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Q & A with Emily Gravett

Apr 6, 2010 | , | 11 Comments

This past weekend, our SCBWI chapter here in Korea had an author dinner with award winning, British author and illustrator, Emily Gravett. What an amazing experience!

The author dinner was located at O SeGyeHyang restaurant in Insadong (yes, I promise to post pics soon!) down this tiny offshoot of the main road. Isn’t it the most adorable restaurant?

At the door, like all traditional Korean restaurants, we took off our shoes and settled on comfy pillows on the floor. I decided to order Shabu-Shabu because it’s been so long since I’ve had it. Plus it’s fun to cook your own dinner without all the work.

Emily has written and illustrated the famous British titles Mouse’s Big Book of Fears and Wolves. We felt so lucky to have Emily come spend time with us amidst her insane tour schedule. And she was open and ready to answer all of our crazy questions.

Here are a few of them:
Where have you been on your tour? And how did you arrange for it to happen?
Actually, my publisher sent me so they provided with flights, hotel and interpreters. I was just in China and after I leave here, I’m off to Singapore. It’s busy, busy, busy though. No shopping or rest. (Poor Emily, we really wanted to take her shopping.)


You are quite the public speaker. How do you keep all those kids in your audience captivated?
I get them to participate. If they are engaged in what I’m saying, they’re less likely to be chatting off with their friends. I have them do things like ‘Put your hands up if you like this’ or ‘Put both hands up if you love it’. Kids like to be involved.

When you start a story, do you come up with the illustrations or the writing first?

They come together at the same time really. When I wrote Little Mouse, I found the story as I drew.

How is it different presenting to an Asian audience opposed to your audience back home in the UK?
The kids react differently. If they know the books and they speak English then it’s easier to get them involved. Often the Asian kids have a harder time to raise their hands since they have a very lecture style approach in their schools. I find I really have to work at it to get the kids to put their hands up. But once they do, they start catching on.

We’ve read that you are active in the publication process of your stories. Tell us a little about that.
Once I draw the book, I scan it into Photoshop and take it to the publisher. They’ll transfer into InDesign but I like to decide how the book will be laid out and such. I even choose the paper for its gloss, smell, and weight. My books are quite interactive with pop-ups and holes. (Me adding in that the mouse bites are just hilarious!)

To top off the evening, Emily’s publisher from Macmillan, Soojin who came from Hong Kong to be Emily’s interpreter (and ‘brilliant’ as the British say), brought books for all of us. And Emily autographed them! I snagged The Cave Baby and The Rabbit Problem for my two boys.

So if you’re looking for lovely picture books, with that witty British humor, you really need to check out Emily’s books.

Stay in Shape!

Apr 2, 2010 | | 15 Comments

Today I went jogging for the first time since I broke my toe two weeks ago. And let me tell you, it was PAINFUL! It sure didn’t take long for me to get out of shape.


The view is gorgeous from the mountain road that I jog along. If you look at the picture here, which was taken from my apartment, the mountain road I run is to the right of the tall apartments.


So while I was huffing and puffing up the mountain, I was thinking how writing is the same way. Work has been taking over my life the last week and I haven’t spent much time on my revisions. I’m getting out of shape in my writing! Because writing every day keeps my eyes sharp for my silly errors, my creative juices flowing, plus I’m in tune with my characters since I’m spending time with them.


So next week my goal is to spend more time running and writing. If I exercise my muscles and even those ‘writing muscles’, I know I’ll be in better shape and that WIP of mine will be too!


Some things I’m going to do to help me out even if I get busy:


1. Pick one random page from my book and edit only that page.


2. Think of 5 things my main character would like and jot them down in the notebook I carry around.


3. Imagine a funny conversation between two characters in the book. Jot it down.


4. Do a writing prompt: http://www.creativewritingprompts.com/


I’d love to hear how you keep your writing skills sharp even when you’re busy.

Shopping in Korea Contest!

Mar 28, 2010 | | 23 Comments

Not too long ago, I passed my 100 follower mark. WOW! I’m so thrilled to be a part of the blogging community. This calls for a celebration!

If you like to shop as much as I do, then this is the contest for you. There are so many contests out there, but I wanted something a little different that is uniquly ME. And since much of what I write on this blog is about Korea and my latest WIP is set in Korea, I thought I’d bring the Korean marketplace to you.

So I picked up a few cute, easy-to-mail things in Insadong that I hoped you’d love.  Because I love my fellow bloggers! Take a few minutes and ‘look around’. Then fill out the form below.

Have fun shopping!

A cute notebook with pencil to jot down all your brillant ideas (got one of these for myself too!)

A set of chopsticks with Korean style holders.

Adorable Korean children wearing the traditional hanbok magnets.

A purse or case in traditional Korean colors.

Coasters with the sam-taegeuk symbol.

Bookmark with the traditional Korean doors with the kite (reminded me of the SCBWI kite)

Silk bag holding a handmade necklace.

Large silk bag.

Contest ends on April 10th, 1 pm Korea time. (midnight, Apr. 9th, US eastern standard time)

I wanted to post pictures for you of Insadong but I forgot my camera! But I’ll be going back soon because Insadong is adorable, quaint and you must see it!

Happy Shopping!

A New Look

Mar 28, 2010 | | 9 Comments

I’m trying out a new look here. What do you think? I’m having trouble getting rid of the search function due to my lack of HTML coding abilities. Any advice, I’m open to your thoughts!

Under Construction

Mar 28, 2010 | | 0 Comments

Hey guys! Sorry, but I’m trying out some new templates. Hope I can get things in order soon.

Making Connections

Mar 25, 2010 | | 16 Comments

Yesterday I was out doing errands with my two boys in our dong (that’s Korean for neighborhood). Our first stop was the bakery and while I ordered bread, my boys’ cheeks were pinched and chocolates were handed out. Now this is the same bakery we’ve gone to for eight years, so these ladies have watched my boys grow up and received many scribbly drawings too!

Our next stop was the florist, but when I ordered, I had trouble communicating. Thankfully my six year old knows more Korean than I do and was able to help translate. Evidently the man wanted to know where I was from and when I told him the US, he was all excited because his son is also living in the States. And once we had made that connection, the whole interaction flowed easier.

Connections and relationships are very important to Koreans. It’s how their whole culture runs whether it’s through business or family relationships.

And doesn’t that relate to blogging, too? When I went to SCBWI LA a couple of years ago, I was able to connect with people that I had ‘met’ through the Blueboards. Through blogging, I’ve gained help in my own writing through critiques and insights into the writing industry. Here I am a half a world away from most of my writing friends and critique partners, and yet they have been there for me in the hard times and celebrated with me in the ‘yeah!’ times.

I’d love to know your thoughts on making connections in the writing world. How has blogging or message boards effected you?

End of Publishing?

Mar 21, 2010 | | 11 Comments

Times are changing and with it, so is the publishing business. For some people this is an exciting time. Others worry.

This discussion came up in our latest SCBWI meeting. We talked about how the music industry made the change, but really struggled and resisted it at first. It was I-Tunes who found a way and changed it all.

One of the guys in our group said the key for the book industry is similar. Publishing houses need to provide what I-Tunes does for the music and film industry, which he thought would be to charge less for an e-book than the real book. Get people to take the impulse buy. If it’s affordable, people will buy them.

Interesting. Because the reality is, things are changing. The question is, how will it change and can we evolve to make the business even better. I really believe that those who take the plunge will be successful like Apple has been with I-Tunes.

Yet admist all that, DK has put together an awesome video. If you have 2 minutes, watch it! But don’t stop halfway, you’ll see why because it’s a great twist midway through.

What do you think? What will make the publishing business more successful? What can we do as authors to be cutting edge?

Picture by: Kenneth Sponsler

Unifying to Bring Healing to North Korea

Mar 17, 2010 | | 6 Comments

The school I teach at, Seoul Foreign School, is in the midst of coming together to raise money to provide TB medicine to a care center in North Korea. If you are interested in finding out more about the Dongdaewon Care centre click here.

I’m not sure how much you know about North Korea, but it is a closed country. I actually live less than thirty miles from the DMZ (the border between North and South Korea), but no one is allowed to enter.

No one in. No one out.

There are exceptions, of course. One of our teachers, representative of our aid to bring medicine into the country, is one of the few foreigners allowed in each year.

This teacher is escorted from place to place and only allowed to take pictures of certain places and things. Sarah Carpenter was the teacher spearheading this Dongdaewon and she blogs about her experience here.

Internet isn’t allowed and the roads that run through the cities are for pedestrians or bullock carts, because there just isn’t enough money to pay for the fuel for cars.

There are few trees due to using them for fuel. She said that visiting North Korea was like stepping back in time 50 years ago.

Those that live in the captial city generally have connections with the government and are the lucky ones, but still aren’t free to move or go where they wish.

Houses in the countryside have no heat or electricity. Some might have ondol heating, using coal in the floor to heat the house.

As far as the people, I’m going to quote Sarah, “In a word, the people are beautiful. They have such an amazing spirit. Life is full of hardship for them, and they endure. They work. They love. They laugh. They smile. They weep. They mourn. They even dare to hope. In many ways, I think that it is good they do not really know what life is like outside of the country, because I don’t know how you could endure the hardships they do if you knew that it didn’t have to be that way.”

It’s moments like these that make me realize how blessed I am and how much I have to give whether it’s through money, my time or prayer. There is power in drawing together and making a difference in the places in the world that are so desperate for joy, for purpose, for love.

You might not have a hurting nation 30 miles from your doorstep, but don’t let that stop you from traveling a little further.

All pictures taken by Sarah Carpenter

Dreams Come True for Beth Revis

Mar 16, 2010 | | 8 Comments

I am totally freaking out with excitement for Beth, my very cool and smart critique buddy. Why? Read this:

In another major YA acquisition before the Bologna Book Fair, Ben Schrank at Razorbill pre-empted North American rights to the debut novel by high school teacher Beth Revis, Across the Universe. Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House brokered the deal, which is for three books, and Universe is scheduled for spring 2011. In the novel, set in the near future, a teenager is cryogenically frozen only to thaw too soon, before arriving at the new planet that’s her destination. Set to wake 300 years in the future, She rouses 50 years too early, still on a spaceship in transit. Schrank said he thinks the book will do for popular sci-fi what The Hunger Games did for postapocalyptic fiction. Rights have been pre-empted in the U.K. (by Razorbill UK, which will do a joint publication with Penguin USA) and Germany, and sales have also closed in France and Greece.

(via Publisher’s Weekly)

And there’s also this:

High school teacher Beth Revis’s debut ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, in the near-future, a reluctant teenage girl and her pioneer parents are cryogenically frozen for a 300-year trip to a new planet; she awakens 50 years early on a vast spaceship with a murderer on board, to Ben Schrank at Razorbill, in a major deal, in a pre-empt, in a three-book deal, for publication in spring 2011, by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House (world English).
(via Publisher’s Marketplace)

Congratulations Beth! And rumor has it she’s having a rocking awesome contest soon on her blog, so check things out here.

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