one of the shots that Rachel Holden took as I was speaking to her class in Room 12. There are a few more of her photos on the school website.

Over three days, I visited all the classrooms at the primary school and spoke to the children about the process of writing, illustrating and publishing a book. The kids were a great audience!

Half-way through reading my story to the first class, I discovered that somehow I had blue-tacked the wrong words onto the back of four pictures. Not a good start! Fortunately I remembered most of the words, was able to quickly shuffle the illustrations into the correct order and finish the story in the right place.

Thanks to Rachel for organising the visits and to all the other teachers for making room in their schedules so that I could come in to speak with all the kids.

Finally, I have finished all the illustrations for book number two - what a great feeling! It was a bit of a race in the end because I needed the pictures finished by last Friday before I went away for the weekend. I was putting the final touches on several of the illustrations that morning and then rushing outside to cover them in the fixative spray. They were lined up on the ironing board to dry, while I finished packing my bag.

All of the images are now scanned and I am in the process of making another dummy book so that I can see how the flow of words and pictures work together. I enjoy arranging the illustrations and gluing them into place alongside the text - it makes the whole project seem real when it is all put into a book format.

No ideas for a title yet. That is always the hardest part. I didn't even have a title for my first book when I initially sent it to the publisher. Even though the story was about my Grandad, I didn't want 'grandad' or 'grandfather' in the title. The book needed something a little different. Thankfully, a friend of mine suggested 'Custard and Carriages' after seeing the illustrations and reading through the manuscript and it stuck.

And while I'm on the subject of the first book, this afternoon I was looking through some of the old photos of Grandad that I used as reference shots for my illustrations. I came across several pictures of him when he was driving a big black steam engine (J1211), which I seem to remember was called the Crunchie Train. It was touring around the country and when the train came to Greymouth MY Grandad was the driver and I got to ride in it with my cousins. We were all terribly excited!

I think this train was the one connected to the Crunchie bar ad that aired on tv a long time ago, during a promotion for Cadburys in the mid-1990s. And because it's an awesome advert, take a look.

I have now been living in Casebrook for just over one year. That is the longest I've spent in one location since 2008. In the last four years, there have been a lot of moves, back and forth between Hokitika and Christchurch and around different suburbs here in the city.

It's a lovely feeling to be settled in a place and I enjoy the neighbourhood in our small cul-de-sac. But there is one thing in particular that I miss about Hokitika: the river.

During the summer, I would often spend afternoons along the banks of the river, exploring streams and fossicking for aquatic life. The strangest creature I ever found was a bright electric blue lamprey, which looked sort of like an eel, but with two blue stripes running down its body on either side of the dorsal fin. My friend and I were thrilled to find it, but we had no idea what it was - we had to take it to the local aquarium centre to get it identified.

I had many other adventures at the river, sometimes fishing, sometimes exploring the surrounding bush. Now that I'm on the East Coast, I will have to make an effort to investigate some of the rivers around Christchurch in an attempt to sate my longing!

These are photos of one of a couple my favourite spots.

Lynne Chapman is an award-winning illustrator. I follow her blogspot and enjoy watching her short videos. Here is a clip where she explains how she ended up becoming a children's book illustrator. Well worth watching!