A Report on the Abbey Medieval Fair July 2015 Queensland

This year the crowds turned out for a sunny July day to participate and observe the medieval festivities at the Abbey Medieval Fair.

 I attended with my mum and my kids. With little ones amidst this enormous crowd, we chose to wander from place to place not attempting to be at any particular show at any particular time. We enjoyed the spectacle and the friendly cultured people. The highlights were watching live sword fights at the Prima Spada School of Fence and the New Varangian Guard Rusland Garrison (pictured above and below) and  watching the camels.

I attended Prima Spada School of Fence in Brisbane in my twenties and really enjoyed the sport. After seeing the fun this group had at the Abbey Fair I want to look into taking some kind of swordplay sport up again.

This year there were plenty of places to stop and sit with a small blanket or on a hay bale, however the crowds around many arenas meant it was impossible to see, especially for young children. Every year we enjoy finding the Company of the Phoenix (pictured below) and photographing my son, Phoenix, with their phoenix emblem. Altogether the Abbey Medieval Fair is a wonderful place for a medieval fantasy reader/writer like me.

 

One day when life is not quite so busy raising young children, running a small business and self publishing my own books, I hope to attend as a re-enactor myself. With my build it seems likely I will need to don the attire of a knight. There weren't too many towering Anglo women like me in medieval times as far as I'm aware. 

Women were over an inch shorter, on average, in medieval times, than today. See Daily Mail. Funnily, this article takes this to mean our medieval ancestors were not much shorter than we are today. I guess it depends on your definitions. To me, when you're talking averages, more than an inch is a pretty big difference. And at 175cm tall, I'm a whopping 17cm taller than the average medieval woman.

How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word

Some things about Word that every writer and editor should know

In the good old days editors wrote on manuscripts with a red pen. An entire syntax of corrective marks was used. Nowadays we have a powerful and easy-to-use program called Microsoft Word, and its Track Changes tool.

In Microsoft Word, reviewing tools can be found in the Review  tab on the ribbon. Good editors will know when to turn Track Changes on and off to present to the writer the most useful feedback on their manuscript. They will be able to easily accept or reject actual line editing changes, read comments and make their own changes or comments in response.

When I am editing I almost always have Track Changes on, which marks in red my additions and puts a strikethrough on any deletions. I also tend to preview the document in its final form (if, for example you decided to accept all the changes) to look for any final errors or problems with page layout not visible due to extensive tracked changes.

When you’re not used to using Microsoft Word and/or the reviewing tools there can be a few hurdles that somebody will need to teach you to overcome. For example:

Reading View

Occasionally Microsoft Word opens documents in ‘Reading View’. Such a pain! If so, there will only be three menus visible and you need to press the third menu 'View' and then click ‘Edit Document’. Then it should let you have all the menus and full editing capability with the document coming up in Print Layout.

Working through your tracked changes

Your editor will expect you to work through the Changes he or she suggests by first turning off Track Changes  in the Review  tab and then, using the Next/Previous  arrows, working through their suggestions and Accept  or Reject  them.

Just a tip about Track Changes, in case you are not aware of it: apart from Accepting/Rejecting each individual change one by one, you can also select a block of text (e.g. a paragraph or page) with your mouse and then right click to Accept/Reject all changes within that block. The Comments will need to be removed manually one by one (click on the X) but there is a good reason for that—they have questions or suggestions that require your input or consideration. You can Delete the Comments  as you go or you can leave them to last and run through when you’re

sure that you do not need them anymore.

Accepting all changes

If you wish to accept all changes, you can easily go to Review , then click the tiny arrow beneath the Accept  button and click on Accept All Changes in Document . There may still be some comments you will need to visit because of certain questions your editor has raised.

Check that your document is showing you all changes

 If you have a recent version of Word please make sure you go to Review -> Track Changes and

make sure it is set to show you All Markup not Simple Markup. See screenshot below:

I’m still seeing green squiggly lines

You may see some blue/green underlines from the Grammar Checker unless you have turned it

off. Don’t worry about them. The red underlines are for the Spell Checker and that should be set

by the language setting in your copy of Word to English Australian  so that it works properly. We

have manually fixed any spelling problems, including American spelling. If you want a version of

this document for Americans as well, please let us know and we’ll restore your “ises” to “izes”,

your “res” to “ers” and consider American grammar differences, such as commas, etc.

Formatting

Your editor may have altered the formatting (eg. tabs, fonts, bullets, line spacing and paragraph spacing)

to make the document look better, but tracking all these changes can make the document a bit

complicated so we often leave these changes untracked.

Formatting changes, when tracked, can make it look as if your document has corrections

everywhere! All you need to do to hide these changes If we have left these changes tracked, you

may want to turn off. If you hide all formatting corrections when you start to go through it’ll

make it a lot cleaner. When you’re finished with the other corrections you could then turn it back

on and decide what you want to do. (See screenshot)

Questioning Your Editor’s Changes

Many aspects of editing are related to knowledge and preference, with some things being black and white and others not so much. If you have any questions or wish to discuss the pros and cons of any of our edits, please feel free. You will find we’re very flexible. In some cases your editor may be wrong and we will be happy to discuss this amongst ourselves and learn from your correction.

Different Version of Word

If you are having trouble viewing your tracked changes please let your editor know. It may have

something to do with your version of Microsoft Word and what operating system you are using (Windows

or Mac).

Discovering the Future of Writing for Children in the Book Links Lecture in Children's Literature

I attended this Book Links lecture on 25 June at the State Library of Queensland.

She gave a high call for creators of picture books, quoting Junko Yokota who wrote in1993 that authentic fiction books are where "the author and illustrator are intimately familiar with the nuances of a culture."

Dr Robin Morrow gave an excellent overview of Australian children's literature and shared about her experience operating Australia's first children's book store. She also talked about Jella Lepman, a German journalist, author and translator who founded the International Youth Library in Munich.

She went on to speak about the right of every child to hear stories in their mother tongue. Her lecture was inspirational to teacher librarians and educators in her promotion of making book choices to expand the worldview of young readers. She is also passionate about the representation of disability in children's books, especially some of the less known conditions where children may feel very alone.

Indiginous literature received a lot of attention, as well as fiction about immigrants. Dr Morrow showed an example of multiculturalism in a board book, commenting that it is a recent development to see less anglo-centrism in children's picture books. This made me think of Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, which I have read to both of my children since they were babies.

I have been aware of the anglo-centrism in most genres of writing that I have ever read since I was a teenager. All three of my projects at present feature people who are not your typical white heroes. In Myra and the Magic Motorcycle, I encouraged my illustrator to make Myra part anglo part Australian aborigine, but her appearance is such that she could be of African or Hispanic descent, or even just an olive-skinned caucasian with a nice tan. This way she is relatable by all sorts of different children. In my yet-to-be-published fantasy series, the main character is from a divinely-ordained dark-skinned race.

Some books Dr Morrow mentioned that I am interested in reading are:

• Remembering Lionsville by Bronwyn Bancroft
• Crow Country by Kate Constable
• Nona and Me by Clare Atkins
• A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham
• Figgy in the world Tamsin Janu

I've provided links to Booktopia or Goodreads above, but of course Dr Robin Morrow encourages everyone to buy from their local independent bookstore. These outlets need our support because they are not as susceptible to the big merchandising and big brands that take up so much shelf space in larger book outlets. Members of the audience lamented the large amounts of space taken up in book shops by Octonauts books, toys and merchandise.

For my series, Myra and the Magic Motorcycle, I feel that I am trying to bridge the gap between popular and worldview expanding children's literature. My writing is not up to the same CBCA standards that Dr Morrow is most passionate about, but I hope that it is as gripping and entertaining as it can be, and is fair in its treatment of people from all different walks of life. Ultimately I hope for this series to open doors for educators and parents to, in a fun way, discuss some of the wider social issues we are faced with in our world today.

You can read more about Dr Morrow's paper on Indigenous Languages in Some Australian Picture Books here.

Why write children’s books about social issues?

“Education should be about giving children a lifelong love of learning not pushing a political or social agenda.”—Unknown Commentor on ABC radio 612 Brisbane, Australia

Perhaps there is a good reason why there are not many children’s books that deal with social issues. Perhaps I am missing some unspoken feeling or rule that other children’s book authors know. Perhaps I am pretending to myself that I can write about social issues without taking a position that would alienate different groups of people.

My inspiration for writing Myra and the Magic Motorcycle came when I was in hospital about to give birth to my second son, Declan. Like any parent I want my children to get the most of life, to learn to take advantage of the opportunities that come their way without treading all over others.

At the time of releasing Myra book 1, my kids are both under 5, meaning they’re not specifically in the target market, but they do enjoy it when I read the book to them. I want my children to get to know about the world we live in, and some of the challenges faced by other people, possibly some things they themselves will have to deal with. My aim is not to overwhelm them or frighten them about these issues, but to give them a rudimentary introduction, and give them a mindset to think about the world around them and other people.

On my children’s bookshelves I see hundreds of books on a wide variety of topics, but there are huge gaps and imbalances in these topics. There are plenty of animals, trucks, pirates, super heroes, fairies and mythological creatures. Not so many books that feature human beings, and none that deal with social issues.

I love animals and fantasy. I am finalising the first book in my YA–Adult fantasy adventure series The Astor Chronicles, which is about people who can transform into animals. Up till I was about 15 I was bigoted about what books I would read. They had to be completely focused on animals, with no people in them at all. I, of all people, can understand and value the place for animals in children’s fiction. Yet, when I think about what children under 8 need now, it’s not another book about Paul the Penguin who got lost or Francis the Frog who forgot how to swim.

In Myra and the Magic Motorcycle I hope to tell stories about human issues, social challenges and the needs of other people around the world.

Regardless of what species the characters are, themes in children’s fiction tend to focus on sleeping, self esteem, families and growing up.  On Amazon and Booktopia there is not much in the category of social issues under ‘Juvenile Fiction’.

Books that do deal with human feelings, social interaction and conflict tend to be vague. Except for the occasional environmental or animal conservation message, world issues are non-existent.

Our children are growing up in a world full of frightening worldwide news and overwhelming volumes of information about people around them, yet there are very few children’s books or stories to help them cope and understand and contextualise this information.

My aim is not to push my own position in the Myra Books, although I cannot deny that I do have a position. Everyone does. I am someone who has had a good upbringing as a white middle class Australian. I am not a socialist, but I firmly stand by the belief that anyone can and should become aware of the social implications of their behaviour and of the wider issues that confront them and their particular culture, in this global age.

I value the rights of all to choose their own destiny and make their own informed choices.

My own relgious, political and social opinions aside, what I really want to achieve here is:

1. an entertaining read on topics that are rarely visited, therefore interesting (not same old same old) and
2. to let parents and teachers use the Myra books to instigate discussions, taking them into as much detail or in whatever direction they wish.
3. Letting children investigate and explore their own position. I wish to promote a lifelong love of learning (I believe any book will help to do this), but also give children a foundation of thinking about others, and considering the wider context of people’s lives.

Far from needing to spare our children from social issues, I think we have a duty to prepare them.

My heartfelt sorrow for those in QLD who have lost loved ones in yesterdays ‪#‎qldfloods‬. I can hardly believe it. So much rain.

And we are so used to driving in the rain, and just giving it a go, deciding at each road whether to continue or not. We have to get home from work, pick up kids from daycare, whatever. Sure, don't drive through floodwaters, but it's a fine line in some cases, and hard to see. And in one case I heard on the radio a lady said she'd gone up the onramp to the highway and there was closures and flooding in every direction. Nowhere to go, and you can't go back down the onramp! So she felt she simply had to drive through some of the floodwater, which turned out to not be very high.

It's not a black and white issue of "Never drive through floodwaters". Common sense should be enough, but it's not that simple.

Magic Spoons free toddler activity "Learning Fun"

I got this idea from Pinterest and did it with my 4yo ds today.

 

Worksheets to do magic spoon early years activity with your child. Suitable for ages 4-7.

It's been a few years since I last worked on Talon, book one of The Astor Chronicles. I'm about halfway through applying the edits I received from a fellow author. Working with tracked changes is a pleasure, but I made the mistake of putting the book into InDesign already, so now I have to manually add all the changes I approve of to me layout. Still, I don't want to go back to word because I've got my paragraph styles and formatting in InDesign sorted out.