Young at heart Masterclass - writing for 5-8 year-olds

On Sat 7 Sept I went to Charing Cross to a SCBWI-BW Masterclass about writing for young readers. That was after a long journey of getting a train to New Cross Gate, then a replacement bus to New Cross, another train to London Bridge, and a final train to Charing Cross. Due to works on the line, there were no trains via New Cross to London Bridge. I got there on time, which surprised me. Anyway, the workshop was taken by the publisher Stripes.

First we were asked what made young fiction different from say MG. Vocabulary, short chapters, you are being kind eg no parents arguing, and subject matter. I also thought that with young fiction, parents are always there in the background.

You have to think who is the reader? Are they on their own or are they being read to by their parent? Ruth, from Stripes, said not to worry about the story being related to the real world.  Give the character a sense of individuality. With 7-10,000 words you have to have points in everything.

Then came an exercise. We were given a choice of three opening lines. I chose the one about not being able to run, and wrote about a girl who had dwarfism and was about to run around a track. (Maybe part of my new series of special needs children meeting magical worlds).

Ruth then said that the reader must like the logical world and that it ties together.

Then we had to write a character profile. I wrote about Charlie, who will be in the second of my special needs books. I will use that to write the story when I do. Then we had to write a scene where we put the child in a different scenario. I wrote about Charlie and his dyspraxia going to a hairdresser. It gave me the idea to write short stories like this in between the main books.

We were given homework of writing an exercise, which I might do later on. I am thinking it might be the premise of another series I have in mind about special needs.

Ruth then told us how to write a cover letter and a synopsis. I have used this info to write the cover letter and synopsis for Billy to send to agents again.

What she did say that interested me was that if you are writing a series, you should prob wait until Book 1 is accepted to start Book 2, unless you want to do it for yourself.

Then we got our feedback from our first chapter. Mine was liked. It just so happened that Ruth's husband had read it because he works with people with autism, and thought it was a good description of someone with Asperger's. I gave her my card for her husband.  I did think of querying Stripes with Billy, but have since found I'd already sent Billy, the old version, to them, so that was out.

Overall, I learnt quite a bit, and it gave me ideas for future stories to write later. Can't wait.

Coping with IBS whilst working, or not

Having IBS really affected my life when I worked. In the morning I sometimes had IBS after breakfast, so it would delay my leaving time to get to work. If there is one thing I hate it is being late to anywhere (something connected to my Asperger's, I think). I remember a time many years ago when I was on what was then the Youth Training Scheme (one thing that I feel should be still available today to youngsters leaving school. Esp young ones who are like me quite shy and not sure about working straight after school), there was a period when I had pseudo diarrhoea. That is when you feel you want to go to the toilet time and again but can't go. Later on when I worked properly, just before I found out I was intolerant to dairy, it really affected me like that again. I kept going in and out of the toilet (I know it's not nice to talk about, but that is what IBS is). It really affected my work performance, in that I couldn't do all the work I had to. It affected me on and off over the years until the last time it really affected me again was due to stress - after I was told I was being made redundant from my job of 20 years. I found this really stressful, and it didn't help that a colleague wasn't very nice to me. When we had this altercation, it really stressed me out, and brought on IBS again, v badly. So badly that everytime I did a number two I bled.

So it appeared that stress made my IBS flare up badly when I worked. Next time I shall post about IBS, it will be about how it has affected my home life. But my next post will be about the workshop I attended yesterday and what I learnt and what I did. Until then...

How to cope with IBS - all other meals

Today I am going to tell you how I cope with IBS for lunch, dinner and supper. I do have tablets half an  hour before meals to help with my IBS, but these things also help me. Never rush meals. Sit still for a couple of minutes after eating and before you get up. Don't move around too much after eating. Don't bend down after eating. If you want to, leave at least half an hour. I have found this disturbs digestion and therefore gives you a stomach upset. Chew your food properly. Don't rush eating eg wait until you have finished one mouthful before putting another into your mouth. (I know someone who does this, and I don't know if they can taste their food at all). There is one bit of advice that is important at all meals - always sit a table to eat, not in an armchair watching TV. The straighter you are sitting up the better the food will digest. So, if you must sit in an armchair whilst eating, make sure you sit up right as much as possible. And sitting at a table, with your family, is also a good way to catch up with family stuff and be a proper family.

So, don't rush your meals. And sit at a table to eat. These are two of things that I've read recently that do cause IBS, and I have experienced this myself. If you don't have IBS, and I can assure you that you don't want it, please take heed of what I say as I know from experience that these things aren't nice and do great effect my life. Saying that, has given me an idea of what else I can post here about IBS. Next time I will let on how it is has effected my life.

How to cope with IBS in the mornings

I have suffered with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) for years, but mostly in the mornings. Over the years I have found ways to cope with it, and to make it less of a problem.  Here are my few tips.

1. If you are going out anywhere after breakfast, always put your shoes on before eating. Bending down after eating causes digestive problems.

2. Again, if going out after breakfast, sit and rest for a couple of minutes at the table after eating before you get up to go. This does help.

3. If you have time because you don't have to go out straight after eating, then sit and rest for at least 20 minutes before getting up to go out. I have found this really helps, esp before a shopping trip. I used to get up and get ready straight after breakfast, then walk round the shops. It ended up with half an hour into shopping, me telling my mum, 'I need the toilet'. I hate having to go while I am out shopping, esp a number two. This used to happen a lot to me when mum and I went food shopping during the week. Mum would carry on with the shopping. When I came out, I couldn't see her and panic (the Asperger's kicking in). Now I don't have this problem.

So, those are my tips for coping with IBS in the morning. Next will be about coping with it at other meals and during the day.

Let me know if you have any other tips about IBS and eating.

The Snakeskin Boots is now on Amazon KDP and Select

My new urban fantasy 'The Snakeskin Boots' is now available on Amazon. As mentioned before, I am experimenting with this ebook, it being a new series, and putting it on Amazon Select only. I am going to keep tabs on it to see how many sales I get up until Nov 13, when the enrolment ends. If it sells well, I will keep it there for another 90 days, if not, then I will not enrol it again and upload it to the other digital platforms. I will post here again in a month's time to see how it is going then.

Keep you posted....

An Aspergirl and Sensitivities

As someone with Asperger's Syndrome, I am sensitive to a lot of things, the main ones being noise and messiness on people. By that, I mean if someone is eating and leaves food round their mouth. This makes me feel ill.

Noise - When I was a child, I hated the noise of trains going over the subway. I always either used to wait until they went past or run through the subway to the other side. Now, I don't mind as I have had to get used to it over the years when I went to work and had to get trains. I still don't like the noise of balloons popping, and someone scratching the surface of a table or board. That squeakiness puts my teeth on edge.

Also, I have become very sensitive to people talking loudly in a small room. This is sensory overload for me, and I have to either go into another quiet room or upstairs or in the garden.

Food - I think this sensitivity comes from years ago when I was at primary school. I knew a girl who was bullied by others and one day she was so sad that when she ate her dinner, her hair hung in her food and the food stayed there. This really made me feel ill. I still can't abide people leaving food on them, esp their mouths.

One other thing I am sensitive to, is when someone I know cries, I cry too. Most of the time I can't sense other people's true emotions having Asperger's, but when someone cries you can certainly and I find this upsetting and get tearful too.

So, what are you sensitive about? Let me know, and if it has anything to do with having AS.

Love Food Not Waste - How to not waste baked beans

In these economic times, I hate wasting food and try to compost as much as I can. There are some foods that I used to waste, and one of those is baked beans. Tell me someone who opens a can of beans, eats some of them and throws away the rest. My mum and I buy large tins of beans to eat between us. We used to eat 3/4 of it and throw away the rest. Now I have come up with a way that we don't waste any. If we have a meal with baked beans in then on our menu for the week, I put down a couple of days later to have a second meal with them in. So, the first meal we have half a tin, and the rest we pour into a plastic container and put in the fridge. Couple of days later, we have the other meal and the rest of the beans - no waste. So there you have it. A way to not waste any baked beans.

Let me know if you have any ways of saving foods, be it baked beans or other things.