[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-marlborough-lit-fest-2016":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"On Friday I found myself on a mysterious platform marked 'Pewsey'. \u003Ci>Where is Pewsey?\u003C/i>, I wondered.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_pewsey_zpscitepfjg-0a6c7a5c2c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd also, \u003Ci>Where is Reeve?\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_pewsey2_zpsyyepfmuj-b9a8f89e9f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Ci>Ah, I can see a speck of a train on the horizon... could that be my illustrious co-author?\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_pewsey3_zpsiuaq91jt-570d707642.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd lo, he appeared, to the sound of many trumpets.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_pewsey4_zps8pyflgwz-d2f66c2bfa.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe commended the \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MarlbLitFest\">Marlborough Lit Fest\u003C/a> team for booking a rainbow in our honour.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_rainbow_zpsdhmjt75s-37e4e0ce3d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd I tried out their throne, as one does. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_townhallthrone_zpskeskavel-23327ced13.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAfter all that grandeur, here are a couple images of gentle domesticity. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_ironing_zpse33amiiv-84a13e5cff.jpg\"> \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_breakfast_zpssoyaapqr-cce3c10fd9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI'd missed meeting historian, writer and translator \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/holland_tom\">Tom Holland\u003C/a> at several festivals and I was so pleased AT LAST to get a chance to meet him. And have dinner! Where we discussed worryingly rude elements of nature such as \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/jabberworks/status/781972696066322432\">geoducks and echidnas\u003C/a>. We also went to hear a thought-provoking talk by Lionel Shriver but I might leave that for another blog post. (Tom live-tweeted it but I thought I'd let it stew around in my head for a bit longer before responding.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/holland_tom_tweet_zpsbrlwzia4-4a2abe252b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe most interesting thing I learned from Tom was about a tenth-century woman named \u003Ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelfl%C3%A6d\">Æthelflæd\u003C/a>, who was for all intents and purposes, a kick-a** English queen (even though she wasn't technically called a queen) who rode out to battle but also set up loads of things that made the country more peaceful and prosperous and was generally pretty awesome. Someone at dinner remarked how it's odd that English people start their history with a battle they lost (the Battle of Hastings) but few people study what came before then. You can find out more about Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, from Tom's video. I'm surprised there aren't more paintings and graphic novels about her, she'd be great material. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/frances_tweet_zps4fhatov7-6abd9982cb.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"3456\"/>\\r\n\\r\nI had my first event, a professional talk about book illustration, across the road from the Town Hall at the \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/whitehorsebooks\">White Horse Bookshop\u003C/a>, in an amazing new events room they've built out back. The skies were dark and lashing rain outside, but inside we were sunny and warm. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_illustration_event_zpsbgkiuzs8-d27623fe22.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was so grateful to the big mix of people who arrived and had really good questions and all took part. Everyone from pre-teen kids who loved drawing, kids who didn't, art students, a woodworking student, adults who were interested in getting published, professionals, all very thoughtful and friendly. (If you were there, here's a \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/faqs/\">link to my FAQ page\u003C/a> I mentioned, with the picture book template.) Right before the event, I got to draw a portrait of Georgia and Little Brown Dog, with Georgia's assistance colouring her stripey tights. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_georgia_zpspuerqdoo-09a8ba96d0.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd then it was time for Reeve and me to put on our very first \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/jinks-o-hare-funfair-repair/\">Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair\u003C/a>\u003C/i> show. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_hall_zps7y5vjabl-1f5ee28d6e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nFrom all the feedback we got, I think it went well! We brought in some elements from our earlier shows, such as creating a board game to illustrate the idea of creating a storyline, and I taught everyone how to draw themselves with Jinks & O'Hare in a roller coaster. But we added some new bits, such as the \u003Cb>Ducks of Knowledge\u003C/b> (which I didn't get a picture of, maybe next time). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/bookloverJo_photosdrawing_zpsaqvcnmop-eabe58e22a.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>(Tweeted by @BookLoverJo)\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nIt was the first time I'd worn these shoes for any length of time, and one of the laces immediately started trailing across the stage. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/davinahjones_tweet1_zpscrtqy0hk-f63f6d67e2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut the shoes were kind of hard to walk in, and it was hard to bend down in them, so our festival coordinator ran up to assist, which Philip noted as VERY IMPRESSIVE. :D\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/bookloverJo_shoelace_zps2hfvquok-9da65c5ba6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThere was also a fab \u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i>-themed competition and we got to present prizes to the winners! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_competition_zpszj1yfavn-b228861814.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere are some close-ups of various Seawigs on Cliff, the Rambling Isle: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_competition2_zpstygy7lje-594a78eb21.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_competition3_zpsv59xd4ek-e580a890a5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt was wonderful spotting some familiar faces in the audience! I got to meet @BookLoverJo for the first time, after we'd exchanged lots of friendly tweets, and here's \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/fionanoblebooks\">Fiona Noble\u003C/a> and her daughter. Fiona writes for \u003Ci>The Bookseller\u003C/i> magazine and was one of the early supporters of the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.picturesmeanbusiness.com\">#PicturesMeanBusiness campaign\u003C/a> to get illustrators properly credited for their work. Fiona's made a huge difference because she's the person editors submit information to about upcoming books and she selects which ones she'll highlight in the monthly picks. She was cross about the lack of illustrator information in the Advance Information sheets she was being sent (why should she have to hunt for that information?), and publishers quickly saw that supplying this important data could only help them in their pitches to get their books reviewed. Yay, Fiona!\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_fionanobel_zpswbgcnd21-a76f338117.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here are some of my favourite people, Nick and Maureen, with their granddaughter. Nick and Maureen were in a book club with me for nine years and we managed to get through 58 books! (You can \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/568581.html\">read about it here\u003C/a>.) \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_maureennickfreya_zpsx3w7vjpw-5af135dab1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOne of the cool things from that book club reading list is that I've had the chance at festivals to meet quite a few of the authors we read: Audrey Niffenegger, Jasper Fforde, Sophia McDougall, David Almond, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Myla Goldberg, Geraldine McCaughrean, Sally Nicholls... and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/stephen_kelman\">Stephen Kelman\u003C/a> (who wrote one of our book choices, the excellent \u003Ci>Pigeon English\u003C/i>) was sitting a few chairs away but sadly I didn't know who he was so I didn't get to say hi. Oh well! Here's Reeve just after I left, curiously back in civvie clothes, with Stephen:  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_reeve_in_civvies_zpsgkbckyjc-161593fdef.jpg\">\\r\n\u003Ci>Tweeted by \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MarlbLitFest\">@MarlbLitFest\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\nHuge thanks to \u003Cb>Louise Tinker\u003C/b> (on the left) who coordinated our visit, \u003Ca href=\"http://godotsrestaurant.co.uk/rooms.html\">Godots\u003C/a> who put us up, and everyone who looked after us so well and made the festival run so smoothly! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_louise_zpst4xxhzhc-5af5fe2206.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA big hurrah for all the volunteers, you were great! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/mlf16_volunteers_zps4ggnjsgp-1af3762ae6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd these are just the sorts of tweets we love to get after a book festival, kids stuck into their new books. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/bookloverJo_girls-reading_zpszhpyd3kq-2c4a0d3ad1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/davinahjones_reading_zpsl6bq0nqy-3a24cccbd2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nClick for \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/events/\">my events page\u003C/a> to find out where I'll be next!","2016-10-02T13:13:00.000Z","marlborough-lit-fest-2016",[],"marlborough lit fest 2016",1776628728638]